'Did a child just destroy our hard work?' Taurus Eastel thought in disbelief, staring at the aftermath caused by his grandson's attack.
He doubted his previous judgment and started reconsidering whether he should teach him aura usage or not.
The old man eventually shook his head, staring at the child facing him with wide, pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry…" Taurus spoke with a meek voice, as the old man patted his shoulders a moment later.
"It's fine," He admitted it and took responsibility for everything that happened due to his stubbornness.
Yet, the sadness caused by the loss remained evident on his face.
Thankfully, the crevasse was not extremely deep, giving him a silver of hope to retrieve some of the obsidian down there.
"Chris, inform your old brother to hire some workers to clean up this mess," The old man spoke before taking Taurus' hand with a smile painting his face.
His son nodded in approval before leaving the area right away.
"Let's go teach you aura," Guessing his grandson would be restricting his strength against his first grandfather, the old man chose to push his current worries aside for the time being.
The old man's sour mood was slowly fading, thinking about his so-called revenge, his face was getting filled with smiles due to the thoughts running wildly in his head.
'Well, this weird. But at least he's not pissed anymore.' Taurus thought as they walked east, the old man's man expressions easing his worries considerably.
Taurus' eyes widened upon arriving at the familiar place.
"Can I get an apple, Granpa?!" He spoke in excitement upon witnessing the towering apple tree before them.
"Of course, but you will have to get it yourself." The old man responded with a grin, before continuing his words.
"I will teach you aura blades, then you will help your get as much as you want!" Taurus nodded his head vigorously.
"Very well, look at me carefully." The old man spoke before retrieving his sword.
"Meet Sarel, my spirit sword." He spoke once again as the silver sword gleamed brightly.
"And this is my aura," He continued while circulating his mana as the cobalt blue covered his body for a few minutes before forming a light cobalt blue layer around his body.
"Now, tell me what you understood so far." He spoke for a final time, knowing Taurus knew how to circulate his mana since it was concealed perfectly.
"You released your mana?" Taurus tilted his head, questioning before releasing his golden mana.
"What in god's name is this?" The old man wondered, feeling shocked that Taurus' mana was something unseen before.
He thought carefully, his knowledge reminding him that mana had six colors at best.
'Grey, Silver, Teal, Sky Blue, Cobalt Blue, and Pure Blue… Then where did gold come from?' He thought Grey was the worst and Pure Blue was the best, being something akin to perfection.
But Gold? He never heard of it, neither legends, rumors nor even anyone having it.
"Am I correct, Grandpa?" Taurus spoke the moment he noticed his grandfather's expressions, choosing not to give him enough time to think about it.
Ah? Yes, of course." The old muttered after head, pushing his thoughts aside.
'Well, it doesn't matter whether it's blue or gold. The lethality and solidity will speak for themselves.'
"While you've mastered the circulation, you will need to condense your mana until it transitions to aura," The old man spoke, knowing his words were much easier told than executed.
"I don't understand! What does co—cond—condenase—that word mean?!" Taurus shook his head as the old man smiled, finding something normal about Taurus.
"It's alright, you are a child after all," He spoke before pausing for a second about an easier way to explain it.
"You see that mana around your body? Try calling it back, but not to your mana core, but to your skin."
"Hmmm," Taurus held his chin for a moment acting as if he was thinking then he nodded.
"I will try!" He finally spoke a moment later, before attempting it.
Suddenly, the golden mana forming a golden hue around his body began shrinking until it reached his skin, forming a thin layer around his skin.
"Are you kidding me?" The old man spoke, shocked at how fast Taurus was able to master the technique.
'A purely simple explanation and you are done?' The old man couldn't contain his amazement.
For someone talented, an entire layer wouldn't be formed from the first try and some areas would be exposed completely.
But this? It certainly exceeded all of his expectations so far.
"I did it, granpa. I did it!" Taurus finally opened his eyes, shouting excitedly the moment he saw the golden layer formed around his hand.
"Well, Yes. But can you tell me how much health do you have?" The old man spoke, intending to hit Taurus to test the strength of the aura layer.
