[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

Breathing techniques were a compulsory part of the school curriculum in District 20. It was not taught to students in the hope that they would relax and learn to destress, rather it was a part of the instituted physical curriculum. Since humanity's main goal was survival, raising strong newer generations who would not lose their heads in battle was important. Through breathing control, prospective soldiers could learn to better control their bodies and yield better results.

Rhys breathed in for four counts and then exhaled slowly as he had been taught. He repeated this until his body was relaxed and his head was empty.

Sitting cross-legged on a patch of wild grass in a clearing, Rhys focused his attention inward on his aura. He thought his new skill, Aura Manipulation, would work like the other skills in that he would automatically be able to use it. However, that wasn't the case. Apparently, he needed to get in touch with his own aura first.

His only reference to what his aura looked like was the terrifying memory of staring at his reflection in his dorm bathroom, he could never forget the shadows that moved within this energy field and the almost-faces that stared back at him in the mirror, so he was lucky enough to have a clear image going in.

Chills ran up his back as he visualised his aura. The icy sensation it gave off and the horror movie-worthy image of it were coming together in his mind. As if he was getting in touch with a new sense, he could in a way feel his aura around him. Up until now, he had only been able to see others auras and sometimes hear them, like when Connor's lightning aura crackled.

He opened his eyes and was startled by what he saw. Usually, he couldn't see his own aura very well. To him, It basically looked like a thin, almost transparent veil was cloaking him, but now he could really see it.

His aura looked like smoke. He lifted his hand and stared at the dark grey wisps of smoke that swirled around his fingers.

He refocused on that hand and tried to stretch his aura the way he did when he wanted his aura to cover his thicker clothing. To his surprise, it was working. The black smoke was slowly extending past his fingertips, stretching inch by inch until his aura reached about a rulers length from the tips of his fingers.

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to stretch his aura even more. His hand trembled and he lost feeling in his fingers as he tried to force out more aura. With a pained grunt, he finally stopped trying to push his aura out. The smoke immediately returned to its original form around his hand and the sensation in his fingers slowly returned.

"This is difficult," He admitted while staring at the grass. It took so much concentration and time just to be able to manipulate his aura that much. "Any tips?" He asked the teacher.

["Yes, actually. Instead of stretching it as far as you can all at once, try to bounce your aura away from you."]

"Bounce it..?" Rhys frowned slightly.

["Think of your aura as a gum or elastic type substance for now, until you learn better aural flexibility. Push it out in quick bursts and immediately retract it. Like the motion of a yo-yo... Or when you try to bend over and touch your toes. Instead of just pushing downwards and straining yourself, bounce downwards until you are flexible enough to touch your toes. Use that method on your aura."]

Rhys nodded satisfied and tried what the teacher was telling him to do. He pushed his aura out hard but then released letting it flow straight back into him. The little push barely extended his aura a few centimetres from his fingers.

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

He held out both of his hands and continuously bounced his aura out of them. It was fun and much easier than what he tried to do in the beginning. With each bounce his aura reached a little further away from his hands.

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[...]

He watched with a satisfied grin as the distance his aura could extend to increased. His hands were throbbing to the beat of him pushing out his aura.

He only began to lose feeling in his hands when his aura was bouncing about a forearm's length from his palms, but he kept pushing.

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[...]

He panted as he pushed himself to continue. Sweat collected on his brow again and dribbled down the side of his face. The bouncing method was effective in more than one way because he could feel his aura ripple across his body as the aura he bounced outwards collected in his hands again and created aura shockwaves across his body. He wasn't just working out the aura in his hands but the aura all around him.

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[Aura Manipulation used +5 Exp]

[...]

Finally, when his aura was reaching about a meter in front of him, his arms dropped to his sides completely numb. He was exhausted, but not in a way he was used to. Instead of panting and being out of breath, he felt drained and slovenly.

Rhys leaned against a tree for support as a familiar cold dizziness came over him.

"Shit." He slurred out the curse word because a wave of dizziness flooded over him. He recognised this feeling as the sensation he felt before he levelled up the last time, the feeling he got just before he started convulsing after his team match in the tournament. He was going to have another seizure.

He tried to grab onto the tree for support, but his hands were completely numb. He lost his grip and fell with a thud onto the roots and grass beneath the tree. His vision became blurry as his head started shaking along with the rest of his body.

The aura around his body was trembling along with him, the smoke erupting and swirling in random and violent projections.

The feeling was different this time, even more intense than the last time. He was barely managing to stay conscience as his body was being wracked with icy cold shivers.

'This is a real inconvenience you know.' He directed his thoughts at the teacher.

["Tell me about it..."] The teacher snickered. ["I can't believe you're so weak that you practically go into a coma each time you level up. I hope the higher beings are not watching this..."] He sounded genuinely embarrassed of Rhys.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a blurry figure moving towards him in the distance, and perhaps he heard the echo of someone calling his name.

***********

Rhys's eyes twitched as harsh white light penetrated his eyelids. The familiar sounds of medical machines and equipment buzzed around him. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in what at first glance looked like a hospital room. However, he quickly spotted a large black glass window on the wall, it was an observation window that he could not see through but people on the other side were most likely able to see in.

He was alone in the room and his was the only bed inside there. The room was also far too small to be one of the MCP's infirmary rooms. No, this was somewhere else.

The door to the room clicked open and Rhys turned his head to see Professor Killian step into the room.

