The Lunar festival was right around the corner, and I didn’t have any presents ready. During the Lunar Festival, women make gifts for the men in their lives. It wasn’t just your immediate family, but also your college friends. And if I really thought about it, I would need thirteen presents in total. Thirteen presents and just a few days left. It felt like a hopeless situation. I could have said I didn’t have time after my coma to shop for all the items, but that would have been a lie. The maids were taking over most of my daily chores, and the priest and Benjamin took over the clinic duties. They would only call me when something serious happened, like earlier today, when I saved someone’s nose, ears, and cheeks from frostbite. The poor bloke had fallen asleep outside with his face uncovered.
The only real duty left for me was my magic lessons. My students had a bit of a breakthrough since I fell asleep, and now Felicia wasn’t the only one who had formed her core. Matt and Juan had also formed their core… on the same day, that is. Now they constantly argue who did it first. If not for Felicia breaking up their constant fighting with some well-placed pebbles against their foreheads, they would have burned down and flooded the entire classroom (the clinic) by now.
I had mulled over the entire morning after my first day about what I would get for everyone, but still had no idea. The tradition of gift-giving during the Lunar Festival is a cherished part of their culture, and I wanted to find something meaningful. I was still thinking about it when I walked into the classroom today.
“Are you cold? Can I get you anything?”
This was now the sixth time Janus had asked me this, just this morning. And just like the other five times I replied,
“No, I don’t need anything, nor am I cold. At most, I’m sweating a bit.”
We were currently walking through a tight trench, tall as a man, of shoveled snow that was so tight that people couldn’t even pass each other. I was wearing soft leather gloves with inlaid fur and another fur mantle, so thick that one couldn’t even see my swollen belly beneath. Several layers of clothing beneath and a woolen hat pulled down so far I could barely see what was in front of me. And in front of me was Janus’ broad back. He wore just a light jacket, not even a hat.
“The priest said you shouldn’t get too cold.”
“I shouldn’t get too warm either, and have you forgotten I’m a healer myself? Why are you taking that man’s advice over mine?”
But my question went unanswered. Only when we finally reached the warm classroom was I allowed to take off the coat, gloves, and hat. Janus helped me take off the sweaty winter clothes and then finally left, but not without asking for a seventh time if I was cold or needed anything. When he was finally gone, the students who had seen the entire exchange broke out laughing.
““Hahahaha””
I silently took note of all the people laughing, then went on with today’s lesson. Since they had all either formed their core or were very close to it, I wanted to teach them something new today.
“Quiet, everyone, today’s lesson will be about body-strengthening magic.”
There were still a few sporadic giggles from Matt and Juan, but soon they all sharpened their ears to hear about this new topic.
…
I swallowed my welling-up anger and continued,
“Body strengthening magic is actually more known under a different name. Does anyone know which one it could be?”
A few people seriously tried to find the alternative name I was referring to. However, no one could get it, even after I waited a full minute while Matt and Juan still couldn’t keep it together.
I will drown them in homework.
“Body strengthening magic is also known as Aura.”
Just a few words caused quite a stir in my modest student body, and even Matt and Juan finally shut up. Felicia even raised her hand, ready to ask a flood of questions.
“You can all take down your hands. There will be plenty of time for questions later.”
Felicia dutifully put down her hand and looked at me, full of expectation.
“Contrary to popular belief, Aura and magic are not two different forces but the same. When someone uses their Aura to accomplish superhuman feats, it is actually them circulating and using non-attribute mana in the respective area. For example, Janus can perform short bursts of speed when he uses it on his whole body. He can also concentrate on just his arms or legs to perform normally impossible sword strikes and footwork in quick succession.”
As my praise speech for Janus continued, I could hear someone giggling in the back again.
I ignored it this time and just moved on from my example.
“However, what Janus is using is just instinctual use of body-strengthening magic that can occur in individuals who have special bloodlines, talent, or through years of grueling practice. Some even report “awakening” their Aura through perilous or life-threatening situations. It happens when the body is pushed to its extremes, or if you just got lucky with your parents. However, just like any other form of magic, body-strengthening magic can be learned by anyone with even the worst talent with just enough effort.”
That Statement caused another stir to go through the small crowd. They could also learn Aura. Their whole lives, they had believed that those two were different, maybe even opposites, only to now discover that they, too, with enough training, could crush boulders and outrun a horse. But then Felicia blurted out a question that had been bugging her,
“But how do they charge their weapons with mana?”
I ignore the fact that she didn’t raise her hand and calmly reply,
“One can charge anything with mana. Normally, that only makes the object sturdier and allows it to break magic constructs, such as shields. But by putting a bit of intent behind charging your weapon with Aura, you accidentally form your very own magical construct around your weapon. By using an object as its core, the construct can be far sturdier and easier to form…”
“Then why didn’t we learn how to form a shield with real shields?”
I was interrupted by Matt, who angrily stood up.
“Hey, calm down, and next time raise your hand when you want to ask something.”
“But Felicia just…”
I glared at Matt and Juan until they folded under my gaze.
“To answer your question, you don’t always have a shield with you, and by relying on it, you would just form bad habits. Now back to what I actually wanted to say. The material the weapon is made out of also has an effect on its ability to be charged with mana. If the material had been part of a living creature, then old, dead mana pathways already exist within the material. Making it easier to channel mana through them. The effectiveness goes like this: bone and chitin > flesh > adamantium> Wood > gold > copper > silver > Titanium. There are, of course, more, but this list would go too far; neither have I researched all materials that exist, so maybe there is something even better out there.”
Felicia raised her hand again, and after I nodded at her, she asked,
“If bone is the best, then why don’t we just use bone swords and shields?”
“Good question, the answer is that some already do. Many dwarven smiths use the bones of powerful monsters to create adamantium, which, according to them, is a secret gold and titanium alloy of unknown composition. As for why they don’t just use pure Bone, dead and dry bones have a tendency to be brittle, and most people would consider a sword that only works while you have mana impractical. Bones only see real use in tribal cultures that haven’t even discovered how to make bronze, or in highly advanced cultures that don’t run out of mana like the people from the ancient kingdom. But even they switched over to adamantium as soon as it was discovered. Furthermore, Adamatium has such strong mana-conducting capabilities that the difference between it and bones is negligible. But they still find use since materials from living beings have a lingering mana affinity left from the time they were alive. For example, the bones of a powerful sea serpent would have a natural affinity for water magic. That’s why bones as well as mana stones were often used by mages as staffs.”
Thankfully, the Yuwen family library is so extensive.
The rest of the lesson went smoothly as I went on describing all the different materials and combinations one could use. At the end of the lesson, I announced that tomorrow will be our first time practicing body-strengthening magic.