Hoping next chapter isn't too impacted by this, but I'll be on a short work trip next week that promises to wreck my schedule. Fly out on Tuesday, spend all of Wednesday with the developers of the system I work with, then fly back that evening to get home somewhere around 10pm at the earliest and collapse. Gonna try to get a head start and even crank out as much as I can Tuesday night, but my Wednesday is shot and I'll probably sleep through half of Thursday.
Had to take Maverick to the vet today, as he's been limping recently. Looks like he's injured his shoulder slightly, so now I have to convince my young German Shepherd to take it easy when he normally spends all his time running and playing. This should be fun.
On the flipside, I decided to try out a VR horror game for Halloween that a friend wanted me to play. Not sure I'll ever trust her again. The Exorcist: Legion scared the heck out of me. The setting, sound effects, and general feel of it was pure nightmare fuel, despite not relying solely on jumpscares or the usual methods. Didn't even die a single time, but spent a lot of the game cowering in fear knowing some evil thing was out to get me. Fun times!
But that's over, and the chapter's here at last!
Life rushed through Adam's tired body like a river, filling and overrunning as light spilled out of him in every direction. It burned through him like fire, yet chilled him to the bone. Adam would've fallen backwards if not for Jean's hand still firmly gripping his shoulder. He tried to shield his eyes from the stinging brightness, only to wince as his own hand nearly blinded him.
Thankfully, Adam's time as a human lantern only lasted a few seconds before the glow around him began to fade. A faint redness still lingered for a few seconds longer as Adam looked down on his bruised arms and marveled at how they felt. They still hurt, but where he'd struggled to lift them only a few minutes ago, he suddenly felt energized again. His body cried out for sleep, but at the same time he felt more awake than ever. Nothing made sense.
The last wisps of light finally faded as Jean let go. "There. It's done."
"What was that?!" Adam shouted, his voice echoing through the forest around them. Adam ducked his head in apology before trying again, this time at a more reasonable tone. "Sorry. What was that?"
"That," Jean panted, suddenly winded despite not even breaking a sweat in their fight, "was aura."
Aura? Wait, had Jean just…no. Surely not. And yet, there was no denying what he'd seen. Why else would he feel so great after what he'd just gone through? He'd been on the verge of collapse. Now, energy tingled through him, a well of power that threatened to burst from him at any moment. "You gave me aura?"
"No. I unlocked yours." Jean held up his hand, which began to glow a faint red. "Everyone has it locked up inside them, sort of like treasure in a chest. All I did was provide the key."
Adam held his own hand up and concentrated, squinting his eyes at his hand until he gave up with a huff, but there was no denying the light he'd seen there only moments ago. Questions warred in his head, fighting for answers. Why did he light up so much? How come he couldn't make it glow now? How did he use it? He had so many important things he wanted to know.
Instead, his next question seemed kind of pointless. "I glowed red, like you. Is that because you unlocked it?"
Jean couldn't help the small laugh that escaped. "Not quite. Every aura has its own color. Not sure what determines it, though. All I know is that they say it's the manifestation of your soul, whatever that means."
"So my soul is red?"
Jean's chuckle burst into a full guffaw. "Ha! That's one way to look at it, I guess. Who knows? Maybe. We just happen to have a similar color is all."
"It wasn't exactly the same," Soji observed, reminding Adam that there were still others around. "Jean's is a little lighter, like the color of the leaves in fall."
"What did mine look like?" Adam asked. He'd only seen it briefly, and the brightness hadn't exactly given him a great view.
"It was a deeper red," Soji said, stroking his chin in thought. "Darker. Like a full bodied wine."
"Oh…okay." Adam had no idea what that looked like. His wine knowledge was limited to it being a type of alcohol. Anything beyond that was a mystery to him.
Thankfully, Jesse picked up on his confusion, though his answer proved far less elegant. "Kinda like blood."
