Private Tales Throw down the Gauntlet

[Madame Valkery]

This kid was perceptive, that would an asset in sensing aura. Valkery straitened "I'm ok, I broke my ribs a couple of weeks ago. They are healed now, I just sill haven't gotten back to peek fitness." She suspected that the injuries she had sustained from the void aura were also influencing her stamina, possibly in an unnatural way. Those injuries had been more difficult to heal, even with the assistance of aura magic. She also probably had over taxed her immune system with the frequent use of magical healing.

He had a point though. If they were dealing with the cult or people affiliated with it this would not be easy. But a single day was not going to make much of a difference.

"We still have several hours before sunset. I'll take things easy till then, and I'll be fine."

 

[Tyto]

Tyto figured if they had time to relax he could keep trying to learn more about aura since they covered the laws.

If the sewing was about focus, maybe he had to look real close to see the aura. But what did an aura even look like? He squinted slightly, and looked at Valkery, trying to see... something that could be an aura. He looked at her skin, maybe the pale coloring was a sign of aura? He looked slightly to the side of her, maybe it was something that comes off of a person like steam? He unfocused his eyes, maybe its about not looking but paying attention and noticing? Wait! Maybe that was... no that was just the candle light flickering on her. He shook his head, it was worth a shot though.

Tyto leaned back a bit. "Alright then, while we wait, can you tell me how you sense the aura? Before you said it took practice and training, whats the first step to attaining it?"

 

[Madame Valkery]

A nostalgic smile lingered on Valkerys face as she watched Tyto try to see aura. When he asked her to teach him how to see aura her lips tightened and she stared at the flickering light of the candle for a moment. This young man has such a wonderful light, learning aura magic could intensify it, but it could also put him in the path of those who would snuff it out.

She sighed "Before I teach you how to sense aura you need to understand something. By learning aura magic you may become a target of the cult. I told you that I used to have a student, her name was Eleanor. What I didn't tell you is that she was the Griffin's daughter, the one that was targeted by the cult. The cult wanted her for her aura magic. That fight I had with the cult, she was the one to kill those 20 guards." She paused folding her hands on the table before continuing. "The cult prefers to target women. However, they have recruited men in the past to serve as retainers. You need to understand the risk before deciding to go through with this. I understand if you do not want to continue."

 

[Tyto]

Tyto couldnt help but frown slightly. Valkery and he weren't that different after all. He had failed to save his sensei, and she had failed to save a pupil. Sure there was the immense skill and experience gap, but they shared a common pain. Tyto felt he understood her at least a little more now.

"Well, you said before that the cult gets you by offering you what you want most, well luckily for me the cult cannot offer me that. What I currently want most is to learn aura magic from you and earn your crest. Besides, let's say for the sake of argument they compromised you, I'd fight to the end to try and stop it. I'm not losing another teacher."

Tyto crossed his arms matter of factly. Looking out the window after a second. He felt slightly embarrassed putting himself out there like he did. Talking to a kindred spirit was leagues different than the other denizens of the slums. Maybe after this was all over he could ask to be let on as her retainer.

"So yeah, my answer remains the same. Besides, you said before once I start theres no turning back." He pointed with his thumb the patch he sewed on. "I already got my first task. I'm locked in now."

 

[Madame Valkery]

Valkery smiled. This kids spirit was so pure, she hoped nothing snuffed that out but world was rarely ever so kind.

"Alright," She nodded "Let's get started then. Aura is everywhere and most people are constantly absorbing this information without knowing it. Our bodies don't know how to translate the stimulus into a form that we can understand. This means that early on, your conscious perception of aura will be patchy and will often feel like a mix of other senses. My former student said if felt like a strong smell for her, but each person will be different. At my level I sense it more on an intuitive and visual level. Like seeing something with my minds eye, being fully aware of it without having to actually see it." She stood up and took the empty tea cups setting them aside with some other dirty dishes to be washed later.

"Now you are familiar with the mental focus and mind body awareness required in martial arts. That should be a good place to start. Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Slow your breathing and focus on your breath. Let everything else fall away. Don't try to sense anything or feel aura, just breath and let your breath fill your entire body. As it fills you become aware of your head, your neck, your shoulders, where are you holding tension? Release it. Let it fill your arms, flowing down to your wrists, your hands, to the tips of your fingers. Relax them. Become aware of your legs, how they feel against the chair, where you are holding tension. Relax them. Send your breath down through your legs to your ankles, filling your feet all the way to the tips of your toes. Breath deeply become aware of your breath filling your entire body. What does it feel like? you don't have to answer aloud, just think about it. Is it a light? A tingling or humming sensation? Where is it strongest? If there are still patchy spaces, take a deep breath and let the sensation fill you again. Become aware of your own heart beat, let it drown out everything else, leaving just you, your breath, and your beating heart. Sit with this for a while let your self be filled with this feeling..." Valkery went quiet and waited several minutes before continuing. "Now as I count slowly return you awareness to your surroundings and when I get to one open your eyes." She began to count, reaching one she looked at Tyto and nodded "So, how did it feel?"

