Rylan calmly stared at the faces of his three allies, their expressions filled with a variety of emotions. Damian's face was filled with confusion, then looked as if understanding had dawned upon him before turning into one of disbelief. Jasmine's and Hayden's weren't much different, but the boy's eyes were still burning with the desire to grow and competitiveness.

One could hear a pin drop.

"…Aura?" Damian asked after almost ten seconds of silence, his voice containing the same emotions as his expression. He stared straight into Rylan's eyes.

Rylan easily nodded.

"Yes. It's similar to mana in concept and unlocks the Aura stat in the Status Window. Alongside it, it awakens something called an Aspect, which is a special ability, like a Passive Skill."

Damian blinked rapidly, while Hayden smiled. Jasmine still looked a bit confused. The first one to seemingly gather his mind was Hayden. The boy stepped forward with an excited grin.

"You discovered a new way to get stronger?" he asked, eyes shining. "That's incredible!"

Rylan smiled at him. He wasn't able to dislike the boy even if he tried.

"Wait," Damian interrupted with a heavy expression as Rylan was about to reply. "Are you seriously saying you discovered a new power system? Just like that? Something completely different from what this world has ever known?"

Rylan looked at him and shrugged, then brought his Aura-covered hand closer to Damian. The man reflexively looked at it.

"It's not like I expected it, either," Rylan started. "But it's the truth. I'm sure you can tell my Aura is different from my mana."

Damian's expression changed in real time, making Rylan nod to himself. As expected, a Mage as powerful as Damian could almost instantly notice how unique Aura was. The older man let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.

"Wait. I need to process this," he said in a low tone. "Do you have any idea what the consequences of this will be? There's not a single person in any of the kingdoms I'm aware of who has achieved something like that. Ever. Just let me think."

Rylan easily nodded and turned to his two friends. Hayden was still smiling, but Rylan could almost see the boy's mind racing behind his eyes. Meanwhile, Jasmine was only staring at Rylan's hand.

"…How did you even discover this?" she asked suddenly.

Rylan shrugged again.

"The System only notified me of its awakening. At the time, I only thought of how I wanted to protect you guys. No idea if the two things are related," he replied.

Jasmine nodded slowly, while Rylan mentally apologized to her.

It's still too soon.

It was too early for him to disclose that he had known about Aura's existence all along because of a past life. No matter how much he liked them, they had only remained at one another's side for a few months. Beyond that, his reincarnation was his greatest secret, one with almost impossible-to-predict ramifications. For now, he would withhold it.

Patiently, he waited for his friends and master to gather their thoughts. Damian seemed to be the one experiencing the greatest rollercoaster of emotions, while Hayden and Jasmine were seemingly coming to terms with reality much faster.

Well, it's not like I can't understand it.

Damian had spent so many decades mastering magic, only to now find out that there was another power system entirely. At best, it was very surprising. At worst, it was enough to completely change his worldview.

The seconds slowly ticked by. Rylan kept his right hand covered in Aura.

"It still doesn't explain your fighting prowess," Damian said after some time, looking at Rylan. "Or is Aura truly that impactful?"

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Rylan shook his head.

"I don't know. I got a good Aspect, I think, but I have no idea how powerful Aura is 'supposed to' be. I just did everything I could."

"What does your Aspect do?" Hayden asked from the side.

Rylan looked at him and grinned.

"It amplifies both my mana and my Aura's effects for a short time. It's how I managed to kill one of the Sixth Circle Mages before the battle truly began."

Understanding shone within their eyes before Damian let out a big sigh and sat down on the desk.

"Shit," he muttered. "And here I thought I had already seen everything I was going to see in this life."

Rylan smiled at him.

"You're not that old. And now, you have something to seek."

Damian sighed again while Hayden smiled widely. Jasmine breathed in.

"Just be careful, Rylan. Since we don't know anything about Aura, we need to find out if there are side effects or something like that," she said, then blushed a bit and looked at the floor. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Rylan smiled at her.

"Don't worry. I'm being careful," he replied.

More silence.