Blood? He knew what that looked like, even if he'd been hoping for something a little less morbid. Jean got autumn leaves. He got blood. Did that mean something? Did someone's aura color even matter? What even determined the color in the first place? It seemed the more he learned, the more questions he had.
"Whoa there, Adam." Jean pushed him back down as he tried to stand. "You need to take it easy."
"But I feel great!" Well, not great, but certainly better. The pain felt duller. Distant. It still hurt, but nothing compared to what he'd felt before. "I'm just standing up. I'm not gonna go run a marathon or anything."
"See that you don't," Jean agreed, though he still kept Adam seated. "Aura helps you heal, but you've only just unlocked it. You still need time to get used to it."
"And training?"
Jean nodded. "And training. I told you I'd teach you, but not tonight."
"But I'm-"
"Not tonight," Jean repeated, much to Adam's disappointment. "You may think you feel fine, but that's just the aura rush talking." Before Adam could ask, Jean clarified, "Think of it like adrenaline. You feel better because you've never felt aura before, but your body still needs time to recover first. It won't take as long, but you'll just hurt yourself more if you don't get some rest."
"Fine." Adam wanted to complain, but Jean clearly knew more than he did. He'd play along for now, but only to remove the excuse for tomorrow. Jean promised to train him, and Adam would hold him to that promise. "But I want to know more."
"Tomorrow," Jean replied, satisfying Adam's demand. "It'll take time, though, so I don't want to hear any complaining."
"I won't." Jean snorted doubtfully, but Adam meant it. Training to fight was one thing. Adam knew the basics already, meaning he had the foundation in place. Aura usage, though? Adam had read some stuff about aura, but knowing what it was and knowing how to use it were two very different things. Was it like a muscle he had to flex? Was it mental? Jean kept mentioning his soul. Did that mean there was some sort of spiritual component to it
All of those questions would have to wait, but only until tomorrow. As eager as Adam was for combat training, aura training sounded a lot more exciting. No matter how well he could swing a sword, someone with aura could just tank the hit. He'd rather have his own force field first. He could worry about swordplay afterwards.
Apparently, the tomorrow rule didn't apply to everyone else. "That was quite the poetic chant, Jean. I didn't realize you were so eloquent."
"I'm sure you could've done better." Soji clearly found Jean's answer amusing, laughing along as Jean continued. "To be honest, I just tried to remember what my father said when he unlocked mine, then plugged the gaps with whatever came to mind."
"Ah, so it's some sort of enchantment, then?"
"Nothing so magical," Jean assured him. "I'm not some secret wizard or anything. It's mostly tradition. That, and it helps me focus. Unlocking someone's aura isn't exactly easy."
"What did it mean?" Adam knew he'd promised to wait until tomorrow, but if Soji got to ask questions, then it was only fair he got another.
"They were curiously specific," Soji agreed, his curious nature urging them both on. "Is it always the same?"
Jean shrugged. "Everyone sorta makes up their own. Probably some out there who don't say anything at all. As for the words…" Jean trailed off, silently debating on what to say. "Consider that homework."
"Homework?" He hadn't had homework since the orphanage.
"Chew it over a bit," Jean instructed. "I'll explain more later, but for now, all I'll say is that I meant every word. Maybe once you figure it out, you'll understand my decisions better. Anyways, I'm hungry. Dinner almost ready, Rikyu?"
"Ten minutes," came the reply, effectively ending the conversation for the evening. Soji retreated to their wagon with the familiar look of deep thought on his face. He'd likely spend most of the evening trying to discern Jean's true meaning.
Not that Adam would be doing any different. What did he mean? The first part seemed so contradictory. Peace through war? Peace for who? His peace, or peace for others? Either one could work, he guessed, but joy through sorrow? Adam had plenty of the latter and felt pretty confident it hadn't brought him or anyone else any joy. Well, other than Alyssa, but he assumed that wasn't what Jean meant.
