The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

On the next day, Hayden trained with the five Aura Initiates once again.

Of course, they were still considered Squires even after awakening their Aura but they were still in a special position that was higher than normal Squires.

Then, after resting for half an hour, Mensa returned and trained him with a sword style that was quite different from the Dawn Swordsmanship that the academy teaches.

Apparently, Mensa drilled him in the Dawnbreaker Sword Art...

It was quite different from Dawn Swordsmanship as instead of graceful movements, it contained brutal movements that targeted the vital parts of his opponents.

It also contained many feints that left Hayden's arms screaming. After all, Mensa doesn't want him to rely on using Aura. Since Hayden's opponent had more years of practice, winning would be too hard if they fought with Aura.

Instead, Mensa believed that Hayden should learn a better sword technique to defeat the disciple of Captain Stormcrest, Laxus.

"This is too taxing… If not for my Ocularis Lens, I would have to take a lot of time practicing this." Hayde muttered as he really had to rely on his Lens during this training since Mensa would sometimes move too quickly for him to follow with his naked eyes.

Well, it was probably due to his old age, so Hayden could only work harder.

Shane continued to train with this sword art and at dusk, they sparred again while he blindfolded.

This time, it was just Mensa training Hayden to sense Aura flows in his enemies…

***

By the fifth day, Hayden was bleeding from a dozen cuts and his muscles were already trembling with exhaustion.

"This is not enough…" Mensa frowned as Hayden collapsed for the tenth time. "Stormcrest's boy will rip you apart."

Hayden spat blood. He was slowly losing his patience.

After all, Mensa seemed to be getting too impatient and thinking that he would be defeated.

This retired knight just didn't know that he was suppressing his Ocularis Lens from time to time to enhance his training efficiency so that his body would be able to adapt and not just rely on his Lens.

Hayden took a deep breath before he pressed a few acupuncture points on his body… There was a total of three of them…

After doing this, Hayden tightened his blindfold and faced the Headmaster's direction.

"Then let me fight you for real."

As soon as he said this, a dangerous glint entered Mensa's eyes.

"Finally. Some fire. Bring it on…"

Mensa said as he waited for Hayden to attack. However, instead of attacking, Hayden just maintained his ready stance with the sword in front of him held by his two hands.

Seeing that Hayden was waiting, Mensa wryly smiled as he realized that Hayden was conserving his energy as he was already too tired. Well, they had been training for several hours already after all.

He could tell that Hayden's stamina was already at its limit.

With that in consideration, Mensa decided to attack instead.

"Alright… Just sleep…"

Pah!

Mensa then moved swiftly and sent Hayden's sword flying—but not before he landed a glancing blow on Mensa's ribs.

The Headmaster looked down at the thin red line on his robes.

"Ho~"

He squinted his eyes for a moment as he recalled what had happened. It was too fast, but he knew that Hayden deliberately made that move... The timing was also perfect and it could only be done by someone who knew his habits and the sword technique he was to use…

Furthermore, the fact that Hayden did this blindfolded, made it even more unbelievable.

Mensa could only nod and acknowledge that Hayden was indeed already good enough if he wasn't just learning the Sword Art but aiming to win in a real fight.

"Good. Now rest. Tomorrow, you also need to rest and I'll see you the day after tomorrow… Drink this. It's expensive, drink every drop of it." Mensa said as he tossed a bottle of blue drink to him before he turned around.

As soon as Mensa left, Hayden finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

The training was brutal and even if he learned a lot of things, he didn't want to do it again…

He believed that his body had already adapted and thankfully, Mensa understood this as he allowed him to rest for the rest of the day tomorrow.

'Now… What's this drink? Potion or something?' Hayden thought as he had never seen one before.

He used his Ocularis Lens to analyze it but without any information about Magic Potions or some mysterious concoctions, his Lens could only provide limited information that wasn't that helpful.

Nonetheless, he knew that the Headmaster wouldn't kill him, so he decided to drink it.

In any case, his Lens was also monitoring his body and whatever happens to him, his Lens would be able to record it and he would know what kind of effects it had.

After uncapping the bottle, Hayden drank it without hesitation.

Gulp!

As soon as he consumed it, Hayden immediately felt refreshed from the inside out. It was like he had submerged in refreshing cold water even if the bottled liquid was warm to the touch.

Soon, Hayden felt his energy or Aura returning to him and there might even be a slight increase in his Aura Capacity…

"What the heck is this drug? Tsk… Aren't I too young to be taking this…" Hayden muttered in disbelief.

He could only hope that it doesn't have a side effect for a child like him... In any case, the Headmaster probably just cares about him and wants him to have a good rest.

After some time, Hayden finally returned to his room and did his routine, 30 cycles of Breathing Technique, before falling asleep…

The next day, Hayden just did as he was told and rested his body. He did train for a bit but it was just enough not to bore himself out.

Then, on the seventh day, Mensa led Hayden to a hidden chamber beneath the academy.

At the center was a cracked training dummy wrapped in chains. Hayden thought that it was just another training but it was completely different than he expected…

He couldn't help but frown and look at the Headmaster in disbelief.