Ira kept her eyes trained on Artemis as she followed her down the candlelit halls of the keep. No matter how hard she strained her ears, the only footsteps that she could hear were her own and sometimes when she passed through patches of shadow, Artemis seemed to merge into the darkness only to be revealed by the next patch of light. Mages were rare and information about them in the public domain was rarer. What she had learnt about them after her inquiries could be summed up to a list of names of the prominent mages throughout the kingdom and a few beyond.

Nearly all of them seemed to stem from aristocratic or military backgrounds and the few that seemed to emerge from the populace were quickly assimilated by either or never heard of again. Also, the paragon of any field of endeavour seemed to be a mage without exception and were granted non-hereditary titles by the kingdom like Divine Blacksmith or Magus of the Loom. A courtesan in a brothel in the capital had even been titled the Mystic Enchantress.

The only mages in the kingdom independent of its authority consisted of the mercenaries of the Yohei ranked A and above and the leaders of the more flagitious bandit groups that ran amuck in the complex terrain of the Dragonspine Mountains.

Ira had tried to glean information about how mages awakened from the leader of the castle guards but all she had come up with was that all regular soldiers and martial practitioners practised some sort of endogenic force known as Aura which could only be awakened in moments of life or death. The mortality rate from the awakening was also extremely high unless special measures could be taken. Aura seemed to amplify all physical aspects such as strength, speed, resilience, reaction rate and sensation. It also seemed to delay aging to a certain extent.

She had run upon a wall then as all the Aura-awakened had been made to sign a magically binding confidentiality contract. She had seen crossbow arrows bounce off a few inches away from a soldier’s chest in the training ground so she assumed that Aura also lent its users some sort of defensive barrier.

She had pleaded with Artemis to teach her magic and if that was not possible, Aura. All she had gotten in response was platitudes and exhortations to be patient.

As she scrutinized Artemis in the vain hope of gleaning some shred of magic from her, she noticed that they had come to the residential quarters of the Baron, his wife and the Matron. Turning down a short corridor past a decorative suit of armour, they stopped before an ornate mahogany door. A soft, steady light spilled out from the bottom of the door unlike the flickering light of the candles that lit the hallway.

The term ‘Immortal Lights’ popped up in Ira’s mind as Artemis knocked upon the door in an intricate pattern. The voice of the Matron calling them in seemed to be laden with languor and as they entered the room Ira found out why.

The Matron was rolling about on her bed dressed in a thin chemise that failed to obstruct from her soul stirring curves. Her hair was disorderly as it gleamed golden under the even lighting from the dozen orbs of light hanging from the ceiling. Her half-lidded green eyes however, were sharp and calculative as they swept over Ira, belying her indolent appearance.

She patted the bed beside her as she said, “Come child, sit beside me. I see that you have been considerate enough to bring me a blanket. It has been quite chilly these last few days.”

Artemis chuckled and pushed her encouragingly towards the bed and left the room. Ira walked around the bedpost and sat down on her knees at the edge of the bed and covered the Matron with her blanket. The Matron giggled and pulled her under the sheets rolling over and caging her within her arms. Her golden hair fell in curtains around their face blocking out the light and her eyes gleamed like a cat’s in the dim light.

“Look into my eyes, child.”, said the Matron and Ira did, fascinated by the half-lidded green gems that seemed to glow from within. “Today onwards you may call me Luxuria.”

Luxuria’s eyes filled Ira’s vision as she leaned down and they locked lips. Pinned down and unable to move physically and locked in by the pressure of her authoritative vision, Ira felt helpless and that sparked an anger within her and she revolted in the only way she could, by aggressively reciprocating the kiss.

A sharp pain snapped her out of her fugue state and she felt the taste of blood on the tip of her tongue. She blushed deeply as she realized what she had done. Luxuria laughed heartily as she extended a finger to gather a drop of blood from Ira’s lip where she had bitten her.

“What a feisty lass you are! We were right in naming you as we did. Aura is inextricably linked to your life and personality, everyone has it but only those awakened to it can manifest it. Seeing that you haven’t awoken, I needed some blood charged with your Aura and for that I had to slightly hypnotize you to reveal your core persona. I say, acting so icy all the time must get stuffy with that temper you are packing beneath.”

She rolled off Ira, freeing her and walked to her dressing table, fumbling through her drawers searching for something. Ira sat up and reorganized her clothing, using the familiar motions to tamp down the flames of her wrath at being toyed with and by the time she looked up, her façade had been reconstructed. Her gaze locked with the returning Luxuria and she found mirth, appreciation and lust in her eyes. The last making her blush and avert her eyes.

Luxuria chuckled and leaned back against the headboard. “So adorable.” Then her tone became solemn snapping Ira out of her embarrassment. “Now, I need you focus on your breathing exercises and meditate upon any change that you feel within yourself.”

Ira closed her eyes and sank into the depths of her mind where there was nothing except the awareness of her body. In this state, the sound of her heart seemed to become louder and if she strained, she felt that she could hear the sound of blood flowing through her vessels. The feel of her clothes against her skin, the softness of the bed beneath her and the feel of air rushing in and out of her lungs was magnified until it was the entirety of her being.

In her state of awareness of self, she felt something like lukewarm water suddenly cover her and seep into her core. Her awareness expanded and she suddenly felt that she had been spread out over the kingdom as many fragments of herself. She felt the anguish of a father who had lost his son to the mouth of beasts. She felt the sorrow of a daughter for her mother who had been raped by bandits. She felt the anger of a man whose lover had been insulted by those in power. She felt the hope of retribution they reposed in the mercenary guild, Yohei. She felt the hope of a craftsman for better material to ply his trade. She felt the fondness of a mother for her child as she sent a letter through the guild. She was many and one at the same time.

The heterogenous Aura turned into streams that flowed into the core of her being and upon touching it sparked a reaction from within her. An incandescent flame was lit within her that lit the incoming Aura, consuming it and burning with even more exuberance until it exploded out of her along with a scream from the depths of her being.

Her eyes snapped open as she watched on in wonder as she watched her Aura as it wafted off her like steam after a hot bath. Along with the stream of heterogenous Aura that flowed in from the translucent jade medallion in Luxuria’s hand into her, her Aura settled down into a slowly flowing halo around and through her giving her the feeling of being immersed in lukewarm water.

The world seemed like it had become more real, the Aura enhancing her senses. She smiled as she absorbed her new reality, understanding first-hand why they called it an awakening.

A tear streaked down her cheek as she went over her journey. She had overcome trial after trial since she had been picked up from the orphanage and after six long years, she had finally made her mark upon the world.

She wiped away the tear with the back of her hand as a smile played upon her lips. She might have nearly died tonight but it was still the best day of her life.

Henceforth, she was Ira, Martial Warrior, maiden of the Spiare… and steward of Cyn Pavone and she was damned if she wasn’t going to make that last title sound way more impressive.