— An Aura
Shiro sighed.
"Well, you've chosen the most difficult one. Creating an aura is difficult in itself, and maintaining it is extremely draining, not to mention costly in terms of mana. And the most important thing is that training it is a real nightmare. Are you sure you want an aura?"
Kanashimi replied immediately.
"Yes."
Shiro groaned pitifully, lowered his back, and fell to the ground, leaving his legs in the same position. In this position, he continued to recite what he had once memorized from similar lessons with Ran under the very same tree.
"Auras are mostly of three types, although there are many others, but their users are very rare, so little is known about them. Each type has its own method of creation and its own purposes. The first is the spread of some feeling, for example, to inspire someone or to make them afraid. The second is to change whatever comes into your aura, for example, to make the air poisonous or to change the temperature. And the third is to make someone do something, for example, perform an action, use specific magic, say something, raise a hand, or something else."
"I need the third type."
"To make someone do something in your aura... You've chosen the most difficult type, brother."
He paused briefly and then asked,
"Do you know what ability our father has?"
"I've never been interested."
"And what if I tell you this: He often used it when he fought with you."
Surprise appeared on Kanashimi's face. He lowered his gaze slightly and pondered.
Could it be that Kanashimi, being just a teenager, had forced a man who had spent his entire life teaching others to fight and had fought in countless battles, to fight with all his might and use magic? And Kanashimi had fought him on equal terms.
Several seconds of silence passed... Then a few more... Finally, Shiro broke the silence.
"So, have I piqued your interest?"
Kanashimi replied thoughtfully.
"How do you know about his ability?"
Shiro smiled.
"He told me a long time ago."
'He never told me this.'
This bothered Kanashimi a bit, as he had always believed that his father hid nothing from him and respected him greatly, just as Kanashimi respected his father.
"Well, what do you think? Should I tell you?"
"Tell me."
"The way he perfectly defended himself and counterattacked is a manifestation of his ability. To be more precise... He doesn't need the two most basic principles of combat: support and the weight of the blow. His ability provides all of that. That's why he can counterattack from any position, as long as his opponent makes even one mistake."
Kanashimi felt enlightened; he finally understood the secret of his father's incredible stability. Andrian never lost his balance, no matter how powerful the blow that hit him; he could easily take it and counterattack even from an awkward position.
"In any case... You'll have to work very hard to create your strange aura."
"What kind of magic are you creating?"
"This magic is still far from completion; it's too vast. I think we'll finish around the same time. And now..."
Shiro began to get up.
"I have some things to do. So here's your first task: Try to make your mana burst out of your body and stay circling around it. This won't be difficult; mana always reads your intentions and does what's needed."
"Got it, I'll try."
Shiro decided to go to the forest. He finally decided to try activating the ritual. He had hesitated for a long time, but in the end, curiosity won out; it was much stronger than Shiro.
The journey took much less time than the first time; the sun was still at its zenith when he arrived at the stone slab.
It hadn't changed at all since the last visit, with the same myriad of runes leaving no empty space, and the chains.
Shiro approached the chains again to confirm or refute that his mana reacted to them.
It happened again. His mana trembled near them; Shiro felt its shiver.
He had no hypotheses about why this might be, but he thought that attempting activation would help him find out.
'Well, time to start.'
Shiro gathered his strength and took the chains in his hands, sending mana into them.
As soon as this happened, Shiro wanted to scream, but he could only silently clutch his chest and curl up.
Something alien entered him through his mana. An alien particle, so powerful that it suppressed him completely, drowning out all his thoughts.
Shiro was in pain; his entire body was pierced with stabbing pain; even thinking was painful.
The alien particle contacted his mana and soul, causing terrible pain. But this pain was not physical; he felt his very being crumbling, turning into something useless, serving no function.
This energy meticulously destroyed Shiro from within, starting with his mana. But his mana didn't want to give up; like a living organism, it tried to destroy the intruder, not allowing it to kill its host.
The intruder was incredibly strong. A tiny particle had entered Shiro, but it possessed frightening, almost divine power, perhaps left by a demigod.
Perhaps it was a remnant of his mana, for some reason not disappeared over time. Shiro was very lucky that it was so small. Had it been any larger, Shiro would have died instantly.
His mana desperately fought the intruder, but its efforts were futile. The intruder was too strong.
Shiro writhed in agony. The pain filled his entire being, and he was unable to even scream; his mouth was open, but Shiro made no sound.
But then his mana seemed to change its approach. Instead of trying to destroy, it attempted to absorb the intruder, resonate with it, and transform it, making it friendly.
At first, this had no effect, seemingly only worsening the situation. The intruder directly opposed this attempt, not allowing itself to be absorbed.
But then something happened. The intruder suddenly began to lose, intertwining with Shiro's mana. Together, these two forces began to merge, giving birth to something new from this terrible union, causing Shiro even greater agony.
Shiro couldn't even think; his entire being was consumed by the terrible agony of the merging of the two forces.
After what seemed like an eternity, when the merging finally seemed to end, there was a moment of respite.
'Is it finally ovеr?'
Shiro thought it was over and tried to get up, but immediately fell, feeling a terrible burning sensation throughout his body.
What had been born from the fusion of the two forces suddenly began to spread throughout Shiro's body. Rather, through his mana and soul, transforming and making them like itself.
This burning was also not physical; his mana and soul were burning. But no harm was done; the new intruder was trying to empower, not destroy, but using a crude method, forcibly subjugating all his mana and soul.
