Editor : Amethyst00



Aura.

It was the word used to describe the power released when burning the mana accumulated within the body.

The most basic way of using it was physical reinforcement.

And once one became accustomed to handling aura, it could be infused into weapons, strengthening their durability and making them sharper.

At that stage, depending on the nature each individual possessed, attributes could also be imbued.

The prime example of that was Celia’s flames.

While all the students were absorbed in Ain’s lecture, Leo thought to himself.

'‘Brave’s Breath,’ huh. Quite a grandiose name. Aaron just called it simple breathing.'

Well, considering Aaron’s stature in later generations, it wasn’t strange that such a name would be attached.

Brave Aaron.

The most courageous and greatest warrior in history, the one who made the impossible possible.

'…or so he’s known.'

Leo chuckled bitterly.

In later generations, only Aaron’s immense courage had been emphasized, but the truth was, Aaron had been an extremely timid beastman.

'Timid? No, he was a downright coward.'

Compared to other beastmen, his frame was also small and frail.

If one saw him shaking in fear, they would honestly wonder if this man could really be called the Hero.

“But in battle, he was always the most courageous.”

The sight of Aaron overcoming fear and standing tall against his enemies was what fueled the countless miracles he had achieved.

“The biggest coward was always the one who took on the greatest risks, promising he’d protect us.”

Remembering him, Leo smiled faintly.

“‘Brave’s Breath’… yeah, it’s a fitting name.”

While Leo was lost in his memories of a past life, Ain was explaining the principles of the new technique to the students.

The words “aura amplification effect” had everyone listening with intense focus.

“The [Brave’s Breath] I’m teaching you is different from the original. After all, the technique itself was exclusive to beastmen. Used as is, humans would find it impossible to achieve proper results.”

Ain had dragged over a makeshift blackboard to the training field and was giving a lecture.

He drew diagrams of the human body and explained in detail how to breathe and how to circulate aura in sync with that breathing.

Seeing this, Leo narrowed his eyes.

'Fundamentally different from Aaron’s breathing.'

It wasn’t surprising.

In his previous life, Aaron had tried to pass his breathing method on to other beastmen.

But not a single one had mastered it.

Instead, the only person who had ever properly learned it was not a beastman, but a human—Leo.

“The technique itself isn’t hard. But…”

Ain raised his hand.

Crackle—!

A frost-like aura gathered in Ain’s palm.

Even with such a small amount, an overwhelming force surged forth.

“Just because you’ve learned it doesn’t mean you’ll immediately gain powerful aura amplification. As you all know, aura skills require constant training. The same applies to the [Brave’s Breath].”

Leo’s eyes gleamed.

'It’s not just about forcing out power beyond my limits. This can maximize aura efficiency itself.'

The breathing Leo had learned from Aaron was one that forcibly drew out power beyond one’s limits.

Its effect was also to improve aura efficiency, but this current [Brave's Breath] had a crucial difference: it could amplify aura even without reaching the maximum threshold.

'So they must have studied it endlessly through Aura Studies, refining it over time.'

As admiration filled his face, a new doubt arose.

'If it’s developed this far, then why can beastmen still only beastify under the full moon?'

Beastification was a racial trait of beastmen.

When the full moon rose, the beast blood within them awakened.

At that time, beastmen would gain power far beyond their normal state.

But Aaron had been the only beastman who could beastify freely at will, regardless of the moon.

'If Aaron’s breathing was inherited as [Brave's Breath], then there’s no reason it should be restricted like that. And another thing…'

Leo turned his eyes toward Ain.

'Why doesn’t Professor Ain have any aftereffects?'

While Leo was mulling over these thoughts—

“Begin practicing now. If you can manifest aura using [Brave's Breath], you’ve succeeded.”

At Ain’s order, the students all threw themselves into breathing practice.

“Hrrgh! Guhk?”

“Th-this breathing alone is hard enough!”

Among those practicing as instructed, some distressed voices rose up.

It was only natural.

'The most crucial part of this technique is the breathing itself.'

