The morning haze sat low over the training grounds, clinging to the dirt like it refused to leave. My head still throbbed faintly from yesterday's mess, but compared to the hell of the infirmary, it was nothing. I could move. I could breathe. That alone meant training wasn't optional anymore.
Sir Aldred stood in the center of the courtyard, arms crossed, expression unreadable as always. Behind him, faint lines were etched into the stone—marks from where instructors had been "testing" the ground for what today's lesson needed.
Which didn't reassure me.
At all.
"Rain," Aldred said, nodding when I approached. "Today is your first aura control trial. No illusions of grandeur. You will fail—multiple times."
"…You're very encouraging."
He ignored that.
"This is necessary. After an awakening like yours, control doesn't come naturally. Your aura will resist you. Defy you. And if you mishandle it again, you'll collapse as badly as before."
Great.
Exactly what I wanted to hear this morning.
I tightened my grip on my sword. My body still felt sluggish, but at least it obeyed me now.
Aldred's eyes flickered to my stance. "Before we begin, there is something you must understand—something about will-born awakenings."
I paused.
Will-born?
"You've heard the classification," he said, "but you don't know the reality behind it."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Rain… awakenings born from will are the most dangerous."
"…Dangerous how?"
"Because aura born from will refuses to remain passive. It reflects the exact moment you awakened—an imprint of your resolve. That imprint lingers. It pushes you. It pulls you. It reacts to your emotions, not your commands."
My stomach tightened.
"So you're saying—if I lose control—"
"It will act on its own," Aldred finished. "Even against your intentions."
I stared at my hands.
My aura… moving without me?
That thought alone made my chest tighten in a way I didn't like.
Aldred stepped back. "This is why your training must be monitored. And why…"
His jaw clenched slightly.
"…why certain instructors disagreed with letting you resume training this early."
What?
Before I could ask, the courtyard gate creaked open.
Instructor Rodomous' voice cut through the quiet like steel.
"He shouldn't even be here, Aldred. The boy is unstable."
Rodomous strode in, frustration almost radiating off him. Behind him was another professor—Instructor Halen, one of the aura theory teachers, expression harsh, eyes sharp.
They didn't see me yet.
Perfect.
"He needs rest," Halen argued. "Two days unconscious from core strain? That alone should disqualify him from immediate trials."
"His core is stabilizing faster than expected," Aldred replied calmly. "And he can't delay training. The longer an unstable aura sits dormant, the worse the consequences become."
Rodomous scoffed. "So your solution is to throw him at control trials? Brilliant."
Their voices lowered into heated murmurs, but I heard enough.
They didn't trust me.
Or maybe they feared me.
Either way… it stung more than I wanted to admit.
A faint footstep appeared beside me.
Varein.
He didn't say anything, didn't even glance at me—just quietly took a stance a few meters away and began practicing spear forms as if this were any other morning.
But the closeness…
The quiet presence…
It grounded me.
Tch. Stupid Varein. Always doing the bare minimum while pretending it wasn't support.
I exhaled, tension easing just a little.
Aldred eventually noticed me listening and shot the other instructors a look sharp enough to cut stone.
"That's enough. The boy is here. Save your arguments."
Both instructors fell silent.
Rodomous stared at me with something complicated—irritation, wariness… and a hint of reluctant respect he'd never admit.
Halen simply looked like he was waiting for me to explode.
Whatever.
I ignored both of them.
Aldred turned to me. "Your first trial is simple," he said.
A blatant lie. Nothing Aldred calls simple is ever simple.
"You will channel aura through your blade… without releasing it."
My stomach dropped.
"You mean… keep it contained?"
"Yes." Aldred tapped the stone circle beneath us. "This is a containment area. If even a flicker escapes, I will know."
Great.
So either I fail immediately… or embarrass myself in front of three instructors and half the courtyard spies hiding behind the railing.
Fantastic.
I inhaled slowly, focusing.
My aura stirred—light-blue, faint, restless—as if waking up from a long sleep.
The moment it felt my intent, it pushed forward sharply, almost eager.
Whoa—too fast.
I tightened my grip, trying to rein it back.
The blade trembled.
"Slow your breathing," Aldred instructed.
I tried.
The aura kept slipping forward anyway.
Varein paused his training, his spear hovering mid-air as he glanced at me—not intruding, just watching.
I grit my teeth.
Come on. Just stay put.
The aura surged, almost breaking free.
"Rain," Aldred said calmly, "Your will opened your core. Now you must restrain it."
Restrain it…
Restrain—
A shadow fell over me.
Red hair. Annoying presence.
Kai.
He walked right past the instructors like he owned the courtyard.
He stopped a few feet away from me, arms crossed.
"…Your blade's shaking," he said flatly. "Are you struggling already?"
I stared at him.
He stared back, expression unreadable but tone dripping with challenge.
Of course he picked now of all times to test me.
"Kai," Aldred warned.
"What?" Kai shrugged. "I'm just observing our so-called 'Boy of Promise.' Can't even keep his aura from leaking."
I felt irritation stir… but also something else.
A push.
A pressure.
A reason to focus.
Kai continued, "If that's all it takes to throw you off—"
My aura snapped inward.
Not out.
Inward.
I felt it coil, then settle, tight but contained—like a beast sitting still under my hand.
The trembling stopped.
Kai froze.
Varein paused mid-form.
Even Aldred lifted a brow, impressed.
A slow breath left my chest.
"Well?" I said quietly to Kai. "Still observing?"
His eye twitched—just slightly—before he clicked his tongue and looked away.
"That was luck."
"Sure," I muttered.
But inside…
I felt it.
A shift.
A real one.
Aldred stepped closer, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Good. Very good."
Before I could react, Aldred's tone hardened.
"But because your aura responded so aggressively earlier, a new restriction is necessary."
My frown deepened. "What restriction?"
"You are forbidden," Aldred said, "from training alone."
…What?
Rodomous nodded sharply. "Someone needs to monitor you at all times. If your aura destabilizes again, you could collapse—or worse."
Halen added, "A student with your awakening type is not allowed unsupervised aura practice. Not until your control is proven stable."
I clenched my jaw.
More eyes. More pressure. More people watching, waiting for me to break again.
Perfect.
But Aldred's voice softened.
"This isn't punishment, Rain. It's safety. And given your progress just now… I have no doubt you'll surpass this restriction soon."
I lowered my gaze.
Maybe I hated the attention.
Maybe I hated the fear in the other instructors' eyes.
But…
I had just proven something—to them, to Kai, to myself.
When I lifted my sword again, aura swirled gently around the blade—no wild surges, no trembling, no explosive backlash.
Controlled.
For the first time.
Aldred nodded once.
"That," he said, "is your first breakthrough."
And as the morning light broke through the clouds, illuminating the faint blue glow around my sword…
I felt it too.
A small step.
But a real one.
Toward becoming the knight I promised myself I would be.