At least the middle part added up. Helping people who needed him. That was something Adam could get behind. He doubted anyone truly believed the part of never being needed, though. There'd always be another fight. Wars. Thieves. Bullies. Someone always seemed intent on causing trouble. You might as well dream of every Huntsmen retiring after the Grimm were defeated. It sounded nice, but no one actually believed in that crap. Well, no one but naive little children.
And what the heck was with the last part? Condemn me to greatness? How was that a bad thing? How could being the hope of the hopeless, as Jean put it, be bad? It sounded like exactly what Adam wanted.
"One thing at a time," Adam schooled himself before bed. Staying up all night trying to discern whatever riddle Jean had given him would just make him too tired to train tomorrow. He wanted to know more about his new aura and how to use it. In the meantime, maybe Soji could help him piece together the puzzle. Or Jesse. He had aura, so maybe he'd know what Jean was talking about.
But for now, Adam would have to content himself with the knowledge that tomorrow would start a new chapter of his life. He had aura and a proper trainer now.
And most of all, he finally had a purpose.
/- - - - - - - - - -/
"Concentrate."
"On what?" Adam growled back, glaring at his hand and watching for even the tiniest speck of light to appear. He'd known it would take time to master using aura, but after almost a week, he couldn't even get it to show on his hand, let alone his whole body. It was frustrating enough to fail every night, but it was the lack of help that really set him off.
"Aura's like a muscle. You have to learn to flex it, then make it stronger."
"What does that even mean?" Jean might as well have told him to light up his butt like a firefly. Come to think of it, if he could make his hand glow, then he could probably turn his rear into a light, too. Not that he could imagine it ever being useful. Maybe lighting his way to the toilet, but even then a hand would be better. Or just his faunus vision.
Jean's hand impacted the back of Adam's head. "You're getting distracted again."
He wasn't wrong, but smacking him hardly helped. "I can't do it," Adam complained, letting his hand drop in frustration.
"Not with an attitude like that." The temptation to throw something at his mentor grew stronger every time he opened his mouth. "Hm. Maybe we're going about this all wrong."
You think? They'd been trying the same thing over and over each night, not to mention all of Adam's attempts while riding during the day. But each time, nothing. He knew it could work. He'd seen Jean and Jesse use theirs without much effort. He'd even lit up the forest when he got his unlocked. So it wasn't something wrong with his newfound aura.
Which means it's something wrong with you.
And that's what worried Adam. How could he hope to master aura if he couldn't even figure out how to start? Did everyone struggle like this? "How do you do it?"
"Me?" Jean thought about it for a second. "I just sort of…do. It's not something I really need to think about much anymore. My aura's just a natural part of me. Activating it is just like…breathing through my nose. I can do it when I want and it's pretty much automatic when I need it."
Well that was useless. "What about before, when you were younger? How did you do it back then?" Everyone had to start somewhere. If he couldn't use aura the same way Jean did now, then maybe he needed to figure out how Jean got to where he was. "Was there some sort of trick you used?"
"Honestly, I barely remember." Talk about useless. Adam sighed in frustration. "To be fair, that was a long time ago, and I had training beforehand to prepare me."
"What did they train you?" Getting answers from Jean was about as easy as pulling teeth, but he'd keep at it.
"Let's see…" Jean started muttering to himself as he flipped through lessons in his mind. "Aura is your soul…manifestation of who you are…concentration…desire…" Jean hummed at the end before snapping his fingers. "I think I've got it!"
About time.
"When you're trying to manifest your aura, what are you thinking about?"
"Making my hand glow." That was what he needed to do, right? Admittedly, he got distracted a lot, usually because he'd been trying and failing so much that his mind began to wander, but that couldn't be the issue. Well, not the main one. Otherwise, he'd have nailed it in the first few minutes while still focusing. "But I'm not really sure how."
"That's because you're trying to reach the end instead of the start." Adam arched an eyebrow, not quite getting it. "It's like if I told you to start a fire but never showed you how."
"I already know how to start a fire." Even without the cheating firestarters they used most of the time.
