Philip remembered the first time he was taught about Aura from Tolvir.
The first time he was taught, there was one crucial question Philip had on his mind ever since he became aware of this glow called “Aura”.
What is Aura ?
Aura is the name given by humans to describe the use of refined and controlled life energy within their bodies, subsequently also naming the organ that produces said life energy as the “Aura Ring” which looks like a ring made out of stone located within the stomach.
To determine whether or not someone has the talent or the capability of using Aura one needs to first see whether or not the Aura Ring in that person’s body lights up, the light represents the “Awareness” the person has towards aura, it is a type of sensitivity which is different from person to person, those whose’s ring bear no light whatsoever cannot possibly use Aura as a ring without light is a inactive ring without life.
The brighter the light shines the easier it is for the person to sense Aura, the size of the Aura Ring can also differ it can be smaller and bigger depending on the person, this in fact is not disadvantageous per say, just because you have a bigger Aura Ring doesn’t automatically mean you can defeat anyone who has a smaller ring then you rather it means instead that your Aura Ring is better suited for different fields of usage.
Bigger Aura Rings represent larger production of Aura and larger Aura capacity, people who bear such rings usually are those who are good at battles of attrition, extended fights and detection, the destructive and defensive capabilities of these Aura users are also higher as they are constantly covered by their own Aura without their knowledge strengthening their physiques, on the other hand they are not very skillful with their Aura and need a long time of training before they are able to skillfully control their Aura so they don’t waste everything at one go.
Smaller Aura Rings represent quicker production of Aura and more concentrated capacity, people who bear such rings usually are those who are good at quick bursts of attacks, higher eye-hand coordination, swift and nimble movement, these people are the most skillful with their Aura and can easily control their Aura with little to no training required, their attacks are the most vicious and lethal as their small rings allow them to concentrate their Aura to such a fine degree that they are even capable of piercing through a diamond with their fingers alone, these Aura users are also the most skilled in hiding their own Aura from other Aura users but as powerful as all that may be they quickly spent most of their Aura upon confrontation making them glass cannons of sort.
Aura in general was something that came way before magic did, even though the world Philip inhabits is now fully controlled by the Magi, it wasn’t always like this, way before the Magi came to this world Aura was the most dominated form of power, even to this date the history involving Aura has still not diminished in the slightest and to some degree it even rivals or surpasses Magic itself, but alas the reality was different, there is only so much one could do with Aura, as Aura is not capable of manifesting itself into a physical form like Magic can, which gives magic a huge almost infinite amount of possibilities to choose from giving Aura users a disadvantage in the way that they cannot possibly defend or prepare for every possibility imaginable that is caused by magic.
When Philip first heard of this from Tolvir, he was quite depressed to know that Aura couldn’t stand up towards the might of Magic, he himself to some degree also understood that Tolvir was right, as the fight between the goblin shaman and Tolvir showed him how truly risky it was to challenge a magical being with the strength of Aura alone.
Even Philip who never went through any kind of combat training knew that the goblin shaman would have stood no chance if it only fought using its physical capabilities, even if Tolvir didn’t use Aura the goblin shaman still would have no choice other then to get cut down by Tolvirs blade.
But unfortunately through the use of Magic even a highly trained swordsman like Tolvir almost lost his life to a measly goblin, if it hadn’t been for Philip interrupting the fight with his stone, Tolvir would have been ash right now while the village would have probably followed his steps as well.
Philip was miffed, it was the first time that Philip felt how completely unfair magic truly was irritating him, Tolvir noticed this irritation and could sympathize with Philips emotions, he too felt the same at one point when his master explained to him how utterly ridiculous magic could be, remembering how Tolvir himself was back then and comparing to how Philips current state was, it was already pretty good that Philip wasn’t getting discouraged by the power of magic or looked as if he wanted to pursue it, the fact that Philip still wanted to pursue Aura even knowing that it was inferior to Magic said a lot of things about him even though he was still very young.
If it was Tolvir right now, he knew that he would have chosen the way of magic if he could within a heartbeat, the only reason he didn’t pursue the path of magic was because Tolvir was simply not talented enough to even walk the path of magic, even though his clan master hailed him as a genius Aura user who was able to become a rank 3 Squire at the age of 17 close to becoming a official knight he was still not satisfied with his strength.
Tolvir still remembered the fight between him and the goblin shaman deeply, never before had he been this close to death and never before did he feel the disparity between Aura and Magic this deeply.
