It felt as if the air around Adi were alive with hidden vibrance. Orion could not quite put his finger on it, but standing that close to Adi was like standing by a gleaming charcoal furnace: warm, bright, and disturbingly dangerous. He was not like anyone Orion had ever met before, his wild presence racing Orion's heart. His mind went back and forth in wonder and trepidation.
"Are you just going to stand there, or can we talk?" Orion asked at last, cutting through the heavy silence. He spoke calmly, but his fingers fluttered nervously around the hilt of his sword. This was not at all how he had pictured the day in the forest.
Adi did not reply immediately. Instead, he only stared at Orion, an unwavering gaze fixed on him. Then, he briefly expanded his aura. The change was instant. The atmosphere became dense, as if the forest were holding its breath. Orion felt his stomach twisting with a strange pulse of energy running through the ground beneath him. It was not threatening, but it was daunting. At that moment, Orion finally felt what the weight of an aura was really like.
"I have never felt anything like this before," said Orion, who nearly whispered in wonder. "Your aura...it is unlike anything I have ever seen."
A shadow of an amused smile graced Adi's otherwise serious face. "This is no ordinary Aura, and you've never encountered anything like it. Mine is Ember Aura—a kind of raw power, passion, and complete resilience. It burns strongly and bright like a fire, yet it can also be controlled."
"Ember Aura?" reiterated Orion, caught up. He had heard Ethos Aura and generally knew the legends about all the other Aura forms, but he had never seen a proper composition other than Luminous. The higher forms? Why, he never really took them to be anything other than sheer fables.
Adi nodded patiently. "There are many forms of Aura, each representing a different level of strength and connection to Essentia. Most people begin with Luminous Aura—it is weak and dormant, yet bears potential. A few evolve into Veiled Aura since talent starts to show with training and effort. Thereafter is the Radiant Aura, balanced and efficient."
Orion listened intently, those words casting a crinkle-through in his mind. All his life for him, the Aura had been tame--a flicker of energy that he could barely sense. That thought of it growing into a greater being was almost too much to stomach.
"Then comes the Ember Aura, just like mine," continued Adi, his voice calm but heavy with experience. "It is fire and rage, wrought from passion and determination. Those with this Aura are often strong-willed and ironic, with relentless enthusiasm coursing through their veins. But also, it is a dangerous form of Aura. If not controlled, it can become destructive."
Orion gulped. To him, the way Adi spoke of Ember Aura made it sound implausibly powerful and dreadful. He couldn't imagine reaching such heights of power.
"What comes next after Ember Aura?" he hesitantly asked.
"Celestial Aura," Adi said, his tone softening. "It's rare, but those who do reach it have extremely sharp control over Essentia. They can manipulate energies with such astonishing skill that they with intent create life or destroy it. And beyond that is the highest form-Ethereal Aura. Few ever achieve it, but those who do are said to possess godlike powers, able to bend to reshape the world."
Orion gazed at Adi, his mind racing. Could a mere boy from a modest colony have within himself the capacity for something greater? It seemed impossible; yet, something about Adi's words invoked a flicker of hope within him.
"So, uh, what is such? For me?" he asked, his tone a bit hesitant. "If my Aura is not strong? If I am…well, ordinary?"
Adi smiled, softening the tension around the two. "Your Aura is alive, Orion. Of this, I am sure. It's not where you start that's most important; it's what you are willing to do to rise towards that greatness. And that is exactly why I'm here-to show you."
Orion shifted his weight and looked up at the sky. The sun had set, long shadows cast along the forest floor. Time was running out; he must return to the colony. They did not see fit to appreciate him staying out late, especially now that the forest was quite unpredictable after dark.
"I guess it is time for me to head back home," Orion said, motioning toward the path with a vague hand movement. "The colony won't be happy if I stay out too late."
Adi looked in the direction Orion gestured but made no attempt to thwart him from leaving. "You may go back, but just remember Orion, time waits for no man. If you do, you might miss out on realizing your true potential. The world is changing, and you must change with it."
Orion hesitated; he was not sure whether to choose the secure life he knew to the more secure promise of something new. Pulling was the family, the colony from where he belonged. But then again, Adi's incitement was advanced enough to kindle some curiosity in him. What would it be like if there really existed something beyond what he thought of himself?
"You can feel it, can't you?" Adi had mellowed into a quieter and more powerful undertone. "The energy within you. That is your Aura and is waiting to wake up. This is your moment to awaken it."
Orion's shaking chest began; he really wanted to believe it. Still, the fear of failure stopped him. Fears of proving weak.
Or failing Adi or himself.
"I'm too not ready yet," Orion finally murmured in a voice barely audible.
Adi stepped closer, the Aura around him flaring with energy. It felt like a gust of air, firm and powerfully controlled, brushing against Orion. "No one needs to be ready. It's why I'm here. T help you. But the choice...
Orion turned, taking a few steps toward the path that led back to the colony. "I'll think about it," he said, though his voice betrayed his uncertainty.
Adi didn't stop him, but his parting words lingered in the air. "Don't wait too long, Orion. When the storm calls, you must answer."
As Orion made his way through the forest, the shadows growing deeper around him, Adi's words echoed in his mind. Something had changed. For the first time in his life, he felt the stirrings of something greater within himself.
The wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it a promise of challenges and discoveries yet to come. And though Orion didn't know it yet, his journey had already begun.