"But if you didn't, it would be pretty hard, right?" Maybe. Adam had learned it so long ago. If a child could do it so easily, then it couldn't be that hard. Then again, Nila had been shocked at how quickly he'd started a fire that one time. "How would you start?"
"I'd gather some kindling, pick a suitable spot, clear away-"
"No. I mean if you didn't know what you're doing," Jean interrupted. "If you'd never started a fire before and I just told you to do it and left."
"I'd still gather some wood and kindling." Trying to purposefully forget things felt harder than learning something new. "Then…I dunno. Maybe rub some sticks together and hope for the best?"
"Exactly!" Jean cheered, slapping his knee in excitement as if they'd made some huge breakthrough in the world of firestarting. "You'd focus on the end goal without knowing how to get there." That sure sounded relatable at the moment. "You can't just start at the end and expect a flame. We've got to work on getting the spark first, then feeding it until it becomes natural."
Jean was finally starting to make some sense, but Adam still needed more. "But how do I spark my aura?"
Jean bit his lip, looking around the campsite before realizing there weren't a whole lot of options for visual guides. "Right. Well, aura's the manifestation of your soul…"
"You already said that earlier." Not that it helped much. Adam didn't really know how to picture his soul, much less use it.
"Hold your horses. This ain't easy." Figuring out a metaphor sounded a lot simpler than pushing your soul out of your body or whatever aura really was. "Your soul is you. Or who you really are at your core, I guess. So instead of focusing on using your soul, maybe we need to start with figuring out what it even is."
Jean didn't exactly strike Adam as a super spiritual man, so he had a feeling this would be a pain. Father Bernard would've been a lot better at this part.
"So what exactly is your core, Adam?"
Jean's question caught him off guard. "My core?"
"Yeah. What makes you…well, you?"
What makes me me? It sounded so simple, but Adam didn't really know how to answer that. He used to be so optimistic, making big plans and chasing after them, no matter how impossible they might seem. But that was a long time ago. Now? Adam was hurt. Broken. Life had put him through a meat grinder, then stomped him into the ground. "I…I don't know."
As much as it hurt to admit, Adam didn't really have an answer anymore. "Hm. Then what motivates you? You hounded me forever to train you. Stubbornest kid I've ever met, and that's saying something. No one does something like that without a reason, so what's yours? Why do you want to learn how to fight?"
Because he had nothing else. No, that wasn't right. Well, it was, but that wasn't why he'd wanted to learn to fight. He could've learned trade from Soji. Tried to become a tea master through Rikyu. Hunted with Jean. Cooking. Animal care. There were plenty of options available if he really just wanted something to do, and those were just within the caravan. They'd been to more than enough towns and cities that he could've found a job, if he really tried. Soji probably would've given him a recommendation and everything.
But Adam didn't just want to fight. He needed to fight. He'd been obsessed enough to challenge Jean time and time again, only to get the crap beat out of him each time and come crawling back for more. He wanted to do more than just get stronger. He wanted to be able to fight the Grimm. No, to fight evil in whatever form it took. Grimm. Bandits. Abusers. Life itself, if he had to. Getting stronger was just a means to an end.
He wanted to protect people.
All that matters is that you want to protect people. Those simple words from Sona still rang in his ears, reminding him that he'd always wanted the same thing - to protect those in danger. He'd inspired her to become something more than himself, and that desire had only grown through the years. From guarding Erik and Nila against Pika to saving Jesse from an Ursa, he'd always stepped in when needed to fight for those close to him.
I just want to protect people. Such a simple goal he'd set so long ago. Back before his life had taken a turn for the worse. He could still remember practically shouting those words at Father Bernard, fighting for the chance to learn to fight, even at such a young age. More than that, he could still remember his father's response.
"That's the best reason you can have."
"What is?" Adam hadn't realized he'd said anything out loud, but that didn't change his resolve.
