Aurora
Adam and Felix decided to spend the next day playing video games.
"W-wait! Stop spamming!" [Felix]
"It's not spamming, it's playing the game!" [Adam]
"Then it's fine if I use this!" [Felix]
"You leave me no choice! Infinite combo!" [Adam]
"That's cheating!" [Felix]
"Game Set!!" [Game]
"Good game." [Adam]
"Haa… Good game. Rematch?" [Felix]
"Rematch." [Adam]
As they set up another round, the doorbell rang.
"Oh, is Sebastian back?" [Adam]
He put down his controller and made his way over to the door. When he looked through the peephole, there was no one in sight.
"Did we just get pranked?" [Adam]
He opened the door and looked around for a bit.
"Hm?" [Adam]
There was a small package at his feet that couldn't be seen through the hole.
"Hey Felix, I think you have a package." [Adam]
"Bring it over." [Felix]
Adam presented the box in front of him and began to open it.
"A… letter? Huh?" [Adam]
He tried to pry open the letter, but it wouldn't budge.
"What is this thing made of?!" [Adam]
"Let me see." [Felix]
He also tried to open it, but to no avail.
"No luck…" [Felix]
As Adam leaned in to look inside the box, a glimmer of light hit his eye.
"Wait, there's something else in here." [Adam]
He reached inside the box and inspected it. The disk began to glow until it shone a brilliant light.
"My eyes!" [Adam]
When the light dimmed, a small girl appeared with her eyes closed before the two.
"A… kid?" [Adam]
"Is she the enemy?!" [Felix]
He took a defensive stance remembering his experience from the dungeon. The girl's eyes shot open, scanning the room.
"Where am I?" [Small Girl]
Her eyes locked on to Adam and Felix.
"Who are you?" [Small Girl]
"That's what we should be asking. Who are you and why are you in my house?" [Felix]
Although reluctant, she introduced herself.
"I'm… Aurora. As for why I'm here, that's something I want to know myself." [Aurora]
"Man… Now we have to deal with a lost child." [Adam]
"Lost… child?" [Aurora]
"Yeah? Did you not realize that you're a lost child?" [Adam]
"I… I'm not a child! I'm turning thirty next year!" [Aurora]
"Bweh!" [Adam]
Adam was punched across the room as Aurora threw a fit.
"Wow, you got punched so hard that a weird noise exited your mouth." [Krino]
("Shut it…") [Adam]
"Never call me a child ever again." [Aurora]
"Y-yes ma'am!" [Adam] [Felix]
"Good. Now, can you explain to me what you did before I appeared?" [Aurora]
Felix pointed at the opened package before explaining.
"Well… we were opening this package and found a letter with a disk inside. You were what came out of the disk." [Felix]
"Did you check the letter?" [Aurora]
Adam realigned himself and picked himself off the ground.
"No, we just couldn't open it. It's like the paper is made out of metal." [Adam]
Aurora picked up the letter and casually opened it.
"Huh?!" [Adam] [Felix]
As she read the contents of the letter, her face was beginning to show clear signs of anger.
"Are you serious?!" [Aurora]
"Wh-whats wrong?" [Felix]
"You're Sebastian's brother?" [Aurora]
"Yes?" [Felix]
"And you're Adam?" [Aurora]
"Mhm." [Adam]
"I swear to god that **** *****! I'll rip out his **** and shove it up his *** before I ***** his ****!" [Aurora]
("I… think my ears have been scarred for life…") [Adam]
After taking a moment to calm down, she shot a glare at the two.
"It's time to train." [Aurora]
"What?" [Adam]
She snapped her fingers and the world became a blur. After some time had passed, their surroundings became a white space.
"Where… are we?" [Felix]
"We are in my zone." [Aurora]
"Zone?" [Adam]
"It's a place that uses mana to sustain itself. People use it to draw enemies into an environment that gives the user an advantage. I will be teaching you two on how to make one." [Aurora]
"Wait, why are you teaching us?" [Felix]
"I was told to teach you two by Sebastian inside the letter. Although I can't stand him... I do owe him a few favors." [Aurora]
She pulled out a lollipop from her pocket and stuck it into her mouth.
"Before you make a zone, I'm going to have to check your mana pool." [Aurora]
Her eyes glimmered while sending a chill down Adam's spine.
