Chapter 6
Linia acquiring aura was truly an unexpected event.
Whether it was due to a change of heart after the goblin attack or an awakening triggered by her martial arts training, I couldn't say for sure. But she had managed to obtain aura, an essential trait for any warrior.
"Heehee, I'm free from Tania's nagging! No more boring cleaning duties!"
The fact that an idiot like her awakened to aura… The end must be near.
Or maybe, since she's a fool, at least it's fortunate that her body is sturdy enough.
Either way, I let out a sharp remark as I watched Linya grinning from ear to ear.
"Father didn’t send you to the academy so you could slack off."
She was like family to me, and to my father, she was practically a daughter as well. So he readily agreed to support her tuition.
(Though, considering I earn more money than Father, it's technically my money.)
And so, she was coming with me to the academy, also serving as my escort.
---
[Our train has arrived at its final destination, Grante Station. Passengers, please ensure you take all your belongings before disembarking.]
"Wow, look outside! I think we’ve arrived!"
By the time I woke up from a nap on the train, we had reached Grante, the capital of the empire and home to the academy.
The sun was beginning to set outside the window, and as darkness fell, countless lights illuminated the city, revealing a breathtaking nightscape.
"I've never seen a big city like this before!"
"Don't act like a country bumpkin. Just get off quietly."
"Hmph! So mean!"
Grumbling behind me, Linia grabbed her luggage and followed me off the train.
A massive crowd of disembarking passengers started moving in unison toward their destinations. We joined the flow and began heading out of the station.
"It's already late, so let's find an inn."
"Aww, but I want to look around a bit more."
"You can do sightseeing later when we have time. First, we need to check in, unpack, and prepare for the entrance exam."
"But…."
"You do realize that if you fail the entrance exam, you’ll have to go back to Leventesia and start sweeping floors again, right?"
"Tch!"
Dragging a sulking Linia along, I quickened my pace.
As we exited the station and entered the city's central district, Grante's scenery fully unfolded before us.
Streetcars ran along the roads, and high-rise buildings combined modern and medieval architecture in a unique harmony. Numerous streetlights and signboards illuminated the streets, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
Ornate decorations and sculptures adorned various parts of the city, giving it a distinct charm different from the modern world.
"It's pretty crowded even though it's nighttime."
"The infrastructure here is good enough that people can move around freely even at night."
While Grante was developed enough to rival modern cities, rural areas still had places that were barely more advanced than medieval Europe, where even a simple torch could be a rarity.
Because of that, the stark contrast between small provincial towns and this bustling metropolis was all the more striking.
"Well, even in our hometown, Leventesia, you installed the streetlights, so—"
After the road maintenance was completed, people started going out a lot more at night.”
“That time was really tough. We went through so much hardship because of the maintenance project…”
“Our young master is amazing~!”
“Why does that sound like sarcasm to me?”
“It’s genuine!”
As I walked with Linia, casually looking around, we soon spotted the inn we had booked before setting off.
The inn, named Spirit’s Forest, had an elegant sign adorned with a leaf-shaped ornament and a figure resembling a fairy. It looked far too luxurious and extravagant for an inn.
And, of course, it wasn’t just the sign that was extravagant.
“This is an inn?”
“It looks more like a hotel.”
Leaving behind the softly glowing neon sign that gave the place a modern city vibe, we stepped inside.
Upon entering, a well-organized reception desk greeted us, where an employee in a neat uniform politely welcomed us.
“Hello, dear guests. Do you have a reservation?”
“Yes, I made a reservation under the name Laniel Leventesia.”
I immediately pulled up the reservation confirmation on my tablet and showed it to the elegantly dressed receptionist.
“Allow me to check.”
The staff member courteously took the tablet and verified the reservation.
“Confirmed. Your room is number 206, and here is your key.”
“Thank you.”