"To protect people," Adam stated confidently. "I want to protect people. That's why I want to fight. So that others don't have to." Jean's smile reminded Adam of his words that fateful night. "That's what you meant, right? Through war, we obtain peace. Not our peace. We fight so others don't have to."
Jean didn't bother confirming, but Adam knew he'd hit the nail on the head. Fighting wouldn't bring him peace, but it might for others. "Focus on that, then. If protecting people really means that much to you, then you'll need your aura to help you. Concentrate on that."
Concentrate on protecting people? "How?" How could thinking about something so nebulous make his aura work? "Do I just picture a shield or something?"
"Too literal," Jean answered. "Don't try to picture the word. Think about what it means."
"But how do I-"
With a quick shake of his head, Jean interjected, "No more questions. Close your eyes and focus. Think about your goal and nothing else."
It sounded dumb, but nothing else had worked so far. Adam shifted to get comfortable - as comfortable as one could get sitting on the ground - then tried to follow Jean's guidance. Protection. Protecting people. He cracked an eye open to see if anything was happening, only for Jean to flick his forehead.
"No peeking."
Adam shut his eyes again, hiding his eye roll as he tried again. Protecting people. People. What people? Not everyone. People who needed him. People like him. People in danger.
Images flashed in front of him as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea. Mister Collins saving him from the Beowolf. Sheriff Taylor smuggling him out of Katai. Father Bernard attacking an Alpha to save Mazarin. Each time, someone had stepped in and fought for another. They'd risked themselves to keep someone else safe. That was the sort of thing he wanted to do - the sort of person he wanted to be.
The sort of person he already was.
Visions of others were quickly replaced by more familiar scenes. Falling from a tree to kill a Beowolf as Nila screamed from above. Fighting Pika and his thugs because they'd hurt Nila. Finally standing up to Alyssa rather than bringing Nila to suffer. Killing the Ursa before it could finish Jesse.
Even without aura, Adam had risked himself countless times for others. He kept saying he wanted to protect people, but he'd already done that. He'd risked everything, even his life, to make sure those he cared about were safe. And he'd do it again in a heartbeat, no matter how much it hurt, if only so those around him didn't have to suffer.
Through our sorrow, we bring joy.
Adam was no stranger to pain. He'd been through so much already. More than anyone twice his age should have to endure. But he'd take more on himself to make sure no one else had to. You couldn't break what was already broken, but there were so many out there who still had things to live for. He'd let Nila suffer - no, he'd made her suffer - because he refused to fight. He'd taken the easy way out and let someone else bear the weight, and it had broken her.
Never again. No one would ever suffer in his place again. He'd fight to protect them. His pain would protect them. No Grimm could cause as much pain as the look in Nila's eyes when he betrayed her. No claws could sting as much as her slap. No weapon could cut as deep as her words. He'd fight to make sure no one had to go through something like that again, at his hands or another's.
Adam jolted, nearly falling over as a hand fell on his shoulder. "Adam."
Jean's single word broke him out of his thoughts. "Huh?" Without thinking, Adam opened his eyes to see what was wrong, only to blink against the red light shining around his hand. It worked? "It worked!" Almost immediately, the light faded away, but he'd done it! Even if only for a moment, he'd activated his aura. And if he could do it once, he could do it again.
"Good work," Jean congratulated. "What were you thinking about?"
"Protecting people," Adam answered without even thinking. "I was thinking of protecting people, like when I killed that Ursa."
"Guess that makes Jesse the damsel in distress." Jesse shouted from across the campsite, having heard Jean's taunt easily enough. "That's good, Adam. You said you wanted to protect people, so focusing on when you already protected them is a great start."
"I'll try again."
"Not so fast." Jean hauled him to his feet, then had to catch him when Adam stumbled. "That's what I thought. Aura training isn't easy. It takes a lot of effort to generate an aura at first. And just wait until we get to defensive training. You'll be lucky if you can stand when we're done."
Adam's stomach let out a loud gurgle.
