Your perception of aura and the elements it presents itself in are different from everyone else's, Jormun said as he floated along. I only ever saw the different aura types as colors, while I know people who heard them, tasted them, all sorts. There’s any number of ways that someone learns about aura.
“And I see aura as a person?” Ezra confirmed as he continued on his path. In these parts of Villy, there weren’t ever any carriages to avoid, so he walked in the middle of the narrow roads to avoid being surprised by some vagrant that thought they could get lucky mugging him.
Seems like it, Jormun rumbled. What’s surprising is that you were able to really feel it in the first place. You’ve got some natural talent to perceive it at all on your first try, so you’ve got enough aptitude for me not to wander off and find someone else!
Ezra felt a spike of fear at that, that this meal ticket he’d found might leave him behind, but he pushed that down. Even if Jormun did leave, Ezra was already walking the path to Knighthood. Nobody could take that from him, and he could find out how to wield aura if he needed to. For now, though, he had someone that could hopefully teach him how to actually use a weapon how he needed to.
“So am I going to be seeing invisible people everywhere I go from now on?” Ezra asked. “I don’t really like the idea of that.”
No, Jormun answered. The ‘people’ you see will only be visible every once in a while. Usual aura perception is like what you called ‘real fire’, just seeing deeper than usual. When you get to the tiers closer to Sainthood, you’ll be able to see it more clearly, but better understanding the makeup of the world will help you take steps towards being an Initiate.
“Wait, but you said that I’d be an Initiate when I could sense aura!” Ezra protested. “I sensed aura, so I’m an Initiate.”
It aint that simple, kid! Jormun laughed. There’s steps to take, and once you can sense aura, it’s time for you to begin incorporating it into your inner world. Doesn’t matter what kind, but you need to start filling your inner vessel while you decide what path you’re going to follow. The path you take now dictates what you’ll become, though your inner world doesn’t care what kinda aura you’re giving it.
Ezra shook his head, most of the words going over his head. Instead, he asked, “So, for now, I just need to keep observing aura?”
And taking it into your inner world. We’ll work on that tonight after we do some training.
With that said, Ezra didn’t have anything else to say and just nodded as he continued on his path forward.
***
“Entrance fee’s a large silver,” the guard at the gate dismissed him.
“Oh, is that so?” Ezra asked, putting on a show for the older man’s benefit. The guard seemed to think that’d be enough to get Ezra to retreat, but he reached into a pocket that had loose change that didn’t quite come out to a large silver, only nine small silver and eight copper. As he counted through his bag, deliberately taking his time and showing how close it was to the exorbitant fee that he knew largely went to line the pockets of the guards, he spilled the coins into his hand and counted them out.
“I’m so sorry,” Ezra looked up with a smile. “I can’t quite pay that.”
“Well, you’re close enough,” the guard shrugged, not trying to hide the look of greed on his face, “that I don’t think it’s a problem. And your reason to enter the upper city?”
“To collect something for a friend,” Ezra answered. “I don’t know exactly what it is, just that they needed some help today, couldn’t get up here in time.”
The guard grunted, narrowed his eyes, and pocketed the bribe.
“Curfew’s at sundown,” he said by way of welcome. “If you’re out past sundown, you’ll be fined or taken into custody.”
“Of course, sir,” Ezra responded, keeping his head bowed to hide his grimace. “I’ll make sure to leave before I cause any trouble.”
The guard waved him off and Ezra continued on his way through the gate into the inner city. Here, the streets were paved and designated sidewalks weren’t bustling but busy enough, given that it was still relatively early morning and the cold was still biting at his ears and nose.
Instead of the rickety and run down homes and buildings he was used to, everywhere Ezra looked had a shop or home, with glass paned windows and doors with fancy knobs. The slums, so close to here, seemed like a distant dream, and Ezra fought not to grind his teeth looking at the inequality. The few times he drew close enough to someone for them to truly see him, their disgust was evident as they turned away and sneered down at him.
Fortunately, though the streets were busy enough that Jormun wasn’t constantly harassing him, there was also enough space for him to continue on his path without constantly being jeered at. With Jormun’s silence, Ezra took the time to try to understand what the old ghost had instructed him to do.
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Being a Knight had always been a dream. Being able to get out of the slums of Villy while also being able to provide for his friends and protect the poor kids on the street would be a miracle, and Ezra figured it was a dream he could always stretch towards. When the Madam took him in a few years ago, he’d been grateful and started trying to learn to fight. The scraps he’d always found himself wrapped up in on the streets when fighting for another bite of food weren’t real fights, not how Knights fought.
As Jormun explained aura and what made someone a Knight, Ezra began to hope that he might actually be able to become one. He leaned less and less on his cane as he made his way to three different storefronts and picked up what the Madam had asked him to. Large, cheap cuts of meat that were more bone than flesh, a large sack of dried barley, and a small bag of salt were the primary ingredients, but before long, Ezra’s backpack was weighed down and filled nearly to bursting.
