Chapter 3: The Night My Brain Almost Broke
It took three hours of walking against the bitter, winter wind of the night to reach the white haired mans house. His home was secluded on the outskirts of a mountainous, wooded area. Upon first glance, the home was a fair size. It was made of mostly wood and was rather nicely built. There was a small building out to the side of the house with no windows. The house itself had two windows that could be seen in the front. This house seemed to have more than enough space to hold the man and myelf.
Opening the door and ushering me in, the white haired man took his coat back from me and hung it on a wrack that had been placed near a fire place. The man immediately put fresh firewood on the crimson embers that laid in the fireplace and poked it with a metal rod until a warm, inviting flame appeared with a wild dance. He motioned me to take a seat on a wooden chair that was postioned near the now roaring fire.
Doing as he prompted, I climbed up onto the chair and let my body absorb the comforting heat coming off of the fire. Sitting down in a chair a few feet away from the one I was sittng in, the white haired man started to boil something in a kettle. Now looking around his house with the glow of the fire, I could make out the interior of his home.
In the room we were in now, there were these two chairs placed in front of the fire, a stand for the kettle as well as one with a big cooking pot, a large, wooden table that stretched across the floor of this big room with a single chair on either end of it, and a rug in the middle of the floor that appeared to be crafted from some kind of animal. There was also a cubbord in this room that held many eating, drinking, and cooking untensils.
Across from this room I could see another room that was very cluttered. The room was completely round and had many things in it taking up all of the available space. In the middle of the round room was a large desk with a very comfortable looking chair pushed up to it. Around the desk many shelves containing countless books and scrolls could be seen. There were also shelves with items that I had never seen before. The desk itself had many books piled every which way, stacks of writing paper all over, a few candles, and some writing pens. This room clearly would see a lot of work done within it.
Other than these rooms, a hallway could be seen with three doors down it. One on either side of the hall and one at the very end. Altogether, the house was very nice in my opinion. After taking in my surroundings, I still couldn't escape my thoughts of the events leading up to me sitting here now. What could it all mean that this white haired man had told me? Just as I had let my mind seep back to these thoughts, the white haired man promptly cleared his throat.
"This will be your new home, young thief. I hope that you will find it to be a reasonable place to live. I have an extra bedroom that will be yours. Now, I am sure you have a lot on your mind so I will explain myself in detail to you now." He then grabbed the kettle from above the fire and poured the liquid into two cups. Handing me one, he put his own cup to his lips, taking a slow drink while finding a comfortable position in his chair. I took a drink from my cup to help calm my nerves realizing it was coffee. I have never had coffee but the smell was a familiar one. Not completely liking the bitter taste, I drank it regardless, enjoying the warm feeling it gave.
"My name is Tyzon Blint. You, however, will call me master. I see a special strength in you and in your aura and I would be unwise to let such a young talent go to waste. Truth be told, I never thought about having a deciple until I spotted you watching me weeks ago. The moment I sensed your potential I became very interested. Tonight, the skill you displayed while attempting to steal my purse, that decided it for me. You see, the master that trained me told me that I should only ever pass down my knowledge if I happened to come across a person of promising talent. While thinking that day would never come, here we are and here you are."
The white haired man stopped and took another long, slow sip from his cup. I still wasn't completely sure what it was that this man wanted from me. This talk of some talent that I had and training me just didn't seem to be something I could understand. What talent could I possibly have and what exactly did he want to train me to do? My mind started to race over what kind of things this man had in mind.
The white haired man wrested his cup back on his lap and once again aimed his eyes at me. "I am sure you are well aware of how this world works. A person's aura decides how far a person will go and strength is absolute in this world. I am sure you also know that everyone in this world has aura. On their 20th year, their aura will be tested and fully released. From there, they themselves will decide what they will become. Those that want to become strong train, using their aura, making it stronger with their efforts. I want to train you, young thief, to use your aura even now, before it has been tested. This is by no means a common practice. Most people that train before their aura have been tested train in weapons, or trian thier bodies and mind. While I will train you in these things as well, I will also train you to use your aura far more effectivly than anyone else."