"Rhys, you are awake! Welcome back." The professor looked surprised but pleased to see Rhys sitting up on the reclined hospital bed.

"Professor..." Rhys felt a little comforted to see someone he knew. For a second there he thought the military found out about his Ghost powers and locked him up in some observation room for testing. That irrational fear disappeared when he saw Killian looking as cheery as usual.

Killian pulled up a chair next to Rhys's bedside and sat down next to him. "It gave me quite the scare when Connor brought you to the dorm while you were shaking like that. From your medical record, that's now the second time you've had an episode like that, is that correct?"

Rhys gulped nervously. The questions themselves were fine, but questions about his power, in general, made him nervous. "Yeah, I guess this is the second time now."

Killian frowned slightly as he nodded his head. "You know Rhys, seizures like that can be a sign of delayed infusion rejection. This might be your body rejecting your core..."

Rhys nodded his head slowly and knitted his eyebrows together in a fake worried expression. "You think so?" He knew that wasn't the case. The seizures were happening because he was growing stronger, but he did not need to look so confident in front of Killian.

"I don't think you need to worry too much though. We did some blood tests while you were asleep, so far there is no sign of a delayed rejection."

Rhys forced himself to smile, while he was actually a little sour that Killian took his blood while he was asleep. "Well, that's good to hear."

"What time is it, by the way?" There weren't any windows nor digital clocks on any of the machines, so he could not tell how long he had been asleep.

"It's around 5 p.m." Killian smiled as he picked up a file and began scribbling.

Rhys raised his eyebrows at this news. He passed out in the forest in the late evening and woke up the next day in the afternoon. The teacher was not kidding when he said Rhys would go into a coma.

["Guess again."] The teacher laughed out loud in the back of his head.

"So, in total, you've been sleeping for a little less than four days." Killian nonchalantly informed him while he kept scribbling in his chart.

"Four days?" Rhys jolted up in the bed and stared down at Killian with wide disbelieving eyes.

"Oh, yes." Killian chuckled, amused by Rhys's shocked expression. "You were unresponsive for four days. You were quite literally in a coma, and J really don't know why."

Killian's forehead creased. He was confused and frustrated as to the cause of Rhys's seizure and short term coma. All he could do was hypothesise but that was not very satisfying fit a scientist like him who proffered facts.

"Remember to thank Connor for bringing you back, while you were having a seizure no less." Killian shook away his frustration and refocused.

"Yeah..." Rhys murmured absentmindedly, still fixed on the idea of being asleep for four days.

Rhys felt a flush of anxiety when he realised that his bag was still probably in the forest. The Book of the Dead was still out there somewhere, hopefully not being mauled on by a squirrel. Connor must not have seen the bag when he dragged Rhys back to the dorms, thank goodness.

"Um... So, can I go?" Rhys asked, eyeing the professor hopefully.

"If you are feeling up to it, by all means head back to your room. But take it easy for the rest of the day, please. And come straight to me if you ever feel yourself slipping into a seizure again." Killian smiled warmly at Rhys, which made Rhys want to let his guard down in front of the professor.

Rhys hopped off the bed and realised for the first time that he was wearing light blue hospital pyjamas and not the uniform he was wearing the last time he was conscious. They must have changed him when they brought him in.

"Just take a left and you'll find yourself in the main lobby," Killian said as Rhys reached for the door.

Rhys was about to open the door when Killian nonchalantly asked, "By the way Rhys, about tattoo tattoo on your chest..?"

Rhys froze with his hand on the door handle. His new heart pounded in his chest and his temperature suddenly spiked up. The tattoo Killian was referring to was his birthmark, the manifestation of his ghost race. It was something that he did not want anyone to find out about.

Rhys turned around and faced Killian calmly. He pointed to his chest that was covered by the light blue pyjamas.

"It's cool, right? I got it before I came to the military... Designed it myself." He pulled down his collar, exposing the inky black markings of his birthmark that had darkened while he was asleep. There was now a distinct black pattern on his chest where he had destroyed his heart.

"Mhmm. It looks great." Killian chuckled lightly at Rhys's prideful smile.

Rhys turned and left the room, relieved that Killian thought it was just a normal tattoo. His hands balled up into fists and his fingers dug into the flesh of his palms. That was close, too close...

Just when he reached Level 5 and finally got the skill he wanted, he was left exposed and defenceless for four days. Was it even worth levelling up if he ended up so vulnerable?

What would have happened if Connor had seen his duffle bag with the book of the dead inside it? What if Connor had shown it to Killian? Rhys wanted to go back into the woods and train where he could be alone, but even the woods didn't feel safe since Connor had been there...

Rhys came to a halt as he realised that Connor had found him exactly as he collapsed. Rhys had been pretty deep in the woods at that time, not somewhere a passerby could have just happened upon him...

How did Connor know he was there?

Rhys found himself running towards the elevator. He needed to get changed and go back to the forest to retrieve his things, then he needed to confront Connor. It was too much of a coincidence that Connor just happened upon him in the forest. He must have been following Rhys, to begin with.

The elevator dinged as it reached the fourth floor, Rhys dashed out of it, heading to his room. He flung open the door but halted in place when he saw Connor seated calmly on the chair in their small common area. The Book of the Dead was open in his hands and he was calmly glancing through it. Rhys's duffle bag was at his feet.