บท 17: Settling In
It took a while to explain their current situation to Daphne. Leo did it as quickly as possible and forced her into the house. He did not want to stay outside too long. Once they both entered the house, they decided who took each room and they settled in. After they settled in, they had their first meal in the house together. He explained to Daphne what she could do for the next week.
"You don't have to go to the market for work anymore, because that will be very useless. Instead, you just decide what beds and clothes we need and buy them. In that time, I will earn enough money to buy us an Aura Training method. We can learn aura and become Aura Knights." He said to her.
She just nodded. She was still very dumbfounded. She couldn't comprehend what was happening.
The next day came, and Daphne set out to look for furniture and clothes, and other necessities. Leo stayed in to train his magic. He needed to grow stronger so that he could go into the forest again. He needed to make enough money to buy an Aura training method.
He would have to learn it to maintain a facade. He wouldn't have to explain how he killed monsters if he could just say that he was an Aura Knight. Daphne could also become one and protect herself.
He pulled out the Pseudo Beast Core. Beast Cores were useful to both mages because they could absorb the magic in them to train. The Beast Cores could also be used to make potions and other materials that would help with training. Aura Knights could use various herbs to make elixirs that could help them train better instead of potions made from Beast Cores.
The reason was that Aura was completely different from magic. It trained the body instead of absorbing magic into the core. The Aura would stay inside the muscles and could extend to the Aura Knight's sword. The circles that Aura Knights made revolved around the dantian of the person. Meanwhile, magic stayed inside a mage's heart, or his mind in Leo's case. Since Mages devoted their time to magic, they typically didn't spend their time studying aura.
He held the stone in his hand and started meditating. He could sense the huge cluster of magic inside the stone. It was a lot denser than in the air around him. He started absorbing the magic slowly into his body.
By the end of the day, the magic in his body had doubled. The magic cloud in his mind was the size of two houses, and its huge mass made it start to cling together. He could feel that the magic started to attract each other, and the cloud was slightly denser than before.
He got up and went to the living room. Daphne was already waiting there. She was looking very bored as she just sat in the corner, waiting for him. She looked up and saw that he was ready to have a meal.
"You didn't have lunch?" She asked.
"I didn't. But more importantly, when did you come back?" He asked her.
"It's been around four hours. Why?" She answered.
"Nothing. You must have been bored." He said.
She shook her head. "I'm used to it. I didn't have anything to do in the slums as well. I couldn't exactly go out to make friends there. I just pass time by myself."
He shook his head.
"You should quickly learn aura. I am going out tomorrow and I will buy one for you. Did you find the furniture?" He asked her.
She nodded. "Yes, but even the cheapest will cost a total of 4000 Star coins for everything. We don't have that much money. I just bought some lamps and kitchen utensils. I got you some clothes as well."
He looked to where she pointed and saw that there were a few pairs of clothes as well as a pair of shoes. He smiled. He would finally be dressed decently.
"Very nice. Let's have lunch!" He shouted.
"It's dinner." Daphne shook her head. "You're such an idiot."
"It's dinner for you. For me, it's the first meal since breakfast. That would make this lunch." He answered with a grin.
They finished eating quickly and went back to their own rooms. They learned to give each other space over the past years. The next day, Leo set out early in the morning. He was going to the market to meet Trevor. He was going to the forest again. This time, he was going to get only two herbs. He needed the money to buy an Aura Training method as well as a new dagger.
He needed a better knife that could cut through the bones of stronger beasts. He would eventually start hunting Pseudo Magical Beast. He needed the cores to practice magic. He couldn't buy them because he would have to explain why he needed them.
He first went to one of the vendors that sold equipment. They typically sold equipment to Aura Knights, but they might have some knives for Apprentice Aura Knights as well.
"Do you have any daggers for Apprentice Aura Knights?" He asked the man behind the stall.
"Yes. They start at 400 Star coins. The best ones are 3000 Star coins." The man said.
Leo took out 400 Star coins. "Can I have a simple dagger please?"
The man took the money and handed him a dagger. With this, all of the money that he saved was gone again. He met with Trevor to tell him that he was setting out again before leaving the forest.
"Trevor, I am going to get some more magical herbs. Do you have any tips?" He asked Trevor.
"Yes. I heard that the deeper part of the forest was slightly weird from some mercenaries. Don't stray too far into the forest."
"Thanks. Also, keep a book of Aura Training ready. I'll buy it today." He told Trevor before setting out.
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