Though nothing was visible, the trainees felt an oppressive force surging toward them like a tidal wave.
The invisible force bore down on them brutally, as though an enormous mountain had descended upon them.
“Ugh!”
“Wh-What is this...?!”
“Ghk! S-So heavy!”
Several trainees could not withstand the force and fell to their knees.
Alia merely watched them, apparently having known in advance that this would happen.
Some trainees collapsed beneath the force, while others remained standing.
Ivan and Meirin stood there untroubled. Julian also stayed on his feet, though he looked strained.
Miliana, Kamel, and several other trainees were likewise unaffected by the force.
“What's going on......?”
Ivan slowly opened his narrowed eyes and muttered.
He had reflexively squinted when it suddenly felt as though something were flying toward him from the front, but fortunately, nothing seemed wrong with his body.
“Meirin, are you all right?”
“Hm? Oh, yes. I'm fine.”
“What about you, Julian?”
Ivan looked at Julian. Unlike Meirin, his face was rigid and covered in cold sweat.
“For now... I think I'm all right.”
“You don't look it.”
“How can the two of you be completely unaffected......?”
Julian asked back in disbelief.
He had barely managed to remain standing by resisting the force, yet Ivan and Meirin looked perfectly calm, as though it had not affected them at all.
“I don't know. It just didn't bother me?”
“Me neither.”
Ivan shrugged in confusion as he answered. Meirin felt the same.
“Not bad.”
The man who had been quietly observing the trainees from in front of the building stepped toward them.
As he approached, the invisible force weighing them down dispersed.
“Haaah!”
“Wh-What in the world was that......?”
Only then could the trainees sitting on the ground gasp for breath and raise their heads.
The man glanced sideways at them and stopped in front of Alia.
“Instructor Alia, thank you for bringing the trainees. I'll take over from here, so you may go.”
“Understood.”
Alia nodded and looked back at the trainees.
“Return to the dormitory yourselves once the lesson ends.”
With those final words, she left without hesitation.
Once Alia disappeared, the man turned his gaze to the remaining trainees.
The trainees unconsciously swallowed beneath his fierce eyes, which brought a predator to mind.
“A pleasure to meet you, trainees. I am Instructor Karl, and I will be responsible for your ‘aura awakening and release’ lessons from now on.”
The man, Instructor Karl, addressed the trainees in a low, subdued baritone.
“What just struck you was my presence infused with aura.”
At Karl's words, the trainees familiar with aura flinched.
As martial artists accumulated experience and achievement, they naturally developed a presence capable of pressuring others.
But manipulating that presence at will was a miraculous art permitted only to a small number of high-level martial artists.
They knew that a presence infused with aura belonged exclusively to masters who had crossed bloody battlefields and survived mortal danger dozens or hundreds of times.
“I held back considerably, so those of you on the ground should stop exaggerating and stand up.”
He called that holding back?
The kneeling trainees stared in shock as they rose.
“I only did it to gauge your talent, so don't pay it too much attention.”
As he spoke, Karl slowly moved his reddish eyes.
His gaze passed over Miliana and Kamel, then each of the trainees who had withstood his presence.
After lingering briefly on Meirin as it passed Julian, his gaze finally settled on the last person.
‘Is that the trainee Director Ruben recruited personally?’
Karl had known the moment he released his presence.
The instant Karl secretly intensified and spread it, Ivan had sensed his presence before any other trainee and assumed a stance.
Ivan was only a trainee. Moreover, from the information provided to him beforehand, Karl knew Ivan had not even awakened his aura.
There was no possibility that someone like him could consciously notice Karl's presence.
‘Instinct.’
Martial artists needed dozens of qualities, but every master agreed that the most important among them was a martial artist's instinct.
The instinct to sense danger, and beyond that, the instinct to react to it in a moment of mortal peril.
It was not limited to combat. With exceptional instinct, one could turn the smallest realization into an enormous achievement.
‘Interesting.’
The corner of Karl's mouth rose slightly. Ivan was still only a novice who had not even awakened his aura.
No one could know whether he would fully bring his talent into bloom.
But.
‘If he can make his talent blossom.’
Could that sprouting seed one day become an immense tree whose canopy covered the whole world?
Though it had lasted only an instant, Karl had glimpsed that much potential in Ivan.
It might seem absurd to give a single trainee such an evaluation, but Karl's judgment had never once been wrong.
“Trainees, follow me.”
Karl spoke with a faint smile lingering around his lips.
The trainees followed him, while Ivan remained standing in place for a moment, staring at Karl's back.
“What's wrong, Ivan......?”
“It's nothing.......”
Ivan answered Meirin's worried question in a troubled voice.
Ivan had clearly felt the intense gaze Karl had just sent his way. Goosebumps rose across his body.
‘This is crazy.’
Could that instructor be interested in men too?
He showed nothing outwardly, but Ivan was silently burning with anxiety.
Another trainee was one thing, but if that monstrous instructor came after him, he would be unable to resist.
“What are you doing, Ivan? Let's go inside.”
Oblivious to Ivan's thoughts, Julian pushed him from behind.
“Yeah.......”
With trembling eyes, Ivan reluctantly began walking, praying desperately that nothing like that would happen.
Contrary to Karl's intentions, his gaze had given rise to a serious misunderstanding.
***
Inside the building, the classroom contained rows of desks and chairs for dozens of trainees.
The trainees took their seats in order. Ivan sat as far from Karl as possible and looked around the classroom.
Four other men besides Karl stood motionless at the front.
“Attention.”
Once every trainee was seated, Karl raised his voice and gathered their attention.
“We will now begin the ‘aura awakening and release’ lesson. These four are assistants who will help with future lessons, so treat them with respect.”
“Understood!”
“Before we begin, I will briefly explain aura.”