("I feel like I'm being watched.") [Adam]
("Oho… Adam has a large amount of mana. He may be able to create a zone right now. As for Felix… He's pretty close. He doesn't have as much mana as Adam, but if trained well…") [Aurora]
"You two should be able to make a zone in a few days. As long as you follow my directions." [Aurora]
"...But we have a tournament coming up tomorrow." [Felix]
"And?" [Aurora]
"...Nevermind." [Felix]
"The first thing you two need to learn is Scout." [Aurora]
"Like recon scouting?" [Adam]
"No, I mean the technique." [Aurora]
"So, what do we do?" [Felix]
"First, create a thin layer of mana around your entire body." [Aurora]
Adam closed his eyes, imagining an invisible layer around his body.
"You done?" [Aurora]
The two nodded.
"Now expand it as far as you can." [Aurora]
As Adam's layer increased in size, the more he could see without his eyes open.
("It's like seeing myself in third person!") [Adam]
"Scout is the first step to creating a Zone. It's used for watching your surroundings and reading your opponent." [Aurora]
Through Scout, Adam could see an aura around everyone in the room. Felix had half the amount of mana than Adam, but Aurora's was immense.
("How much mana does she have?!") [Adam]
Aurora put on a smug face when she saw how surprised Adam was.
"So? How was it?" [Aurora]
"It's amazing. I feel omniscient inside my Scout." [Adam]
"Keep that ability a secret. It's not a well known technique." [Aurora]
"It isn't?" [Felix]
"If it was, everyone would be using it." [Aurora]
"Then why did you teach us?" [Adam]
"As I said earlier, I owe Sebastian a few favors. Also, it helps you make a Zone faster. Zones are well known, but not many people use it because of its mana consumption. No one knows about Scout, so they just try to skip steps into making a Zone." [Aurora]
"I see… so now what?" [Adam]
"Now you have to sustain your Scout for as long as you can. At some point, I hope you can keep it on indefinitely." [Aurora]
("Are you serious…?") [Adam]
"How are we supposed to do that?" [Felix]
"Just keep using it until you can find the exact amount of mana that can keep it running at its minimum requirement. Either that or increase your mana pool to the point that it regenerates faster than it can be consumed." [Aurora]
"That doesn't seem possible." [Felix]
"I can do it. Actually Roy can do it too." [Aurora]
"R-Roy?! You're lying!" [Adam]
"It's true. He was actually the first one in our friend group to keep it on at all times." [Aurora]
("Friend Group?") [Adam]
"Can I ask who's in your friend group?" [Adam]
"Hm… Around five to ten people. I can't give you the specifics, but I can say the names of people you already know." [Aurora]
"So, just Sebastian and Roy." [Adam]
"Indeed. We're pretty strong you see, so if you need any help just call. By call, I mean anyone except me." [Aurora]
"Uhm, question. How do we-" [Felix]
His sentence was interrupted by a low rumbling noise. Aurora's face turned red in embarrassment soon after.
"I guess we can have dinner?" [Adam]
Aurora snaps her fingers once again. Moments later, they're back inside Felix's house.
"Dinner's ready!" [Vivan]
On the table lay an appetizing feast.
"What's with all the extra food?" [Adam]
"I heard you two had a tournament tomorrow so I decided to make dinner more extravagant today." [Vivan]
Vivian was about to take a seat before noticing Aurora.
"Hm? Who is she?" [Vivian]
("I forgot about her! How am I going to explain this?") [Adam]
"She's a friend that we invited over today." [Felix]
"Oh, is that so? Then join us for dinner, um…" [Vivian]
"Aurora." [Aurora]
"Aurora! I hope you enjoy it." [Vivian]
As they had dinner, Adam felt a nudging around his leg.
("What's touching me?") [Adam]
He peeks underneath the table to find Aurora's foot kicking him.
"You forgot to keep Scout on." [Aurora]
"Oh. My bad." [Adam]
Aurora had spent most of the time reminding Adam or Felix about keeping their Scout on until the next day.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It was the day of the tournament, and they could not afford to be late.
"C'mon Adam! Hurry up or we'll be late!" [Felix]
"I know! Just keep running!" [Adam]
After waking up late, the two were sprinting to school trying to make it to the bus. Luckily, the bus had not left yet and the class just started to board it.
"Hey, you two made it." [Mr. Frank]
"Yeah… Huff… I… rest for a moment?" [Adam]
"Sure, on the bus that is." [Mr. Frank]
He grabbed the two by the collar and brought them on board.
"Let's go! Destination, Lion Stadium!" [Mr. Frank]