Laniakea swung his Aura-imbued body and sword, mimicking the basic movements he had learned from 'the lion'. Moving with his entire being, he precisely executed each swing; he could feel the impurities slowly leaving his body as the Aura circulated. After repeating these drills for a few hours, he finally paused to catch his breath.
"Ah, my whole body hurts," Laniakea thought. "It would've been impossible to manage those swings without the Liquid Aura cultivation method. Any other Aura users Aura heart would've exploded from trying to cultivate while moving. Well, I've rested enough; I should resume."
He set down the training sword and drew the dagger he'd taken from the two people who tried to abduct him a year prior. He began a series of basic strikes he had found in a book a few weeks ago. His Aura surged as he executed a violent, precise downward diagonal slash. His obliques and pectorals torqued his torso, channeling raw energy into the blade's edge.
Without pausing, he snapped into a backhand sweep. His trapezius and triceps whipped the steel outward, while a pulse of Aura through his forearm extensors locked his wrist against the momentum. He finished with a vertical plunge. His core muscles and serratus crunched, driving his full weight downward. As his forearm flexors seized the hilt, the circulating Aura condensed into a pressurized spark at the dagger's tip.
In his legs, his calves and thighs acted as iron anchors, flushing Aura into the earth to stabilize his stance. After the final swing, Laniakea dissipated the concentrated energy at the tip into the atmosphere, absorbing it back into his body.
"Turns out it's still too hard to absorb it directly from the blade," he muttered. "I'll have to train that more later. I should get back to the orphanage; Sister and the others are probably waiting, and I need to wash off this sweat."
Laniakea took a detour to the lake to clean up. Reaching the shore, he shed his shirt and rolled up his pants, sighing as the cold water hit his skin. But just as he began to relax, he spotted something through the trees on the opposite bank. He focused Aura into his eyes, sharpening his vision until a carriage came into focus.
"A carriage? Here? Are there nobles nearby?" he wondered, his pulse quickening. "What would they be doing at the lake? Even if they're just resting, I'm not risking a run-in."
He scrambled out of the water and threw his shirt back on. Focusing Aura into his legs, he sprinted toward the orphanage, letting the rushing wind dry his damp clothes. He arrived just before nightfall and told Sister he was heading straight to bed. As he layed down, he hoped the carriage belonged to merchants or travelers—not nobles who might bring trouble to his town.
"I'll worry about it tomorrow," he thought as he drifted off.
This time, there was no dream of the sphere. He woke up feeling as though time had simply skipped. It's been good not dreaming lately, he mused. I prefer a time-skip over dreaming about getting a raise, only to wake up and realize it was sadly just a dream.
Laniakea dressed and headed to the tavern, calling a quick goodbye to Sister. He arrived early and donned his uniform. Since his coworkers hadn't arrived yet, he prepared to handle the morning rush alone. The door creaked open, and two hooded figures entered.
One of them is tall—maybe 185cm—and well-built, Laniakea noted. He's wearing armor under that cloak; definitely a guard. The second person was smaller, about 5cm shorter than Laniakea. Based on her gait, she was female, and she seemed to be searching for someone.
"Hello, what can I get for you?" Laniakea asked with a practiced smile.
As he spoke, he caught a glimpse beneath her hood. She had pale skin and striking white hair with orange accents that deepened into dark orange at the tips. Even her eyelashes were white. As Laniakea stood there, momentarily mesmerized, the tavern owner opened his office door and gestured for the strangers to come inside.