The lupis cub opened his eyes. He looked around and saw his mother, with a dark blue fur with white light motes on it. His father who was bigger with a black fur which was flowing & had star light motes on it. Soon seeing her cub wake up, the mother lupis nudged it a bit & started the cleaning ritual, despite the cub's attempt to escape & protest. It was a cute sight to watch for the father, who was overlooking his territory.
After that the cub & the father went out to play. Aether lupis were creatures which did not form packs. They were like nuclear families which had typically 2 or 3 children in them. This was a relatively new family and as such only one child was born in it. So the cub could only play with himself or his parents. Today his father came to play tag with him. The cub tried to catch him, but to no avail. He could not understand how his father was moving so fast. The father lupis was not simply playing with him. It was trying to teach him a skill. So seeing his confusion, it slowed down a bit & tried to show how it was moving so fast to the cub. A slight blue light appeared on the hind legs & paws of the lupis. It also used grunts and growls to communicate somethings.
The cub first looked at with intrigue & then with rapt attention. The aether lupis then showed its movement. The aura on its limbs acted as a spring that helped it move to propel forward. Not only that. It could use it to stop itself by grabbing onto space itself. The lupis cub tried to replicate its father's actions. It could not release its aura at first. But when the adult lupis showed it once more. Then it licked and nudged the cub encouraging it to replicate it. Seeing the encouragement from his father, the cub tried to replicate it harder.
It succeeded in replicating the aura after a few tries. Despite that, it could not use the spatial properties. After a few times, it understood the propulsion part but still could not properly stop. The father-son lupis duo played together for some time. The cub could replicate what the father was doing with 80% accuracy after a long time. Even after that, the cub could not catch up to his father. It was really frustrated and threw a tantrum. The father was amused by it. But the mother was not having any of it. She growled at her partner. Seeing his wife pretending to be angry, he caved in a little. Then the mother lupis came & nudged the cub. The cub was tired after all the playing around and also frustrated. The father lupis also came and the family went back into the cave.
Ben suddenly opened his eyes. It took a few seconds for him to regain his bearings. When he regained it, he looked around. He was inside the camp and there were some medicinal apparatuses attached to him. He tried to sit but found it somewhat difficult. He looked at his body and found some wounds on it. Luckily there was no broken bones or deep internal wounds. But some internal wounds were there which would heal with some rest. But he was physically and mentally exhausted along with the strain on his meridian circuits. He closed his eyes and checked his body using his aura. He estimated that his penetration rate must have reached 90%. He thought about the dream he was having. It felt like he was seeing a film. But he got a good look at the mechanics of the skill. That was good.
While he was thinking all this, Mahaansh came in. He was reassured to see that Ben gained consciousness. He came near and sat in a chair.
Mahaansh: " How are you feeling?
Ben: I have some pain but more than that I feel exhaustion.
Mahaansh: Yes, you really strained yourself. It came close to aura depletion, which could have really caused problems.
Ben: I guess I got lucky.
Mahaansh: It was a combination of your skill and some amount of luck. World does not favor someone who has no skills or has not bothered to learn something.
Ben: (Suddenly remembering something) So who attacked us? One of them self destructed. What about others.
Mahaansh: We do not have all the details. But it seemed like they were terrorists aiming for an environmental warfare.
Ben: What?... Oh by killing the Loxodonta.
Mahaansh: That is the primary assumption. But we don't know if they have any deeper missions.
Ben: Could you capture any of them?
Mahaansh: We captured one of them. He has been transferred to the authorities.
Ben: How long was I out for?
Mahaansh: Almost 16 hours.
Ben: Wow, I must have really exhausted my aura reserve.
Mahaansh: Yes, you did. Also congratulations. You have awakened a skill for the first time from your meridian seed.
Ben: Oh yeah. I think it is a movement skill and an attack skill.
Mahaansh: Good. You have indeed come a long way. Now you need to familiarize yourself with it. I bet you have been acting on instinct till now.
Ben: Yes. I still haven't quite grasped the power yet. I need to train a lot. The attacking technique, I think it can be used as a finisher. But I would need something for mounting a consistent offense.
Mahaansh: Good, after this battle you have got a good grasp of your capabilities. But for the time being you need some rest. At least 24- 36 hours.
Ben: That much?
Mahaansh: Indeed. Your meridian circuits were strained and you need to restrain from using aura as much as possible for some time. "
Ben could only sigh and stay put. Mahaansh gave him some instructions and left the medical room. Luckily, he did not have any deep injuries that would take a long time to heal.
Ben sat up and found something to eat. He also needed to have some medications and also try to regain his lost aura. But he could not even do meditation for 36 hours as even that would put strain on the meridians. Now he was really stuck. He only had less than 22 days if he excluded the 36 hours period and the time required to regain his aura. He could only sigh.