Leo went into the forest and came back after four hours. He found two herbs this time and killed a couple of beasts for them. The beasts were both just normal animals so he didn't have any problem dealing with them. He didn't go as deep as he went previously because of Trevor's advice.
When he came back and gave the herbs to Trevor, he got back 1800 Star coins for them. The plants hadn't grown enough for them to be considered truly magical. He handed a 1000 Star coin note to Trevor.
"The Aura Training method?" He asked Trevor.
Trevor nodded. "This is a very standard training method. Everyone uses this. The only difference is that with rich commoner families, you also have techniques to utilize aura better than with just the training method. They should all follow the same principle though. You shouldn't worry too much."
He nodded. He took the aura training method from Trevor and left with the rest of his money. He would have to go to the forest again the next week for more money to pay the advance rent for the next few months. He was spending too much money, but he knew that they were all good investments.
He went back to his house and gave the aura training method to Daphne.
"This is an aura training method. Start training using this. If you are lucky, then you can gain some aura and defend yourself. I will get you a knife as well when we have enough money for rent and furniture." He told her.
She nodded. "Thank you. Can I come with you to the forest if I become an Aura Knight?"
Leo thought for a minute. "You have to become an actual Aura Knight, not just an Apprentice Knight. Okay?" He gave her a hard goal so that she would take some time before he would have to deal with her.
Daphne was like his sister, and he didn't want to put her in danger. She looked at him with determination in her eyes.
"I will definitely become an Aura Knight as quickly as possible." She said resolutely. He smiled at her.
"I wish you good luck. Now start practicing. I am also training using the aura method. That was why I sit in my room for long periods of time." He said. He was lying to her, but it was necessary.
They had a quick late lunch. He went to his room while Daphne went into hers. They already had enough food for dinner, so they wouldn't have to go out to get any. He didn't have to worry about dinner and could focus on training.
Compared to the previous day with the magic stone, his training gave fewer results. His magic power barely grew at all. Leo understood how important Beast Cores and Potions were to train. The only problem was that he would have to kill them himself to use them. This meant that it would be faster for him to train if he kept going to the forest and getting Pseudo Beast Cores instead of just sitting down and training.
For the rest of the week, his schedule was very simple. He would go out and find herbs to sell to Trevor while trying to look for Pseudo Beast Cores in the animals that he killed. In the rest of the time, he would train his magic. He could also use the white room to train while he was sleeping, so he saw a decent improvement in his magic.
His luck wasn't very good while going into the forest this time because he couldn't find any Cores. However, he found 1 or even 2 herbs sometimes. This all added up to almost 7000 Star coins. Along with his initial 800 Star coins, it was enough for a couch as well as the rent for the next three months.
He paid off his advance at the office. Adira was very shocked when she saw that he came up with the money that quickly.
He continued going into the forest every day for the next week as well. This time, he was luckier than before. He found three Pseudo Beast Cores.
He didn't tell Trevor about them, because he didn't need him to identify them. He quickly felt the magic within them. He was saving the cores up without using them because he wanted to take a break from going into the forest.
For the week after that, he just focussed on absorbing the magic within the cores. Because he wasn't rushing it, each core lasted two days. By the end of the week, his magic doubled. While it might seem odd that his magic only doubled, given that he absorbed three Pseudo Beast Cores, it wasn't considering the current state of his mind.
The cloud was now incredibly dense, and he could feel the magic influencing his mind heavily. The plains that the cloud lit up were very vibrant. He could see that the grass stretched to a considerable distance - almost a mile away. The cloud itself was the size of a big mansion. His mind itself felt incredibly clear and he felt it was considerably easier killing Pseudo Magical Beasts.
The next week also passed similar to the second week. He found two Pseudo Beast Cores and a few other herbs that he sold to Trevor. Trevor started to appreciate Leo as a valuable mercenary and started depending on him for herbs more than other mercenaries who charged more.
With the money that he earned, he was able to buy the furniture for the house as well as a good dagger for himself and Daphne. In all this time, Daphne was still struggling to learn how to train Aura.
Time passed quickly, and two months shot by.
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
If you like the story, then please consider voting with power stones.
:) Thanks. Have a great day.
It was the middle of the night and the cottage was incredibly quiet. Leo was sleeping, but in reality, he was just sitting in his mind. He was just watching the plains that stretched on endlessly. Above him was a huge cloud of magic.
