I continued my Aura training for a month, during which I acquired a few new abilities.

[Aura Master]

[Super Reflexes]

After mastering the four different Aura techniques - Aura Emission, Aura Compression, Aura Division, and Aura Transfer - I gained the Aura Master ability. Later, during group exercises with the king's soldiers, after continuously evading multi-directional attacks, I acquired the Super Reflexes ability. Although I had the foresight ability, I didn't really need super reflexes, but sometimes even foresight was insufficient in attacks involving multiple people.

Today, we were meeting King Charles for the last time to test my abilities. We met at the training ground.

Charles: "I haven't seen you for a month; you must have been quite determined about your Aura training."

"You could say that; my only desire is to become even stronger."

Charles: "Then let's see this power of yours. How about fighting with just Aura, without using your abilities?"

"Sounds good."

Charles: "Hahaha, you must be quite confident to be so audacious."

"There's only one way to find out."

We both released our Auras at the same time. While my Aura was not yet superior to King Charles', it was no longer weak enough to lose to him. My red aura mingled with King Charles' yellow aura. Violent winds began to blow in the arena, and the walls started to crack.

Charles: "You've gotten much stronger. In almost a month, you've managed to emit as much aura as I can. But an uncontrolled aura is good for nothing but intimidation; you need to compress it if you want to use it."

We both compressed our Auras simultaneously; King Charles's aura condensed and wrapped around his body, turning into a brighter, denser yellow aura.

King Charles: "Hm? Why did you stop emitting your Aura? Perhaps compressing that much aura in a month is impossible even for you."

"Hmm, you think so?"

King Charles's inner thought: "What? Why is he smiling? Is there something I'm not seeing? No, don't tell me…"

King Charles: "You couldn't have mastered Aura compression in just one month, could you? Is that even possible?"

What King Charles didn't know was that I had modern knowledge from my own world. Discoveries about atoms and how they are distributed in solid, liquid, and gaseous states hadn't been made in this world yet, but in ours, they were long discovered.

When we emit Aura, it spreads and expands like atoms in a gas. But when we compress it, like atoms in a solid object being close together and forming a denser object, the power emitted by the aura concentrates in a smaller area and becomes stronger. Such aura can wrap around your body, creating armor much stronger than any regular armor. After grasping this concept, compressing aura became much easier, and I managed to compress the aura emanating from my body into an almost invisible layer.

"You seem quite surprised, but this is just the beginning."

King Charles: "I am surprised, but won't you struggle to divide such a dense aura?"

"What, would there be a problem if I punched that wall?"

King Charles: "I don't think so. That wall is made of the thickest and most durable materials, able to withstand the strongest magic attacks, and is fortified with magical protections."

"That's good to hear."

I divided all the aura in my body, channeling it into my arms, back, legs, and gluteal muscles. Initially, I had simply tried transferring the aura to my fist, achieving explosive power, but it wasn't enough. People with protective abilities like Malik or Aiden might withstand such attacks, but what if, instead of transferring aura only to my fist, I transferred it to the muscles I use when throwing a punch? I channeled all the aura into my triceps, latissimus dorsi, deltoids, chest muscles, biceps, and for rotational force, my hip and leg muscles. Then all I had to do was throw my punch with all my strength and speed.

I swung my fist at the wall, and it crumbled to the ground.

"Sorry, I tried to control my power, but I'm still a bit amateurish with this technique."

King Charles: "It's alright, I wanted to install a huge window there anyway."

"Are you okay, Charles? You seem to be stuttering?"

King Charles: *Coughing* "Just something stuck in my throat. Anyway, you seem to have gotten much stronger. But have you mastered the last technique, Aura Transfer? Transferring your aura to another object is a completely different matter."