 

[Tyto]

Tyto quietly assumed a meditative posture and closed his eyes. Back when he was learning with Rasmus, he had trouble releasing all tension without falling over. Now however he was able to smoothly release the held up tension in his body as he listened to Valkery's words. In a matter of moments the familiar weightlessness came over him.

More difficult however was emptying his mind. This day alone was so full of stuff to think about it took him several moments before he could clear his head of the constant buzzing.

Tyto breathed deeply, feeling it fill his body, and feeling the emptiness when he exhaled. He allowed his senses to receive information rather than focus on them specifically. The smell of the fire, the lingering taste of tea, the feeling of the air on his skin, the sound of the leaves rustling outside. Breath in, breath out. As he breathed in, felt something. Like a swelling of light somewhere. Breath in, Breath out. He noticed the light was coming from what he could only describe as behind his eyes. He quietly continued to let the information come to him. The light seemed to grow brighter and dim in time with his heartbeat. It was a pulse, but not his pulse. A pulse of light that he could not see because it was behind his eyes, but was aware of its presence.

The more Tyto thought about it the more it seemed to go away. He quieted his mind and continued to let this feeling fill him until he heard Valkery count down.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Valkery "It was as if a light was on but behind my eyes. Its hard to explain. It grew brighter and dimmer along with my heartbeat but I could not see it. You know how when there's a bright light in a room, you close your eyes and turn away but you know where it is? Thats the best I can explain."

 

[Madame Valkery]

Valkery smiled and nodded, "That is your aura. With practice you should be able to sense the aura's of other people and the space around you. For now I would advise you not trying to sense aura's in combat situations until you are comfortable enough with it to be able to do it without thinking. Otherwise you are more liable to get distracted then to find out anything useful, and in combat that can be fatal."

 

[Tyto]

Tyto nodded and repeated his meditation to find his aura. Actively looking for his aura seemed to make it harder to find. He had to let his aura come to him, focusing only slightly on it, lest it escape him. He repeated this, opening his eye and being aware of the world around him, then quickly going back into his meditation, letting the familiar pulse come back to him.

After about an hour of this he turned to Valkery. "So now that I know how to sense my own aura. How do I put it to use?"

 

[Madame Valkery]

As Tyto continued to practice meditation Valkery moved around the room tidying up a bit before grabbing a book from the desk and a quill. She sat down at the table in front of a set of vials with different colored liquids in them. Using a small silver spoon she took different powders and added them to the liquids, observing the color change and noting it down in the book, which was filled with scrawled notes and hand drawn diagrams.

She became so absorbed in her work that she didn't notice that Tyto had stopped meditating till he said something. She blinked looking up at him.

"Oh, right." She closed the book. "Using your own aura for spells would be risky and would drain you too quickly. However you can still manipulate your aura without using it up. Like moving your arm, you do not use your arm up when you move it. Try focusing on your heartbeat again but this time allow your heart to beat more quickly as if you had just been running. Don't try to control your heart rate, or command it. Instead, become aware of your bodies ability to do so and trust that it will do so," She explained as she stood and returned the book to the desk.

 

[Tyto]

Tyto focused his meditation on his heartbeat. So he couldn't just make his heart beat faster, but he could let it go faster. He focused on his heart and thought about its potential to beat faster and became aware of an unconcious holding back of his body on his heartbeat. He relaxed and slowly allowed it to beat faster.

He started slowly. From resting, to walking, to jogging, he felt his heart quicken, he let it go faster still. From running, to sprinting, to intense physical exertion. He could feel his breath start to get labored and he was starting to sweat as if he was running a marathon.

He bagan to let it slow back down lest he give himself some fort of heart attack. He allowed his body to return to a state of meditation. He refocused on his aura, then had an idea. If he could control his heart, he could probably control his other muscles.

Feeling out to his arms, his legs, shoulders, back, his glutes even. He let each muscle tense and relax all over his body in time. He almost broke his concentration with a laugh when his glutes lifted him up slightly. He made a mental note to become more mature. Speaking of more mature, he opened his eyes and looked at the book Valkery had placed on the desk.

When you interact with something you leave behind aura residue, and she had mentioned that sensing aura was different for each person, her old apprentice experienced it as a smell, she was intuitive and he experienced it as a pulse. Let's see... Tyto closed his eyes again. Slowly breathing, and feeling outbin the direction of the book. Waiting for any pulse other than his aura to come to him.

It felt like forever but he could have sworn he felt a small, unfamiliar pulse coming from the book. He opened his eyes excitedly and looked to see if it wasn't just the book being moved.

 

[Madame Valkery]

"Alright, I think that's enough training for one day," Valkery said taking a rapier in its sheath from the wall and belting it about her waist. "It's time to have a talk with this Karass fellow of your's."