Tolvir had fought against magic users before mostly acolytes who were between rank 1 or 2 who had already become elderly and had no chance of becoming official magi abandoned by their organizations to fend for themselves with no protection whatsoever, in combat he thought of their strange abilities to be tricky and useful but in end Tolvir still managed to defeat them with ease giving him confidence and slight doubt on whether or not Magi were truly powerful as his master the clan leader had said and if it wasn’t just fear that swept the heart of his master all along.
After all Tolvir himself had never seen an official magi before, but after having fought the goblin shaman and having determined that the goblin must have just reached rank 3 acolyte while he was at the peak of rank 3 squire one step away from official knight, Tolvir truly started to understand how big the disparity could truly grow if he fought against a official Magi instead.
Not even reaching knight rank could save him, that’s for sure.
Even now he felt longing towards Magic and the power it brought, which gave even a measly goblin the ability to kill him straight up, the thought alone made him angry and sickened inside, but he learned to deal with it and could only continue walking his own path.
Tolvir considered Philip as well, when Tolvir inspected Philips Aura Ring he discovered that Philip produced 3 times the amount of Aura a normal person did, that is not to mean that Philip’s Aura Ring was 3 times as big as a normal persons, no instead it was just the production level of Aura that was high within Philips Aura Ring, the size of Philips Aura Ring was pretty average not big nor small just the right size that covered all areas of usage while specializing in nothing in particular which could be good or bad at the same time.
The brightness of the Aura ring was above average almost reaching the level of Tolvir himself but not quite there yet, combining his above average sensitivity to Aura and his abnormal production level of Aura, Tolvir could easily imagine how Philip was able to perceive and see the Aura on Tolvirs body mid fight.
He at first thought that Philip must have been some kind of gifted genius like himself and wanted to bring him back to the clan, but after further inspection, Tolvir regrettably found out a problem within Philips life ring that he hadn’t expected when he saw his Aura Ring in detail.
Philips Aura rings had “cracks”.
What does that mean ?
Well it could mean a lot of things, like having a diseases or being crippled altogether.
The cracks could severely hinder the control and usage of the Aura itself, a good analogy to this would be a water hose with holes on it, one could still use the hose to spray water but the amount that would come out would be small as the majority of the water would be leaking away from the holes.
And while one can patch up those cracks within Philips Aura ring and make it work normally for a while, Tolvir knew that it would never solve the base issue that plagued Philip.
The heavenly gift Tolvir thought Philip was bestowed to that allowed him to produces 3 times as much Aura as a normal person turned out to be a deadly curse instead.
It was because he produced so much Aura that Philip had a cracked Aura Ring in the first place, his Aura Ring couldn’t take the amount of Aura Philip was producing everyday and since Philip didn’t know how to actively expel the Aura out of his body the Aura kept piling up within his ring until finally it forced to create a way out of the ring which formed the cracks on the Aura ring in the first place.
Philip wouldn’t feel it now since he was young, but as a person got older the slower the Aura would circulate within the Aura Ring, the slower it gets the less a person has life within them to use until finally the Aura within the Aura Ring completely stops circulating and the person dies from old age.
This is especially more lethal on Philip as his Aura Ring already has a lot of cracks on it, meaning as he gets older and his Aura circulation slows down, the amount of Aura that is lost will heavily effect Philips life and general health, it is even doubtful whether or not Philip will live over 20 years old which is the general cut where the Aura really starts to slow down.
External factors such as diseases and injuries can also affect the circulation of Aura but those are extremely minimal to a degree that their negligent, time itself is the most powerful poison, a poison so strong not even gods can escape from it.
If Philip hadn’t helped Tolvir and asked him how to use Aura, Philip would have most likely died as a young man without knowing why, but even now with the help of Tolvir patching Philips cracked Aura Ring and teaching him how to expel the excess, Philip still didn’t have all that much time left as the cracks would still continue leaking even when they are patched, at most he could probably live up to 30 or 35 if he was lucky, eventually he would just die with no rime and reason when his Aura circulation finally has to stop without enough Aura.
Tolvir at first pitied the poor Philip, he understood how much Philip desired to learn on how to use Aura, that he was even willing to risk his life by helping him kill the goblin shaman, he thought that Philip would be devastated by the news and maybe even start crying but the thing he heard after watching Philip think for a while with a blank expression on his face dumbfounded him instead.
-But I can still use Aura right ?
Tolvir immediately had a fleeting inside his mind when heard what Philip had just said.
“This kid is strange”
A Place Of Legends 