The Gamer's POV

The next day...

——

"At this stage, it is expected that all of you must have already had a basic understanding of the true and unique nature of your mana itself after it has been drawn into you, and the aura that is emitted when that mana is expelled into the air," Instructor Melissa Hathaway said as she swept her gaze around the class.

With the Triad Games over, normal Bastion activities had resumed for the cadets who had participated in it.

At the moment, Cedric rested his chin on his hand as he listened to the instructor, casually tapping his pen against his desk.

"Advancing to Grade Four won’t automatically grant you this knowledge," Instructor Hathaway continued. "In fact, unlike the previous grades where your abilities are handed to you after your evolution on a silver platter, from the fourth grade, you become more involved in the attainment of your abilities themselves.

"Yes, although you will be able to wield that aura when it’s expelled, if you do not understand its underlying nature, it will become extremely hard for you to develop your own unique and proper techniques. And as you know, one of the conditions for advancing to Grade Five is creating ten weapon arts.

"This is something that could take months or even years for most weapon masters to achieve. You see, after mana is drawn into you and becomes your own, that mana becomes filled with your personal intent. But what some people do not know is that Grade Four is the grade of life.

"At this point, your mana begins to strive for a life of its own, and it also becomes filled with its own intent. When it’s expelled, understanding how it touches the world, how it shapes itself, how it moves, and its intention for the world is very important.

"If you are not able to commune with your aura on a deeper level, and if you are not able to learn and fully master the ways your aura can be manipulated for defense, offense, and various other applications, then you might remain a subpar weapon master for the rest of your life."

The class was quiet and many stared at her, some with questions, some with ambition, and some with confused expressions.

Melissa Hathaway smiled and said, "I’ll tell you a secret that I discovered a while back. It’s bound to make your Grade Four easy. In fact, it’ll make you develop weapon arts faster than anyone else in your year."

Upon hearing that, the class grew slightly noisy as cadets shifted in their seats and exchanged eager glances.

Melissa paused to scan the room, letting the anticipation build, then added, "If you want your Grade Four to be easy, then develop an essence core."

Hearing that, people began to groan, and they felt like they had been scammed.

Of course, asking them to develop an essence core was like telling a beggar to just buy a castle. That was something extremely difficult to achieve, especially since there was no set manual on how to form one.

Melissa chuckled and said, "It has long been proven that those with essence cores already understand how their influence touches the world. The reason it becomes so much easier for them as Weapon Masters is because aura can be generated from essence just as easily as mana. And since those with essence cores already possess a deep understanding of their core essence, grasping the behavior of their expelled aura, even from mana, becomes second nature."

People began to talk amongst themselves and the class continued on for several minutes later.

Meanwhile, Cedric, who had stopped tapping his pen on his desk, turned slightly to his right, then frowned when he was reminded again that Audrey’s seat was empty.

***

After classes, Cedric went to the cafeteria and got himself two plastic cups of tea. Then, he began making his way toward Audrey’s dorm.

It took him a bit of walking to get up there, and by the time he arrived, he had already subconsciously drunk all of his tea. He sighed as he knocked on the door. For a long moment, there was no reply.

Just as he raised his hand to knock again, however, the door opened, leaving his hand hovering awkwardly in the air.

It was Audrey.

She was wrapped in an oversized blanket, and her eyes looked swollen as if she had been crying. But the moment she saw him, her expression brightened into a warm smile.

"Hey, Cedric."

"Hey." Cedric smiled back.

For a moment, they stared at each other in awkward silence until he cleared his throat. "Uh... I brought you some tea. Ah — forgive me, but I ended up drinking all of mine on the way." Just then, he felt the bottom of her cup, and a faint frown crossed his face. "Oh, sorry. I think yours might have gone cold, too."

Seeing him so earnest and awkward, Audrey couldn’t help but chuckle. "It’s okay."

She reached out and took the cup from him, then gestured inside.

"Oh, wait a minute." She scrambled ahead to turn on the light, which suddenly illuminated the messy state of her living space. Her clothes were strewn across the chair and papers were scattered on the floor. "Sorry about the mess. I haven’t really had the energy to tidy up."

Cedric nodded reassuringly as he stepped inside. "Don’t worry about it."

He made his way over to the edge of her bed and sat down.

Not long after, Audrey set her tea on the small side table, pulled her blanket tightly around her shoulders, and sat down right beside him.

For a long moment, they just sat there together in silence.

To be honest, Cedric had come to console her, but now that he was here, he was at a complete loss for words. Nothing he could think of felt right for a moment like this. He couldn’t bring himself to offer empty sympathies, nor could he pretend everything was going to be fine.

While he was still searching for the right words, Audrey broke the silence.

"Thanks for coming to check on me. It makes me really happy." She turned to face him, and a small, fragile smile appeared on her lips. "At least I get to see a face other than Toki’s."

She let out a soft chuckle.

Hearing that, Cedric finally turned to look her in the eye. Then, in a quiet, gentle voice, he asked, "Audrey... do you want a hug?"

Audrey’s eyes widened slightly.

A moment later, a sheen of tears welled up in those bright green eyes.

"Yes," she whispered, her voice trembling as she closed the distance and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

Cedric let out a soft exhale as he wrapped his arms around her in return, gently patting her back.

"I thought about what to say on the way here," he said softly, "but I realized I really don’t know how to make you feel better. I just want you to know that I was worried about you, Audrey. So if you need to, you can lean on me. You don’t have to hold it in."

At those words, Audrey broke down completely, burying her face into his shoulder as she sobbed like a child.

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