X776, Crocus.
"GAHAHAHA! LOOK AT YOU! HAHAHA! I CAN'T-"
"YOUR FACE! YOUR FACE!! HAHAHA! DID YOU GO NATIVE OR SOMETHING!?"
I glared at the two men I called friends, seriously considering murder.
After my birthday, where we celebrated into the night and finally got my official identification from the Kingdom after a thorough background check, I left for the north as promised after Dawn's scouts failed to turn up anything substantial.
The northern part of this kingdom is strange, to say the least. Some parts are covered in lush forests, some are as barren a land as can be, while others are straight-up deserts.
It was in this strange land that I chased rumors and sightings, until I finally stumbled on the demons that the rumors spoke about.
Fortunately, Owen's previous guess was right. These Demons are not hostile. In fact, they are very friendly to outsiders.
Very friendly.
Three months. Three long months. That is how long I was forced to stay with the demons as they regaled me with the history of their tribe, taught me their ways, and even made me an honorary member of their tribe for helping them establish a trade deal with a nearby village and acting as a mediator between them and the humans as both parties were scared of each other.
It is also the reason why I am being laughed at right now.
With my face covered in finger paint, clothes resembling a Neanderthal, my hair styled into spikes by the demon kids, and barefooted to boot, I showed quite the comical sight for these two, and the other Knights who had arrived to greet me on my return.
"You two done? I need to get changed, and I need a shower, now."
"Hahaha! Yeah, we are done. Go clean up."
I continued glaring at the two and flipped them the bird as I headed back to the inn that I always rent out when I am in Crocus.
Entering the room and putting Juniper on the bed while she dozed off, I headed into the shower, watching my body reflect on the mirror.
At 15 years old, I have nearly regained my former height and physical abilities thanks to my rigorous training and a bit of Ethernano on the side.
Truthfully speaking, I am already much stronger than I was at the start of Beacon, where I was more of a noodle wearing armor.
As is my habit nowadays, I relaxed into the bathtub and entered a meditative state, pulling in the Ethernano from the atmosphere to replenish my Aura while I continuously expelled the power of my soul to make room.
One might think that I gave up on all things magic ever since I realized that I lack a Container to store Ethernano.
But that would be a wrong conclusion since I never gave up on the usefulness of Ethernano or magic in general.
Ever since I managed to gain access to the local library that is frequented by the Knights Order, I have been conducting heavy research on Magic as a whole and trying to see if I can find a way to use it despite not having a container.
While I could go for Holder Type magic, which allows a mage to use magic with the help of external tools, one example being my Requip pouch, I wanted to become a true mage. A Caster Type.
Turns out, Magic is the physical embodiment of the spirit. In other words, it is the physical manifestation of the spiritual energies of a soul combined with the Ethernano in the air.
See the similarities between it and Aura yet? Because I saw it right away.
The only difference that I can see so far is that Aura comes from the Soul and is generated from it, hence, it needs no container to store it, as it comes from the soul itself. On the other hand, Magic Energy is created by drawing Ethernano from the Atmosphere and combining it with the lifeforce of a mage.
In simple words, Aura comes from within, while magic comes from outside.
It also explains why I am able to use Ethernano to recharge my Aura, since they are two sides of the same coin, it is very easy for me to use the Ethernano in the atmosphere and convert it into Aura.
Now, the question arises. How do I keep up with the mages whose power keeps increasing exponentially depending on their training, without having magic myself?
The answer was just as straightforward as the question. Training.
Specifically, I meant using the same method of training that Mages use to expand their magic reserves.
Since magic is the manifestation of the life force combined with Ethernano, the mages of this world train their physical body to the extreme, forcing their containers to adapt to their increased lifeforce, which in turn causes the containers to draw in more Ethernano and create more Magical Energy, making the mage stronger.
Similarly, after many trials and errors, I have found a way to strengthen myself and my Aura based on this kind of training.
I would first train my body physically and exert my Aura and Semblance to the extreme, stimulating them and exhausting my Aura reserves. This would cause my Aura to regenerate over time and with slightly improved efficiency and potency. A method that every Huntsman on Remnant employed to get stronger along with their skills.
However, the difference between an average huntsman and me came later on.
Once I am done with such a training, instead of letting my Aura regenerate naturally, I forcefully expel all my Aura out of my body while simultaneously drawing in the Ethernano from the atmosphere to replenish my reserves.
In essence, I am training my very soul to automatically draw Ethernano from the air to immediately replenish my Aura instead of depending on my soul to regenerate my Aura naturally over time.
A training that has been proving to be effective as of late, even if the efficiency is not up to par with what I can achieve with active meditation.
This training also had the side effect of increasing my physical fitness and prowess by leaps and bounds compared to regular training, which is also a plus in my books.