The principle behind [Brave's Breath] was deceptively simple.

The way aura was used was similar to how a flame burned.

'And what does fire need most to burn? Oxygen. Likewise, to burn the aura lying dormant inside, what’s needed is the mana in the air.'

The core idea of [Brave's Breath] was to take in more atmospheric mana to increase the explosive power of aura.

Simply put—it raised the compression ratio of mana intake while breathing.

That was why ordinary breathing wouldn’t work.

Leo followed the method Ain had taught.

Since he already used Aaron’s breathing, it wasn’t difficult for him to imitate the [Brave's Breath], even if it was modified.

'Now if I just circulate mana…'

Leo’s aura stirred.

'And manifest—'

But just as he tried to channel it into his fingertips, the aura scattered.

Leo frowned.

'What?'

He tried again and again.

But with the method Ain had taught, Leo couldn’t use aura at all.

'Why? Is my method wrong?'

It was rare for Leo to be stucked in class like this.

Whoosh! Crackle! Boom!

At that moment, aura erupted simultaneously from three different spots.

“Hm. So that’s the feeling.”

“I managed it, but the amplification effect is really minimal.”

“It’s not particularly hard.”

Exclamations of success came from all around.

“They pulled that off on the first try?!”

“As expected of the monster trio of Swordsmanship!”

“Hey! Who just called me a monster?! Who was it?!”

Celia flared up again.

Watching, Ain’s lips curled slightly.

'Celia, Chen Xia, Duran… judged by talent alone, they’re on a historic level.'

Such brilliance across a whole year was rare.

'This first-year class is truly blessed.'

As he thought so, his gaze slid to Leo.

'Surprisingly, Leo’s the one struggling here.'

Leo, who always grasped the lessons with ease, couldn’t even manifest aura now. For Ain, it was unexpected.

'Well, it makes sense. The others devote themselves purely to training, but Leo is splitting his focus with magic and summoning too.'

In Ain’s eyes, Leo had talent equal to—or surpassing—Celia, Chen Xia, and Duran.

That was why it was frustrating to see him spread so thin.

After an hour, most students had managed to succeed in manifesting aura with [Brave's Breath].

Ding-dong—

At the sound of the bell, Ain crossed his arms.

“After the break, we’ll continue. The next lesson will be testing the various amplification effects of the [Brave's Breath]. We’ll be recording the results, so make sure to rest well.”

The students gathered in groups to rest.

While Leo was drinking water at the fountain, Celia approached.

“So you’re human after all. To think you’d struggle in class.”

Leo was the only student who had failed to manifest aura with [Brave's Breath].

“Leo, should I give you some pointers?” Chen Xia offered.

But Leo shook his head with a smile.

“No. I’ll just practice a little more on my own.”

From a distance, Duran sneered arrogantly.

“Leo Plov. To think you couldn’t even manage something so simple. How disappointing.”

“Uh, Duran? This isn’t exactly simple, you know?”

“Can’t you phrase things more considerately? We get hurt too, you know. Sob, sob.”

One female knight student clutched her chest dramatically.

“Cut the pathetic act.”

“Che.”

Most of them were knight students from the central region, loyal to Duran.

“Anyway, Leo Plov takes three different majors, right? He’s bound to hit a wall eventually. By the second semester, he won’t even compare to you in Swordsmanship.”

One male student said carelessly, but Duran narrowed his eyes.

“I couldn’t care less about that.”

“…Huh?”

“Whether his grades are better or worse than mine doesn’t matter. I won’t be satisfied until I defeat him.”

Duran ground his teeth.

“I’ll crush him and take the position of grade representative. That’s my only goal.”

The killing intent radiating from him made others shrink back.

Meanwhile, Leo kept brooding during the break.

Once again, he tried circulating aura as Ain had taught.

But again, the aura scattered at the final moment.

'Hmph… so that’s it. This doesn’t suit me.'

Professor Ain had said that he’d modified [Brave's Breath], originally a beastman-only technique, to make it usable for humans.

