Cherreads

Chapter 17 - Learning a Skill & Heroes Procession

You noticed what i did to Rickan back at the smithy right ? .

If i'm not recalling it wrongly, he asked you to stop using your Presence .

That's one of the many techniques which are related to Battle Aura .

So it was a technique , not just you using your aura to scare him off .

You are quite sharp with your guesses , it was using my aura but not my normal aura but my Aura enhanced by Battle Aura which led my Aura to materialize in a half physical half ethereal form that made it possible for me to use as a weapon or in that scenario as a pressurizing mean, .

The effects of presence are as follows :

Damage Increase : Temporarily boosts attack potency, allowing for more devastating strikes.

2 - Physical and Psychological Pressure: Enemies within range feel the weight of the aura, which can lead to intimidation, panic, or hesitation during combat, you could even crush your enemies directly in their positions if your Presence was strong enough .

3 - Inspiration for Allies : Allies gain confidence and enhanced combat effectiveness when in proximity to the warrior utilizing Presence , to understand how that works you will have to know what is Battle Aura .

Battle Aura : is another power system in the world of Tora , it can be arguably be called the most used power in all of Tora, as it has no restrictions on who can learn it , and some figures in history were even able to build a new power system for them and their descendents with Battle Aura which acted as a cornerstone for it .

I held my sword tightly and said : so you are a nerd , he only looked at me intently more likely looking at the sword in my hand and used his Presence which wasn't having that much of effect on me other than a bit itches on my skin seeing his Presence not working he only sighed and continued on explaining :

Battle Aura is a mystical energy that warriors in our world can harness to enhance our physical abilities and prowess during combat , this power is derived from the individual's inner spirit and life force, manifesting as an aura that can be visually perceived around its user , It reflects determination, skill, and emotional state, and can be cultivated through training, experience, and personal growth , you remember what i told you before about the reason that monsters with human forms can't infiltrate the kingdom, that's one of the biggest reasons to why they can't .

Battle Aura can be represented visually by a shimmering glow that surrounds a warrior, often colored based on emotions, spirit, or mastery level the aura can appear ( blue for calmness, red for rage, green for vitality ) , he then began to show me his Aura first it was Red must be a coincidence then it changed into blue , then to green colored Aura covering him and hovering above his skin .

there are other variations but those are what you will see most in Tora .

When a person activates his Battle Aura, his physical abilities such as strength, agility, speed, and reflexes are greatly enhanced

Those are the most known Types of Auras :

Offensive Aura : Focused on enhancing attack power and speed, allowing warriors to discharge energy in powerful strikes or ranged attacks to amplify damage against enemies , the most common used type of aura .

Defensive Aura : Increases resilience and durability, enabling warriors to withstand greater damage, and includes energy barriers that absorb incoming attacks, the most practical type of aura but most adventures tend to enhance their defense with their armors and equipments instead since it's quite difficult to master this type of Aura .

Supportive Aura : Boosts allies' capabilities, enhancing their attributes during battles, thereby creating a collective aura that strengthens teamwork and morale , quite rare to find an Adventurer using that type of aura and even if you were able to find one the amount of money he asks for could lead even a wealthy party to bankruptcy if they weren't able to gain much in their campaign, believe me you will see how greedy they are on the battlefield .

Healing Aura : A rare variation that allows warriors to channel their aura to heal themselves or others, mending injuries and revitalizing energy , most of those who have this type of aura are born with it and they prefer to keep that ability they have hidden from others because if their ability were to be found out, they will have only one fate if they are weak and that to be enslaved for the ability of theirs .

Battle Aura can be categorized into levels indicating the user's mastery:

Novice : Basic understanding; can conjure the aura but with minimal enhancements .

Adept : Intermediate level; enhanced abilities and some control over aura types .

Master : High-level control; can switch between aura types and perform advanced techniques .

Legendary : The pinnacle of mastery; can create unique aura manifestations and powerful techniques that influence the environment .

There were some saying about another level of mastery which would allow the one who achieve it a longer lifespan and even the ability to effortlessly fly .

Warriors must undergo rigorous training to enhance their Battle Aura, involving physical conditioning, meditation, and honing emotional control to strengthen the connection between the inner spirit and the Battle Aura, their Training includes duel exercises, where warriors learn to harness their aura in combat against foes or through trial matches to test their limits.

Some other Aura Techniques are :

Aura Blade : Channeling aura into weapons to increase lethality or create energy-based weapons .

Aerial Dash : Using aura to enhance speed and allow temporary levitation or jumping to evade attacks , aren't possible to do by those who only adapt at your aura mastery only capable to be used by those who have mastered the use of their Aura to master and legendary level .

Energy Wave : Sending out a wave of concentrated aura energy to knock back opponents or disrupt formations , capable to use by only those that reached the mastery level of masters and legendary .

Soul Shield : A defensive technique that envelops the warrior in aura, absorbing damage and reflecting energy attacks .

