NOVEL NEXT Chapter 164: Training
Van looked at the paper once again and confirmed that whoever wrote this didn't mention whether he truly succeeded or not.
In any case, there was a high chance that he could actually succeed.
In the end, Van decided to read all the remaining books and learned a lot of it thanks to that…
He didn't even eat his dinner or greet Julia, who was also tired, as he immediately fell asleep after looking at the time.
Just like that, two more months had quickly passed.
In the early morning, while it was still dark, he swiftly completed his task as a servant and then took care of the plants in the garden as it was already his turn to care for them…
After that, Van simply proceeded with his Aura Breathing Technique.
Then, a couple of hours had passed, and he opened his eyes… It was another fruitless meditation session.
The dim glow of dawn had now filtered through the servant quarters' narrow window… Two hours spent, yet no progress toward his Aura… It had been like this over the past couple of months.
There was no progress with his Aura.
"This is getting frustrating…" Van muttered to himself. He couldn't help but recall how he had advanced.
Apparently, his secret advancement to Aura Knight had defied conventional wisdom. While others required life-or-death battles, masters to awaken their aura, or magical fruits to ignite their potential, Van's breakthrough had come through relentless control exercises—hours spent guiding invisible energy through his limbs like water through irrigation channels.
After his advancement, his aura had thickened beyond basic weapon imbuing. He learned that he could now reinforce fabric. His shirt could briefly deflect knife slashes, and it was quite awesome.
He also learned a trick. It was to enhance traction… With enough control, his shoes could adhere to walls for five seconds or so.
Then, there was also his sharpened perception. Since he could now emit his invisible aura, his ability to detect his surroundings had already evolved to a higher level.
Yet this unorthodox path now left him stranded.
Without the pressure of combat or proper instruction, his growth had seemed to have reached its limit...
Although he now found a clear method in order to break free from the Collar, he lacked the strength to do so…
Right now, meditation barely stirred his reserves anymore—like trying to fill a lake with an eyedropper.
'If I can't expand my capacity... maybe I can refine its application.'
Van waited until Sarah and Xiel left for their duties before barricading the door. He emptied his mind, then began the exercise that his Lens made for him.
It was his Aura Training…
The first was about his sword.
He had to imbue his Aura on it. Not just the edge—every molecule. The difference was subtle but critical. Most knights focused on sharpness. However, to improve himself better, Van sought resonance, making the sword an extension of his nerves.
Then, after that, was his clothing since he didn't have any armor with him.
Thread by thread, he saturated his shirt with Aura. At his current level, it could harden like leather for ten seconds unless he continued focusing on it.
Next was his ring. It is a magic item. To be exact, it was Butler Judge's "gift". However, it was a monitoring device disguised as jewelry. It also became his test subject for his Aura training since he knew how his Aura could affect his Magic Item…
He was playing around with his aura. He'd cover it around its inner surface as he wanted to know if it would actually block its monitoring power. Unfortunately, he had no idea if it was working or not.
If it works, it would be a good start for potentially masking his vitals from magical scans. This way, he would be able to avoid detection if he needed to hide or something.
After all, it was not enough that he only knew how to hide his Aura.
Then, he also started training his Aura with his collar.
It was quite dangerous.
He let the lightest aura brush against the suppression runes, mapping their reaction patterns as he slowly put pressure on them one by one.
The moment he sensed the glyphs warming—a warning—he withdrew.
With this training, his Aura may not be getting stronger, but his control over it was getting better and better… Soon, he could probably start throwing Aura-infused leaves and kill people from a distance.
Van wiped the sweat from his brow.
There were no breakthroughs, but the data proved his theory. For now, precision could compensate for raw power.
If he couldn't advance to Level 3 yet, he'd master controlling every drop of Level 1…
Nonetheless, a few moments after Van's aura withdrew from the collar's runes, his Lens noticed something.
[ Alert: Mana Fluctuation Detected ( Cervical Region C7) ]
Anomaly Analysis:
00:00:03.217: Tier-3 seal's heart rune activated ( Standard anti-tamper response. )
00:00:03.221: Rune resonance dropped by 89% ( Duration: 0.42 seconds. )
Cause: Aura Pressure has been detected. ]
Van gently nodded. It wasn't really that important.
It only noticed that he had tried to deliberately use his Aura to inspect it. It wasn't really a prohibited thing to do. After all, it was normal for it to be covered by Aura since he was an Aura User.
However, because the Aura he had used was slow and it had completely wrapped around the collar, its defense mechanism seemed to have been triggered but it was fine now.
At this time, Van suddenly noticed a presence outside the quarters…
Knock-knock.
Soon, he heard Sarah's voice... "Van! Stop fondering your blade and get out here. Dining hall's serving mutton stew…"
***
Mutton stew was quite uncommon... It would only be served once in two weeks or so.
As expected, the hall was filled with people already. No one wanted to miss such a portion of delicious food.
Thankfully, Xiel had already taken their portion.
"Took you long enough…" Xiel muttered as Van slid onto the bench.
He then pushed a clay bowl toward him. It was stew steaming with carrots and a few meat chunks.
"Saved you the least watery portion."
Sarah then leaned in as she spoke to Van.
"Hey… Your friend is here." Sarah said as she gestured to another servant who was looking for a seat…
Needless to say, it was Korv whom Van defeated a couple of months ago.