Edward came back to his base as night was starting to fall, the weather getting chiller. There were no clouds so the visibility wasn’t too bad, but Edward still stumbled once or twice on unstable rocks.

Damn those crappy rocks, I better be careful, I don’t want to break an ankle, the closest hospital is only one world away. I should avoid traveling at night, the visibility isn’t great and it is getting difficult to tread on this rocky terrain. I’m lucky the river isn’t too far away, but it would be better if had more recipients to store it. The backpack I got from the expedition only has one gourd in it, I don’t know who did it in our world, but I would like to thank the one who invented running water, it makes life so much easier.

He went back into his hideout and settled himself in the room with the books, he felt safer being in a room with a closed door. He took out a blanket from the rucksack he picked up after the wolves’ attack. He was glad that he had chosen a new backpack, it was much better to have a blanket to sleep on than simply laying on the cold and hard floor.

What an exhausting day, I’m not used to having to hide, run for my life, and be teleported, all in the same day. Actually, thinking back, was it only a day? How much time did we stay hiding in that room with the barrier? It somehow feels as if I was in those ruins only for an instant and for an eternity at the same time. I should get some rest.

Edward closed his eyes, but images from the fight and the massacre of the beasts flashed in his mind. He was not able to fall asleep. He struggled to fall asleep for an hour, but seeing as he was still awake, he chose to get up. He went for a walk staying in the underground building, appreciating the light provided by the lines on the wall. The light was enough to see clearly but it wasn’t aggressive, keeping him in a half-awake state, not fully awake but unable to fall asleep. He walked back to the mural’s room, the one he had been teleported in. He stopped contemplating the mural, flashes of what happened displaying into his mind.

He was having mixed feelings, divided between the fear and terror he experienced from those monsters, having to flee for his life, and the anger and sheer rage he felt towards the whole situation of the expedition.

Just wait, Adrien. I will come back. I promise…

A single tear dropped from his eyes. After a few moments, he left, climbing the stairs again, but going all the way up to the outside instead of trying to go to sleep. As the sky was clear, he was able to gaze at the plethora of stars.

I’m always shocked by all the stars out there. Who is able to see stars at night nowadays in my world? It’s just crazy how we can forget how magnificent it looks.

The fresh air of the night was slowly calming him down, there were just the stars and him, nothing else visible. The forest and the mountains were too dark to see from where he stood, it was as if he was alone in this world. All his worries were gone, with simply the tranquillity of the night existing. He stayed like that for an unknown period of time, slowly relaxing, before getting back into his hideout. This time he was able to sleep peacefully without problems.

After a restful night, Edward woke up slightly disoriented. Where am I? Umpf, right, the ruins…He got up and went outside to relieve himself, the sun was already fully risen in the sky. What time is it? He thought with a frown. I guess it doesn’t really matter here, if nobody has a watch you can’t really be late. Not having to wake up to the sound of an alarm, it almost feels like a holiday.

I guess it’s mushrooms for breakfast. He looked around him but didn’t see anything that looked edible, besides, even if it looked edible, it didn’t mean it really was. He went to pick some mushrooms in their growing chamber, the mushrooms were a little dirty, with some dirt still on them. Edward removed everything he had in his backpack beside his gourd, before putting the mushrooms inside, he then went back to the river to clean them.

Having to walk every day to clean your breakfast isn’t really convenient but it’s refreshing, especially when you don’t have to care about the time.

Finally, Edward came back to the hideout and chose the book about meditation techniques. ‘The first step is to be able to sense your aura. To achieve that, you need to focus entirely on yourself and feel how your body is operating. After some time, you should be able to sense something else flowing in constant flux both inside and around your body, that is your aura. This exercise can take some time before getting the first results. Once you manage to sense your aura for the first time, it will be easier to sense it again, however it is better to continue this meditating exercise until you can feel your aura with ease, as feeling one’s own aura is the absolute prerequisite before any attempt at controlling it. To be able to focus on yourself it is strongly advised that you avoid all exteriors distractions. Choose a quiet place where you can stay alone without getting bothered, adopt a cross-legged sitting position and close your eyes, only then will you be able to focus.’