"…We need to discuss the consequences of this," Damian said after a while. "If the Empire finds out, they wouldn't spare any effort to capture you and force the knowledge out of you. The level of danger this kingdom is in has increased exponentially."

Rylan readily nodded.

"I know. I'll keep it hidden for as long as I can. The enemies who witnessed it are dead, while only you guys and my family know about it."

Damian nodded with a severe expression. Rylan let out an internal sigh of relief.

I guess that's settled.

Truthfully, the safest option would have been not to reveal anything about Aura, but if he did that, he wouldn't have been able to explain his fighting prowess. He chose to believe in the bonds he'd built with these people through training and battling.

"Wait," Damian abruptly said, snapping to stare at Rylan with narrowed eyes. "You said your Aspect empowers both your mana and your Aura? At the same time? Doesn't that mean there's a connection between them? Why would something like these so-called Aspects affect your mana too?"

Rylan resisted the urge to flinch.

Damn it.

That mistake was on him. His mind racing, he shrugged.

"I don't know," he said slowly, holding Damian's stare. "I've already told you guys everything I know. I'm as surprised by it as you are."

Slowly, Damian's eyes were filled with a familiar flame. Inquisitiveness, wonder, and curiosity. The hallmarks of a true Mage. Rylan felt like he could almost see the thoughts running through the old man's mind. Damian grinned.

"We need to investigate this," he said firmly. "We can't change reality, so we'll study Aura as much as we can. If there's a connection with mana, we might be able to tread uncharted territory when it comes to research."

Hayden nodded excitedly, and Jasmine belatedly did the same. Rylan could see they were curious as well. He couldn't help but smile.

"I hope we do," he said simply.

Maybe this isn't too bad.

The connection between Aura and mana was something that he didn't know much about, either. His Aspect was the first thing in both lives to have ever revealed the existence of Aether. With Damian's help, he might be able to make faster progress in unearthing its secrets, especially because the man knew mana far more intimately than him.

"I hope I can awaken Aura, too," Hayden said longingly, making Rylan look at him and smile, nodding.

"And here I thought I had my hands full with trying to be a good Mage," Jasmine mumbled, loudly enough for them to hear her clearly.

Damian blinked and let out a hearty laugh.

"And I thought I had already reached my limits," he said after laughing for a few seconds. "Only to discover there's an entirely different type of energy that I knew nothing about. It's refreshing, really."

The three people started talking among themselves about Aura and its implications, eyes filled with excitement. Rylan smiled at the sight. For a moment, he felt like Damian had gotten decades younger. The man was veritably shining with emotions that Rylan hadn't seen in him since the Empire became hostile toward the Kingdom of Mar.

Rylan nodded to himself.

"Let's do this," he said to himself.

Damian turned to look at him with a furrowed brow.

"Don't think I've forgotten that you intentionally changed your Mana Core. We'll need to look into that as soon as possible," the man stated.

Rylan readily nodded.

"Of course," he replied.

After some more discussion, the conversation ended. Waving goodbye, Rylan left the study, where the three others still remained, looking like they would talk for a while. The doors shut behind him.

Now, I need to go talk to Scott.

After that, it would be time for him to start improving himself once again. He couldn't stop getting stronger. For starters, he would go through the second Class Evolution.

Rylan walked down the winding staircases, letting the walls open before him to reveal the path. Gradually, he made his way to Scott's room, which was shared with Daniel, Raniel, and Jack, until he stood in front of the ordinary wooden door. He knocked on it twice and waited a second before pushing it open, making the plain room come into view. As expected, the four soldiers were inside, now dressed in ordinary clothes.

Jack smiled at him, while the twins bowed. Scott flinched with a tense expression, sitting on his bed. Rylan slowly walked to the only chair in the room and sat down on it, then looked at Scott.

"You know why I'm here," he said in a steady tone.

Scott clenched his jaw and nodded.

"Just know that I'll always do what I can to help you guys," Rylan continued before the man could speak. "You were my first students of sorts, alongside the other soldiers."

Scott grinned and took a deep breath.

"I've said it before, Master. As long as you can make me stronger, I don't care about anything else," he said after a second.

Rylan nodded. He remembered it well.

After that, Scott started his story.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.