Battle Aura is deeply tied to a warrior's emotions, intense feelings like rage or fear can lead to instability in the aura, causing fluctuations that either enhance power unpredictably or diminish control massively that's why mindfulness practices and emotional training are essential to maintain control and focus, ensuring the aura's effectiveness in combat .

While a fundamental understanding of breathing techniques is initially needed to awaken and harness Battle Aura effectively, most advanced skills and applications are acquired through experience and specialized practice and if you are lucky enough you might even stumble upon a legendary breathing method that will take your Battle Aura mastery to another level .

Some of those breathing techniques are used to simply allow their user to be able to harness and use Battle Aura more effectively like :

The calming breath which Helps regulate emotional states, preparing the warrior to focus their aura efficiently .

Power surge breath which gathers and concentrates aura energy for powerful strikes, enhancing impact .

Resonant breath which harmonizes aura with physical movements, increasing agility and reaction time.

With that i believe you don't have anything else to ask am i right ? .

I was clutching my head and this dude already wanted to continue on ranting so i quickly shock my head hurriedly , anymore information and my brain would explode directly, but still knowing about all that gave me some insight on how awesome this world was and how dangerous it was too .

Hey kid did they really didn't gave you any skill books when you left not even a one time permit to enter the Shrine Of Skills at the the castle .

I again shock my head and told him that they didn't .

How weird, anyway i will get going to that friend of mine now, we will meet back at the inn , don't be surprised if i acted weird with you, okay ?.

Do you really have to do that Regard i'm okay with you knowing all about me though .

I told you before right , i'm also protecting myself by doing this, so you don't have to feel bad about it, it's not like it's the first time i'm doing something like that , be safe out there and don't get yourself in any unnecessary trouble .

With that he left, leaving me standing alone in the bustling street suddenly a commotion suddenly occurred on some distance away from me then a hand stretched towards me trying to move me from the way but i was still holding my sword in hand so i evaded that hand without much trouble and looked at who was the one trying to push me away .

It was a a city guard seeing that he missed , he began shouting: move you imbecile can't you see that the heroes procession are heading this way,do you want to die move away from the road or else i will arrest you here and right now .

I swallowed the anger accumulating in my heart, but why would such a thing anger me in the first place is it because the armor i'm wearing , i wondered how would he react of he knew that i'm one of those hearos , i still did what he told me and moved out of the way .

The bustling street with people from before, ، became no more,a lot of barriers suddenly appeared forcing the people who was also curious about what is happening out of the way , luckily i had already moved away from the road before that happens .

I will be able to see if Hana was doing okay, oh why is the procession moving slowly, since i have a bit of time, let's see what happened to Appraisal after it leveled up

Appraisal :

the ability to detect most of the information about yourself and others work on items as well , it can if you have enough informations about the item you appraising tell you its ingredients and components , people with special tools can't be checked and the ability is invalid against those 20 levels or higher than the holder of the skill , Cost 1 mana point .

So the level cap increased to 20 that's neat .

So does that mean the prices are going to increase again ?.

I was engrossed in my thoughts when a female voice came from behind me , i gave it no mind at first but then the conversation continued saying :

Male voice : You better lower your voice, you fully know what happens to those who be found talking about those subjects .

Another male voice : sadly the answer is yes and this time i heard the king even summoned a 5 new heroes that have a lot of potential, so their expenses will fall upon us to pay , sometimes i really hope to die fighting in the raid instead of going back to this endless cycle of suffering .

Old female voice : it wasn't like that 14 years ago, before that Trollan usurped the throne and killed king LOTOR and even forced Lady Celine to marry him or else he would kill her baby daughter and coincidentally a coup happened at the Wicked Forest that gave birth to the current Demon King and two years after that the Diblosia kingdom appeared and kept clashing with Animagia backed by the full support of the demon king , can even the so-called heroes be able to fix all of this .

The first male voice : Grandma Shion , please lower your voice, you aren't working in the service of the queen anymore , you could be in big trouble if someone heard you .

A guard male voice : too slow , come here you old hag .

So the current king was an usurper and even killed the previous king , what happened exactly 14 years ago to make all those changes , how much money is needed to satisfy that usurper king's greed, he summoned us but normal people who have to suffer to fund the heroes he summoned how unfair was that , i turned around and saw the guard running while brandishing his sword towards the old lady as if he already decided her fate .

i know Regard told me to not make any problems but i will just need be so quick that he can't even see who attacked , i activated my armor active skill Centipede's Swiftness and without even seeing the status window i can tell that i'm a lot faster than before as even the actions that the guard was taking in front of me began to slow down, i unsheathed my sword and appeared behind him and with a flick of the sword at his armor i sheathed the sword and moved the old lady a bit far from him .

In a second the running guard was now covered in thin ice and i put down the old lady and huffed a bit and stopped the skill, the effects of the skill was awesome but the problem now lay in my lack of enough stamina to use it for long, hopefully this will change when i learn the Troll Force skill .