With my training done for the night, I left the bathroom and headed into my room, where Juniper was already awake and was playfully pulling at the blankets with her teeth.
What was once a hatchling that was barely as big as my palm was now as big as a cat, showing its rapid growth in a mere year.
According to what I read in the library, she will be a fully grown Wyvern in another year or two at most.
"Come on, girl, let's go."
She chirped happily at my words and jumped on my shoulder, making me slump a little at the additional weight.
Wyverns are powerful creatures that require high-rank mages to defeat, mainly because of their durability and strength. Qualities that also contributed to their absurd weight.
So it was no surprise that even as a baby, Juniper now weighs as much as a baby elephant despite being the size of a cat, thanks to her muscle and bone density.
The moment I walked out of the inn and into the tavern, I saw Dawn and Owen posted up at the bar as always.
"Finally! Did you fall asleep in the bath or something? Why do you always take so long?"
"Fuck you! I need my privacy."
"….Why the hell are you talking like a girl?"
Once again, I flipped the bird at the Knight Captain before settling in beside him.
However, I immediately regretted my decision when Dawn pushed a newspaper towards me.
"Dawn, I swear! If it is another quest-"
"Read it, Jaune."
The sudden seriousness of the two made me flinch slightly in trepidation as I picked up the newspaper.
'What are these two on about-Crap!"
Shown in the newspaper was a small article. Given its placement, it is clear that the publishers did not care much about this particular news and only included it out of courtesy.
In the article was the image of a young girl who washed up on a beach near Hargeon. Her crimson hair was short and looked like it was cut by either her or someone who had no idea what they were doing. However, the thing that caught my attention the most was her overall appearance.
With an eyepatch that most likely hid an injury, with a gaunt body that spoke of severe malnourishment, with marks on her wrists and ankles that told of long-term shackle usage, and the dead look in her single eye.
There was no doubt about it. This girl is, or was, a slave.
"…an escaped slave from the Kingdom of Bosco?"
"No."
Dawn stared into his mug, but his eyes were far away as he shut down completely. Owen, on the other hand, gave a sympathetic look towards Dawn before he started whispering, showing that this issue was much more serious than I had already predicted.
"What I am about to tell you is classified information. So far, the media and general populace only know that the girl was a slave, nothing else, just like we want. It is not uncommon for slaves from Bosco to escape into Fiore seeking refuge, so that is serving as the cover for now to make this news irrelevant to most people and keep them from asking too many questions. But the truth of the matter is that she was a slave from a place called 'The tower of Heaven'."
Tower of Heaven? That name rings a bell, but I can't place a finger on it-Hold On!
"You mean that stupid Cult of Zeref? The one that has been abducting children for the past few years across the kingdom?"
Owen nodded gravely as a chill shot up my spine, making me stare at the traumatized girl in the paper.
Just like any fantasy world, this world also had its own dark sides and cults, with the Cult of Zeref being the biggest headache in modern times.
Nobody knows their true identity, only that they target remote villages and towns that are not as well-defended as others. They kill most adults, mostly the old men and women, save for mages and those adults that have some measure of skills, and abduct children to build something called 'The Tower of Heaven', which is supposedly some kind of ritual, the details of which are kept under a tight lock and key by the Magic Council.
The worst thing is that the number of people abducted by these lunatics is well into the hundreds, maybe even the thousands, since the Kingdom of Fiore rarely gets any news from the other Kingdoms nearby, which are also occasionally targeted by these bastards.
I put down the paper and stared at Dawn.
"Did we get any valuable information out of the girl? The hideout of these bastards? Their numbers? Magic abilities? Anything at all?"
Dawn simply shook his head.
"Nothing. She claims not to remember anything, but I think she is repressing those memories out of some kind of trauma, or maybe she is lying. Whatever the case may be, we are back to square one."
I said nothing and simply placed my palm on the old man's shoulder.
Dawn, in his childhood, was a slave from Bosco who managed to escape to Fiore. From there, he carved out his current life with his own hard work and his own hands.
But the trauma that he suffered as a child never left him. As a result, he now hates slavery of all kinds with extreme passion. So I can understand how dismayed he must be feeling right now, since the only lead he had to destroy a slaving force like the Cult of Zeref turned out to be a dead end.
Looking at the girl again, I could not help but send a prayer to whatever passes for a god in this world.
'Hopefully, you will be able to move on from this trauma and make a life for yourself like Dawn. I wish you the best of luck, Erza Scarlet.'
That night, Owen and I did not drink much, keeping Dawn company as he drank himself unconscious due to his old memories being dragged to the surface.
Hopefully, he will go back to being his annoying self soon enough, because I don't like it when my friends are hurting, and there is nothing I can do about it.
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