Blood spattered all over him but he had used his right hand, the hand he threw the dagger with to cover his eyes.
Luis knew from Sera's hellish spars and training that he couldn't lose focus. And not to his surprise the injured wolf was less than two meters away coming at him with ferocity.
It lunged to claw and bite Luis's head off.
Luis blocked the left incoming claw with his dagger.
Luis empowered his right fist with aura but he wasn't able to gather a lot of it. Luis punched the right claw intending to punch its claw back into its face and sending it back.
But with not enough aura the wolf relented, but because it still took the hit it missed Luis's head with its jaws and instead chewed a chunk of his left shoulder's flesh off.
Luis jumped back instantly reeling in pain. But he couldn't relax the wolves with one leg each where coming at Luis. They would jump a tiny bit forward with their three legs, go in the ground head first and then instantly do it again. Becoming a terrifying sight because even without one leg they were coming at him with resolve to fight.
Luis switched his dagger from his left hand where his shoulder flesh was bit off, to his right hand. He still had thirty percent of his aura reserves left which was more than enough.
He instantly dashed at the wolf he had punched which seemed fully recovered ready to lung at him.
Luis dashed forward while sidestepping last second to the left to dodge the wolf's lunge and slash it horizontally on its other side. Causing it to whine in pain.
Luis glanced at the two leg-less wolves but to his surprise, the Lynx was there bloody it seemed like it had taken them by surprise being able to finish two injured wolves off. It was currently rushing to his aid.
"At least the Lynx helps me"
Luis Thought
But there weren't any worries the wolf now with slashes from both sides, the wolf looked wobbly while it was standing on its fours, not being able to run to attack.
Luis faked a run at it but stopped halfway, twisted his body, and threw the dagger full speed at its face.
The wolf surprised couldn't react in time.
Luis dropped to the ground after the six wolves were taken down, the Lynx had gotten his two wolves targets which meant that it was safe now.
Sera appeared in front of Luis, he wasn't surprised by her instantly appearing he knew her speed and strength because of the spars he had with her. She had a smile on her face, grabbing two small vials from her pouch, she threw one at Luis and made the Lynx drink the other one
"Not bad Luis, see I told you, you could do it. Took down four wolves and badly injured two even if the Lynx wasn't there you could have taken them down. Let's head back to the village after we go to the Lynx camp."
Luis replied in hesitance.
"What but it hasn't been a month since I got the blessing what if more wolves attack the Lynx."
Sera picked him up with one hand placing Luis on her shoulder.
"You don't have to worry about that, I'll leave you at the camp and then go kill any nearby wolves of the Lynx camp. After that, I'll sedate the wolf with a tranquilizer that can keep it unconscious for two weeks."
Luis replied in an even more shocked voice "Wait what, but what about the small cubs they won't have food to eat and the Lynx might still die from a stray wolf, and what about it we can't just let it die, it's not gonna have food when it's sedated, how is it gonna wake up and survive. Also what about"
Sera interrupted Luis her voice firm
"We did not come here for you to get a pet or get attached to something, we came here for a blessing. You have the blessing now and I can make a safe way for the Lynx to not die for at least two weeks no one will find it. That's gonna be more then enough time for you to keep your blessing. I'll place food for the cubs and Lynx so won't starve and I'll place them in a really safe space, don't worry I'm not so evil. Well you see Luis, the main reason we are going back a bit earlier is to make sure your mom doesn't kill both of us."
Luis replied hesitantly
"But can't we take back the Lynx with us."
Sera replied with a hint of annoyance
"And what you want the Black Talons to question why a small village has lightning Lynx in it."
Luis understood why Sera was saying that but he was still a bit sad, but he just closed his mouth letting her do what she wanted. Mainly because he couldn't do anything.
Two days before Luis and Sera would return to the village.
The forest was quiet, only the sound of the campfire crackling and meat roasting could be heard. Luis sat on a log near the fire, looking at the dancing flames, though it seemed his mind was focused elsewhere.
The night sky was visible through the canopy of trees above them, stars lighting up the darkness. It had taken several days of travel to reach the village.
"Aunt Sera,"
Luis said, his voice hesitant,
"Why do you think the Phoenix chose me?"
Sera paused, glancing at him, her hand stopping for a moment before continuing her task.
"That's a big question, Luis. What made you ask it now?"
Luis sighed, his gaze still lingering on the fire. "It's just that… I don't think… I don't feel like I was the right choice. Everyone else in the Phoenix clan, like my younger brother and sister, has blessings from their parents. They were born with them or will get them when they unlock more aura cores or when they try to awaken specific blessings in their lineage. But… the Phoenix essence inside me consumed all the blessings, and it's dormant, so I can't even get any Phoenix blessings. I have to spend months getting blessings, but they all have most of the blessings they will ever need. And I haven't even been able to reach the advanced stage."
Sera watched Luis closely as he continued to speak, his voice slightly trembling.
"My little brother and sister are already at the adept stage… and they're just six… just six years old. I didn't even know how to use aura when I was that age. I wasn't able to reach the adept stage until I was ten. It's not that I feel jealous of them. I don't know how to say it, but I think I feel proud whenever they accomplish something. But the Phoenix will reincarnate through me."
