Chapter 13: Chapter 13
I awoke feeling more refreshed and ready for the day than I usually did. Instead of cursing mornings for a few minutes before reluctantly dragging myself out of bed, I hopped up and immediately used Clean Wash to clean myself before getting dressed. The reason I was so excited for today was that I was going to try and gain at least two more Extra Skills today, Magic Sense and Magic Aura. I didn't think either would be too difficult, and I was fairly certain I could gain both of them here in the house safely, but I decided to head for the abandoned church.
I walked into the living room and saw Fortuna there. She was looking out the massive windows that looked down upon the city of Orario. She turned as I walked into the room, seeming to be deep in thought.
"What's up?" I asked as I walked to the couch and took a seat.
"When should we start recruiting, and how?" she asked, placing a hand up to her mouth and biting her thumbnail.
"I think that people will eventually come to us as long as we update our familia's information in the guild and tell them we are recruiting," I said with a shrug as Fortuna began to pace around the room.
"We will need a bigger place when we get more members," she said worriedly, clearly already considering everything that could go wrong.
"Why don't we go to the guild together? I'll drop you off there, then I'll head off to train. Then, tomorrow we can head around the city to look at properties that will fit our familia's future needs," I said casually.
Fortuna stopped to consider for a moment before nodding, "That sounds good to me," she said as her worry seemed to dissipate.
With our plan, decided the two of us headed down to put up a shop, saying that it would be closed for the next two days. Then, once that was done, the two of us headed toward the guild building. We casually chatted among the way, not really talking about anything in particular. Soon enough, we arrived at the guild, and I bid Fortuna a good day as she walked into the building, and I headed toward the abandoned church. Once I arrived, I walked up and sat on the stone wall.
I closed my eyes and began to manifest my aura in my right hand. I felt the chaotic flow of the power and gathered it into a ball of scintillating energy above my palm. Then, I reached inside and pulled out some of my magicule reserves, forming the more tranquil energy into a ball above my left hand. Then, I took a deep breath and used Degenerate to fuse the two balls of energy together. I wasn't entirely sure if this would work, but I watched as the two energies suddenly seemed to be attracted to each other like a magnet. The two orbs flew from each of my palms to meet in the middle.
I quickly brought my hands together around the fusing energies. As I did so, I ramped Thought Acceleration up as much as I could and observed the creation of magical aura for the first time. Not only did I observe the creation of the energy, but I also tried to feel how it was created. I tried to figure out what ratio was used alongside the strength of both of the energies. Eventually, after what felt like a few hours, the process was complete, and I pulled my hands apart. Instead of two separate energies in each of my palms, both of my hands were covered in magical aura. I quickly checked my status and found the Extra Skill: Magic Aura present.
"Great Sage, can you tell me whenever a new skill, magic, or art is added to my status from now on?" I asked, tired of that moment of suspense as I checked to see if I got a new ability or had to go back to training.
[Affirmative]
I nodded gratefully as I shifted my focus to a different Extra Skill: Magic Sense. This time I closed my eyes and began to meditate. I tried to feel the world around me and observe every fluctuation in my environment, even while my eyes were closed. Normally, I would have been hesitant to unlock this skill as a human, but since I already have Thought Acceleration, I figured that it probably wouldn't fry my brain. I tried to absorb all the information around me and directly process it in my brain at high speed. Since Magic Sense is widely considered to be a pretty easy skill to acquire and my immense talent on top of that, it didn't take me too long to unlock it.
[Extra Skill: Magic Sense unlocked]
I would have thanked Great Sage, but this time I knew immediately when I got the skill. Even with my eyes closed, it was like suddenly being able to see in HD as compared to watching a video at 144p. Everything became much clearer to my eyes, but the most shocking change was that I could now see 360 degrees around me at all times. I could feel Thought Acceleration automatically activate to help process all the data flowing into my brain. I could feel each and every magicule floating in the air for a range much further than I would have thought possible. I smiled as I opened my eyes and adjusted to the new perception I had.
Even when looking forward, I could clearly feel everything behind me for a decent distance, at least a few hundred meters. Every single living being within that area was observable at any time. It was an odd sensation to get used to, but soon enough, I was able to fully master my new sense. 'Goodbye to ambushes and darkness,' I thought with a grin. Now that I had Magic Sense, the level of light around me was irrelevant, and anyone trying to sneak up on me, even if invisible, would be easily located. I got up from the stone wall and walked out into the open space.
"Do I practice Arts or Magic first, Great Sage?" I asked since whatever it said would be the most efficient course of action.
[Arts, you already possess the Extra Skill: Lightning Manipulation]
"Arts it is, any suggestions?"
[Movement and concealment Arts such as Instantmove and Formhide]
I nodded and quickly fell into a training stance. From now on, I felt that there was no reason to use normal aura again since I have the Magic Aura skill, so I focused on flooding my magic aura into my body as I tried to use it to give myself a burst of speed fast enough to rival teleportation. I failed the first few times I tried, crashing to the ground or flying into the wall of the abandoned church. However, as it turned out, Magic Sense made it easier for me to develop Instantmove since I could easily perceive my entire surroundings, even when moving at high speed. Soon enough, I heard the announcement I was waiting for.
[Art: Instantmove gained]
I smiled as I moved on to Formhide, which proved to be considerably more difficult. However, Magic Sense once again helped in obtaining this art. Formhide involved using my aura to blend in with the environment and hide my presence. Since I would see all my surroundings, it made it easier to blend with everything around me all the time. I thought I got the art down soon after practicing since I was able to disguise myself and hide my presence when staying still, but as soon as I took a step, it was immediately broken. I sighed in frustration and began to practice the art while in movement.
Eventually, Fortuna came and joined me. I had told her about the location of the church since she asked where I would be training in the city, and she told me that she wanted to come watch once she was done with the paperwork in the guild. I had no reason to refuse, so I just shrugged and told her to do as she pleased. She walked over and sat on the stone wall with a picnic basket and chewed on some sandwiches as she watched me practice. I expected her to chat with me or ask questions, but she just stayed silent and watched me fade in and out of sight with a frustrated look on my face. Like with all things, after a while, I finally managed to obtain the art.
[Art: Formhide acquired]
I was just about to switch to practicing some fire magic, but I changed my mind and took out my spear. I only had two offensive arts, so I wanted spear-specific combat art that would be able to pierce through tough enemies, so I quickly got to work. I worked on coating my spear in a magic aura before blasting through an enemy's defenses with a quick and lethal burst of speed and power. It was afternoon by the time I created my new art, Piercing Stab.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone