Silas was just a moment away from lashing out on Roan when there was a knock on the door and before either men could open the door a head poked in.

It was Kai.

"Young Master," Roan spoke respectfully and Silas couldn’t help but shoot a glare at Roan before he schooled his expression for Kai.

"Good morning, Kai." He spoke and Kai stepped in.

"Good morning, Archmage." Kai smiled before he looked at both the men noticing the tense atmosphere.

"Is... everything all right?" He asked.

Roan smiled before he said, "Yes, Young Master. Everything is all right, besides, did you have breakfast yet? You just awoke, right?"

Silas glared at the back of Roan’s head and Kai gave him a hesitant smile.

"Ah... Yes, I just woke up. I was looking for Master, but he seems busy so, I was passing by here." Kai said.

"It won’t be long, master will be with you soon, till then, shall I escort you to the dining hall, Young Master?" Roan said and having him behave so respectfully made Kai a little uneasy.

"Roan, are you all right? Are you ill or something?" Kai asked and Roan chuckled.

"I’m all right, Young Master. Come, let’s find Young Master Sol and His Highness Davian." Roan said placing his hand over Kai’s shoulder gently turning him around.

"A-All right." Kai said before he looked at Silas over his shoulder.

"Archmage, would you like to come along?" He asked and Roan opened the door throwing a bland look at Silas.

"It will be better if Archmage rests, Young Master. Without any sleep he seems to be having some... trouble." Roan purposely took a jab making Silas clench his fists and Roan stepped out with Kai closing the door behind him.

A couple of steps away from the room and they heard the sound of something crashing in the room and Kai turned about to rush back but Roan kept a firm hand over his shoulder.

"Ro-Roan?" Kai looked at him quizzically.

"It’s fine, Young Master." Roan smiled.

Kai kept walking with Roan after throwing a glance at the room and then asked, "You did something to anger him, didn’t you?"

"I’m completely innocent in this matter, Young Master. It’s Archmage who couldn’t recognize his own family’s power."

Kai couldn’t understand the meaning of his words and they kept walking.

In the forest, the snow had accumulated over the ground covering the entire earth with the blanket of white. The shiny and sharp icicles had formed on the branches of the naked trees. The world seemed desolate here.

From his perch among the skeletal trees, Sol watched the lone figure seated on the flat rock in the snowy clearing below. Davian’s form was rigid yet composed, bare chest stark against the frozen world, black trousers clinging to him as the cold gnawed at everything else. The sheen layer of moisture glimmered over his bare skin giving him an otherworldly look. Arms outstretched, palms open, he sat in that meditative stillness that mirrored the sages of old.

But what drew Sol’s eyes was not the posture—it was the aura. Violet, deep and unyielding, it bled from Davian like smoke and flame combined. It hissed against the snow and melted ice closest to him into mist. The air trembled around him as his aura oozed out like barely tamed beast.

Sol couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t noticed it before. Davian’s aura seemed more nostalgic. Sol observed the young man for a while feeling the form of another man juxtaposing him. Davian was leaner and more muscled than the man from Sol’s memory.

Sol had learned some important things about handling aura but since he had enough mana himself so, he never needed aura and hence never trained. But he still remembered the explanation that the man would give him.

Presently, he even wondered if he should train along to see if he could enhance his physical strength and tap into his aura. But with the curse straining his heart, anything he did was useless. He hadn’t even changed a bit after he had shrunken to the child’s form. He was still very small and weak.

Sol subconsciously grasped Ocean’s mana stone that rested over his chest and sighed watching his smoke breath mingling in the chilly air. The coat that Davian was wearing was draped over his own shoulders to keep him from getting cold. He watched the grey sky once before his eyes drifted down to the branch on which he was seated.

A black owl was close to Sol on the branch hooted and Sol looked at it. He was fascinated by this creature that seemed to have the ability to absorb Ocean’s mana and grow. He had asked Ocean where he had got this owl from but Ocean had simply told him that he had gotten it from a Goddess. As if he would believe that.

Still, the owl- Nox was intriguing, it had visibility during days unlike the other owls and it was bigger, stronger and capable of harnessing the mana that was stored in the mana stone pendant that was around uts thick, feathery neck.

Sol along with Nox had been watching Davian meditating since the past three hours and as he had thought he had seen the results.

Sol leapt down from the tree landing softly and Nox swooped down silently perching itself over Sol’s shoulder gracefully. Sol tried to shake him off but he would only fly off for a bit before he would approach Sol again.

Sol gave up trying to shoo if away in the end, thinking Ocean must have given it a task to look after Sol in his absence.

He walked to Davian who was still deep into his meditation, he couldn’t approach it because of his own mana fluctuations so, he had to stand at some distance.