Thank you for timely rescue,hero .

I stared at her with wide eyed , surprised and quite shocked, i looked at my coller and found the Misleading Compass still there and wasn't even glowing up, so how did she ?.

Don't worry, i didn't use any skills to figure that out, it is just your clothes brought back some old memories, again thank you for your help .

Don't worry about it , but you should really leave here quickly and a piece of advice if you accepted ofcourse, mind your words some more in the future .

I'm already this old why would i be afraid of dying, but thanks for your concern .

She at least left the place and i again tried to blend in the swarming crowd leaving a clueless guard who was currently searching for who attacked him, and wondering if all that happened was only his imagination playing tricks on him .

A few minutes later and i heard the sounds of fireworks , Boom, booom, boom , appearing behind the procession vehicle which was shaped like a giant dragon and filled with guards on and around it .

And there they were the heroes sitting in their seats, Hana was sitting next to the princess donning a graceful and beautiful pink dress, the princess who i wasn't still able to tell what her facial features were alike, as i can't even remember them from the first time i met her was donning a red graceful dress that matched her red hair quite well .

Hana was frowning and pouting from time to time but i can tell that she was getting along with the princess as she was holding each other hands i'm thankful for that , the three Kibas was waving at people like they are some kind of celebrities which got them a few cheers from some of the locals , and Takumi Sora was sitting in her seat next to Hana and the princess with her eyes closed as if she was asleep , there were no sight of prince Ogo being present .

Can she even notice me in this crowded scene, i can try to use Appraisal to gain her attention , as the thought appeared on my mind i tried it but it didn't work since Hana was equipping something that blocked my Appraisal, should i change my skill target but wouldn't that make her feel insulted .

Yes my next target was the mysterious princess Trina, here goes everything, i hope she doesn't get offended .

I used appraisal and she looked directly to where i was and first was surprised then she smiled at me or at least it looked like she did i pointed for her to tell Hana to look in my direction and she actually nodded then whispered something into Hana ears that made Hana eyes lit up and even the sleeping Sora woke up and both looked towards my location .

Our eyes met, me and Hana and we both know that each of us have a lot of things to ask and tell the other but that won't be possible , luckily though that whatever what the princess said to her was barely and only barely enough for her to not stop the procession carriage .

Still, our current situation can make communication a bit of a hurdle but that's for only normal people, even in our old world we weren't normal people ,we were childhood friends and classmates too so we were able to communicate without even the need to speak by word signs , i just hope that she didn't forget about this .

I began to say with word signs : ( Are you doing okay at the castle, Hana , see i called back ) .

She looked at me in disbelief then began to tear up before saying : ( yes, you did ) ( I'm doing okay but i miss you , how were you doing ? And when are you coming back ? ) .

Oh thank god : ( i missed you too Hana , don't worry about me, i'm doing just fine, i even found a way to become stronger , as for when i will come back i really don't know but soon i promised didn't i ) .

She beemed happily at my words and was about to answer me when the notorious hooligan Kiba Akiho noticed where she was looking at and was able to notice me in the crowd he then began to yell to the guards that i was doing some weird sorcery at hero Hana which led for the carriage to stop and the guards began to search for me in the direction he pointed at .

( Those Kibas are always a nuisance aren't they, i will have to get out of here since i promised someone that i won't get into trouble, be well Hana, goodbye , oh right tell the princess i said hi and thank her for me ).

( Promised someone, is she a girl ) .

Why did she ask that, i tried to tell her no but the guards are already coming closer to my direction, so i was only able to shock my head and hope she got her answer and used Centipede's Swiftness now that its one minute cooldown was over and headed back to the inn .

I entered and was greated by miss Liliana soothing voice saying :Welcome back .

I gave her my thanks and she asked if i wanted something to eat and why did i looked so tired but i just told her that i wasn't hungry and wanted to sleep and headed to my room leaving her bewildered and guessing what could possibly be wrong with me .

I wasn't in the mood because of the stunt that Akiho just pulled off , i will make that smile of his disappear completely from his face someday .

I picked the skill book that i hid in the wardrobe and remembered that i forgot to buy new clothes guess i will have to ask for ms.Liliana help with that , if i remembered correctly Silver said : Troll Force this skill can enhance the strength and stamina of its holder by 50 percent this mean who ever has this skill will have his strength and stamina increase by another half .

Yeah that precisely what he said now let's see how much my strength will increase after learning it .

I opened the book and it wasn't blank as before but it contain words and some inscribed pictures of what i believe to be the pictures of the being called Troll , after i finished the book i saw the book disintegrating into light then fused with me .

The first change that i felt was a pleasant one my feeling of tiredness disappeared then the unpleasant feeling followed a feeling as if my insides was being squashed and crushed, i was in so much pain that i passed out and my last thoughts were : did Silver lied about the skill book or was this a backlash from the skill book because it discovered my cheating whatever it was please someone make it stop and then i collapsed on the floor .

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