Finding a quiet area where I can stay without being bothered shouldn’t be too difficult for me. Edward laughed internally, being utterly alone in those ruins. He sat cross-legged, his back against the wall, and close his eyes as the manual was advising. He stayed in this state for enough time to boil potatoes. What am I supposed to feel exactly? I can’t feel anything but my buttocks and legs starting to get sore. He tried to stay focused and to forcefully sense his aura, there were no exterior stimulations, but it was as if his mind was searching for one. He was focusing on the smallest noise made by the sporadic gust of wind or the falling of some rocks.

After a few hours, not able to take it anymore, he stood up and went outside for a walk feeling grumpy. What kind of useless manual is that? Feel your aura, it’s the most elementary prerequisite for the rest. I can’t feel crap. If I was back in my world, I would think I was swindled by a scam. He walked all the way to the river while complaining internally. If at least there were some visible changes, or if it was a process separated into different steps it would be easier. But no, here, it’s all or nothing, sense your aura or don’t, period.

Edward walked back to his camp, to try again, the walk helped him calm down a little, and it also help his sore legs, making his blood circulate. He sat again in a cross-legged position, trying to focus on himself, and make abstraction of the rest. This time, he was able to focus on his body, feeling his blood circulate, his stomach grumbling from time to time, his hair rising as his body temperature cooled down slightly. However, he still wasn’t able to sense any kind of aura.

Are those techniques not made for me? Maybe I’m simply unable to do it? What if those techniques are only applicable to this race and not to humans? Should I continue to try it, or simply gave up? Edward was feeling depressed, the whole day had passed, and he still hadn’t made any progress. He wasn’t able to sense his aura, it was up to the point where he started to doubt himself and was thinking about giving up. He had even skipped his lunch, all to be able to sense his aura faster, and to avoid being distracted, but his efforts didn’t bear any results.

Seeing as the night would fall soon, and as he was quite hungry, he decided to pick some other mushrooms for his dinner. Raw mushrooms weren’t the best and not that tasty, but he couldn’t be picky as he didn’t have much of a choice. Feeling resigned, he went to the river to clean the mushrooms and quench himself. He ate his dinner over there, enjoying the free space instead of being confined under the earth by those strange Damkinans buildings.

He walked back to his base before the nightfall and stayed outside watching the sunset while lost in thought. Now that I think about it, I remember Caspian told me that one could see auras at the awaken level and that at the quiescent level one was only able to have a vague sense of it. It seems fair then, that I have some trouble feeling my aura. I should continue the meditation exercises but I won’t spend my whole day on it, it is fine if there are no results. I need to check the others books too and explore the area. I managed to kill one wolf in that expedition, I should try to hunt for beasts in the forest to progress towards the awaken level, though, with my level, that will be dangerous. I will wait for some more days, if I can’t make further progress from the books, I’ll go to the forest.

After one last look at the stars, Edward went back to his room to do one more meditation exercise without any expectations. Now that he had accepted the lack of results, having no pressure to succeed, he felt more relaxed. He closed his eyes and soon entered a kind of trance state, he was awake, and yet he had no conscience of what was around him. It was as if only he existed, everything else disappearing with the closure of his eyelids.

He could feel his heart beating, the blood flowing into his veins, his chest rising and falling with each steady breath. And little by little, he could feel something else, it was akin to an ephemeral flame. It was inside and around him, each part of him fuelling it, the flame fluctuating with each beat of his heart. It was very faint, he could feel it but he knew that it wasn’t physically present, it wasn’t made of matter, and air could travel through it. He still had his eyes closed, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to see it even if they were open.

He stayed in this state, appreciating the feeling, the flame growing slightly more visible in his perception. It was a pleasant sensation, Edward knew that as long as this flame existed, he would be alive, it was like seeing proof that you existed. It would be like if someone was able to see one’s heart beating from an external perspective, it was fascinating and soothing at the same time.

Edward actually fell asleep while in this state, not realizing when he fell asleep, the flame was still existing in his dreams. When he woke up the next morning the sensation of his aura was still lingering. He quickly attempted another meditative exercise and smiled when he sensed his aura again before one minute passed. He had succeeded to sense his aura in the end, he had completed the first prerequisite state for any aura control. Unbeknownst to him, it wasn’t that easy to manage this feat at the quiescent level. Most of the adventurers didn’t have any training in aura and usually managed to sense their aura only when it became visible to them at the awaken level.