"Your Highness!" Sol shouted.

Davian remained unresponsive as he sat there and Sol frowned a little.

"Your Highness Davian!" Sol shouted again but still no response. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Sol sighed and then glanced at Nox.

"Go wake him up." Sol spoke pointing at Davian.

Nox tilted its head before it flapped its large black wings and flew over to Davian. Sol watched as Nox landed over Davian’s head and pecked over his forehead and ear, Nox tugged at Davian’s hair making him grunt.

A shockwave was released as Davian’s eyes snapped open, Sol quickly turned around clutching Ocean’s mana stone while Nox flew higher in the air.

Davian rose to his feet and stretched his arms above his head while Sol felt the mana barrier that was erected around him to block the aura dissolving.

Sol turned around looking at Davian who seemed like he was right at home in the middle of a snowy clearing without any shirt on.

"Aren’t you cold?" Sol asked and Davian flashed him smile.

"No, I’m fine."

Sol narrowed his eyes finding his physique envious. He took once had a nice and muscular human form but now he was reduced to the soft and weak doll-like child.

"How was it?" Sol asked him and Davian looked at his arms.

"Hm..." He seemed to ponder or what to say, "It seems like I can go beyond but... for some reason I can’t. You said I could become stronger if I keep using more aura, right?"

Sol nodded, that was how that person had managed to tap into his power. Aura was extremely hard to harness that’s why it was only Montaire family who had managed to trigger it and somehow even pass it on to their descendants.

"I should ask my mother or father to spar with me at times when I’m back home," Davian mumbled.

Sol was shocked to learn that Davian’s mother was also capable of harnessing aura instead of mana but then again, if that person’s descendants were all centred in North then the aura harnessing trait might be in their blood but only triggered by those who would go to those lengths.

"So, what should I do?" Davian asked as he reached out to scoop Sol up from the ground into his arms.

Sol had stopped complaining about these rides since Davian had made it his habit of carrying Sol around like this, and if anything it was convenient, he didn’t have to waste any energy or time walking around. Davian started walking back towards Ryujin mansion.

Sol observed Davian for a moment, the shockwave at the end when Davian’s meditation was broken was a proof that he had failed to achieve what Sol had desired.

Sol adjusted himself in Davian’s arms, his small fingers brushing over the edge of the mana stone at his chest as he spoke.

"Did you feel the flow while you were meditating?"

Davian hummed, "I kind of did and I also followed your instructions but then it felt a little hard, I was trying to molding it as per what you told me but I couldn’t."

Sol sighed.

"You have power pouring out of you, that’s true, but right now you’re letting it spill like a leaking jug. If you want to go beyond, you have to stop thinking of aura as something you release — think of it as something you circulate not mold. I told you don’t think of it as something solid but something more fluid."

Davian hummed, "Like Master’s water mana?"

"Yes," Sol nodded. His voice grew firm, steady, matching the words of the man who had explained it to him almost animatedly.

"Close your eyes and picture this: Your aura is a river inside you. Every breath you take is like opening a dam. When you inhale, the river swells and builds a reservoir here—" he tapped lightly against Davian’s sternum.

"—at your core. When you exhale, you don’t just let it drift away into the air. You push it through your body. Imagine streams running down your arms, into your fists, your legs, even your heartbeat."

Davian’s eyes softened, as though the picture was forming.

"Once you can feel that," Sol continued, "you choose where to send it. Into your arm when you strike, into your legs when you dash. It’s like heating iron in a forge—direct the fire and that part of your body becomes stronger, harder, faster. Don’t scatter your strength everywhere. Make it obey."

The words hung in the cold air, sharp as the frost around them.

"My father had taught me to use aura as an extension of our body, like how a sword is. That’s why it’s easier to use it when I’m wielding a sword."

"It’s similar," Sol nodded, "But it’s nothing better than using a needle in the place of a sword."

Davian gave a low laugh, tilting his head back. "So I’ve been swinging a blazing torch when I should’ve been wielding a sharpened blade."

"Exactly." Sol smirked faintly. "Aura isn’t about showing off how much you can burn. It’s about control. The more precise you are, the more it’ll feel like your own body is no longer bound by its limits."

For the first time, Davian’s smile dimmed into something thoughtful, almost reverent. He let his eyes drift shut again, the violet haze beginning to seep from his skin once more—but this time, it pulsed with rhythm, breathing with him like the tide.

Sol watched closely, remembering the man who had once explained it the same way to him. Only this time, the words weren’t echoing in his mind—they were his own voice, guiding someone else forward.

He could only hope that while his body and mana were useless to Ocean, but this forged aura weapon might just come in handy when Ocean would finally face the opponents beyond his power.