The inn didn’t just have a sophisticated exterior—it also had a modern hotel-like interior, making it easy for us to head straight to our room without any inconvenience.
The room was just as refined as the rest of the place.
“Wow! This bed is even better than the one in my room!”
“It’s definitely high-end.”
“The refrigerator is the latest model! If you leave it open, the room will turn into a winter wonderland!”
“The one I made performs far better.”
For the record, the refrigerators here don’t generate heat, so leaving them open actually cools down the surroundings like an air conditioner. The energy efficiency isn’t great, though.
Anyway, both Linia and I were satisfied with the unexpectedly good accommodations as we unpacked our belongings.
“I’m showering first.”
“Okay! I’ll look around a bit more!”
I went into the bathroom first, while Linia wandered around the room, curiously inspecting everything.
Since I hadn’t sweated much, I finished washing up quickly and switched places with Linia.
Once we both felt refreshed and had finished organizing our things—
“Now that we’re done unpacking, let’s go explore outside!”
“Quit talking nonsense and take out the notes I organized for you. You need to study for the written exam.”
“Already? There are still a few days left, so can’t we take a day to rest…?”
“Rest and sightseeing can wait until after the exam.”
“No way!”
“If you fail and have to return to the mansion, Tania will be absolutely delighted.”
“Ugh…! Grrr…!”
Linia’s disappointment quickly evolved into sheer despair.
Linia clutched her chest, gasping, but that wasn’t my problem.
“You should at least be grateful. An elite instructor is personally teaching you.”
“Raniel isn’t an elite instructor—he’s an elite striker instructor…”
“Shut up, dumbass.”
I silenced the whining Lynia with some kind words and began the lesson.
“I’ll explain it at your level, so just absorb it into your brain.”
I snatched Linia’s tablet, quietly wrote something on it, then flipped it around for her to see.
"Mana is the purest form of energy. When processed within the body, it is called either magic power or aura."
“I know that much already,” Lynia shrugged.
Well, it was basic knowledge, so of course she’d know.
“Then warriors use aura, mages use magic power, and magical engineers use raw mana itself. You get that too, right?”
“That much is obvious.”
Lynia’s shoulders lifted even higher. It was basic theory, yet she was acting like she was about to touch the sky.
“Next.”
Since the goal was Linia’s learning, I added a simple diagram and some text to the tablet.
"Mana is located at the body's center.
Warriors create an aura hole below the navel to store and use aura.
Mages engrave a magic circle on their heart to use magic power."
“Hmph, this theory is nothing. It’s just common knowledge.”
“Here’s a question. How many centimeters below the navel is the aura hole formed?”
“…Huh?”
Linia, who had been acting so confident, suddenly paled.
“I’ll ask again. How many centimeters below the navel?”
“Uh… umm. Seven centimeters?”
“It varies from person to person, but the general standard is five centimeters.”
Instead of scolding her, I kindly explained.
If I was too harsh right before the exam, she might lose motivation or even suffer from poor condition.
“The basic theory of mana, magic power, and aura is simple, but because it’s simple, they test detailed aspects like this. That’s why you need to memorize it thoroughly.”
After that, I added some more explanations about the fundamental concepts of mana, magic power, and aura before wrapping up the theory lesson.
Since she was an aspiring warrior who used aura, they wouldn’t test her on overly complicated theories anyway.
‘For a warrior, what really matters is their aptitude for aura and practical skills.’
“If you’ve got the gist of it, we’re moving on.”
“H-Huh? There’s more?”
“We need to prepare for the practical test too.”
At my words, Linia tilted her head in confusion.
“But Raniel, you can’t even use aura. How are you going to help with practical training?”
“When it comes to theory, I know a hundred times more than you.”
Especially since my father had drilled martial arts techniques into me so much that I could recite them in my sleep.
"Theory and practice are different, you know?"
"Shut up and just use the cultivation technique."
At my words, Linia pouted but sat down and closed her eyes.
