EG Book 7 Chapter 13

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Woo, it got cold! Temperatures in the negative teens with negative thirty+ wind chill. Thankfully, we brought in enough wood and had our wood stove burning like crazy for the last two days. This one's a bit shorter, need to go back through at some point and add some more details, but it should be fun. 

Stay warm!

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Knight Kaminski was holding the compass and frowning at the horizon. “Master Narwan left after we discussed your training plan.”

I heard Jon gulp. “We will give it our all,” I said, bowing to her.

“Yes, you will,” she said. “Now, come, stand in front of me.”

We strode forward, then lined up next to her. I was astounded yet again at the size the Skysurfer reached. Six meters wide was plenty of space to spread out. The six meters of free space on the front, what the Portable Home didn’t take up, was long enough that I could have run wind sprints. Well, before I advanced at least. Now that would entail less than a second’s worth of acceleration, and turning around would require an Aether platform to push off of. I grinned at the thought.

“It is good to see that you still have a good attitude,” Knight Kaminski said. Oh, crud, I thought. “First we will be working on aura control. All of you are able to suppress your aura, keeping it contained within your body. This is all that you are capable of while in the Condensation stage of gathering. Now, you will learn to control and utilize your aura as a weapon and a defense.” As she said this, I felt her aura manifest around me and crush me downward.

I resisted, easily able to stand up under it, but I could feel my Aether react sluggishly when I tried to strengthen myself with it. “When you are able to suppress another, you limit the power they can utilize,” Knight Kaminski continued. “In an army, there will be a hundred Condensation gatherers for each Core. Even for someone of your power, getting surrounded by the enemy can result in your death, unless you are able to suppress them all. Even now, you four are barely able to move, because you are not trained in using your aura yet.”

I stepped forward, and felt the truth of her statement. She was two meters in front of us, barely out of reach, but it felt like I was covered in weights while back in basic training. Getting closer to her was a mistake, as the pressure seemed to double for every quarter-meter that I crossed. When I reached a meter away, I was driven to my knees. I unleashed my own aura, forcibly pushing it out of me. To my left, I caught Vaya with her head bowed in my peripheral vision. “Good Vaya, your family taught you the beginnings of aura control. Now, can you reach me? The pressure will not stop until you touch my hand,” Knight Kaminski said with a laugh in her voice.

I growled, shoving my aura out of my body. It worked, a little bit at least, and I was able to stand up again. I shuffled forward, my feet unable to get all the way off the ground. Knight Kaminski’s aura seemed to focus on me, commanding me to stay still. I could feel my aura being smashed back into my skin, and when it was pushed inward enough, my ability to move vanished entirely.

I roared in my mind, grabbing my Aether and circulating it out of my skin. It didn’t want to flow, and it took entirely too much to free myself from the restriction. “Good!” Knight Kaminski said. “Your Aether is your aura. Your aura is your Aether. Connect them and understand. Only when you are truly able to move will you succeed.”

I ground my teeth, stood, and stepped towards her, only to be blown back by a small blast of Air Aether. She pushed me back three steps, drastically dropping the suppression on me. I immediately took two steps forward before being suppressed again. “Yes, the distance from you affects how effectively you can suppress someone,” Knight Kaminski said with a laugh. “When you grow strong enough, or become capable enough at manipulating your aura, you will be able to extend the range on specific targets or in specific directions. Right now, I am just controlling the volume around me, wasting strength on the space above my head and below my feet. If I was not, you would be unable to move entirely. The best way to learn how to project your aura, your Aether, around you is to resist someone else’s aura suppressing you. Now, step forward and touch my hand. I have all the time in the world to stand here.” She laughed again, her hands drifting at her side.

A wave of Ice Aether shot out of Jon, his aura almost exploding out of him as he screamed, pushing forward the two steps he needed to grab Knight Kaminski’s hand and then collapse. He rolled onto his back, panting, as the rest of us tried to emulate his success.

The second person to succeed, finally figuring out whatever was the key to moving forward, was Vaya. The wave of Wood Aether seemed to bolster Bridget and I, and we both took a half-step forward. I laughed, my Aether surging in response, then with a flick of my mind I pushed out, a wave of Plasma, Lightning, and Fire ripping apart the suppression. At the same time, I felt a wave of Ice, Air, and something I didn’t recognize, and together we both stepped forward to grab both of her hands.

The release of the pressure on me caused me to jump almost three meters into the air. I landed and let my legs collapse under me. I slumped onto my back, panting as the exhaustion piled onto me like a giant pillow. After a few minutes of just languishing, I finally forced myself to my feet.

“Excellent,” Knight Kaminski said, “you all have succeeded at pushing against the Aether suppression of a Constructed Core level gatherer. If I was to truly attack you, you would still be unable to move, but progressing is better than stagnating. Now, form back up and undergo a bit stronger of a suppression.”

