Chương 98: Chapter 2.35: Your True Nature

The ten days of the following week flew by in the blur of the new routine. Physical training in the mornings was followed by cultivation lessons, where Sirrana and Brutus pushed them towards the new insights. Even Caliga was enthusiastically pursuing the learning insight they all had settled on. Favius had asked her why. She had sniffed and said that even Brutus possessed a similar insight. Surprisingly, Marius often joined for parts of the training, while Lia had shown up a few times.

She had only observed and cheered. But the moment she got fussy, Brutus insisted on her being taken away, much to Urania's annoyance. Their siblings' presence was another sign of Hesnia's new, yet all too late strategic shift. Around noon, they split up for special training. Even after several days, Favius was still confused by what Sirrana was making them do. It's strange. Cultivation kinda makes sense. You pursue different kinds of knowing until you essentially become the knowledge. But with shifting...

He snorted, recalling the recent noon hours of drawing eagle owls in flight, at rest, or pouncing on prey. Another common exercise was thinking about how the world would look from above. Originally, and much to Sirrana's frustration, both he and Urania used their mental insights for it until she figured it out and forbade it. Apparently, insights provided false intuitions. Similarly strange exercises took up much of the training that hopefully, somehow, would take them towards earning mutations.

The afternoons were another thing. Brutus had insisted on regular riding lessons, and Favius had insisted on visiting the construction site. Ultimately, they had compromised by combining the two. And so, as the local week passed, Favius witnessed how villagers were evicted, how woodcutters felled the trees, and how the road was fixed up in record time. Oxcart by oxcart, almost three hundred workers began swarming over the low hills in front of the valley. To be honest, I'm still astonished by this progress.

Though I guess it helps that our construction workers are literal slaves instead of contractors. If anything, it allows for more aggressive and reliable scheduling. With those grim thoughts, Favius left his room in only a loincloth, joining the others for the usual morning training. It was a new week, and again they gathered in the gymnasium. Brutus led the siblings through a routine of calisthenics focusing on balance, dexterity, and precision. After half an hour, Marius began whining, "It's always so much."

Brutus simply sniffed.

"Little one, Favius wouldn't complain at your age before he collapsed. In fact..." Brutus grinned at Favius, and something dark passed over his expression for a moment.

"He was rather insistent that he would not complain, no matter the training I put him through." Marius grumbled but set to sprinting along the wooden beam with renewed vigor. The three older siblings were in a juggling exercise with Sirrana. As Marius kept trying to speed along the beam with an increasingly dour expression, Caliga snorted.

"He's so cute if he's mad, isn't he?" A strangled noise escaped Marius's mouth as he stumbled and nearly fell off the beam. Urania gasped as all the balls she was juggling fell to the ground, while Favius took in a sharp breath of pneuma and managed to only lose one of his four balls.

"By the Gods, Caliga!" he hissed, and Urania glared to the side. Caliga smiled smugly like a cat who had just stolen the cream.

"What? Don't be so distractible." She smirked, continuing to juggle her four balls. Marius glared between all the older people, siblings and tutors alike.

"Don't be mean to him. He's trying. He's just younger," said Urania after she gathered the fallen balls. Brutus snorted.

"My brothers certainly never cut me any slack for being the youngest." The lesson continued with occasional sniping and grumbling. After they finished with a round of quick duels, they settled down. Hot sweat ran down their skin as the pleasantly warm spring air cooled them. All were gulping down large sips of a cooled, minty tea. Urania looked between Sirrana and Brutus and broke the silence.

"Before we get to the meditation. And—" She gestured at a sack containing lodestone shards.

"—our usual pneuma and magnet exercises. Could you answer me a question?" Brutus looked over at Sirrana.

"Well, Nyctara Negero, that is far from a simple request."

"Is it now?" Sirrana's good eye fell first on Urania, then on Brutus. But the good side of her mouth twitched.

"It is indeed. The question of asking a question is one in need of thorough contemplation." Urania took in a sharp breath as Favius and Caliga grinned. Brutus continued undeterred.

"First of all, we need to settle the issue of capability before we can even concern ourselves with the capacity for answering. Any philosopher knows that failure often begins with an ill-formed question."

"That's not—" began Urania. But Sirrana held up two fingers and simply spoke over her.

"Indeed, indeed. And though it is considered poor form to attack using the nature of the supplicant, we shan't disregard her age." Brutus hummed thoughtfully and took a deep sip of tea while Urania sputtered.

"Well, though as a counterpoint..." He looked at Favius, who was doing his level best not to laugh out loud.

"Maybe the easiest answer is performing a simple experiment to test the hypothesis."

"And what hypothesis would that be?" inquired Sirrana. Urania exploded.

"Stop being pretentious! Just let me ask my question! I just want to—" She suddenly froze, and Favius felt a flash of Sirrana's presence.

