Van seemed to be standing on some sort of battlements, a large castle wall of some sort that gave him a nice view of the surrounding area. Forests and green plains as far as the eye could see with a few mountains in the distance. Turning, he saw a man in full armor, his helmet off, gazing into the distance.

“So… you have come to me…” the man then turned to look at Van with some slight disinterest… but at the same time… curiosity… “I suppose you are here to gain something from me, correct? Well then… how can I help you…” sounding like even he wasn't sure if he wanted to aid Van or not.

Van was taken a little aback by the man’s attitude, but sensed no malice in his words or actions and so decided to explain why he was here. “I heard that you are a master swordsman and aura user. I have come in the hopes that you would be able to help teach me how to grow and control my aura, and maybe teach me a few other things if you are willing.” speaking courteously, not wanting to make a bad impression.

From what he had heard from Van, they couldn’t directly hurt him in any way, nor can he hurt them unless there were special circumstances involved. So trying to convince those he comes to for aid to help him out of their own free will was effectively the only way that he would ever learn anything from them.

The knight thought about it for a long while. To the point, Van was wondering if he would ever answer. The man then turned and walked away…

Van watched a little dumbfounded by this action.

But just as the knight was about to disappear from sight, he turned his head to look at Van, and then motioned with it towards the direction he was going, as if to say to follow him. After that, he stoically moved on.

Van was a little confused by this, but then quickly realized that the knight was about to disappear from view, and rushed to follow him. After a few minutes, he found himself in some sort of open field with a few boulders around and trees in the periphery of the clearing. The knight then turned to address him, arms crossed.

“Alright…” the man said slowly. “You can call me…” he thought about it for a while. “Duran…” tasting the word as if for the first time, as if unsure if he was happy with it or not.

“Before we begin… I want you to show me your skills…” He then looked around until his eyes landed on a boulder not so far off from the two of them. “That boulder… cut it…” and gave no further explanation or reason.

Van looked towards the boulder, then back to Duran. “You… want me to cut that boulder?” he asked unsure.

But Duran remained silent, giving neither a positive nor negative answer.

Van stood there for a while until the silence got uncomfortable. Uncertainly, he made his way towards the boulder and drew out his sword. Thinking there must be something more to it, he gave a mighty swing of his blade.

Only for it to clang loudly against the rock, making Van wince at the sound, fearful that he might have just dulled his blade. Worried, he turned to look at Duran, wondering if this was all within his expectations. But the knight didn’t budge one inch and continued to stare and watch Van.

Van really didn’t like doing things without reason. But decided to give it one more try anyway. This time, he planned to use his aura, encasing his blade with blue energy. But before he could bring his sword down, he was stopped.

“If you do that, you may be able to make a dent on the rock… but it would be at the cost of your blade…” Duran said disapprovingly. “And I'm pretty sure I asked you to cut the boulder, not just make marks in it…” his eyes bore holes into Van.

Van… was somewhat offended, given a task he couldn’t understand, then told he was doing it wrong, really peeved him… “how else am I supposed to do it?” he complained, a little nervously due to Duran’s gaze. “The only way to cut a boulder like this is if I used all my aura and tried several times! Maybe if it was my father… he could cut a few trees with a single slash. But even he would have to expend a lot of aura for that.” he pointed out in his self-defense.

Duran continued to stare at Van for a long while before he finally sighed. Slowly, he took out his sword and raised it up high with a very thin film of aura surrounding it, to the point it was hard to see. Lazily, he brought it down without much force.

Van frowned as he watched wondering what the knight was trying to do and if this was some sort of attack. As he stood next to the boulder, he felt a soft current of airbrush past him when Duran brought his sword down. He looked around confused, wondering what that was all about.

Duran then slowly walked up next to Van then pointed at the boulder.

Van, still confused, followed the finger back to the boulder.

The knight then created a thin film of aura on the tip of his finger, and gently poked the boulder.

CRACK! BOOM! The boulder went. The sides of it exploded outward as if a bomb of pure energy exploded from the inside.

But the middle… the middle was cleanly cut, almost as if someone took a waterjet cutter to a geode, revealing a glossy and smooth interior with rainbow swirls and beautiful colors.

