The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

Even after the Luxe family's nobles and the figures hidden in the shadows had already started leaving, Van didn't relax.

His Lens tracked the retreating figures—some of them were clutching their wounded limbs, others were dragging unconscious comrades.

'They weren't the Luxe family's men.'

This meant that the Luxe nobleman ordered his men to injure these people who were chasing them… It seemed that he was still a man of his word.

"We need to go. Now." Butler Judge's voice was urgent as he called for Van to retreat.

"That fool just saved us from one trap by springing another." He added.

'Hmm?'

It seemed that the old butler sensed another incoming threat.

Van nodded at this as he scooped up the gold pouch before going back inside the carriage.

As the carriage advanced, his Lens tried to look for the hidden threat, but unfortunately, he couldn't find it at all. It only means that the threat was perhaps not a normal pursuer… It could be a type of Magic locked unto them.

In the end, his A.I. or his Ocularis Lens wasn't that powerful yet. For now, Van could only trust the Butler's words.

***

The carriage rattled along the mountain path, its reinforced wheels easily passing through the uneven terrain.

At this time, Van had already offered the gold pouch to Julia… Butler Judge took it for a moment and inspected it for a few moments.

After confirming that it doesn't have any curses or tracking spell attached, he gave it to Julia who refused.

"That's yours… If you keep working hard, you'll be rewarded." She said.

Van was about to refuse to show his loyalty but Julia continued.

"I noticed that you were lacking some clothes… Those servant clothes aren't enough. If we have some time, you should buy a few pairs. Also, your new friend here would probably need some as well. Why don't you treat him with that money?" Julia said.

There were about 50 gold coins inside the pouch that the Luxe nobleman threw at him. On the other hand, a set of clothes would probably be just worth about 3 to 5 silver coins. Even if he bought 10 pairs for each of them, he would still have plenty of money to save.

Julia wasn't just kind, she was actually so generous to her slave as well.

Then, after a few moments, Julia could no longer keep it to herself.

"Still… That was really incredible!" She suddenly burst out, grabbing Van's sleeve.

"How did you make that mountain of muscle collapse like a sack of potatoes? His Magic Beast Blood must be some sort of Three-Horned Bull Demon or something. They're supposed to have skin tougher than boiled leather!"

Van's fingers tightened imperceptibly around the gold pouch. Well, he didn't really think too much about finding an answer. He just didn't expect that the Magic Beast's Blood could actually be from a Three-Horned Bull Demon.

It was such a piece of good information to know.

"I... studied anatomy at Dawnspire Academy," Van said carefully, choosing fragments of truth. "There are pressure points even hardened warriors can't reinforce with aura."

Julia's nose wrinkled. "That's it? Just poking him in special spots?" She mimed jabbing motions in the air. "Then why don't all knights fight like that?"

Butler Judge's cane tapped sharply against the carriage floor. "Because, my lady, identifying those points mid-combat requires—"

THUD.

Before he could finish, the carriage roof dented inward as something heavy landed atop it.

"Aahhh---"

The coachman's panicked shout was cut off by a familiar lazy voice...

"Would you look at this? Leaving an auction with two slaves instead of one. Butler Judge, you've been busy."

The tension immediately disappeared from Butler Judge's shoulders as the carriage door swung open to reveal Renji perched casually on the roof, one knee drawn up.

Julia practically launched herself out of her seat as soon as she realized who it was. "Renji! You came!"

The battlemage dropped down, landing lightly inside the cramped space.

His eyes immediately locked onto Subject Zero. "So this is the little void that caused all the fuss. Interesting…" A pause. "He's got some potential…"

Van's Lens registered the subtle mana fluctuations around Renji's fingers as he performed a diagnostic spell.

[ Detection: High-Circle Analysis Magic.

Purpose: Assessing Subject Zero's Binding Integrity. ]

"That should be very obvious. Did you find something else?" Butler Judge asked.

Renji smiled and gently nodded.