It was a consideration for the trainees who still knew little about aura.
“You all know what mana is.”
Every trainee nodded at Karl's question. Even someone utterly ignorant of the world knew what mana was.
An invisible energy that existed everywhere in the world.
“Accumulating that mana in the dantian and converting it into another form of energy produces aura.”
The explanation was brief but clear.
“The human body is truly mysterious. If mana is stored in the heart rather than the dantian, its nature becomes gentle and delicate. Mana refined by the heart can form spells, create matter, and even interfere with the laws of the world. People call those capable of such things mages.”
Martial artist or mage. If asked which they wanted to become, most people would choose mage.
Unlike martial artists, who specialized solely in combat, magic had an endless range of uses.
Karl's words filled one trainee with hope, and he gathered the courage to raise his hand.
“I have a question!”
“Speak.”
Once Karl gave permission, the trainee asked without concealing his excitement.
“Can we learn magic too?”
“Pfft.”
Several trainees could not suppress their laughter and snorted.
“Impossible.”
Karl firmly shook his head.
The trainee, who had secretly been brimming with anticipation, lowered his hand in disappointment.
“One cannot become either a mage or a martial artist merely by wishing it. To become a mage, one must be born with a mana hole in the heart, an organ that holds mana. You are here because your mana holes are in your dantians. However.”
Karl continued.
“On extremely rare occasions, someone is born with mana holes in both the heart and dantian. One of you may possess two mana holes. If you insist on learning magic, visit a Magic Tower someday.”
One never knew what might happen. With that, Karl finished his explanation.
“We will now begin the lesson proper. Everyone, stand.”
The trainees rose at Karl's command.
“Those who have already awakened their aura, gather on the left. Those who have not, gather on the right.”
The trainees immediately began separating according to his instruction.
“Good luck, Ivan, Meirin. I've already awakened my aura, so it looks like I have to go over there.”
Julian offered encouragement to Ivan and Meirin, who had yet to awaken their aura.
“Thank you.”
“We'll catch up soon, so you work hard too.”
After answering, Ivan and Meirin headed right.
There were noticeably fewer trainees who had not awakened their aura than those who had.
One of the assistants waiting beside Karl approached the trainees gathered on the right and spoke.
“My name is Lauri. As you know, awakening aura is not easy. From this moment forward, you must give more than your best to awaken it.”
Lauri delivered the warning to the trainees.
“One week. Awaken your aura within one week if at all possible. Regrettably, if you take longer than that, passing the exam will be extremely difficult.”
The trainees swallowed hard.
There was no need to explain how short one week was. Considering that awakening aura normally took a month, it was absurdly brief.
But they could expect no consideration from Pandora.
This was not an academy that prioritized student growth. It trained martial artists capable of fighting in real combat.
Those who fell behind were simply eliminated.
“Everyone, sit.”
Ivan tried to take it lightly as he sat. Meirin's complexion was quite dark, apparently consumed with worry.
Lauri brought over several boxes from the corner of the classroom. They contained orbs about the size of apples.
Distributing the orbs to the trainees one by one, Lauri spoke.
“Ordinarily, the benchmark for aura awakening is sensing the aura inside your dantian. In your case, however, you must go beyond sensing it and become capable of moving it.”
After giving an orb to every trainee, Lauri raised one.
“This orb grows darker when it detects aura moving. Like this.”
Lauri drew up the aura in his dantian.
HUMMMM.
The extremely pale violet orb emitted a sound and instantly turned black.
“The faster and more actively the aura moves, the darker the color becomes. Hold the orb in both hands and close your eyes.”
The trainees followed his instructions, holding their orbs and gently closing their eyes.
“Concentrate. Focus on the dantian and imagine it as a vessel. That vessel is filled with water, and your task is to make the water spill over its edge.”
There was no trick to awakening aura. They could only trust their senses and instincts until they felt it.
Ivan concentrated on his dantian.
“Imagination is important. Picture the vessel in as much detail as possible and imagine the sensation of shaking it until the water spills. Empty your mind of every stray thought, steady your breathing, and feel yourself.”
Ivan cleared away his stray thoughts and imagined the vessel exactly as Lauri instructed.
When he strained his dantian with all his might in an attempt to spill the water inside... aura, my ass, it felt as though only a fart would leak out.
Even so, he refused to give up and continued working his mind furiously.
Ivan tilted his head while concentrating with his eyes tightly shut.
‘Did my heart just tingle?’
Was it his imagination?
The tingle was so faint that Ivan dismissed it and focused on his dantian again.
Time continued to pass. Naturally, neither Ivan nor anyone else managed to change the color of their orbs easily.
‘I think I might be feeling something.......’
Ivan recalled what Ruben had told him. Ruben claimed that Ivan unconsciously manipulated aura.
Honestly, it had sounded like a load of nonsense.
But someone holding the position of Director of the Guardian Bureau would not have spoken without reason, so Ivan searched his old memories.
He recalled the experiences in which he had barely survived mortal danger and the sensations he had felt at those moments.
HUMMMM.......
He thought he heard a sound.
‘No way.’
Heart pounding, Ivan cautiously opened his eyes.
“......”
But his orb had not changed at all.
What was going on? He could definitely hear something, couldn't he? Confused, Ivan slowly turned his head to the side.
Only then did he realize that the faint sound came not from him, but from Meirin sitting beside him.
“Huh......?”
Meirin's eyes widened in surprise. Though only slightly, her orb was unmistakably darker than before.
“Good heavens. To think you sensed your aura in less than thirty minutes.......”
Even the assistant sounded impressed, as though he had never seen such a case before.
Only then did Ivan understand how the timid Meirin, who lacked both stamina and strength, had managed to come here.
That was right. Meirin was a genius at aura.