Van was startled, then flabbergasted by what he just saw. He looked towards Duran, then back to the boulder, the sides of which were all on the floor, but the middle part still untouched except for where a clear cut had been made through it. Gently… carefully… he touched the boulder as if he wasn’t sure if it was real or not.

“Unbelievable…” Van thought as he touched the outer edges of the rock. “The only reason the sides exploded… was because the energy within had no natural escape… the cut in the middle appeared so quickly and smoothly, that when Duran push even a little bit aura in between the practically nonexistent gap, it displaced the air and space around it so fast when it cracked open that it effectively broke the sides from the sheer air resistance of the sudden movement… what fucking bullshit…”

Van then gently moved his hand to the cut part of the boulder. His fingertips practically glided over its smooth surface, as if there was no friction whatsoever. When he pulled his hand back and turned it around. He found his fingertips bleeding, with some of his fingerprints cut away, leaving only smooth skin.

“Holy shit… the cut must have been made on a molecular level or some sort of bullshit. Because even the jagged fingerprints of my fingertips were cut off just by touching it… how the fucking hell…” looking in a mix of horror and awe at his bleeding fingers.

Duran looked at Van, then looked away. “Follow.” was all he said and made his way toward a nearby tree.

Van, confused, followed Duran, afraid of what might happen if he didn’t, but also curious to see what else the knight might show him.

Once at the tree, Duran casually swung his blade once more across the tree.

Van then waited, expecting it to be cut down… but nothing happened. Now he was questioning if he even saw it right. He did see the blade pass through the tree… right?

Duran then turned to address him. “Sometimes… it’s not always about being able to cut whatever you want… sometimes… it’s about choosing to cut what you want to cut…” sounding sagely.

Van again was confused by Duran’s actions. He was definitely sure he saw the knight cut the tree… so why wasn’t it falling over? Van then decided to place a hand on the tree, trying to force his aura into it to see what would happen. He nervously did so, expecting it to explode. But nothing happened…

“Did… did he cut it to the point that the tree itself hasn’t become aware that it was slashed? Seriously! What kind of bullshit is this!” Now becoming a little exasperated by everything he has seen so far.

Duran went back to folding his arms. “You said you wanted to learn how to improve your aura, correct?”

Van looked towards Duran. “Uh… ya…” he replied, unsure of what else to say.

“What have you done to improve it?” Duran asked.

“Uh… I've tried meditating… and… building up my vitality? And uh… working on improving my willpower.” Van replied.

“And how do you improve your willpower?” Duran asked.

“I uh… resist urges… and stuff…” Van said, realizing how silly that actually sounded.

Duran nodded sagely. “And now you come to me because you feel it is not enough… well… you are right! It is not enough!”

Duran then uncrossed his arms and looked down on Van. “Increasing one's vitality and willpower is only the tip! One must also increase their spirit! Those with a strong fighting spirit also have a strong aura! You can’t just meditate to grow your aura and expect gains… The best way is to work through the spiritual blocks in your psyche. And those with strong souls have strong auras, and your soul is very strong! But underutilized…”

“Worse, there is no control of your aura. You think you understand it, but you do not! All that wasted energy… for nothing… you burn through your pool like it’s never-ending! If you truly wish to learn from me… you must understand that you will be tortured… that your mind will be assaulted and that your body will be put to the test like it has never been before… I will beat into you everything you need to know on how to properly master aura and the sword. But you have to be willing to give it your all as well… Do you understand?” Duran asked, eyes hard.

Van looked up nervously at Duran, wondering if this was such a good idea. But then he just had to think about what happened to the boulder, and if he could even get to a fraction of that strength, then whatever he would be put through would be well worth it. Or at least he hoped it would be…

“Alright…” Van nodded. “I understand.” trying to sound determined, mostly for himself.

“...good… let’s see… how long your resolve lasts… that also… will be put to the test…” Duran said menacingly.

---

“What… the actual fuck…” Van thought as he panted in pure pain.

It had only been a few hours since he had agreed, but never before had he ever faced such horrible training in his entire life. It put everything his father, and even Thea for that matter did to shame.

“I’m going to die… I’m definitely going to die…” Van thought repeatedly over and over again in his mind as he was refused escape from this torture over and over again.