This cloud was now incredibly dense and huge. It was the size of a football stadium. The cloud was mostly white with colors occasionally swirling around. It was emitting huge amounts of light, and the grass for miles and miles was lit up.
At this point, he had reached a bottleneck. He couldn't absorb more magic because it was just dispersing away. His mind rejected any more additions to it. He knew what this meant. It meant that he would have to form his first star. The minute he did that, he would become a true mage.
He didn't want to do it immediately. He was going to wait till he gathered enough resources. To break through, he would ideally need a real Beast Core that would give him the magic power to force the cloud to condense into a star. Magical Herbs would need to be processed into potions but they could work as well. The best option would be to make a pill with magical herbs and a Beast Core.
Unfortunately for Leo, none of these were an option to him. The only option for him would be to gather enough Pseudo Beast Cores and squeeze them dry one by one. He would have to make sure that he had enough of them. This was why he had put off his breakthrough for more than a week. He was collecting Pseudo Beast Cores. He had 3 till now, but he wanted to have at least 10.
He decided to rest for the rest of the night. He was going to go into the forest the next day to find cores. He was no longer looking for herbs. Over the past few months, he had amassed over 50000 Star coins. He didn't have any use for it, but it would take care of any of his needs.
The next day, he woke up to get ready to go to the forest. Daphne was waiting for him. She was not going to let him go alone.
"Can I go with you today?" She asked him. She hadn't become an Aura Knight yet, but she had gathered a little amount of Aura. She felt she was qualified enough to go into the forest though.
"No. You have to become a full Aura Knight first." He told her.
For her to become a 1st Circle Aura Knight, she would have to be able to use aura to enhance her physical abilities. In her current state, she would be in danger in the forest.
"But you aren't a real Aura Knight either." She nagged.
"I am stronger than you are," he said.
"No, you are not." She said.
Daphne was unconvinced. She suddenly saw him speed past her. Leo was behind her and out the door before she could even comprehend what happened. He shut the door behind him.
"Yes, I am." He said while walking. He only muttered it since Daphne couldn't hear him anyways.
He walked to the forest. He had a new weapon this time. He had bought a dagger for 30000 Star coins, exhausting a huge chunk of his earnings. It was a dagger that was used by 1st Circle Aura Knights. The market only served a few 1st Circle Aura Knights and mainly Apprentice Aura Knights.
The dagger was made of steel. It had a sleek body and was incredibly sharp. It rested in a sheath on his hip. Before going to the forest, he went to a restaurant near the city wall. He had developed the habit of having a meal there before heading out.
This was because mercenaries and adventurers would stop by there. He would be able to hear any rumors about the forest and know if he needed to be more wary than usual. He also started developing an understanding of the city because of this.
He found that very few people were stronger than 1st Circle Aura Knights. 2nd Circle Aura Knights and above were very rich and would buy their weapons in the fancier shops near the center of the commoner's district. They were also a lot more powerful among adventurers in Solhaven. In total there were less than 1000 2nd Circle Aura Knights.
This was because Solhaven was a smaller city in the Solarian Empire. The strongest person in Solhaven was the Magistrate, who was a 4th Circle Mage.
Leo went into the restaurant. He went to the front.
"Can I get a small serving of your special?" He asked. He put down a few coins to cover the meal.
Even though he was incredibly young, he grew a lot in the months since he started to eat healthier. He had grown a couple of inches and stood at 5'5''. He looked like a 13-year-old, and it wasn't too weird for a 13-year-old to work.
He took a table in the corner and sat with his small meal. He started listening to the nearby people who were talking.
"Did you hear? An entire team of 2nd Circle Mercenaries went into Valkyr's Inner Forest to look for a Blood Heart for the Magistrate. They were wiped out."
"Isn't this the third team?"
"What a pity."
"What about the Outer Forest? I heard someone saw a Black Spotted Leopard in there. Isn't that unusual?"
"Yes! I thought I was the only one. Did someone else see a Magical Beast in the Outer Forest? The forest is changing."
Leo was taking in all the information. With each sentence, he was getting warier of the forest. He took a deep breath and got up. He got the information he needed. He still needed to go into the forest, but now he would be very careful.
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A/N: I would greatly appreciate comments about the story at any point. I would also appreciate reviews.
If you like the story, then please consider voting with power stones.
:) Thanks. Have a great day.
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