Hal woke up the next day with the morning rays falling upon his face; he twisted and stretched before finally getting out of bed and beginning his daily routine.
He took a shower, ate, and went for his daily classes on nobility and the true way a butler can serve his master.
After which, he went for his training with the Owl, who decided this time to give him a lesson on how to properly use his ability
"Do you know what happens when Trait wielders lose control of their trait?"
Hal was bewildered by the question as he saw the owl move several swords, spears, daggers and other metallic trinkets in the air as they moved like a river of metal.
"Yeah, the trait reverts them to the state of mind they were in at the point they got their trait and intensifies it to madness"
The Owl smiled as he planted a sword with a blade that appeared as if it were made of glass into the ground.
"And did you know that though Trait users have to train their traits before they can wield them effectively, they tend to always win in a fight against a Gift user?"
Hal shook his head as a crimson spear shot into the ground, causing a slight vibration.
"Of course, Nobody ever realises the weakness of a gift is that it can't work with n a few feet of its wielder unless you can shatter your mind, of course, which causes its own set of problems"
"So what are you suggesting, Lord Owl?"
The owl again struck another weapon, this time a single-edged edged sharp dagger with a silver blade that had streaks of light playing within the dagger and a unique hilt that appeared as if a great dragon was the one gripping the hilt.
Hal was taken by the beauty of the blade until he heard the Owl say
"What I am saying is that even though trait users struggle more to fully master their ability, the art of training is not limited only to them; in fact, we all train our souls through channelling, so I believe we can also train our gifts"
Hal turned away from the eye-catching dagger captured by the Owl's statement
"Wait, there is a way to train your gift?"
The Owl nodded as another sword landed in the ground, this one resembling smooth grey marble.
"Yes, to train a trait, you must hone your body; to train your gift, you must hone your mind and connect with your ability on a deeper level. Want to try it?"
Hal did not see the reason why he should reject the offer; a chance to get to enhance his gift was something he wouldn't pass up.
"Okay, how do we begin?"
The Owl pointed to himself, and a smile appeared on his handsome face
"Mark me, young scholar, fracture your soul and place a piece of it in mine, and then I will show you how to train the mind"
'Wait, he knows about marking, ' the thought bounced around Hal's head as he ignited his ability, causing his golden brown hair and eyes to shimmer with stars.
He was not sure if he would be able to make the Owl; would the infamous force come and stop him once more, or would he be able to finally mark someone else, but come to think of it, he is a White as well, so maybe.
He fractured a piece of his soul and projected it forward to the Owl, and this time, the force did not intervene as he was able to mark the Owl.
"Now, Scholar, prepare to experience the Knowledge even scholars cannot comprehend, the knowledge harboured by the Primordial Owl"
A sharp headache suddenly rammed into Hal, who knelt and fell over convulsing on the floor. Images and words that he couldn't understand poured into his head, making Hal scream in madness.
"Come on, scholar, you are a master of knowledge, listen to the whispers of your gift and let it guide you, and guide you away from madness.
Hal tried to calm his mind and listened for the whispers of his gift until he heard, "Who are you that walks into the domain of the owl?"
The voice was overwhelming and echoed throughout Hal's mind as he found himself in a silent place; he could not see or hear for a few moments until he saw something pulsate with a brown glow.
The pulsing light travelled upwards, causing Hal to look upwards as he saw a huge owl-like entity staring down at him, its orange eyes glowing to the point they looked like stars.
The being's feathers seemed intangible, and the creature's entire figure towered over Hal like a human to an ant.
He tried to pull back, but there was nowhere to pull back to, as Hal felt like there was a wall keeping him from getting away.
The being twisted its head and, in a rumbling voice, spoke
"You are not from my bloodline, but the essence of your soul is familiar, huh, I understand it now, you are another one of those"
The entity suddenly burst out in laughter as the entire space around him spread out its four wings, and its laugh grew louder and more joyful
"You can make a fine vessel for me, a wonderful decision by my descendants now, little one. I hold no grudge against you; it is just that even I miss the sensation of being human"
The entity turned into brown glowing mist and began to make its way towards Hal, who still couldn't back away
He focused on the words the Owl told him, hoping that they would grant him solace
'Listen to the whispers of your gift and let it guide you, and guide you away from madness'
l did just that. He listened attentively until he heard a voice, the words it spoke were mumbled and its voice was unrecognisable, but he could still understand its words, "Even when I slumber I will be your guide"
Hal's eyes widened as he found himself back at the mansion training grounds, but in front of him was a black dot, and a strange black smoke started to escape it.
And then the black dot pulsated in an abnormal way before bursting into an amalgamation of hands, feathers and teeth with those bright eyes still visible within the shapeless mess of black.
The amalgamation moved erratically, seeming to corrupt everything around it. The entity moved towards Hal, who found himself unable to move until a cool breeze blew over him, forcing Hal's eyes closed.
And in that moment, a loud shriek slammed into Hal's ears, almost bursting them as Hal covered them to protect them from the noise.
He opened his eyes and saw a being that was as weird as the last; its body appeared as if it were the night sky, as it held an umbrella above its head.
Its eyes were a striking blue, and its shape seemed to ripple every so often. The being mumbled to Hal again, and he recognised it as the voice that spoke to him earlier.
Again, his voice was mumbled and unrecognisable, but he understood all its words.
"Dear Hal, I will always guide you even when I slumber"
The being faded away into nothing, and as soon as it did, Hal sprang awake. He turned his eyes to the Owl, who smiled at him
"So dear scholar, tell me, is it Hal or is the Great Owl I am speaking with
Hal was in a daze as he simply shook his head in response to the question, which caused the Owl to laugh at loud
"That concept, mighty as it is, couldn't defeat a simple scholar or maybe something else intervened that could explain the sudden change in eye colour"
Hal turned his head and saw that his eyes had once again turned blue. This was not the first time; in fact, they had changed once when he was stabbed by the Lord during his contract and again when his gift manifested
This time it was neither of the two, and even his ability had been deactivated, but still his eyes' colour refused to revert to blue, and that was the least of his concerns
"Mr Owl, tell me what I saw?"
The Owl bent down to Hal and touched his head. Hal saw the piece of his soul in the Owl's body be forced out and plunged back into his body.
"And now that is out of the way, congratulations, you just beat the force that moves the world with every single cosmic body in it and even more, you have gained a deeper understanding of your ability, at least enough to consider you graduated from training"
The Owl got up and gestured to the weapons and trinkets lying on the ground.
"And as your gift, I would like you to choose any of these weapons; two or more should do"
Hal got up and looked at the collection of weapons on the ground
He heard the voice mumble in his head, and with it, he chose his weapons: the dagger that had captured his heart and a red jewel that was tied on to a golden chain
"Oh, you choose the Slaughter's gain and the moment keeper, the Slaughter's gain will allow you to absorb the soul flame of whatever you kill, and the jewel can store a moment in time so that you can use it later"
Hal stared at the two weapons and smiled. After today, he was a little bit stronger