Luis's voice dropped lower.
"I have to be stronger for when that happens, but… I feel stuck. Progress feels so slow. I can almost feel the next tier, but it also feels so far away. No matter how hard I try, I can't get my next aura cores to split and form into new ones."
Clenching his fists, he continued,
"I want to be like you. I want to be strong. I see how hard my parents work, and how much they worry about me. I thought everything they taught me was what everyone knew, most kids in the village don't even know how to cook or take care of themselves. And…. I don't know why, but I can tell that the other clan members in the village have high expectations of me, but they never show that. They are always so kind and trying to help me. It feels like they don't want me to think I have to work hard, but I can still see the expectations they have of me."
"Their kindness makes me want to work hard and get stronger. I… want to survive the Phoenix reincarnation. I want to be strong so my parents don't have to worry about the empires, but I just feel so stuck, it's so exhausting."
"I have two blessings now, which is the most I can have right now… but compared to clans or soldiers who inherit the blessings that can be perfectly suited for each other, mine don't compare in comparison. I have to earn all my blessings because the Phoenix one is dormant and it consumed all the ones I would have gotten."
"And the Phoenix…"
He hesitated.
"It hasn't spoken to me in years, and the last thing it said to me was… calling me a sheltered brat… I don't know… if it even likes me."
Sera's brows furrowed, but she let Luis keep speaking.
"My little brother was born as the clan's proxy. He's already chosen to be the next leader by the Phoenix. He has two strong blessings already, and because they're not elemental, he can use them without any suppression. And my little sister… She wasn't born with any blessings because the Phoenix essence made it so I got most of the blessings that would be passed down to kids, and with my brother being chosen as the proxy by the Phoenix somehow while it's dormant, all the other blessings from my parents during my siblings' birth went to him. Which made it so my little sister had no blessings, because of which the Xoliti clan deity chose to give his blessings to her because it is rare for people to not be born with blessings."
"I feel useless as an older brother. They both already have ways to become stronger, but I don't even know what I'm gonna do."
Setting the meat down, Sera moved and sat beside Luis, her tone warm and gentle as she ruffled his hair.
"Luis, I usually don't say this because I don't want people to think they slack off because they get too proud of their abilities."
Luis blinked in confusion.
"You know I have trained your mother, Mira, and Rico, and I have seen a lot of people grow stronger. But you're special, Luis not because of the Phoenix essence but because of your resilience. No one in the village forced you to do anything. You could have taken their kindness for granted and made the clan members bring you subdued creatures so you could just focus on raising your aura cores. But you haven't done that. You work hard for everything you get. Sometimes I think you should ask other people for help instead of only wanting to rely on yourself and proving yourself."
"You haven't given up when your blessings were too difficult to control. Even when it was annoying and frustrating, you kept going. It takes strength, you know, Luis, to keep going like that. And you know what you just told me? It shows how mature you are. You can understand emotions better than most people older than you."
"Also, don't think I have not noticed how much you train alone. Even after a long day of training with me, when I go and tell you to rest, you stay up practicing by yourself. Luis, I have seen you push yourself harder than anyone I have trained. You should be proud of yourself and how strong you are. Luis, you may not think so because of your high expectations, but you are powerful for your age."
Luis stared at her in surprise.
"So you knew whenever I sneaked off to train more?"
Sera smirked.
"Of course. Did you think you were sneaky enough?"
Luis rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, but Sera kept going.
"Your resilience and compassion are your greatest strengths. You try to do everything yourself and never want to rely on another person too much. Most people, when they get their blessings, don't focus much on the creatures, they just care about the new power they got."
"You never give up if you're doing something challenging. Luis, you don't know how rare that is. Some so many people wouldn't put in the effort for something that could change their life or train more, thinking that they have already worked hard enough and that they deserve rest. Luis, you always push yourself even when no one asks you."
Gazing down and giving Luis a warm smile, she said, "
And Luis, whenever I see you grow strong and accomplish something, it makes me proud. I don't have any doubts about you, Luis. I know you will reach all your goals."
Luis darted wide-eyed at her until a grin slowly spread across his face. "
Aunt Sera, can I tell Mom, Rico, and Mira that you actually complimented me?"
Sera snorted.
"No, Luis, you can't tell them."
"But it's not fair if you do that,"
he said, sitting straighter. "
Mira and Rico always look sad when you don't compliment them after they train hard and accomplish something. I won't tell anyone if you start complimenting them too pinky promise?"
Sera raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms.
"Fine, Luis, pinky promise."
Luis beamed in surprise while hooking his pinky finger around hers.
"I can't believe I got you to agree to that. It was way too easy."
"Oh really, Luis?"
Sera smirked.
"Well, I can't just let you get away with that then, can I?"
Before Luis could react, she lunged at him, her fingers darting to Luis's sides. She tickled him mercilessly until he was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.
The sound of laughter echoed under the canopy in the quiet forest. Sera felt a sense of pride as she watched Luis because she truly meant every word she said to him.