Staring wide eyed at the white haried man in front of me after his explanation, I found myself to only be confused even more. Of course I knew about auras and how the world worked because of them. This was every day knowledge. He was right, too. Those who had the most wealth, lived of nobel bloodline, or stood atop the ladder of adventureres almost always had the strongest of auras. People in these lines worked very hard to hone their auras to amass in the top of this world. It was actually pretty common for families of high class to start training their children in combat and arms from a young age so that they would have an edge when it came time to have their auras tested. I have never heard of, though, of someone training their aura before it had been tested.
From what I knew, everyone was born with a colorless aura. It would remain colorless until the day it was tested when they reached the age 20. I also knew that those under that age could bring out their colorless aura. It was a reflex in the body given at birth that was as natural as breathing. However, the aura would remain the same until the day it was tested and fully unleashed. So hearing the white haired man in front of me tell me that he was going to teach me to train my aura now, while it was still colorless was by far the strangest event of the night so far.
I took another sip from my cup to slow my racing mind. I had told myself that given the situation I found myself in earlier tonight, that gambling on comning here with this man was my best option. Right now, I needed to calm down and hear him out. I took a deep breath and brought my focus back to the relaxed, white haired man sitting across from me. Seeing that I had gathered some focus back, the man seemed to smile slightly approvingly.
"You have developed a level of skill unheard of from someone so young. Through the harsh conditions of your living, as well as whatever it is that drove you to get to this point, you have honed many admirable skills while being so young. Your speed and reflexes are insane. Your stealth and caution are at an impressive level. The degree of your maturity and way of thinking are in a class beyond your age. And your perception and soul strength are something to mention as well. These two things are something I sensed the first day you started watching me. These are more than enough reasons to grab my interest and make me want to train you to be something great. In the end, however, it will ultimately be up to you. I will not force this training on you. Should you refuse, after hearing about the training, I will return you to Glimmershear and leave you be."
The white haired man seemed genuine in every word he said. This added a little ease to my ever racing mind. Not knowing what all of what he said could mean, I was very frustrated. Even still, would going back to my life be better than staying here with this man and doing his training? And what if he was right? What if he really could train me to be someone that is strong? As hard as it was to believe this part, I couldn't help but let my mind wonder at the thought of becoming someone that could actually have strength. I never really put that much thought into the spead and stealth I had now. It just seemed to come naturally the more I risked a beating to get a meal. But thinking about these things and about possibly being able to find real strength had my mind dancing. Both options in front of me seemed to have there fair share of unpleasant feelings. What to do was not an answer I could easily reach.
"You don't have to answer me tonight, young thief. You can sleep here and think about it. Before we go to bed, though, allow me to tell you the little I can. I will be able to tell you more if you agree to train under me. I am someone that has been trained by a master whose masters before him all trained on ancient knowledge. With this knowledge, we are able to take our auras much further than anyone else. If you become my deciple, this knowledge will be passed down to you and with it you will find strength that this world has long forgetten. With your talent, you could go farther than even me."
My jaw was on the floor from these words. In awe, my thoughts ran around wondering how such a thing could be. Could there really be such a method that nobody else knew about that could make me so strong? Sure, I could sense an overwhelming amount of power in this man. But could it really be becuase of the things he just told me? If it was true, then I can only imagine the person I could become.
"Why don't we rest for now, young thief. You can sleep on it and give me your answer in the morning." Standing up and setting his cup down on a small table next to his chair, the man waved his hand towards the hallway and motioned me to follow. I stood up and set my cup on the table next to his. Taking a quick second to calm my thoughts, I followed the man.
He lead me to one of the bedrooms down the hall. Inside there was a small bed, a table next to it, a cubbord for clothes, another table across the room, and a chest at the foot of the bed. "You can sleep here tonight. I sleep in the room across the hall from this one. I will not try to sway you with anymore words to train under me. It is up to you to decide. Now, get some rest and have an answer for me in the moring."
With that he closed the door and left me in this room of this house that I have never been to, alone with the thoughts of the far too many events that had passed this night.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone