As the sun rises on the horizon, Brandon sits on the edge of the canyon with his feet dangling over the edge. A few moments pass and Kaito and Nozomi come up the ramp and greet him.

"It's been one week and all we did was stay inside a cave. How does that help train us?" Nozomi questioned as she walked over to Brandon.

"It was to help adjust your body to the temperatures down there, you haven't noticed a difference yet? You both just walked across the bottom of the canyon floor, and neither one of you is sweating. Your bodies have been adjusting to the drastic heat and cold nights. Now we can begin the real training. No more sitting inside a cave, no more only worrying about your provisions. Now you'll need to maintain provisions, and do physical and magical exercises. And I'll be coming down there with you to monitor your training. I'll assign each of you a task each day that you'll need to complete." Brandon explained, standing up from the edge.

Kaito nervously rubs his hands together.

"What is it, Kaito?" Brandon asked.

"I actually can't use magic, I've never been able to." He responded, rubbing his hands faster.

"So your aura is still sleeping, I assumed as much. I haven't been able to sense your aura at all since we met." Brandon stated

"Will we be able to awaken his aura?" Nozomi curiously questioned.

"That depends on him, everyone is a little different. We'll use something just known as the paper method to see if he can awaken it. I'll explain it better once we're on the canyon floor." Brandon stated as he made his way towards the canyon ramp.

They make their way back down to the canyon floor. Kaito and Nozomi were already dreading what was to come.

"First things first, you should change clothes. You've been wearing the same clothes for a week straight now. After that, I'll start each of you on something different for training." Brandon explained,

Brandon teleports a few crates that drop to the canyon floor. Kaito and Nozomi each open a box, and inside were the clothes they bought before leaving Rodon.

"Honestly, I forgot we had clean clothes. We've spent so long wearing the same clothes, not changing into clean ones has become a habit." She explained with shame.

"It's hard to break habits that you've had for years. Things will get easier in time, don't worry about it." Brandon said.

They grab some clean clothes and each of them goes behind one of the nearby rocks. Once done changing, they come back out and toss their dirty clothes in a pile.

"We spent so much time in the cave, we hardly spent any time looking at the actual canyon floor," Kaito said, examining his surroundings.

The canyon floor was barren, nothing but dried dirt and boulders decorating the place. Boulders varying in size sit near the walls of the canyon, and the occasional tumbleweed blows by. Not a bit of life was in sight, the closest form of life was the grass hanging off the edge of the canyon near the top.

"Well, it's not like you missed much, dirt and boulders from one side to the other. Even with the temperatures being extreme, there are harsher climates in other places that have life. It truly is a mystery as to why nothing grows here. The animals above the canyon even try their best to avoid getting even remotely close to the top of this place." Brandon explained.

"Maybe that witch story is true, I mean animals can sense things we can't. Maybe they sense the witch's magic or soul haunting this place." Nozomi said.

"Potentially, but that is a debate for another day. Now it's time to begin your training. Firstly, Kaito let's start you with your training. The paper method is using a simple piece of paper that is infused with magic. It can connect with your aura if you allow it. You'll need to concentrate and block everything around you out. Focus on your body and the aura that resides inside you. Sadly, besides telling you to focus, there isn't much else I can do for you. The paper will make it easier on you, but truthfully, only you can figure out how to sense your magic. It's almost like describing color to a colorblind person. Once you unlock your aura, one of a few things will happen to the paper. If it burns to ash, your aura is primarily fire. If it gets wet, it's water, if it freezes, it's ice, if it splits in half, it's wind. There are more, but you get the idea." Brandon explained.

Brandon teleports a single piece of paper that floats down in front of Kaito. The paper was tiny and sat perfectly in Kaito's palm.

"While Kaito does that, Nozomi, what is your magic's main aspect," Brandon questioned.

"Healing or support magic, at least that's what my grandmother told me when I was younger. When I was seven, my magic was awakened early, and she helped me control it. She explained that while everyone can use most types of magic, each aura has a single type that it excels in. Mine has always been supporting magic. Which is why I was carrying that staff in Rodon, I lack skill in other magic types for combat." She explained.

"We'll work on your endurance for healing and after that, we'll work on other types of magic." He said, pulling a dagger from his belt.

He drags the blade across his hand, cutting it wide open. Blood rushed out, leaking onto the dried dirt below. Nozomi quickly holds her hands over it and concentrates her attention strictly on the wound. Her hands emit a soft green light and after a few moments, the cut fades away from his hand. As time passed, the night begins to fall upon the canyon and Brandon decides to end the training for the day.

