Chapter 16 (2/2)
Chwaaang. Chw.a.n.g. Chw.a.n.g.
Luke had no choice but to grit his teeth and jump at Kurotan.
“I’m going to die from the pain.”
Luke ma.s.saged his aching sides and legs while looking very battered. They were places that he’d taken pretty heavy hits from Kurotan.
“You are too weak. That’s nothing…”
“Look, I’m not an Orc. I’m not bad for a human, you know.”
Unlike his snappy comebacks, Luke’s expression was bright. He had succeeded in feeling the flow of mana by following Kurotan’s advice.
“There were a total of three places where I felt that the flow of mana was unnatural.”
“Is that so?”
“I think I have to fix the pathway in those places first.”
Luke glanced at Kurotan with a bright expression.
“Will you help me?”
“Of course.”
Luke’s eyes shook a bit.
“Thanks, Kurotan.”
Kurotan frowned.
“Do not thank me from now on.”
“Why not?”
“Friends do not thank each other.”
Kurotan looked at Luke straight on.
“You might be human, but I already consider you a member of my tribe. Tribal members do not need to thank each other.”
“All right. I won’t say thank you from now on.”
“Not just me, but the tribal members who will be joining us from now on.”
“All right.”
Luke sat down in a meditative position on the ground and took out the last mana potion. He was planning on using it to make adjustments to the Esteban House’s Aura cultivation method he had trained in.
Just yesterday, Luke would not have attempted such a thing no matter what. The Aura cultivation method of Esteban House was praised throughout the kingdom as being a stable and efficient Aura cultivation method.
However, Luke had seen Kurotan train in an ‘unstable’ Aura cultivation method, make multiple adjustments, and jump immediately to the level of an Aura Expert.
This was why he was attempting something he could not have even imagined yesterday.
Kulkkuk.
Luke gulped down the mana potion and closed his eyes. Not long after, mana began to seep throughout his body.
Paaat!
Luke frowned at the painful throbs coming from the inside of his body.
‘I can never get used to this pain. It’s better than the first time, I guess…”
He had already located places in the pathway that felt like the flow was unnatural with Kurotan’s help. Unlike Kurotan, Luke was drinking a mana potion in a state where his mana pathway was already complete. The mana from the mana potion immediately began circulating this pathway as soon as it was released.
‘There are a total of three places where the mana flow is unnatural. I must fix them.’
Luke was aware of how to guide mana, courtesy of Kurotan. Luke smiled bitterly.
‘I am probably the only human that’s ever existed to try and adjust an Aura cultivation method using the ideas of an Orc.’
The adjustment of the Aura cultivation method went smoothly. Luke had successfully guided his mana through new paths that closed down the unnatural paths that his mana flowed through. Guiding mana was a lot easier than controlling Aura.
Luke opened his eyes and lifted his sweat covered face.
“I think it’s done. I no longer feel any unnatural spots in my mana pathway.”
“All right, now you must befriend your Aura. Don’t try to control it, and try to approach it first.”
“How?”
“Just like you befriend mana. You must feel and become one with Aura.”
Luke made multiple attempts, following the advice Kurotan had given him, but none were successful. It felt as though the Aura was angry for all the times that Luke had tried to suppress it.
However, the Aura was not reacting violently or fiercely towards Luke’s advances as it had before.
“Don’t be in a rush, this will take time.”
“All right. I should be relaxed going about it.”
Luke looked up to the sky.
“Too much time has pa.s.sed. We should get moving.”
Kurotan frowned.
“Kurotan hungry.”
“All right. I’ll prepare some food really quick.”
Luke smiled bitterly and hurried about to cook.
The distance between Esteban Earldom and Lea Marquisate took about fifteen days to travel on horseback. Luke and Kurotan trained bitterly throughout the whole travel.
They would spar fiercely every night, foregoing sleep, and traveled the whole day to make up for the time lost in their training.
Kurotan’s prowess increased daily. As he gradually cultivated his Aura, he was becoming closer and closer to the level of his past as an Orc Great Warrior.
Luke was also undergoing some changes. After he had adjusted the Aura cultivation method with Kurotan’s help, Aura had begun to circulate his body for the first time.
Of course, he had not befriended Aura yet. However, due to fixing unnatural spots in the pathway that the Aura would flow through, the Aura would no longer stop and return during its circulation as it did in the past.
“Good. The Aura has flowed through the place I made the adjustment.”
Luke examined the Aura that was coursing through his body anxiously, but the Aura safely circulated his body once. It was his first time succeeding in Aura rotation since he had awakened Aura.
Kurotan laughed and patted Luke on the shoulder.
“It will circulate continuously, now that you have succeeded. The amount of Aura will slowly increase.”
Luke looked at Kurotan, his eyes shaking with emotion.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
“No. I was able to recover Aura thanks to you as well.”
Their gazes met in the air, and Kurotan bared his teeth in a smile and lifted his axe.
“If we fight without worry, the Aura will circulate even faster throughout the body. Shall we dance?”
“Good. Let’s fight.”
The sound of weapons clas.h.i.+ng echoed through the night, by the campfire.
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