"Hungry already? We haven't even started cooking yet." Rikyu had the fire going, but the only thing being heated was water for tea. "Have you been eating during the day?"
"I had a banana a couple hours ago." As it turned out, the village they stopped at two days ago had been well stocked on all sorts of fruit. Just like Adam guessed, vegetables were in high demand given the limited space. Their caravan had been the first to pass through in weeks, so they'd been overly generous in their trades, claiming nearly half of their vegetable supply in exchange for a sizable haul of fruits and meat. If this became their new regular route, they'd have to make sure to load the wagons with produce.
"And for lunch?"
"Some cold meat, nuts and a mango." If Adam had his way, he'd be scarfing down those mangos every day, but they had to share. They should've gotten more pomegranates, too. Eating seeds had sounded a little weird at first, but mixing them in with the nuts made for a great snack, but Rikyu had kept most of them, promising to make some flavored water and teas for them all to enjoy.
"That's it?" Jean asked, as if a full meal and a snack weren't enough.
"I couldn't eat any more," Adam protested. He'd forced down more than he really wanted, knowing from recent experience that he'd be starving by dinner. "Not all of us can eat five dozen eggs at breakfast."
Not that they got many eggs on the trail, but he'd once seen Jean wolf down massive piles of the fluffy, yellow goodness at one of their stops. In fact, Jean ate more than practically anyone else in the group, often coming back for seconds or thirds once everyone had dinner. No one really complained, though, since he was also the main supplier of meat for them all.
"Your body's not used to the higher intake yet, but you're burning through calories a lot faster now with all our training." Jean rolled his shoulders as they walked, pointing Adam toward his wagon. "Go grab something to snack on for now. Then catch your breath. We'll do some sparring before dinner. Can't let you slack off on your training."
As if Adam ever had the chance. Jean worked him ruthlessly every night, picking apart his defenses with clinical precision, then forcing him through drills to improve everything from footing to how he swung his sword. Their trainings lasted a lot longer, too. What would've tired him out only a couple weeks ago was turning into a warmup now. He might not be able to manifest his aura defensively yet, but he could definitely feel it working.
Aura really was incredible. Adam felt so much more energized throughout the day, despite the fact that he was getting less sleep. Apparently, having a special store of energy that could heal and strengthen you meant sleeping became less urgent. Adam had begun waking up earlier in the mornings, feeling rested despite less time asleep. Jean promised that was normal, saying the body took less time to rest and heal thanks to their aura, which explained how Jean could keep operating with only a few hours of sleep each night while splitting watch duties with Jesse.
Then again, a lot of that related to activity. They spent most of their time riding on the trail, so other than their evening training, none of them really did that much during the day. Huntsmen, on the other hand, were always on the move. Extra training. Excursions into dangerous locales. Fights with entire packs of Grimm. They could go on so much longer than a normal person, but even they had their limits.
Thankfully, other than the Ursa attack, their caravan didn't tend to see much action. Most of that was thanks to Jean's Semblance and his ability to sense potential danger long before it reached them.
Speaking of which…
"So when do I get a Semblance?" Adam asked as he devoured a pair of pears.
"No idea," Jean shrugged, accepting two cups of freshly brewed tea from Rikyu and handing one to Adam.
The fruity taste of the reddish drink proved Rikyu had put those pomegranate seeds to good use. "What's normal? Does it happen early, or is it something that takes years to discover?" He hoped it would be sooner rather than later. Maybe it was part of learning to master aura. Would it suddenly unlock if he figured out how to use aura defensively, or were there other requirements?
Jean's answer proved less than satisfying. "No one knows."
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said. No one knows." Jean took a quick sip of his drink before he continued. "Semblances unlock at different times for different people. Mine came after a couple years of training. Didn't really understand what it was at first. Thought I was hallucinating or something when I started sensing animals while in class."
"A couple years?" He didn't want to wait a couple years! He wanted his Semblance now!
"Some get it pretty early," Jean assured him. "I had a classmate who got his Semblance only two months after unlocking his aura. Then again, some never get one."