She grumbles, yet she listens well.
I chuckled and gathered my inner mana at my fingertips.
Before it is refined into aura, mana is the purest form of energy.
Mana alone can't be used to learn or perform martial arts, but it can help synchronize with another’s aura, making it possible to learn cultivation techniques.
Ssssss.
A faint, barely noticeable ripple formed at my fingertips.
Then, standing behind Linia, who was breathing at a steady rhythm, I reached out with my mana-infused hand.
She flinched slightly when my hand touched her back, but as soon as I moved my mana, she recognized it was me and resumed her steady breathing.
Carefully, I maneuvered my mana to observe Linia’s inner workings.
Then, I lightly nudged her aura with my mana.
"Follow me."
That was the kind of feeling I conveyed.
Following the key principles of my family's cultivation technique, I guided my mana inside Linia.
Her aura hesitantly followed behind mine, as if saying, "Wait! Slow down!"
Once I showed her the proper path, I could feel her aura gradually stabilizing.
Of course, whenever her aura veered off track, I would nudge it back in the right direction.
It was a rather risky method, but since my mana control was extremely precise and the exam was right around the corner, it was worth trying.
"Besides, as long as the results are good, who cares how I get there?"
As Linia’s aura stabilized, the sensation of wind grew stronger and stronger. When it became too overwhelming to endure, I withdrew my mana.
"That’s it for today."
"Haa… haa…"
Linia opened her eyes while catching her breath, trying to steady it.
Her whole body was drenched in sweat—looks like she’ll need another shower.
"It’s definitely much more efficient than cultivating alone."
She marveled as she activated the aura around her body.
Indeed, the aura had taken on a stronger wind-like quality, and its color had deepened.
"That’s because you’re still in the early stages, so your progress feels fast. In the end, you have to find your own way."
"I only picked this up by watching over your shoulder, so I have no idea if I’m doing it right."
"Well, from what I can see, you’re doing pretty well for you."
She really was doing well—for her standards.
Come to think of it, even before she learned to use aura, she had unusually good physical abilities.
It reaffirmed the idea that, for martial artists, having a strong physique is just as important as mastering aura.
[Master, this must be exhausting for you.]
"That’s true, but hearing it from you somehow annoys me."
[Oh, come on, Master, isn't physical labor like that beneath you…]
"Well, that's true."
As long as I’m not bedridden like when I was a child, I think my physical abilities are sufficient for now.
Besides, I’m only interested in the theory of aura; I have no intention of learning it through physical training.
"Alright, let's get back to studying theory."
"Huh? I thought today's lesson was over?"
"Can you repeat everything I just taught you, word for word, without a single mistake?"
"Well, no, but..."
"It's fine. If you keep repeating it, you'll eventually memorize it."
"When am I supposed to sleep?"
"Sleep after you take the test."
"You're joking, right?"
"When have you ever seen me joke?"
"You're a demon instructor! A one-hit-kill teacher!"
"Who will recognize my hard work in trying to get a blockhead like you to pass?"
"But people need sleep!"
"Fine. Managing your condition is important, so I'll let you sleep the day before the exam."
"Aaaah! You demon!!"
And so, I completely ignored Linia’s protests and crammed all the exam-related knowledge into her body and mind until the entrance exam day arrived.
* * *
The Imperial Academy.
High up in one of the tallest buildings, someone stood quietly, looking down below.
"So, you've finally come here."
Excitement, anticipation, hope, anxiety, worry.
While countless boys and girls passed through the academy grounds, filled with various emotions as they prepared for the entrance exam, one person’s gaze was locked onto a single individual in the sea of people.
"I've waited for so long."
With a voice filled with nostalgia, as if recalling an old memory, as if lost in sentiment.
"I don’t know if you’ll remember me... but we’ll meet again soon."
In that person's eyes, reflecting under the sunlight, was a platinum-haired boy with narrow, unreadable eyes.