But Leo was already practicing Aaron’s breathing.

'Which means mine is the original. My aura is already aligned to my way.'

It was a fundamental problem.

'In short, it’s a technique that’s simply incompatible with me.'

Having found the cause, Leo’s eyes gleamed.

'Then I’ll just integrate the necessary parts of Ain’s method into my breathing.'

After all, Ain’s version was optimized for humans.

The newly reborn Brave's Breath was also appealing to Leo.

'If I can master this aura efficiency boost, it’ll be a huge advantage. And maybe… I could overcome the aftereffects too.'

Leo’s aftereffect—

It was the backlash caused by aura amplification.

Both Kyle and Aaron had used the same breathing, but there had been a decisive difference between the two.

“The fundamental difference… race.”

Leo looked down at his hands.

Unlike Aaron, who, when unleashing power beyond his limits, could beastify and thus reinforce his vessel—Leo was human.

He had to endure all the backlash directly with his body.

That was why he suffered burns whenever he used the aura of the Zerdingers.

“Measurement begins now. The called students, step forward.”

While Leo was still lost in thought, the test began.

There were three categories: attack, speed, defense and evasion.

Crackle—!

“So fast!”

“He lost to Leo in the aura step duel at the start of the semester, but… now, I don’t think anyone in our year is faster than Duran.”

Indeed, Duran, the fastest in Swordsmanship, scored highest in speed.

Next were Celia and Leo, roughly even.

But this time, with [Brave's Breath], Celia edged out second place.

Then came defense and evasion.

This category was practically Chen Xia’s domain, with his water attribute.

For second place, it was between Leo and Duran.

“Duran wins!”

“Ah… the gap shows after all.”

“Well, wasn’t it weird up until now anyway? This is how it’s supposed to be.”

The knight students murmured.

“Leo, what’s going on?”

Even Celia was unsettled seeing him fall behind.

Class 5 students, too, looked on worriedly.

“Lastly, attack power measurement.”

One by one, the students unleashed their strongest strikes.

Boom! Whoosh—!

When it was Celia’s turn, a massive storm of fire surged forth.

“She’s definitely stronger than before.”

“Must be the effect of Brave's Breath.”

The students clicked their tongues in awe.

It wasn’t an eye-popping increase, but her flames were clearly more powerful than earlier.

Sheathing her sword, Celia glanced at Leo, the last in line.

She had secured first in attack power, with Leo second.

'This is what happens when you neglect swordsmanship classes.'

Celia frowned at her cousin’s underperformance.

Before long, it was Leo’s turn.

Ain lowered his eyes to the measuring slab.

'Leo Plov… this might decide the path of your school life.'

Up to now, Leo had always placed near the top in all metrics.

But today, compared to his rivals, he had fallen behind.

Strictly speaking, he was the only one standing still while the others advanced.

'No matter how much of a genius you are, there’s a limit to juggling three different majors.'

Ain watched Leo’s back.

'It’s time you made a choice.'

Just then—

'Phew—! Finally.'

After a whole class of adjustments, Leo was done.

'I’ve optimized it for myself.'

Now, he could manifest aura more naturally.

Leo took a deep breath.

'Let’s try it, then.'

Fwoosh—!

He poured maximum aura into his sword, then inhaled deeply.

Mana from the air compressed and was drawn into his body.

'Swing the sword!'

Whoosh—!

As he exhaled and swung, the mana compressed inside his body exploded outward.

*'Wait. Why is this working so well?”'

Leo was alarmed.

The amplification effect was far stronger than expected.

'No! Then the backlash will—!'

Whshhh—! KABOOOM—!

A towering wall of fire erupted skyward.

It utterly dwarfed Celia’s earlier flames.

Everyone stood frozen, jaws hanging.

Clatter—!

Ain dropped his pen without realizing.

'What… is he?'

Goosebumps ran down his body.

'What word could possibly describe him?'

The thought circled his mind.

It was no longer enough to call him a genius. He had far surpassed that realm.

'Yes… this is more like… a monster.'