Strapped to his back was a large boulder, to which he was forced to carry around in a circle. He had to use aura to do so, and while at first that sounded moderately difficult, he soon realized how truly cruel this training was when it went on for more than just one hour… and what made it worse…

“Using too much aura!” Duran shouted and sucker-punched Van in the gut, doubling him over, almost making him lose balance and threatening him to be crushed under the weight of his load. “Use only the bare minimum! Even if you're exhausted, you must continue to give aura or you will die! There is nothing like the fear of death constantly pressing down on you to help grow your aura… it is a battle of will, that if you give in just a little, could cost you your life… on top of that… if you use too much aura, more than you should for this task… you will be punished…”

“You will be pushed to your breaking point… then pushed again… and again… over and over again until death itself becomes a close friend… and you won't stop until you have at least mastered this warm-up… do I make myself clear…” Duran said, watching Van like a hawk.

Van groaned in misery.

“Good…” Duran replied.

And for the next few hours, Van was subjected to what he could only describe was a training session from hell. He even threw up…

It was only after that he was given a break and told to take a meditative stance as Duran explained a more in-depth training method for aura that Van could do in his free time.

“One’s will comes from one’s spirit… one’s spirit comes from one’s will… it ties to the mind and from the mind to the body and from the body back again… have you ever heard mind over matter? But if your mind is a degenerate one, then you will only do degenerate things. If your mind is lazy, then you will only do lazy things. Your will can force your mind, and your mind your body…” Duran sagely.

“We all have a will that is above ourselves… our minds and bodies… but most don’t realize that they can tap into it… that it is more than just a force that helps you resist your desire for one more cookie… or spend your money on something frivolous… the training your father gave you, resisting your urge to eat, is somewhat similar training and tapping into this higher state of will… I will now teach you even more about it… close your eyes… and follow my voice…” Duran then began to speak softly and eloquently, his voice gentle and like a slow breeze.

Van closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then let it out. He let Duran’s words wash over him, learning new insights and knowledge about will and so much more.

“Good… this will be it for today's session… you may go now… to not forget what I have taught you. I expect you to come by more often from now on… think of it as another test of your will…” Duran said.

Van sighed inwardly with some relief. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to come by again. But then again… he did have one more week before the final match with his father… Perhaps if he trained hard enough, he could surprise his dad and finally get a victory.

“Thank you, Duran, I’ll come by next time,” he said as he got up, though inwardly a part of him was screaming not to.

With that, Van left Duran and exited back into the memoriam room. But before leaving, he decided to visit one last person… just on a whim…

Soon, Van was again in a new place. An open area filled with large columns and rows upon rows of giant bookcases, filled with an almost endless amount of books. With waterfalls flowing both downward and up, and trees and greenery everywhere.

“Well, well, well, look who we have here…” a young man sitting on a giant crystal ball said as Van appeared. He was wearing a pointy hat and a set of wizards robes with a long staff filled with magical gems and runes. He closed what appeared to be some sort of grimoire, giving Van his full attention.

“You can call me Magnus… to what do I owe the pleasure?” Magnus asked curiously. “Are you perhaps here to learn from me such as you learned from the others?”

“No,” Van said flatly and quickly, earning a small chuckle from Magnus. “I just wanted to see if you have any ideas on how to beat my father without using magic. I figured I asked Xan and Duran already, so why not you and the others as well?”

“Hmm… interesting…” Magnus said thoughtfully. “Well… I don’t know how much help I could be when magic is not involved… but I do have an idea that could greatly help you…” he said in a lazy tone of voice.

“Like what?” Van asked.

Magnus smiled knowingly. “Why you already know…” he said coyly. “While it is a bit more difficult… if it’s on the body… aura can work on it… though the backlash can be painful…”

“What are you talking about?” Van asked, wondering if Magnus was one of those people that like to see people struggle with questions they already know the answer to.

“You just need to remember that Isa girl…” Magnus said. “And hopefully the answer will come to you…” his voice sounded lazy once more. “Now if you would excuse me… there is still so much more to do… till next time…” turning back to his book.

Van frowned but figured for some reason that this was the best he was going to get out of him. He then turned to leave, he had only one week left, he was going to make the best out of it that he could… And prove to his father his growth!