The sky weeped. A constant downpour echoing the pain coursing through his heart. 

 

“Im sorry..” a woman spoke softly at his side, a budding trainee that had come begging at his door for training. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” 

 

Alexander Thustra stood frozen, the crackling fire burning bright despite mother nature's attempts to curb its growth felt like a personal affront. As if the fire itself was mocking his inability to do anything about it. His home was slowly crumbling into ruins, and despite the anger constantly gnawing at his heart he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. He simply remained still, watching the fire take its course. 

 

“Do not blame yourself so, little one.” While it would be easy to blame, to pin his troubles onto another's shoulders he knew it wasn’t right. She did not throw the torch, the littered bodies surrounding them said as much. “These are the sins of another.” 

 

“But I lead them here,” she protested. “Your home would still be standing if I did not come to your door.” 

 

“You wished to become a swordmaster did you not?” He questioned only to be met with the woman's confused face. “A swordmaster should never question themselves. Sword aura is the manifestation of one's soul, if your heart shakes so to will your blade.” 

 

“That's not what the textbooks say..”

 

“You come to me seeking tutelage but deny the first lesson I give?” He softly berated. “This is a lesson I have come to know over my life, my blade is no longer as sharp as it once was.” 

 

He paused, letting the young woman mill over his words as the flames reflected in his eyes, decades of battles won and lost dancing before him. He had once given up on life and resigned himself to toil for the remainder of his days in this old farmstead, a life away from the brutal playground of war.  

 

“If you’ll accept me I am willing to learn,” The young woman, Alarea Farwater said, a fierce glint beginning to return to her eyes. “The sword is my dream, to become strong enough to not let others dictate my life.” 

 

“Good,” Alexander took one last look at the flickering flames before turning his back. “A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambition. Keep your dreams close at heart, they will lead you well in life, no matter what they may be.” 

 

“Of course master,” she gave a short bow, only to be met with Thustra’s bemused expression. “Did.. did I say something wrong?” 

 

“No no,” he waved off her concerns. “It has just been some time since I was called as such. Come along now, there is nothing left for us here. Let us reach the city before nightfall.”

 

The pair turned on their heels, Alexander leading them off into the surrounding forest, a small and narrow dirt path their only guide back to civilization. The rain showed no signs of ceasing, instead slowly ramping up into a torrential downpour. 

 

Alexander and Alarea trudged through the muddy path, the thick forest canopy overhead granting them some small amount of reprieve from the harsh weather. Alexander didn’t look back. A bad habit he had formed during his time at war was to ignore any troubles assaulting his heart and simply ‘soldier on’. It is what brought him out to this secluded forest in the first place, after he struck down the enemy commander in a brutal duel he laid down his blade, leaving everything behind and simply wandering off without a word. 

 

His kingdom probably thought him dead. But if that would stop them trying to come and find him so be it, he had enough of the constant war and was ready to move on. It was a spur of the moment decision, exhausted and bloodied he wanted nothing more to walk away somewhere quiet to rest, and so without a second thought he did. 

 

He thought about his friends from time to time, the comrades he left behind, however he was happy with a simple life, away from the troubles of the world. He looked down at his apparent new apprentice, the young woman that had brought the troubles of the world back to him. He saw himself in her, the burning desire for strength deep inside her eyes could not be easily faked. 

 

“Do you not have a sword master?” Alarea questioned, noticing the conspicuous lack of sword at his hip. 

 

“I left my blade behind a long time ago, its handle became alien and I could no longer bring myself to hold it.” The blade often haunted him, the dying screams of countless foes it had vanquished erupting in his mind when drawn from its sheath. “But that does not mean I am defenseless.” 

 

Alexander snapped a branch of a passing tree, whipping it out before him clad in a bright white aura. 

 

“Woah..” Alarea beheld the pure aura blade wrapping around the fragile stick, the sheer amount of control needed to achieve such a feat astonished her. “How do you do that? Why doesn't the stick crumble under the aura pressure?” 