Transferring my aura to an object in my hand hadn't been too difficult. Using my previous concept of turning gaseous aura into a solid state, I thought of the aura as a fluid-like substance and enveloped the object in my hand with it. This could include swords, spears, shields, even a pen – I'm not sure if I could kill someone with a pen, but I had heard legends of a man who had done so. While experimenting with aura, I discovered another technique: if I spread my aura like a gas around the environment and then solidify it onto objects, I could control those objects enveloped in my aura. In essence, this is telekinesis, but the difference is that by covering objects with my aura, I can strengthen them. However, I can't control objects beyond the reach of my aura, and overloading an object with aura might destroy it. For instance, a steel sword can take more aura than a wooden stick. The size and material of the object also affect how much control I have over it. Since this is a new technique I created, I'm sure I'll improve over time.

I transferred the aura in my hand to my sword and showed it to King Charles.

King Charles: "You really have mastered the use of aura in just one month, which for some reason annoys me."

"Hehehe."

I think it's best not to show him my new technique yet, as I am not strong enough to defeat him – I don't want to provoke his anger.

Charles: "Then there's only one thing left to do, FIGHT!"

King Charles lunged at me, swinging his sword with such speed that even my foresight ability couldn't react in time – he could have killed me instantly. Thankfully, my newly acquired super reflex ability allowed me to block his sword.

Charles: "You seem to have gotten faster! But can you block this?"

King Charles transferred his aura to his legs and began circling around me at high speed, but what he didn't know was that this game was for two players. I transferred my aura specifically to the muscles used for running, trying to match his speed. Although my aura-splitting technique was more efficient than King Charles's, there was a clear difference in the amount of aura between us, so even with such an efficient technique, I could barely keep up with him.

Charles: "I guess I shouldn't underestimate you; I'm going to attack with all my strength now!" Charles's speed and aura intensified, making it increasingly difficult to keep up. While I could barely block his attacks, it was impossible to strike back – I had to endure until I found an opening to attack. He raised his sword for a powerful strike, and I took the opportunity to try slashing his abdomen with my sword, but his aura was so strong that even my aura-coated blade couldn't make a cut.

Charles: "Unlike you, I transfer aura not only to my sword but also to my armor, giving me the chance for heavy attacks. JUST LIKE THIS!"

Charles swung his sword downward; if I had been caught in that attack, I could have died, but I managed to dodge at the last moment. Why do this madman and Arthur always make even training fights so deadly? Wait a minute, why am I holding back? Isn't the man in front of me the famous King Charles who even defeated Arthur? Then I can attack with the intent to kill too.

Charles: "Ah, you finally seem to be taking things seriously."

My red aura intensified violently and turned the color of blood, so intense that I could barely contain it. The compressed aura leaked out, creating explosions on the walls. Then an idea came to me – to compress the aura as much as possible and accumulate the spreading aura. But for that, I needed to avoid any damage and not use my aura at all.

Charles: "Hm? Why did you stop? Was that amount of aura just for show? Remember, the fight doesn't end until one of us gives up, so you might as well say you give up, or I might kill you."

…

Charles: "No answer? Well then, HERE I COME!"

I managed to buy some time by engaging King Charles in conversation, and the aura I had accumulated was suffocating. When King Charles charged at me, I transferred all the accumulated aura to my muscles for a punch, delivering an explosive punch directly at King Charles. But with a masterful move, he deflected my punch with his sword, causing the aura from my fist to explode the training ground and Charles's aura. As a last resort, I had transferred all my aura into that punch and was now too exhausted to produce more aura – it was a completely lost gamble…

"How could you deflect my punch with your sword? To be able to see such a fast punch is astonishing; you truly are amazing, Charles. It's not hard to see why your people treat you like a true king and why they love you so much."

King Charles: "Haha, thank you. With enough training, you could be as strong as me."

King Charles's inner thoughts: "Does he think I blocked that punch? I didn't even see the punch coming. Despite having less aura than me, his mastery over his techniques is extremely good. Had the punch not accidentally hit my sword, even I could have taken severe damage."

King Charles: "By the way, please stop destroying the castle. If people learn that someone can easily break apart a high-security castle like this, rumors will start about me using cheap materials."

"Hahaha, sorry."

King Charles: "Anyway, that's enough for today. What will you do now?"

"I have a place I need to go to, thanks for everything."

[Time Remaining Until Your Second Mission Begins: 6 Hours].