A day later
This was another hot summer day the sun cast a golden glow over the entire village. Inside their 2 story cottage Luis sat with his legs crossed on a big soft but non fluffy mat. Across from him sat his father with the house fireplace being on the right side of him. The fire crackled, casting flickering shadows across the walls. A stick was also placed next to Luis a sturdy stick that would not break unless it was bent.
"Alright Luis," Noah said, his voice calm and enthusiastic, "today, we're going to start your aura training. Are you excited?"
Luis nodded eagerly. "Yes, Papa! I can finally learn to use aura just like the bigger kids"
Noah smiled, "Good. Let's start with the basics. You already know that everyone has aura, right?"
Luis tilted his head, his brow furrowing. "Yes I also remember all the tiers of aura there's novice, adept, advanced, Intermediate, elite, master, grandmaster, legendary, and mythical, but isn't aura just for fighting and blessings? Like what you and Mama use?"
Noah chuckled softly. "Not quite. Aura isn't just for fighting, Luis. It's in everyone, every single person is born with the same amount of aura they can increase the amount or control of it with training. What makes the difference is how people use it. Even if someone doesn't consciously train it, their body can still find ways to use aura for everyday tasks."
Luis blinked. "Like what?"
"Well," Noah said, leaning forward slightly, "take a woodcutter, for example. If someone spends their whole life chopping wood, their body unconsciously uses aura to make the task easier over time. They don't even realize it's happening, but it's there, strengthening their muscles and movements."
Luis's eyes widened. "So even normal people use aura?"
"Exactly," Noah replied. "Now, when it comes to training aura consciously or unconsciously there are many different methods thousands or hundreds suited for different Individuals but today we are gonna focus on one if the two main conscious methods of training aura, there are two main methods: physical and breathing exercises. Today, we'll focus on the breathing ones."
Luis nodded again, but a small frown tugged at his lips. "Why breathing? Isn't moving around more fun?"
Noah chuckled. "It might not sound exciting, but breathing exercises are important because they help you connect with your aura. They're the foundation for everything else. Think of it like this: if you don't understand how to sense and control your aura, how can you use it properly, it doesn't matter if you have an abundance of aura if you can't control it you can't use it?"
"Ohhh," Luis said, scratching the back of his head. "So it's like learning the rules of a game before you play?"
"Exactly," Noah said with a smile. "Now, do you remember when you talked about hearing whispers from the fire and feeling something inside you that made you want to move around?"
Luis's eyes lit up. "Yeah! That was so weird! It felt like... like something was trying to make me get up and do stuff."
Noah's expression grew serious. " Yes that's what I'm talking about your mother and I told you not to share that with anyone but when we are training or alone together it's fine. This morning, when we were checking you body for where you said you would feel the weirdness we realized that, what you felt was aura where you pointed to had more aura then the rest of your body."
Luis tilted his head. "Aura? From the whispers?"
"Yes," Noah confirmed. "That's why, today, I want you to focus on that feeling. I want you to focus on the flame in the fireplace in front of you. I want you to stare at the flame, feel that sensation inside you, and stay focused on it. Once you can sense it clearly, I want you to try moving that feeling to your fist. You'll be holding this stick" he picked up the sturdy piece of wood "and if you do it right, you'll be able to break it. It's solid and shouldn't break easily unless your trying to bend it, but if you use your aura correctly, you'll be able to break it without having to bend it."
Luis's brow furrowed as he processed the instructions. "Okay, so I just need to look at the flame, until I feel that weird feeling in my chest or until the whispers start, and make it so the feeling moves from my chest to my hand.?"
"Basically but it is not necessary to hear the whispers do tell me if you hear them though," Noah said with a smile.
Luis nodded confidently. "Okay, I can do that!" But then he hesitated. "Papa, I still don't understand why can't I tell people about the whispers? Is there something bad about them?"
Noah's expression softened as he placed a hand on Luis's shoulder. "As your mother and I told you before, there are things we can't explain right now. When you're older, we'll tell you everything. For now, all we need is for you to trust us. This is very important, Luis. No matter what anyone says or what happens, you must keep this a secret between the three of us, just our family okay. Can you promise me that again?"
Luis looked into his father's eyes, being able to see how serious he was with his stern expression. He nodded even though he will didn't understand why. "I promise Papa. I won't tell anyone."
"Good," Noah said, feeling relieved. "Now, if you remember everything, let's start!."
---
Luis sat with his legs crossed in front of the fireplace, his face scrunched up in concentration.
"Remember keep your eyes on the flame and focus on that feeling inside you, don't listen to the whispers if they happen just focus on the feeling in your chest. Don't try to rush take deep breathes and take it slowly even making a bit of progress will be impressive."
Luis stared at the fire, making his breathing slowly and taking deep breathes as his father said trying to feel the sensation in his chest. At first, it was hard for him to focus his mind kept wandering to the stick, his friends playing outside, and the delicious smell of breakfast from earlier or other thoughts. But slowly, he started to hear the whispers again he was still not able to make out what they said but he chose to focus on the feeling in his chest instead.
"I feel it…the sensation and hear the whispers" Luis murmured.
"Good," Noah said gently. "Now, try to guide that feeling toward your fist and don't focus on the whispers. Imagine the sensation as a circle in which your aura is. Imagine there being a hole in the circle from where the aura flows like water to you fist. It's fine if you can't do it on your first try it is hard"
For a few moments, nothing happened. But then, with a small jolt in his body, Luis felt the aura move in his body going toward his fist. The aura felt warm it made his focused mind ease up and without thinking, he clenched his fist the stick in his hand snapped cleaning in two.
"I did it!" Luis exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement. He looked up at his father, holding the broken pieces of the stick.
Noah's face broke into a proud smile. "You did. Well done, Luis."
Luis grinned from ear to ear, standing up seeming excited to do more he asked. "Can we do more? Can I try seeing if I can break something stronger? What other ways are there that I can use this?"
Noah laughed, ruffling Luis's hair. "That's enough questions and that's also enough for today, you little rascal one. You've done enough already on your first lesson let's end it here, you don't want to get too drained."
Luis pouted but was still happy as he held the broken stick like a trophy. As Noah cleaned up the some of the broken pieces of the stick near the fireplace he smiled thinking of how fast he had learned and the promised he showed. It raised his spirits making him believe even more that Luis will be able to survive the Phoenix reincarnating.