"Never? But I thought everyone had a Semblance." Just like an aura, except you had to unlock that to get the Semblance, since it worked on aura from what he'd read.
Jean continued to provide more guesses than information. "That's what they say, but I know a guy who's had his aura over thirty years and still doesn't have a Semblance. Not sure if it'll ever unlock at this point. Or maybe it did and it's something so subtle he doesn't even recognize it." How could someone not know they have a superpower? "Either way, there's no guarantee on this stuff, or on what kind of Semblance you'll get. They did tests a long time back to see if there were ways to predict or even cause certain Semblances, but nothing came of it other than a waste of lien and a ton of lawsuits."
"Someone sued them for researching Semblances?" Wouldn't that kind of research be super valuable, especially to Huntsmen. If they could pick their Semblances in advance or even unlock it sooner, they'd be better prepared to fight the Grimm.
"Not so much their research as how they went about it," Jean clarified with a grimace. "Injections. Drugging. Human experimentation. Some were volunteers. Others were 'case studies' with unknowing participants who only found out later that they were being used as lab rats. Imagine finding out some doctor had been experimenting on your kid, and now he's got all sorts of issues from their little project. Personally, I think they should've been strung up for what some of them did."
Put like that, Adam could understand the backlash. It was one thing to have people volunteer for experimental procedures, but using someone's kid as a guinea pig? Especially without permission? That sounded like something out of those horror stories Adam used to avoid.
"Not to mention the rumors of kidnappings and secret labs filled with victims. Never saw any proof or anything, but I wouldn't be surprised." Jean shook his head for a second. "Anyways, what I'm saying is that you can't know how your Semblance will unlock, when, or even what it'll be. You just have to wait."
"I hope it's a good one," Adam dreamed. Something awesome, like a laser beam that disintegrated Grimm. Or being crazy fast so he could rescue people before the Grimm reached him. Flying would be pretty awesome, too.
"A Semblance is only as good as the one who wields it," Jean lectured. "Take mine, for instance. Most people would say it's pretty weak compared to the flashy ones you see in tournaments and stuff, but I figured out a way to make it work for me. Whatever yours is, it'll be the right one for you. And it'll come at the right time. Just trust in that."
Easier said than done. Still the idea of discovering some super special ability unique to him was enough to keep Adam excited, even after Jean's usual trouncing of him that evening. He still needed to work on parrying properly, but Jesse assured him his footwork was getting a lot better. By the time they finally called it for the night, Soji insisted he was tired just watching them. Their training sessions continued to grow longer as Adam got used to his new energy source, even if he didn't have much control of it yet.
That night, while most of the camp slept and Jean lurked somewhere nearby, scanning for any threats, Adam hid in his sleeping bag and stared at his hand, delighting in the brief glimmers that managed to break through every now and then.
Not much going on this chapter. Adam has to learn about using aura, sort of like Oscar in Volume 5, but with a less experienced teacher instead of an immortal soul parasite (Ozma) and a team of Academy students. Rewatched the episode where they're training and while they didn't say much about the actual training specifics, there was enough there for me to start building on. Obviously, this is gonna take some time, but he'll get there.
We'll be doing little skips with his training for the time being, since progress will be slow at first. Didn't want to bore everyone with repetitive trying and failing mixed with a few, small breakthroughs. Not all of the chapters will be so heavy on the info only side, either. I've got some important events planned for the coming chapters, but we've got to get some stuff done first.
Figured I'd throw in some thoughts on aura's affects on people. Obviously this is mostly conjecture from me, but things like needing less sleep seem reasonable (though it would balance out a bit for those using it more, like Huntsmen). Increased food consumption makes sense to me, too, given the cafeteria at Beacon and their seemingly massive supply of food.
Lastly, with this being Chapter 42, I couldn't resist making it a loose refence to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the chapter title. Hope you enjoyed!
Next chapter: Adam learns more about his aura and how to control it.