Chapter 15

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Substitution[Active][level 1]

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After reading the description, he struggled to school his expression. On the outside, he was calm and collected as Lisa just finished her check up on him but internally he was grinning in excitement.

The skill was a common skill in the shinobi world but in the world of remnant it is a goldmine. The ability to substitute yourself with a nearby object at a moments notice. Although it didn't work on living things, it was useful all the same.

"Now that that is settled, let's keep moving. We'll continue by nightfall when we set up camp." Miko said as they continued their walk. Lisa just looked at the mother and son duo as they walked and shook her head.

'Miko…he's just like you when we were young. Unnaturally strong for his age and a natural talent. When his semblance emerges, that'll decide it…'

"Lisa, come on! You don't want to be left behind, do you?" Miko called out to her, noticing that she was lagging behind. Lisa shook the thoughts out her head and sped up to catch up with them.

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In a dark room with a single chair in the center of the room. A figure sat on the chair which looked more like a throne than a chair. A man knelt down submissively at the foot of the throne with his head faced down.

"Is there any word from our partner?" A smooth male voice asked.

"Yes sire. He has agreed to aid us but not directly." The man in front of him answered with a raspy voice.

"Explain." There was silence for a full second as the man on his knees gathered his thoughts in front of the royal like figure.

"He has agreed to send us weapons and supplies. He will provide us with some of his best men for this endeavor but his identity is too sensitive. It would make for a complicated situation if he was caught aiding us." He spoke in one breath.

The authority figure on the throne took a few moments to digest what was said.

"That is acceptable. As long as our goal can be reached, nothing else matters."

"For the good of Turwen!" The bowing man exclaimed as the figure on the throne nodded in agreement.

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It was nighttime and only the sound of panting and struggle could be heard. In a clearing near a campfire, two figures moved towards each other at decent speed. They launched attacks at each other with the aim of defeating the other.

This continued on for more than a few minutes in a never ending dance of attack, defend and counterattack. This was until the smaller figure was launched back a feet unto the floor.

Pants escapes from his lips as Reid dragged himself back up.

"You have to do better than that. The world isn't going to wait for you to get stronger. Come!" His mother provoked and encouraged at the same.

Reid rushed towards her, running in a zigzag pattern to close the distance. When he reached her, he launched a feint at her stomach before taking aim for her head.

His attempt was blocked by her forearm. Not slowing down at all he leapt above her, aiming for the back of her neck with his heel. She ducked her head, dodging it easily as another leg came for her face.

Reid, who was now in a handstand felt his foot being caught but wasn't discouraged. Twisting his foot that was in her grasp, he pushed his other to her chest, using it as a foothold, launching himself into the air.

He landed a few feet away from her. Although [Combat Mastery] had increased by a lot due to him fighting a much stronger opponent, it still wasn't enough to beat his mother.

Unlike their previous fight, he wasn't allowed to use weapons or object like stones or other things. The goal was to increase his hand to hand proficiency and thus the current spar.

Fighting full force against him wouldn't help him progress so she also limited herself a lot in the spar. So far she was surprised. He was doing much better than their last bout.

"That's enough for now." She announced as she saw Reid planning out his next move. He was exhausted but he still wanted to fight. He was making so much progress from this single spar so he wanted more.

As if noticing his thoughts, she spoke. "That's final. If this keeps on, you won't be able to move tomorrow. There's a lake down there, go take a bath and return to the camp before it's late." She said, leaving no fool for argument as she walked away.

With great reluctance, he trudged in the direction of the lake. Upon reaching the lake, he stripped himself of his clothes and dipped his body into it, with only his neck and head being above the water.

'So far I've concluded that using skills in a fight against stronger opponents levels them up faster. It's still too slow.' Due to the spar yesterday and today, [Combat Mastery], [Aura Manipulation] and [Aura] were on level 13, 18 and 14 respectively.

He eyed [Aura] which now sat on level 14 with longing. He was impatient and he knew and accepted it. He sighed as he sunk deeper into the water.

'If only there was a way…' His eyes widened suddenly as an idea came to mind.

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A half naked Reid stood in front of one of the trees at the edge of the lake.

'I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner! Chakra is the combination of physical and spiritual energy. It's versatile and can be used in many ways. Aura is simply spiritual energy which is one half of it, so by my theory…'

He placed a foot on the trunk of the tree. He channeled aura to the sole of his foot and took a deep breath with his eyes closed in concentration. His other foot left the ground and stuck beside his first foot.

'I did i-!' He was suddenly launched off the trunk, back to floor and landed on his back. He ignored the pain as a grin surfaced on his face.

'So it works. Aura can be used in the same way as chakra. Tree walking can be used to improve chakra control so when replaced with aura it should work the same way.'

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Aura Control[Passive/Active][level 1]

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He grinned as he strode back to the starting point and took a step on the trunk and began 'walking'. This time he was able to take more than one step before sliding off. He tried again and also failed again.

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[*Ding!*]

[Aura Control has leveled up!]

[Aura Manipulation has leveled up!]

[Aura has leveled up!]

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'It works!'

Not wasting any time, he continued. On and on until his skills were no longer leveling up. Within an hour, he was running up and down the side of the tree.

He jumped off the tree to the ground, not done yet with his idea. He walked towards the lake, not stopping even as he reached the edge.

From land, he stepped on the water and walked! He wobbled as he moved without stability. He was like a newborn learning to walk.

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[*Ding!*]

[Aura Control has leveled up!]

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Within a few minutes, he was walking less wobbly and with more comfort and convenience.

If any scientist saw him doing this, they would doubt their intelligence. Aura, a topic that remnant had spent centuries trying to understand was being used in such way by a six year old. They would lose their minds.

He had long lost track of time and continued grinding this skill until he could no more. It wasn't until a small ray of sunlight hit his face that he realized that he had been at the lake all night.

'Shit!' He jumped off the lake and into the normal ground. He put his clothes on in haste and hurried back to the campsite. During his sprint back, he spared a glance at a skill in his skill list.

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Aura[Passive/Active][level 20]

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'Almost there! Just a bit more…' he thought as he rushed back to the camp with a determined look in his eyes.