The pressure pushing against my shoulders redoubled, and only a stronger push of my Aether, rebuffing the utter compression of Knight Kaminski’s aura, let me still take a couple of steps towards her. Her Aether pressed against me, trying to throw me farther back, but I cut the resistance with a feeling of peace from Earth and Metal Aether. I surrounded myself with my own strength, and pushed against the force that Knight Kaminski was trying to force me down with. Her aura felt immense, and my ability to rebuff it seemed more about redirecting the force she was exerting versus actually forcefully pushing against her aura.

After a few minutes, I was able to completely redirect her aura and stand up. I felt it focus upon me, but I had practiced how to appear as the surrounding aura, and felt its pressure vanish against my shoulder’s surface.  My steps forward felt constrained, but I was able to slowly push my way forward. Each tiny step forward increased the pressure upon me, but I was able to sluice it off me. I couldn’t actually step forward, but each shuffle of my feet let me the tiniest fraction of a meter closer to Knight Kaminski’s hands as when I started.

For the second time, I barely touched her fingers, and then was immediately thrown backwards. I rolled with the force, coming to my feet facing Knight Kaminski. I roared, throwing my aura, my self, against her suppression before crashing into her capability and competing with the utterly ridiculous amount of force required to push through it.

I forced my way through the restrictions of her aura, feeling her force as she redirected my own. I threw my will against her, breaking apart her resistance and shattering the wall that tried to hold me in place. The distance I’d been thrown made it much simpler, as I was only a few centimeters from the front edge of the Skysurfer. Wow, Knight Kaminski is powerful, I thought before grinding my teeth and throwing my left leg forward a half step. Restricting all four of us, flying the Skysurfer, and preventing the others from being affected. I thought the difference from Complete Condensation to Seed Core was huge, but this gap of power feels immense.

We continued this training for nearly an hour. Bridget was the first to fall, twenty minutes in, and not get back up. She lay in the middle of the training area, her hands on her head and groaning. Vaya went to check on her, but Knight Kaminski said, “She is fine. Using your aura takes Geist, and overdrawing it can cause headaches. Only time will allow you to feel better, and by doing so your ability to use Geist will be slightly stronger.”

“Is that one reason you are pushing us this hard?” I asked, panting as I pushed forward another step.

“One of many,” she answered. “There are many people who will be attempting to have you assassinated, and I need you to be stronger so that I do not have to devote as much time and attention to protecting you. Princess Aleksandra is tying herself to you, so your strength also protects her. Keeping the knowledge inside your head safe, whether the Legacy or what came from your previous world, is incredibly important. All of these reasons push me to make you stronger, with the strongest foundation we can possibly set up. Now, move!”

Vaya roared, taking four steps in a row to poke Knight Kaminski in the gut before being blown backwards again. “I will be strong enough too,” she said, standing back up.

Jon was the next to collapse, two minutes later. I could vaguely feel the aura around him change, going from a suppression to an exclusion to keep him safe. I marveled yet again at Knight Kaminski’s control and strength. Vaya and I lasted for thirty more minutes, with her crumpling to the ground only about thirty seconds before I did.

I tried to stay upright, but my vision narrowed into a single, lighted dot, and I lost all control of my body. A few seconds after I collapsed, I managed to move my hands to my temples, squeezing in on them as the worst migraine of life bloomed.

“Amazing,” Knight Kaminski said, “No one I have ever used this technique with has lasted that long at your tier. The Stairway of Determination has enhanced you immensely. Now, rest here until you can stand, and then return inside. Send The others out, including Miss Samantha, for their training.”

I didn’t even bother trying to answer, though I noticed that Bridget was staggering to her feet. I just concentrated on breathing, letting the pain in my head flow through me without stopping to concentrate on it. I tried to use Aether to soothe myself, but it didn’t do anything. Geist really is something completely different, I thought, and I definitely need more of it. Resisting the suppression of other, higher tier gatherers, will be super important on a battlefield, and if I grow strong enough to protect the people around me, that could turn the tide of a battle. Ow, stupid head.

It took me nearly ten minutes to get back up, my migraine finally dropping to ‘very bad’ from the ‘atrocious’ point it had been. I slowly got to my feet, then helped Vaya to hers as she tried to get her feet under her. Together, we slowly limped back to the Portable Home.

I opened the door, and we stumbled inside.

“Light!” Xiao exclaimed, “if training is that bad, are we sure we want to do it?”

“It is your turn,” I said. “Everyone else is supposed to go for training. That includes Sam.”

“She’s in the Inscription room,” Milenna said. “I will get her.”

“I will knock on doors to inform everyone else,” Lilianna said.

“Thanks,” I said, turning towards my bedroom. Vaya was still leaning on my shoulder, and we both collapsed into my bed. I was asleep before my head hit my pillow.