The next day arrived, and Ellis finally started the real knight training… or was it not the real one just yet?
If he hadn't even touched a sword yet, then could it really be considered knight training?
He didn't know. But while his current training, which focused on stamina, wasn't something he minded… he still wanted something more.
The problem was, he couldn't even complain to Galen, as the man only came for a brief visit before heading off again, saying he was busy and that Silas could supervise the current stage of his training.
'If I was going to end up asking Silas for help, why would I have even called you?'
Ellis really wanted to complain… but in the end, he couldn't. And so, he just continued with his training.
He convinced himself that there was a proper procedure to everything, and endured.
And like that, a week passed.
…
"Your Highness, we will need to change your training plan," Galen said, looking at the little prince in front of him with clear appreciation.
'So, we're finally going to train with swords?' While that was what Ellis calmly thought, he still pretended to be excited and naively asked, "Will I finally learn how to get Aura?"
"Haha, of course not. There's still a long way to go for that. It's just that we can't focus too much on training your body right now due to your age. So, we'll move on to basic sword movements, along with some light stamina work."
That was Galen's reply at first… but had Ellis's acting, as he feigned disappointment, actually worked?
Galen suddenly added, "But if Your Highness wants, I can still teach you a few cool sword moves from an Aura technique."
"Aura technique?" Ellis's eyes sparkled, and his ears perked up… just like a child his age, and this time, he truly wasn't pretending anymore.
He was genuinely interested.
It was the very goal he had been enduring all this training for, after all.
"Well," Galen began, "Aura Technique is essentially a collection of sword moves, created to help one utilize Aura better, and to develop it. They're meant for fighting… and killing."
Galen explained, and Ellis was taken aback by what he heard, as he had thought Aura Techniques to be something far greater… He had assumed they wouldn't just be about utilizing Aura, but also about acquiring it. Furthermore, he believed they might even help in raising one's constitution.
That was what he had always thought an Aura Technique was about.
So, naturally, he felt as if something had gone wrong in this moment… but he didn't let that show on his face, and instead, he pressed on, still hoping to get something more.
"So, you mean… I still won't be able to get Aura?"
"Haha, unfortunately not," Galen replied with a laugh at first, but his tone shifted into something more serious as he continued.
"Aura can't be obtained easily. If that wasn't the case, then the number of people capable of using it wouldn't be this small, after all."
"… It can't be acquired without one being pushed to the extreme."
'So you mean, if one is pushed to the extreme, they'll be able to awaken Aura?'
Ellis quietly processed that piece of information.
Involuntarily, his gaze also moved toward Silas, as he suddenly remembered what she had once told him about the knight training she went through.
And if he had to summarize everything she did during that time… it was very simple.
Training.
Just… training.
She had trained relentlessly, moving from one exercise to another, endlessly.
So… was all of that meant to push her to the extreme?
… That could really be true.
But Ellis was certain, that there had to be something else missing in the process of acquiring Aura.
Was Galen not saying it? Or was it that he simply didn't know?
He wasn't sure.
But in his opinion, being pushed to the extreme was merely one requirement.
Had that alone been enough… he should have already awakened Aura back when he was in the Gray Gate, after all.
'What do you think, Aurora?'
[Your train of thought is logical… but not every world is the same. Something that can be done in this world will not necessarily mean it was also possible in another world.]
While nodding at her words in his mind, Ellis shifted his gaze back to Galen and started to excitedly hurry him along, urging him to show the said "cool" moves.
And Galen, with a proud expression on his face, "helplessly" began demonstrating a few moves from his Aura Technique to the little prince.
He held the sword vertically in front of him, inhaled softly… and then, with the air around him subtly shifting, he began.
He swung his sword in a series of quick, clean movements… so fast that, had Ellis not been strong enough, he wouldn't have even been able to see them clearly.
But more than the speed of his strikes, Ellis's attention was focused on the aura surrounding the sword.
He felt tempted to activate his Mana Sense and Detection skills together, just to see if he could glean something more…
But in the end, he refrained, fearing the possibility of being found out.
So, he simply watched the graceful, powerful demonstration in silence.
It was a nice display.
Even without Aura, just the swordsmanship alone was impressive enough that Ellis didn't think he would be able to imitate those moves anytime soon.
They were difficult, after all.
But… was he actually impressed?
Not much.
To him, it was just high-level swordsmanship enhanced with Aura.
More importantly, he didn't think anything Galen had shown could actually break through his mana barrier.
… Of course, he knew Galen certainly had far stronger moves, and even these same ones would be performed differently if he were seriously facing an opponent.
But even then…
In Ellis's mind, he couldn't help but start thinking: That's it?