"Not sure… I'll have to observe him for a while… For now, I came here since… let's just say certain parties were placing rather aggressive bets on your carriage not reaching the manor."

"Really? Someone's targeting us? Who would dare?!" Julia replied as she found this matter ridiculous

His gaze flicked to Van. "Though it seems your new pet can handle some of the trouble."

As he said this, Van realized that Renji was actually observing them ever since!

On the other hand, Julia didn't notice it puffed up with pride. "Van beat a Beastblood twice his size! He used secret knight techniques!"

Renji's eyebrow arched. "Did he now?"

His knowing look made Van's nape prickle.

"How... convenient." He added.

Thud!

The carriage then hit a bump, jostling them.

Renji steadied himself against the wall as he changed the topic. "Regardless, we've got three hours until we arrive. I'll be guarding from now on…" As he said this, his Mana Fluctuations suddenly strengthened…

This sudden burst of Mana startled Van for a bit as his Lens even failed to analyze the Mana Wave because it was too strong!

If Van had made a guess, it was a power above Three-Circle Mage!

Of course, he wasn't doing it just to show off… He was definitely announcing his presence to whoever was observing them!

"If anyone tries to stop us, they'll learn why the Archmage Farrel keeps me around."

After muttering that, Renji moved to the driver's perch as the carriage was too tight for the five of them…

At this time, Julia finally noticed Van's stiff posture.

"You okay?" She asked, seeing his rigid expression.

Van then forced his shoulders to relax and replied. "Just tired."

***

In the meantime, as the carriage rattled along the broken road, Subject Zero, a boy no older than fifteen, slumped against the wall of the carriage. His wrists were no longer bound, but his collar reminded him of his status as a slave.

His name wasn't always Subject Zero.

Once, about 7 years ago, he had been Xiel Arren, the sickly son of a minor noble house.

House Arren had been scholars of the kingdom. They were keepers of ancient tomes.

Xiel's father, Lord Gaben, had dreamed of his son becoming a mage after learning the Mana doesn't reject him. When he tried learning the Mana Breathing Technique, there was no issue at first. However, as soon as he started forming spells, Xiel, at six years old, unmade his first spell… He couldn't form any spell for some unknown reason…

It seemed just like a curse… He was definitely a magician, but for some reason, he was unable to form Spells or control his Mana. It just existed within his body.

Because of that, Xiel was frustrated and tried learning Aura Breathing Techniques, and to his surprise, he was also able to do it!

However, just like before, he could only accumulate a bit of Aura in his body, but it would soon disperse like his Mana if he stopped his Breathing Technique!

A year passed, and during this time, their family tried to ask for help from various notable Magicians, until he was targeted by a High Mage.

Without being able to say goodbye to his family, he was abducted while he was asleep and was taken to a Mage Tower…

Just like that, Xiel had become the property of the High Mage Merlin, and he had become a subject of inhumane experiments.

At first, Merlin called him "the key to godhood."

It was as if he found something crucial about his special physique… Merlin even promised to cure him and return him to his family so he wouldn't think of killing himself.

Nonetheless, there were plenty of times when he wanted to give up, but he endured all of it since he was promised by a High Mage.

'What a terrible memory…' Subject Zero thought as he recalled his past.

As he started to doze off in the carriage, he somehow recalled his experience within Merlin's Tower.

He was strapped to tables, injected with an unknown liquid, forced to endure spells that should have vaporized him.

Months turned to years, and soon, his body was able to erase every Spell or Aura Technique on his body… At this point, he couldn't even use Aura or Mana Breathing Techniques.

He had become a normal human who rejected both Aura and Mana.

It seemed to be a successful experiment at first, but there was a huge flaw: he couldn't practice Aura and Mana.

As soon as that happened to him, Merlin knew that he had failed. Xiel might've survived the experiment, but it cost him his talent to become a practitioner of either path.

Xiel recalled how Merlin's fascination had turned to fury.

"Useless! You negate, but you cannot harness any energy! You are a flawed vessel!"

As for his punishment, he was sold at an Auction.