"See? She appears to have arrived at our conclusion independently. That ought to be taken as a point in her favor." Brutus stroked his beard again while Urania shifted from side to side. Finally, Favius, Caliga, and Marius burst out into laughter, and Urania glared at all of them.

"If you're all quite done with the stupid jokes," she hissed and glared at Sirrana.

"What you just did is actually what I wanted to talk about." She gestured at everyone in the round.

"That use of cultivation, presence or aura, however you want to call it." She raised her hands.

"Every powerful person at the party did it somehow. And then there are Marcus's eyes flashing golden and your violent intent, though they feel different." Urania shifted, and her eyes flicked to Sirrana.

"And whatever that just was." Caliga leaned forward excitedly. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Exactly. Why are we playing with little lodestones instead of trying to learn that?" Brutus snorted.

"Children, that is precisely why we are playing with little lodestones, as you put it." Brutus shook his head as Favius leaned forward. More cultivation lore. Nice.

"First of all, Urania, you need to differentiate between aura and presence." He looked over all the children.

"Care to guess at their differences and relationship?" Favius narrowed his eyes. Well, given we have been working on exuding pneuma and that all cultivation seems to have this electric aspect to it. But then there are those perceptions... Before he could speak up, Marius ventured a guess.

"Aura is what all of you do when the air gets spicy and tingly." He gestured at Sirrana and Brutus.

"And presence is how it feels special for each of you." The other children considered the youngest boy's guess in silence. For all that he's much younger, that isn't a bad way to frame it. One by one, they nodded, and Sirrana continued.

"It's surprisingly close. Aura is the general external application of your pneuma, whereas presence..." She shrugged.

"Is using your insights and virtue to show your soul's quality to the world."

"Alright, but why are we playing with lodestones instead of just trying to do it?" asked Caliga.

"Because it's obviously a prerequisite, dummy," sniped Urania, barely dodging her sister's elbow. The air slowly charged up with the coming of a thunderstorm that promised violence, and both girls swallowed. But Brutus instead gestured for Favius to open the bag of lodestones.

"Give me the largest lodestone," said Brutus, and Favius complied. He dug around between the splinters before settling on one that was the size of an adult's finger bone. He held it out to Brutus, and the Magnicultor looked around the room.

"So far we've trained to feel and locate them, and all of you have managed to do so over a short distance. Yet..." Brutus gestured at Favius to place the lodestone in the center of their circle, next to the tea set, and somehow the Magnicultor's aura grew more intense. Favius's breath caught under the pressure, and everyone's hair began dancing in the electrified air. There's still the killing intent, but is this as close to pure aura as he can get? Minimizing the presence maximizes the aura?

The stone began shaking, clattering and dancing on the floor. Brutus glared at it in intense concentration. And the clattering, pattering noises of stone against stone stopped. Yet it still moved. Favius's eyebrows rose as static electricity crackled in his hair. The smell of ozone was all but nauseating. Each tiny movement let loose stinging electric discharges between clothing, bodies, and the ground.

Peripherally, he noticed his siblings gaping as slowly yet inevitably, the stone climbed into the air, finger span by finger span.

"Levitation," said Brutus with a strained voice.

"It is an exercise of supreme control. Almost the purest expression of the power of a cultivator's aura."

"By the Gods," Sirrana muttered.

"I might be able to lift half of that a fingerspan from the ground, but levitating it?" She murmured. Favius's thoughts raced. Well, I've always been told Brutus is a monster. But honestly. Seeing her reaction... Brutus let out a low whimper. And the electrical presence was simply gone. Their hair remained upright, but the lodestone clattered to the floor, and Brutus let out a shuddering exhale. Favius narrowed his eyes. Is there sweat running down his forehead? He swallowed.

I think this is the first time I've seen Brutus sweat. Well... He closed his eyes and used his knowledge from Earth to run a few calculations alongside his insight. He levitated the thing for almost thirty seconds, and with it being something like iron... He whistled in appreciation. Just moving those twenty grams or so should have taken very little energy. He studied the sweat staining Brutus's clothes. And how his sisters were brushing the charge out of their hair and clothing.

Still, with the aura he must have used a ton of energy. Can't wait till I have ways to measure this properly. Maybe there is a more efficient way to couple aura and magnets? Favius sniffed. Enough of this for now. What he just did was honestly fucking impressive. He noted with a smirk that he wasn't the only one staring at Brutus. Everyone, including Sirrana, was.

"That was amazing," murmured Caliga. Marius leaned forward and slapped his hands onto his thighs.

"Uncle Brutus! Do it again. Do it again!" Brutus chuckled and shook his head.

"I appreciate your confidence, littlest Cousin, but I'm afraid that this strained even me." Favius's thoughts were already running. If it takes this much out of someone like Brutus, I guess using aura for telekinesis in combat is entirely out of the question. This is honestly closer to spoon-bending territory than anything else. Could Brutus bend a strongly magnetized spoon? At a look from Brutus, Sirrana cleared her throat and spoke in a lecturing voice.

