Second Awakening

As a warrior, sword-type aura arts wasn't his forte.

That was why he only had a few sword-type aura arts in his arsenal.

He also wasn't the best at teaching it.

However, despite all of this, Dahlia was able to learn them instantly.

Of course, mastering them was another matter altogether.

But even then, Dahlia's proficiency with the sword aura arts was rapidly increasing.

Doron sighed, "Sigh, what a monster."

"What's wrong, Uncle?" Dahlia blinked as she saw the strange expression on Doron's face.

"Well, do you know why I saved you?"

Dahlia only shook her head.

It was something that she had been curious about in the past few days.

At first, she had been suspicious of him.

However, it had already been a few days and all he did was take care of her and train her.

Thus, her suspicions all faded.

Now that Doron was finally approaching the subject, Dahlia focused all her attention.

"Although I wouldn't ignore those who need my help, I wouldn't go as far as to take care of them and train them."

"However, you're different."

Dahlia tilted her head, curious at what Doron had to say.

"Well, you see…" 

Doron caressed his beard, "How should I put this… you're special."

"Special??"

Dahlia laughed, "Me? No."

She looked Doron in the eyes, "All my life, I had been a burden. I was weak, very weak. Weak to the point that I was bedridden. I wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for my friend…"

"E-Even the primer I took was given by him…"

Dahlia began to sniffle as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

Doron remained silent as he listened to her story.

After a short while, he spoke.

"Well, it's not a surprise that you were plagued with weakness. However, the cause of that weakness will also be the cause of your greatness."

"H-Huh?"

Dahlia was confused.

Doron patted her head, "You see, you were born with two hearts."

"W-What!?"

Doron chuckled as he looked at Dahlia's surprised expression.

"The absolute rule of this world is that living beings are born with only one heart. However, there are always exceptions."

Hearing his words, Dahlia was flabbergasted.

She had indeed known that there were people who were born with two hearts.

There were also such people in the fairy tales that Regis had once read her.

It was the only time in which a certain rule was broken which enabled the exceptions to pursue the path of aura and mana simultaneously.

However, she had never suspected her to be one such exception even in her wildest dreams.

Therefore, Doron's revelation really made her quite astonished.

At this moment, Doron spoke once again.

"Living beings that were born with two hearts could be said to be one in a million. However, even then, only a small percentage would be able to survive."

"The reason for this is because they have two hearts, they would also need double the nutrition."

"There are also cases in which one of the two hearts would stop beating, making the individual suffer from extreme weakness."

"In your case, it must've been what happened."

Dahlia listened carefully as Doron explained the reasons for what she had gone through in the past.

"Though I've got to say, you're really quite lucky. After all, an aura primer was one if the few solutions to that case."

Dahlia smiled, remembering the moment Regis showed her the Aura Primer.

"Well, that was the reason why I saved you. However…" 

A strange expression appeared on Doron's face once again.

"Seeing your monstrous talent, I've decided to take you seriously. So let me ask you; would you like to be my disciple?"

Although Dahlia doesn't know the extent of Doron's strength, as the one who saved her and trained her these past few days, he was all she could trust as of this moment.

Thus, she nodded, "Yes, Uncle!"

Doron smiled and said, "Well, it seems like we need to celebrate…"

Dahlia tilted her head curiously again as she saw Doron take out something from his pocket.

It was two small vials, one was glowing in blue while the other had a red glow on it.

Dahlia found the red one familiar- it was the same as the Aura Primer Regis had given her in the past 

Presenting the two vials, Doron asked, "Now, what would you like to awaken in your second heart? Mana or Aura?"

Dahlia was once again astonished as she stared dumbfoundly on the Mana and Aura Primer.

***

Gasp—

Regis suddenly awoke, clutching his left chest.

'What happened!? Am I still alive!?"

He questioned in his heart as his eyes darted around the surroundings.

Looking at the houses that were submerged in flanes and the village that was in ruins, he heaved a sigh of relief.

'It seems like I've been passed out for not too long…'

Regis sat up on the ground and touched his left chest once again, trying to feel his heartbeat.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!!

Feeling the heartbeat in his heart, he once again sighed in relief.

'It seems that there's no problem in my body…'

The fact that he was alive really relieved him.

However, Regis also found it extremely strange.

After all, he clearly remembered having absorbed mana in his heart.

Normally, it wouldn't have been strange if he didn't wake up anymore.

However, he was still alive and was learly fine.

Regis then tried to utilized the demonic power in his heart.

However, what surprised him was the presence of another type of energy in that very heart.

Regis then tried to utilize it.

Wungggg—

Energy that was glowing in blue was manifested from his left hand.

While black energy manifested in his right hand.

"W-What is this!?!?!"

Regis exclaimed in astonishment.

He could now utilize both Demonic Power and Mana.

"Regis!? Are you there!?!?"

Hearing a familiar voice from afar, Regis immediately stopped what he was doing.

'J-Just what the hell was that!?'

Regis said in his heart, clearly still unable to believe what he experienced.