"Ten Thousand!" Taurus raised both of his hands before folding them right in front of Grandfather, surprising him once again.
"Good god! Do you have around six hundred vitality?!" The old man covered his face with his right hand before asking quietly.
"No, Granpa! I have 715."
"I, well," The old man tried to speak but failed to for the sheer shock he felt, ending up remaining shut for a few moments.
'Might do it since he wouldn't feel anything at all.' The old man thought, noting Taurus' health was incredibly high for his strength to cause any serious damage.
He found it funny that his physical damage amounted to less than ten percent of Taurus' health not knowing his health was nearly double what he said.
"Will you let your grandpa test the solidity of your aura?" The old man finally spoke after thinking about it for a while as Taurus nodded his head.
"Yes, but how?!"
"Oh, don't worry." The old man responded to Taurus' question before folding his hand and offering to Taurus.
"Let's just play a game, you—"
"Yes!" Taurus shouted right away, knowing his grandfather hated being cut off.
"Easy boy, Don't ever cut me again." Taurus nodded upon hearing the old man's words, prompting him to continue a moment later.
"Very well, we will take turns hitting each other. But with a maximum of two hundred physical damage, because your grandpa's stats are not as crazy as yours. Do you understand?"
"Em," Taurus nodded his in approval and the old man released a sigh of relief knowing his plan was going the intended way.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long as Taurus spoke once again with a new idea.
"Can we use our skills too?" The old man took a few moments to think carefully about his grandson's suggestion, having no idea what skills he had.
"I suppose yes?" He responded, finding the suggestion a good method to know through a less boring way than simply asking.
"Good! Then when do we start?"
"Right away, but leave your weapon behind!" The old jumped, distancing himself from Taurus before beckoning him to take the initiative.
"Yes," Taurus responded before sending his beloved weapon to his inventory.
"Can we begin now?" Taurus curiously asked before taking his offensive stance as the old man nodded.
"Then freeze, Granpa!!!" Taurus shouted as he could, activating his Restrict skill and rendering his grandfather defenseless before rushing forward with his hands clenched into fists.
"Take this, Granpa!" Taurus shouted once again, sending a punch toward the old man's stomach.
"Your turn, granpa!" Taurus continued once he was done while the old man remained frozen in place for another moment.
"Haaaa, haa!" The old man collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily upon experiencing the space skill for the first time.
"What did you just do you brat?!" He continued as Taurus laughed loudly, jumping to celebrate his victory.
"I froze you using my skill!" The old man started reconsidering the game rules once again upon hearing Taurus' words.
If that skill was allowed all the time his chance of getting a hit in would be very slim.
"Little Taurus, will you consider your grandfather's age and grant him a little request? Let's keep the offensive stats to our turns!"
"But what does that mean, granpa?"
"Hmm, don't use any skills that affect me unless it's your turn. Do you understand?"
"Ah, yes!" Taurus nodded his head, acting like the latter was easier to understand than the former.
"Then, here I come!" The old man shouted and accelerated forward.
'Fuck fuck fuck, I can't' Taurus stood in place with a deep smile, trying his best to contain himself and avoid laughing due to his grandfather's display resulting from old age.
"You don't just stand there and smile while someone is attacking you, boy!" He shouted the moment he arrived before his grandson, intending to teach him a lesson.
He clenched his left hand and sent it flying toward Taurus.
'Freeze!' Taurus thought the moment his grandfather nearly made it to him, he stopped the time and casually walked behind the old man.
"Got you, old bones!" He muttered quietly before patting his grandfather on the back and continuing on his way.
A few seconds passed and soon, the time flow around him returned to normal.
"What?" The old man's eyes widened as the fist passed through Taurus' body and the afterimage slowly faded away before his face.
He felt confused, wondering what just happened before his own eyes.
'Did he just stop time?' The old man thought, knowing such an effect was impossible no matter how fast someone was.
Meanwhile, Taurus smiled before beginning his child's act.
"Here granpa, here!" Taurus jumped a couple of times, standing far behind his grandfather, getting his attention once again
A/N: A longer chapter as compensation for yesterday's short chapter.