"That's enough for today, we'll continue tomorrow." He called out to Kaito.

Kaito groans in frustration as he stares down at the paper. He slowly walks back to Brandon, filled with disappointment.

"All I managed to do today was stare at a piece of paper. How the hell am I supposed to feel my aura?" Kaito questioned as he shoved the paper into his pocket.

"I wish I could help more, but please don't lose faith. It will happen in time, you just need to stay vigilant." Brandon explained as he teleported their camping gear.

Once camp was established, Brandon sent Kaito to get some fish from the pond above. Nozomi sits by the fire and warms her hands as Brandon takes a sip from the water bucket.

"So, if you don't mind, I'd like to know more about you and Kaito. I tried to refrain from asking questions during the first month because we were becoming friends and building trust. I didn't want to ask about your past until we had spent more time together." Brandon explained.

"I don't mind, I would've told you more about us sooner if you had asked. I trust you and don't mind sharing. To start, I'm nineteen, and he's sixteen. We've been on our own for the last ten years and lived in Rodon for the last three. We're from the Eastern Kingdom, well, one of the small islands claimed by the East. Our village was decimated by a demon, me and Kaito were the only survivors." She said, looking down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, no one should have to go through that. Do you know what happened to that demon, or why it was even there?" He questioned.

"The reason, well, the reason is that the village idiot summoned it. The idiot was lonely and wanted to summon a succubus. However, the summoning spell he used summoned what was a chaos demon. After it killed everyone, it absorbed their souls and grew an additional set of horns atop its forehead. And honestly, I'm not sure what happened to it. I know the demon-hunting association was hunting it at one point, but I'm not sure if it's still alive. Kaito is certain that it is, and he wishes to kill it. That's why he wants to get stronger, so he can avenge everyone." She explained.

"Chaos demon sounds correct, they grow more horns or their horns grow once they've absorbed so many souls. It's a way to show their strength to other demons and to strike fear into their victims. However, if it was being hunted by them, it would be shocking if the demon was still alive. I know the leader of the DHA, he's very thorough with the hunts and hasn't let a demon escape yet." He said.

"Well, either way, Kaito is trying to devote his entire life to getting enough power to kill that demon. Honestly, this is the happiest I've ever seen him. Not being able to use his magic has weighed on him mentally, you've given him hope. So thank you for taking us in and training us." She said, smiling at him.

"Thank you for taking my offer, this has been a learning experience for everyone. I've never trained anyone before, so sometimes I'm worried that I won't do right by you two. Truthfully, I'm just giving you similar training that I've done over the years. But, if Kaito has dedicated his life to getting stronger, what is it that you want out of your life?" He asked, warming his hands up by the fire.

"I want to help people, and I know that might sound a bit cliché or something. But, I can excel at healing magic, so why not use that for the greater good. I would love to travel around, exploring the world and helping those in need when I can." She said, looking up at the stars.

"That's an admirable life goal, once training is over you could always travel with me. All three of us could travel around the world, every day would be a new adventure, and we could help a lot of people along the way. I have a pretty similar life goal, I plan on changing this world. I want to rid it of the suffering people endure and bring this world to true peace." He explained.

“Then I would like to travel with you, not only to help people. But you're the only friend me and Kaito have, honestly it would be hard to just leave and never see you again. Plus, Kaito will probably refuse to leave you since he wants to get powerful. He probably wants to learn everything he can from you and then some.” She said, letting out a chuckle.

“Then it's settled, after we finish your training, we'll set back out on the road and travel around.” He said, smiling brightly.

Suddenly, Kaito comes running down the ramp as fast as he could, nearly spilling the bucket of fish he was carrying. He runs up to Brandon and holds up the piece of paper, it was burning from a black flame.

“I gave it one more try for the night up at the pond and this happened! What does black fire mean?” He asked while trying to catch his breath.

“Black flames, now that is interesting. Black magic like this is rare, not many people have it. I have black lightning, most people call it demon or death magic. Usually, black magic like that is stronger in some way than the original type of magic. For example, black fire will burn forever, countered by other magic. Whereas regular fire can be put out with water or other things. Now that you've unlocked your aura, we can start your magic training first thing tomorrow morning.” Brandon said, patting Kaito on the shoulder.

Kaito smiles brightly and nods at Brandon. He skewers the fish onto sticks and places them over the fire. They enjoy small talk before turning in for the night.