"Aura is the raw power of your cultivation. Presence is virtue expressed through aura. As I said, it's bearing one's nature before the world." Favius nodded, but Caliga jumped to the next question.

"So you're saying there are stages to it? Like Father's eyes glowing. It's just visual. I feel nothing. But if he wants to make a point..." She shuddered. Urania murmured, "It's like standing below this gigantic golden statue that you know you've just offended." Favius gave a wry chuckle.

"You've seen nothing if you think Marcus's presence is bad." The girls' eyes fell onto him, and Urania's eyes flicked to Sirrana before her expression darkened. Brutus spoke up in a deceptively calm tone.

"Indeed, the most basic presentation of presence is widely known as a flash. For Marcus, it is the gilding of his eyes. For me..." All the children took in sharp simultaneous breaths as they were hit by an electric discharge of violent intent. Marius gasped out loud in quite an undignified noise. Yet before any of them could recover or even reflect, another presence hit them. Favius's muscles tensed up in fear, but there was only a lingering experience of darkness. The aftershock of something unpleasant.

Caliga looked between the two of them.

"Those were of roughly equivalent power, right?"

"No, I don't think so," answered Urania while the adults kept smiling. Favius looked at Brutus.

"No offense, Uncle, but your flash is weaker than Sirrana's, isn't it?" Brutus laughed.

"Well, your tutor has specialized in sensory cultivation." He looked at all of them.

"What do you think sensory cultivation is but cultivation focusing on presence and aura? I might overwhelm you with power. But Sirrana..." Sirrana smiled.

"Indeed. The startlement you just experienced. It is a great way to open a fight, because hesitation at the wrong moment can be more lethal than..." She looked at Brutus, then at the man's axe.

"... overwhelming power." Brutus made a dismissive gesture.

"Bah. That's nothing but an issue of your power not being overwhelming enough." Sirrana snorted, and smiles played over the children's faces, but Favius moved his head to the side. Hmm, he's not wrong. If her abilities would truly allow her to fight stronger enemies, Brutus wouldn't have just bullied her on the hilltop.

"All right, so that's the flash," interjected Marius.

"What's the next step called?"

"The presentation. It is what the use of presence and aura is fundamentally being trained around. What every cultivator..." Brutus sniffed.

"... every decent cultivator will start training intensely at the rank of Praecultor." Favius nodded.

"So that's what we felt at the party, right?"

"Indeed," answered Brutus. Urania lifted her fingers one by one.

"Valeria was a weapon that cut through turbulent seas. Aelia was this large tree that crushes mountains." Caliga shivered and took over as Urania paused.

"Serpens was wet scales creeping all over my skin." Brutus nodded, and Favius closed his eyes. Well, it's entirely predictable what— Before he could finish the thought, the vision hit him. Clashing steel, the air heavy with the metallic smells of blood. Rivers of gore framed the desperate fighting all around him. The moment it faded, Sirrana hit them. The previous impression didn't fade, it was ripped off like a bandage. But despite him being prepared, Sirrana's presence was still deeply uncomfortable.

Sleep paralysis. Darkness. The approaching shadows you couldn't quite see. Gasps erupted from the siblings, but Favius clenched his teeth. I need to learn to endure this better. Brutus. Sure, there's all the violence, but I know it's him. It almost feels comforting. But Sirrana... While his siblings recovered, Favius deliberately refilled everyone's teacups, studying all of them. Marius was shivering, yet clutched his cup and took slow, deliberate breaths. Favius smiled.

He's integrating the basics of his cultivation training nicely. He noted that Brutus too had noticed it. Urania sat there, her eyes closed, focusing internally, while Caliga's eyes kept switching between Brutus and Sirrana. Finally, Caliga sniffed.

"So aura can move little pebbles about. And presence..." She sniffed.

"Presence is all about bragging and making people slightly uncomfortable." Favius began laughing. Before he realized it, the memories of the hilltop hit him instantly. Oh no. He shook his head.

"You haven't seen half of it. This—" But Brutus cut him off.

"Indeed. At the rank of Alticultor, the technique turns from presentation to enforcement."

"N—" Favius only got the first letter out as overwhelming, endless carnage hit him. There were screams in the distance, and Favius's eyes flicked around the mirage, the false experience that pressed itself into his senses. His throat hurt, though he could only distantly hear the screaming. Is it me? My sisters? He looked at the faceless bronze-clad figures wielding bloody steel. Are they screaming? This. This... The false reality of the battlefield disappeared without warning.

And as Favius knew what was about to happen next, he realized one thing. There's still nothing I can do about powerful cultivators. Fuck. Then the darkness closed in on him, drowning out everything except all-consuming, overwhelming fear.