 

“Give it a try first,” he passed the stick over to her. Alarea furrowed her brows, concentrating hard. However her efforts were only rewarded by the faintest sliver of aura that snapped the stick in twine the moment they made contact. 

 

“This is unfair. I can barely summon aura to begin with, let alone have such fine control over it.”

 

“That is because you think too much,” Alexander snatched another branch, lighting it up with his aura. “Do you need to concentrate when you raise your arm? Then why would you need to with aura? It is an extension of yourself, let it flow without restraints.” 

 

“But if I do that my aura will be out of control.” 

 

“A baby must crawl before it can walk, improvement will come in time, there is no need to rush.” 

 

He handed her over the branch and she tried again, the result being no different from the first. However Alexander was not disturbed, while he could now use aura as if it was an extension of his body that was only achieved after years of training. 

 

“Do not be discouraged, keep at it until we reach the city. Feel the way your aura flows, we are not mages, we do not need to think with our brains but to feel with our hearts.” 

 

Alarea nodded, eyes filled with determination. She focused inside herself, only faintly feeling the flow of her aura swirling around her body. She let it move as it wished rather than forcefully directing it as she was previously instructed by a tutor she had hired and what she had read in various textbooks on the subject. 

 

Such was the standard way teached in every academy, based on the rigid style of magical circuits mages employed swordmasters were trained to focus their aura down certain channels inside their bodies. It led to a renaissance of sorts, the number of beginner to advanced swordsmen ballooning overnight. However as time passed it also led to the decrease of swordmasters, the coveted realm becoming much harder to achieve. 

 

A sheen of sweat began to cover Alarea’s forehead, channeling her aura for such a long period of time had become increasingly difficult. “Urgh this is useless! I've broken thirty sticks now and nothing has changed.” 

 

She looked to her newly found master for advice, however the man merely smiled back and offered none, insisting that she figured it out herself. “One more time.” 

 

She reached deep inside her again, feeling the aura move about with no real rhyme or reason. Focusing on the stick in her hand she felt the warm aura move, flowing alongside her thoughts. To her surprise wisps of aura flowed from her hand delicately wrapping around the stick, this time without causing it to break the moment they came into contact. She watched with astonishment as her faint aura pulsated with a soft blue light before it vanished away into the air like a cloud. 

 

“Well done,” Alexander said. “You have taken your first step into understanding the essence of aura. Always remember that it is not about overpowering or controlling it, but rather letting it flow naturally. It is your friend, not your adversary.” 

 

With newfound excitement, Alarea returned to her practice as they continued their journey through the forest. The rain did not let up, the heavens opening up completely as if to drown the forest in water. Alarea shivered, not at all dressed to withstand such elements. However as if knowing her plight, the faint aura within her spread out, wrapping her in its warm embrace like a blanket. 

 

“Since when was aura so… alive?” She thought to herself as the chill slowly started to leave her body. “I almost feel guilty about how I treated it in the past.” 

 

The pair grew close to the city, the path merging with other smaller dirt roads into one. The forest began to thin and the large flat plains before the city began to come into view. However conversely it also meant the protection they had from the forest canopy was no longer present, the pouring rain now assaulting them in full force. 

 

Alarea had to put aside her aura training, the weather constantly breaking her from her concentration. 

 

“Where are we going once we reach the city master?” 

 

“A good question,” Alexander began. “I have a couple places in mind, but first of all even though I have yet to visit I hear there is a famous academy here.” 

 

“There is but..” Alarea looked down in shame. “I was already rejected, I was not up to standard they said.” 

 

“Do not fret. If memory serves me well, the current headmaster is an old friend, he will not turn away my first apprentice.” 

 

Alarea looked doubtful but kept such thoughts to herself. The Karaeth Academy, named after the city in which it was located, was the best in the nation. While she didn’t doubt her masters skill, the  faculty of such an Academy were all incredibly influential people with decades of accomplishments to their names. 

 

And well.. Her master lived in a small farmstead in the middle of nowhere. Or did. She couldn’t see how he would have connections with such people.