Chapter Thirty Three
R E V I E W : RECAP AND RECON
For the entire three days of rest Osiris trained with them. He would do everything they did, but double.
When he said fifty laps, he'd do one hundred. If he said a hundred sit ups, he would do two hundred. Even when the sets made him fall behind he would always complete them by the end of the day. The soldier's were starting to get used to him.
But now it was time for the introduction of the nobles.
Everyone stood, except Osiris, who was sitting beneath a tree out of the sun. He was alone in that idea, one because he was the Prince, and two the temperature drops in the shade. They were already in mid winter.
Hakim watched in wonder how the nobles tried to catch the attention of the Prince and failed. He didn't even look their way the entire introduction.
"Why is the Prince sitting down? Is he still recovering from the long trip?"
The teen popped his p's.
Hakim expected a heated response but Osiris did nothing.
"You are more than welcome to join him if you'd like."
"No the fuck he's not."
Osiris glared at them.
"Go stand with the rest, boy."
The teen's face turned a bright red as he went to stand in their section of the unit. There weren't many people willing to defy a Prince in public, but Hakim could see the gears turning in that teen's face. Osiris went back to staring into the forest beyond their camp.
There were a few more teens and adults that tried to poke at the Prince, but he didn't acknowledge any of it. Even when someone slipped out bastard, his eyes stayed on the forest. Eventually they finished and their unit was finally ready to officially begin.
Hakim grinned at his soldiers.
"Listen up!"
Hakim released his ego and allowed it to force the crowd into silence. He accidentally brushed by the boy but he only flicked his foot in response. Hakim wondered if he could tell the difference in someone aiming their intent at him or around him.
He decided to test it since he was aware of the boy's mood.Osiris glanced at him and rolled his eyes as he turned his body to face him.
Interesting.
"Today we will be going over aura, mana, and what techniques you will need to learn on top of basic training."
Some of the teens who had started to form posies groaned.
"It will be boring, but it is important. If you do not listen, then when you are on the field and have forgotten the answer, you will have no one to blame but yourself when you die."
The mood became somber.
"This is war. I am not here to codle you. I am here to teach you. We have a joint instructor, but he is currently meeting with higher ups at the moment."
Osiris had wondered where the man ran off too. When his lovely voice wasn't there to wake him up that morning he was a bit disappointed, but also relieved to be alone again.
"If we already know this information, why do we have to stay?"
It was the little duke from before, the tomato.
"This reason it is called a refresher is to make sure the information stays fresh in your mind." Hakim moved on. "Now. We will start with aura. Can anyone tell me what aura is?"
No one raised a hand.
"If no one volunteers I will select them at random."
Hakim looked at the Prince.
His eyes said murder if he called on him. Hakim turned towards the crowd.
"Fibble, what is aura?"
"Um…"
Fibble was an orphan from the last war. Or a result of the last war. Kids having kids who had kids. He appeared to be soft spoken and skittish, but he could be wrong. Hakim expected him to run during his first battle, he just seemed like the type.
"Aura is… it's like mana but inside. It's…"
Hakim decided to spare the boy.
"Aura is the result of manifesting your ego."
Hakim pushed his ego out enough to make it barely visible.
Osiris watched the faces of the soldiers as the man 'appeared' to push his ego out. The faces in the crowd changed.
So they really don't walk around with those lights shining all the time..
"What I am doing is connecting with my ego and pulling it out and over my body. This is what knights do to protect themselves from hard hits. What our goal here is, is to get everyone to at least a 3 star before battle. We only have two months til the enemy makes contact."
"Wait, I thought we had more time!"
Someone shouted. Their voice was wavy.
"Lesson one. War is unpredictable. The enemy could show up tomorrow and you would have to be ready to fight as you are."
The commoners' faces fell, and the nobles smirked.
It was always like this. The fools who laugh first die first.
"Now back to aura. It is similar to mana, but it comes from the inside. It is what some consider a soul."
Hakim dropped his ego.
"Many of you will find it difficult to find. It often takes years to grow it, but unfortunately we don't have the time for that."
Again the nobles sent mocking looks towards the commoners.
"Stars 1-3 will not show physically, so it will be difficult to measure your progress due to this, but with experience you will be able to feel the difference."
Osiris hated how wordy the speech was getting.
"If your aura is already 3 or higher you will begin to work on your mana."
The model grew until it was as tall as the man. Its insides were clear, showcasing the chakra points and mana veins throughout a human's body. Then, like a slideshow, the model's body switched from creature to creature, showcasing how mana flows through their bodies.
"Mana is more difficult to grow."
"You must spend mana to make mana." Hakin looked around. "Let's take the Prince for example."
Osiris's face turned mean. When he didn't attack him Hakin moved on. The model split in two and shrunk to float in the air, putting them side by side.
"We will pretend this is..." Hakim looked at the crowd. "Oliver."
The little duke puffed up. He side-eyed Osiris only to be disappointed yet again.
"Oliver awakens his gift and now his body will begin to collect mana."
Wavy lines showed energy moving into the model.
"Our bodies automatically collect and store mana in what is known as a mana sack. Depending on your gift, or race, will depend where and how the mana is stored."
The model lit up in the wrists.
"Once a sack is filled, the body will stop collecting mana, and that mana will sit there until you give it a task."
Osiris found himself listening unwillingly.
"Now let's take the Prince's situation." The models switched places. "When the Prince awakened, something happened that caused a small tear in the sack. Since there is a tear the mana that is supposed to be stored slips out and forces its way through their body and out through their gift."
The model started to drip at its foot like a faucet dripping bright blue blood.
"Because it cannot be stopped his body is constantly spending mana, which in turn causes his sack to grow due to the constant usage. This means his gift can never be turned off."
Osiris wondered if royals were used as examples a lot because it was starting to feel like that.
"But sacks can only grow so much before there is a cap." The models faded into a hand with a white ball glowing in the wrist. "The sack will grow and grow, giving a person more mana, but like everything there is a limit."
The ball grew until it popped.
"If Osiris was not a royal his sacks would have already exploded."
Hakim began to pace the rock he dubbed a stage.
"Royals are taught from a young age to form mana circles around their heart."
Osiris's entire focus turned to the speaker.
"A mana ring is how you grow your reserves. Each ring that wraps around your heart acts as another area to store your mana. With each circle comes its own rank in power. There are apprentices to archmages, each differing in strength. Now, in order to form the rings one must meditate. We will be showing a very simple technique to everyone in order to help you grow."
"What about what we learned from our families?"
It was Oliver.
"If you have a proper or better technique, you are free to use it. Regardless, everyone will be taught a military grade technique. Both mana and aura require meditation. So from today forward everyone is required to meditate if they are not sleeping, training, eating, pissing, or shitting."
Osiris felt like his entire world was a lie. He didn't even know mana circles existed.
Haldir showed up and whispered something into Hakim's ear.
"Looks like we have to take this lesson on the go. Scouts caught a Orc scout and they want me to take everyone to see and kill it."
A few people opposed loudly.
"Do not worry, they are already wounded and captured."
As the crowd settled Osiris was getting over a mini internal meltdown on how the hell he was even alive if he didn't know mana circles existed.
And what the hell was a mana circle.
"Let's get geared up."