5 years later...
Ryu was now 15 years old, after he lived with Sven for all those years, he grew closer to him and even considered him as his grandfather. The two lived peacefully in the woods.
Though Ryu had grown up, he still hadn't forgotten about that traumatic night.
...
Ryu and Sven were eating dinner when Ryu broke the silence.
"Gramps... I wanna explore..."
Sven stopped eating and looked at Ryu seriously, and told him in a stern tone.
"No."
Sven had considered Ryu as his own grandchild and didn't want to risk Ryu to any danger.
"B-but!-"
"I said no."
Sven was set on his own answer.
Ryu looked down with a sad expression.
Sven sighed.
"The world is dangerous, Ryu, I don't want to expose you to it."
"But-"
"No buts."
Ryu looked angry and stormed off, and went to his bed.
Sven sighed and went out for a walk in the night.
Sven knew what the world was like... He has experienced a lot of it. He was alive during the first appearances of the stones, and faced may hardships. Exposing his (adopted) grandson to the world? No way in hell he would do that... But maybe...
He sat down on a big stone and looked at the moon.
...
Maybe Ryu was right, he should go out on his own and learn what the world was like.
Sven sighed and went home.
...
Morning came, and they ate.
Ryu still looked angry, an awkward silence between the two.
Sven, with a defeated sigh, spoke up.
"If you want to go out, then you can."
Ryu's eyes lit up.
"Really?!"
Sven nodded defeatedly, and Ryu celebrated.
"But you must listen to me first."
Ryu nodded eagerly.
...
"I'll teach you something, follow me"
Ryu grinned widely and followed Sven.
...
They walked for a while, the trees were tall and the birds chirped, the sunlight was warm, and so was Ryu's smile, excited to finally explore the world.
While walking, Sven asked.
"Ryu, you do know what Stones are, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
...
"When the Stones first appeared, those who weren't able to get their hands on one were powerless when faced with a user, even the lower grade users..."
"So...?"
"I don't remember where this story came from... But anyway, in some remote village, they were attacked by a group of bandits. The villagers were powerless against them, especially when the leader of the bandits was a Shifter, a Special-Ranked stone, even... So the villagers could only cower... Until.. uh... wait I forgot..."
Ryu scoffed.
"Oh c'mon, seriously?"
"Quiet, I'm trying to recall..." Sven was slightly offended, being reminded of his memory.
They both walked and walked silently for a moment...
"Ah! Where was I... Oh right... Until one of the bandits was beaten up, by a woman who was glowing red..."
"Red? Where-"
"Don't disturb me, ahem, the woman didn't have any noticeable features whatsoever, she remained looking like a normal human, the only difference is that she had this red aura around her...."
"Woah"
"And after that, uhm... I forgot-"
Ryu sighed.
"Ugh..."
"Hey, I'm getting old, you know? Can't blame me."
Ryu chuckled.
"So, what was that story supposed to be?"
Sven smiled.
"Aura... That was the beginning of Aura Fighting."
"Aura... Fighting?"
Sven nodded.
"Yes, aura... In this world, if there are Stone Users, there are also Aura Fighters."
Ryu nodded, amazed by this fact.
"That's awesome."
Sven nodded.
"I don't want you to go out there in the world without something to defend with."
Ryu nodded, touched by his grandpa's intentions.
"I understand... So now what?"
"Hm... In your whole life, did you ever show any signs of an aura fighter?"
Ryu shook his head.
"I don't even know the signs, Gramps."
"Oh, sorry... So uhh, for a simpler question, do you see weird glowing symbols on your palms?"
Ryu looked at his palms and saw nothing...
"No..."
Sven nodded.
"Every single human being has aura inside of them... The more they have, the more visible the symbols are... You... I can sense that...."
...
Sven looks back at Ryu.
"Absolute zero talent for Aura..."
"..."
Ryu was horrified by his Grandpa's statement.
"Z-zero talent...?"
Sven nods.
"Don't worry... I know a way."
Ryu nods.
They walked together for a while.
...
After a while of walking, they reach a small opening at the side of a huge mountain. They entered the opening. Once inside, they are greeted by the sight of a huge cavern, with a giant hole in the middle.
"Woah..."
Ryu was amazed, though Sven was just smiling.
Ryu noticed the huge hole and walked towards it and stopped, just an inch away from the edge. He looked down below and saw the ground. It wasn't too deep, it looked like 4 meters. from his view.
"Jeez..."
Ryu was slightly taken aback.
Sven patted his back.
"Ryu... You know I love you dearly, right?"
Ryu looked confused, but he nodded anyway.
"Yeah, why...?"
Then suddenly, Sven pushed Ryu to the hole. Ryu screamed like a kid.
Ryu fell to the ground and looked absolutely horrified. He sustained some bruises, though nothing serious, thankfully.
"G-gramps! Help me out here!"
Ryu pleaded the light of excitement in his eyes from earlier disappeared in an instant.
Sven shook his head and asked.
"Do you want to explore the world?"
Ryu nodded.
Sven sighed.
"Then you should do this at least... In 3 days, you must manifest your aura, or I won't let you out explore the world."
"But gramps-"
"When the body faces extreme conditions, there's a chance an aura can manifest inside a person... I know you can do it, so persevere."
Ryu was scared shitless.
"... I understand." But he knew he needed to do this.
Sven nodded and turned around, planning to leave.
"Wait!" Ryu yelped.
"At least tell me what I need to do!"
...
In a cold voice, Sven replied, "Trust me, you'll know when you feel it."
And with that, Sven left, disappearing from Ryu's sight. Ryu wandered around, kicked rocks, sang and just mindlessly walked.
Then, remembered why he was here in the first place.
"Right... Aura. *huff* I can do this."
He went to the center and sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Focus... Focus..."
He closed his eyes and meditated.
Nothing.
He groaned out of frustration and went back to meditating again. Just like earlier, he couldn't feel anything at all. He stood up and punched the ground. He instantly felt a sharp pain. He immediately pulled away his fist and caressed it.
"Ow..."
He tried to huff the pain away, but it still hurt like hell.
He sighed and went back to the center again, and meditated.
This went on and on.
The cycle of him meditating, not finding anything at all, frustration, running laps around, and back to meditation again, went on for hours.
...
While he was sitting, the inevitable worry came... Food.
"There's no way he's just gonna leave me out here without food... Right?"
"... Right?"
The cavern was indifferent to his worries.
Ryu screamed for food, hoping Sven could hear him.
...
"Shit... Speaking of shit, am I supposed to just..."
He looked around and gulped.
"No way... This has to be a joke..."
...
...
4 hours later...
Ryu sat in the center, pondering about why he was here in the first place...
"Adventure... Right...."
...
"Heh.... Hehehe.... Haha... Hahahha... HAHa... HAHAHAHHAhHhahhAhHH-"
He let out a chuckle, and that chuckle became a laugh, and that laugh became a loud cackle.
No one's here... He's free to do anything...
"AHAHAHhahhHHhHAhahAHHAhHAHahAHHAHA"
He laughed and stood up.
He ran laps around while laughing like a maniac.
This went on for hours... The already weak light from the sun is no longer here... It's nighttime.
"HAHAHAHHHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA-"
He was hungry, insane, and still had no progress on his Aura.
...
1st Day Complete.