Leaving the upper city wasn’t nearly as complicated as getting into it, and handing over a couple small silvers was more than enough to grease the wheels and get him out without too much trouble. Before he got out of the safer upper city, Ezra placed his large backpack under his cloak to try to hide himself as best as he could manage. Compared to what it’d been like before, the streets of the slums were filled with plenty of other people walking around.
Ezra consciously leaned more on his cane as he walked around, looking out for anyone who might try to ambush him.
You’re aware of your surroundings, Jormun said, breaking his long silence. That’s good. After all, plenty of people die to fighters less experienced than themselves because they don’t hear assassins coming.
Though he was about to respond, Ezra heard something that made him lose all interest in speaking to the ghost. Instead, he choked up his grip on his cane and inverted his grip, which was uncomfortable, but he didn’t think he would be leaning on the thick, knobby tool for long.
“Hey, give us what’s in the pack and we won’t give you a beating,” a young adult man said as he stepped out of a nearby alley. His shoulders were narrow, but his hands held a small, makeshift dagger. It wouldn’t do for cutting, but could rip open Ezra’s guts easily enough. His robber’s red face matched his hair, the cold making his cheeks ruddy.
“You’re going to try to rob me in the middle of the street in broad daylight?” Ezra asked without answering the demand. He just looked at the man in front of him as well as his partner, a girl about his own age standing behind him. She was even skinnier than her partner, and her sunken cheeks were barely hidden by her lank hair.
“Do you think anyone around here cares about you?” the man asked with a scoff. “You’ll just be another guy who got mugged, so shut up and give us your fucking stuff!”
Ezra raised his left hand in an attempt to calm the other man. He kept his right hand on his cane as he stepped forward.
“Okay, I’ll hand it over,” he said, continuing to step forward at a slow, unthreatening pace. “I have something that’s not worth much in there that I’d like to keep. A little drawing from a kid. Is it alright with you if I take it out? We can step into that alley over there, have me take it out, and be on my way.”
The redheaded man narrowed his eyes then gestured for Ezra to walk forward towards a different alley than he’d suggested. “You’ve got thirty seconds.”
“Oh, thank you sir!” Ezra said as he stepped forward, but just before he could pass the mugger, he was sent tumbling with a hard shove in his shoulder. Ezra allowed himself to fall into the snow, his shoulder dropping almost all the way to his head in the ice before he hit the ground. He’d suspected the bastard would try something like this, and being ready meant he’d fallen and taken away much of the robbers’ caution.
“I’m sorry,” Ezra said as he struggled to his feet and his hood fell away from his face. He maintained the hold on his cane in the less comfortable position as he got to one knee and tried to pull his hood back up with his left hand as he pretended to catch his breath.
“Blue eyes?” the redheaded man asked. “Wait, do I know—”
As the redhead looked down at him, beginning to recognize him, Ezra was done pretending. He stood in one easy motion, whipping his cane around and smashing it down into the man’s wrist. The heavy wood cracked bone and the shiv fell into the snow as the man cried out in surprised pain.
The two robbers weren’t ready for the quick vengeance, and Ezra didn’t allow the man to gather himself as he raised his cane again and smashed it into the redheaded man’s ribs. Again, he felt bones crack as the man crumpled into the snow, his groans the only sound he made as Ezra turned towards the girl. As soon as her companion fell, the girl ran away, leaving him in the snow, and Ezra kicked the man once more for good measure.
“Stay the fuck away,” Ezra growled as, his cover as being a weakling was blown, he jogged away. He was less than a kilometer away from The Dragon’s Toenail, and though running drew attention, breaking someone’s ribs in a mugging was worse.
“I’ll get you for this! You’re the whore’s kid from the Toenail! You’ll fucking pay!” The mugger screamed after him, and Ezra paid it no mind. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone said it, no reason to think it would mean anything this time.
The heavy backpack quickly took its toll on him, and his legs were already heavy from the day’s exercise in the morning. His knees wobbled less than halfway back to the inn, and he forced himself to stop to make sure he didn’t end up falling again before he got to his destination. Fortunately, his blood was up from the fight and the run, and he wasn’t too cold, even though his entire left side was wet.
I must admit, Jormun said as he floated along Ezra, I thought you were going to just give in. After all, though losing your charge would be disappointing, it’s a hell of a lot worse to bleed out in the street just for money.
“I’m not going to give away the Madam’s things just because it’s easier for me,” Ezra scowled. “And I’m not gonna get robbed this close to home.”
Jormun didn’t reply audibly as they continued onward, not until Ezra finally made it to the door of The Dragon’s Toenail.
I wonder if we can fill that backpack up again. It’s done great to help you with your exercising.
Ezra only groaned in response as he walked into the inn, where the Madam nodded her thanks to him and gestured for him to drop the pack in her office. Then, with only a scant few hours remaining until the inn was open to business, Ezra retreated up to his room where he asked the question he’d wanted to ask for so long:
“How am I going to train to use a sword?”