In this terrible metamorphosis, a new Shiro was born. This Shiro was much more powerful than the previous one, qualitatively better. He could do things that the old Shiro could never have done.
He also felt a strange connection with someone.
And this someone was watching him. Shiro felt this gaze as if it were something physical. It was the gaze of the god himself. Shiro felt his power over him, but this power was blocked by something, as if shielded by a thin, transparent glass. He could feel it, but it was shielded from him, as was the one who was watching him.
Gradually, the burning began to subside; the gaze also disappeared, as if this someone had lost all interest in him. However, Shiro felt a kinship with him, as if this someone was now connected to him.
'Did I just absorb a part of him?'
Exhausted, Shiro continued to lie curled up, breathing heavily. The metamorphosis had drained him like a lemon, but only mentally.
In fact, Shiro didn't feel weakened after what had happened; on the contrary, he felt a strength he had never felt before. His mana had changed, becoming qualitatively better, capable of things that were previously impossible.
Shiro felt his mana surging within him, giving him strength. Before, his mana flowed like a small stream, slow but steady. Now, it was like a stream of water rushing through pipes, washing away everything in its path.
Slowly getting up, Shiro sat down, wiping his sweaty face. His head ached terribly; everything around him was blurry and indistinct.
He slowly crawled towards a fallen tree lying next to the slab.
Leaning against it, he took a shaky breath. What had happened to him was hard to believe; even he didn't fully believe it.
First, as soon as his head cleared, he decided to check how his mana had changed. Had it become stronger, or perhaps easier to control?
Shiro had heard about different types of mana. There are commonly known three types:
Ordinary - possessed by the majority, it is not distinctive, and all textbooks are written assuming the student possesses this type of mana.
Fundamental - More convenient mana. It is easier to control, or rather, it doesn't need to be controlled at all, as it acts automatically, allowing the user to concentrate on something else. Owners of this type of mana can create much more powerful and efficient abilities that do not require concentration from them. In essence, these abilities simply work; they need nothing more than mana as fuel, hence the name.
Direct - This is an even rarer type of mana. It is similar to fundamental mana but does not act on its own. The main advantage of this mana is the ability to directly affect one's body or other objects. When affecting the body, it can be strengthened by infusing it with mana. When affecting objects, any object can be infused with mana and used as a mana battery, storing mana in objects and retrieving it when needed.
But Shiro's mana did not fit any of these descriptions; he could feel it. None of the individual types of mana enhanced a person on their own; they only provided conveniences and techniques unavailable to other types. Shiro's situation was different.
Within him, power surged, nourishing his body and soul. He felt as if he had risen above his former self, stepping onto a new level.
Shiro decided to test his updated power and began creating threads that were to become his new ability.
The idea was simple - to create a maximally flexible ability that would cover all his needs in combat and beyond. He should be able to weave armor, weapons, and absolutely any items from these threads.
Shiro created a dozen yellow threads and immediately felt the difference. They had become longer, even hanging from his hand. Previously, he could create a thread no longer than 5 centimeters; now, the threads hung almost half a meter. They had also become stronger and more elastic.
Shiro tried to weave a sphere, which he did very easily. He simply created a couple hundred threads, compressed them, and made them solid.
He needed to test their strength and how long they could exist without contact with his body.
Throwing the sphere at the tree, a piece of bark flew off, and the sphere fell to the ground. Shiro quickly ran over and examined the sphere.
Only a couple of threads had flown off, which were now lying on the ground and slowly fading. The sphere itself showed no signs of disappearing, glowing brightly with a golden color.
The tree, however, had taken quite a beating; the impact had knocked off a piece of bark, and a dent from the sphere was visible.
As the sphere slowly faded and disappeared, Shiro continued his experiments.
This time, he turned his hand into a blade-like shape and plunged it into the same tree. The blade sank to a considerable depth and got stuck; Shiro couldn't pull it out, so he dispersed it.
'What the hell, how did I become so strong?'
Looking at the sphere, he saw that it had only slightly dulled; it could still remain in this form for a long time without disappearing.
Delighted with his newfound strength, Shiro continued to explore its limits.
Next up was defense. Shiro didn't want his armor to just protect; he wanted it to also enhance him, acting like a second skeleton, taking on all the load.
He created a blade on his hand again, but this time he wrapped threads around his entire arm and half of his chest, and struck again, trying to move the threads during the strike to accelerate it.
It didn't work very well. The blade struck barely any harder than the previous time. But if he wasn't very good at this yet due to a lack of speed, he would definitely be good if speed wasn't needed.
Shiro tried to pull out the stuck blade. Last time, he didn't have enough strength for this, but this time he helped himself with the threads, moving his arm with them.
The blade was pulled out immediately, and Shiro was thrown back by the momentum, falling to the ground.
A smile didn't leave Shiro's face; he was amazed at his new strength.
In the end, he chopped down the poor tree and continued to hack at it for a long time, completely intoxicated by what he could now do. Only the approaching sunset stopped him.
Shiro had even forgotten about food while hacking at the tree. When he remembered hunger, his stomach immediately growled, and he felt hungry.
'I'll eat on the way.'
He looked into his bag, took out some bread, and began to chew it on the way home. Today, even this bread seemed like the best food he had ever tasted.
'This is the best day of my life!'
On the way home, Shiro felt like the happiest person alive. He felt as if he had been reborn, or perhaps truly born for the first time, having been merely a embryo of himself before.
He quickly made his way out of the forest and could already see his home; it was only about a hundred meters away or so.
'I wonder who I should brag to fi...'
Shiro fell unconscious...