Ambrosio counted to three, and I began running. In my mind, I wondered, "Where is he?" I didn't see him in front of or beside me. I stopped and looked back. He was standing there, smiling at me. He took a deep breath and disappeared so quickly past me that I didn't even notice. The wind swept my short hair like never before. He stopped and waited for me to say, "Alright, you're right, I won't be able to keep up with you." Reluctantly, I said,
"Okay, I won't be able to keep up with you, but I don't understand how you could be so fast?"
Ambrosio chuckled and said to me with a grin,
"So, they really didn't teach you anything, did they? The 'Non aura,' it's what you're born with too, and by now, you should feel it activating on its own."
Nothing happened, and I didn't feel anything. There was virtually no emotion on Ambrosio's face as he said,
"Hmm, that's strange. Don't you feel stronger or quicker in your reactions?"
I gave him a puzzled look and pondered,
"I don't know what he's talking about, but I don't feel any changes."
Ambrosio contemplated what to do, then asked me,
"Are you really ten years old?"
I answered him with a laugh,
"Yes, of course."
He found it hard to believe and finally asked me,
"Okay, so what is it, and what exactly is the 'Non aura'?"
Ambrosio explained with both happiness and sadness,
"The 'Non aura' is something everyone has, and it's supposed to emerge by the age of ten. It's a power boost that should make you one or two levels stronger, but for some reason, it hasn't activated for you yet."
Curiously, I asked him,
"Is this why you were so fast?"
"Yes, although for me, it's seven hundred times stronger than for you, because I've been training for twenty-eight years."
"How do you train this?"
"It's quite simple. You need to strengthen your mental power, which means you should meditate, or you can even strengthen your physical strength. This power has multiple colors, but you can only see them if you're mentally stable enough – for example, when you're preparing for a competition and you're calm. I hope you understand so far. I won't repeat it. I'm finishing my run now; meanwhile, you meditate. When I come back, we'll go with Noura."
Happily, I said to him,
"Of course, I understand. I'll meditate then. Oh, and..."
"Yes?"
"How do I do it?"
Ambrosio slapped his forehead and said,
"Since you didn't get it the first time, I'll explain briefly. There are many methods, but these two are very effective. The first one involves sitting down in a peaceful place with your back straight. Close your eyes and breathe in, feeling how the air goes into your chest. Then, exhale through your mouth while feeling how it rises and leaves. The second one is almost the same, but instead of focusing on your breath, you focus on nothing. When a thought comes to you, you say 'shreem' in your mind, then go back to that state where you're not thinking. These are the methods I recommend. Now, I'm going to continue my run. Good luck."
"Wait, I had one more question."
By the time I started my sentence, he had already left, and he thought to himself,
"I know you still had something to ask, but you'll have to figure out how to do it yourself. That's how I learned, after all."
I did what he said since it was a quiet spot in front of the house. The house was castle-sized, but it might actually be a castle. The surroundings were so vast that even the forest was part of the estate. The ground was soft, as if someone had watered it daily, yet no grass grew here. I sat down, closed my eyes, and started. I attempted the first method, took a deep breath, and tried to feel the air going down and then exhaled. I repeated this 20 times, but nothing happened, and I didn't feel anything.
"What could be the problem?"
"Never mind, I'll try the other method; maybe it will work."
That's what I thought, even though I actually wanted to give up. But in the end, I tried the other method.
"So, I just need to do it like the other one, but instead of focusing on my breath, I need to keep saying 'shreem' to myself. This doesn't sound too difficult."
I took a normal breath and, whenever a stray thought appeared, I said 'shreem' to myself. After a while, I fell asleep. Ambrosio headed back home, thinking,
"I wonder how he's doing with this."
"Well, even if he didn't succeed, I'll have to teach him eventually."
Ambrosio returned, and I was still sleeping, drooling. Ambrosio thought,
"I expected this, but I wouldn't have believed it would happen. Well, he's awake now."
"WAKE UP, ALEXANDER."
I practically jumped up and yelled,
"WHAT THE ****!"
"Finally, you're up, Alexander. Get dressed. By shouting like that, you've probably woken everyone up. So, after we get home, you'll need to apologize to everyone."
"But, but—"
"No buts. Go get dressed."
I went to change, quite annoyed, and thought,
"Everyone is awake, even though I thought he was lying."
When I got back to the room, Noura was there, and there was a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside. I asked Noura,
"Miss Noura—"
"Just Noura."
"Alright, Noura, do you have a 'Non aura'?"
She laughed and replied,
"Of course, I do. It's quite interesting. Why do you ask?"
"And do you have the 'Non aura' too?"
"Yep, I do. Ambrosio is already asking these questions. Are you teaching him these things already?"
"Yes, Noura, he has to know, but I think he's ready to understand what 'Angel's Blessing' and 'God's Blessing' are."
"I don't think he's ready for that, but you're the teacher."
I didn't really understand what was happening; it seemed like these were things no one should know. I asked them,
"What are the 'Angel's Blessing' and 'God's Blessing'?"
Noura sighed, and Ambrosio answered,
"The 'Angel's Blessing' is something everyone is born with, and it could mean you're better at something, luckier in a certain area, or you have more of something. The 'God's Blessing' is when a god blesses you and imparts one of their abilities to you. This power remains with you even after the blessing, but you can only receive it by being born with it. Your father was working on a way to receive a 'God's Blessing' even after birth, because those who are born with these blessings are at least seven times stronger, particularly their 'Non' abilities."
Noura nodded in agreement with Ambrosio, and she added,
"I can confirm that. Well, we've arrived, Alexander and Mister Kalis. This is the place where they'll examine your 'Non' and 'God's Blessing.'"
"What about the 'Angel's Blessing'?"
"Unfortunately, that can't be determined."
The place resembled a temple from the outside, but the people inside looked like doctors. A woman in priestly attire welcomed us and said,
"Greetings, Mister Kalis, Miss Aziz, and Mister Skandev."
I looked at Noura, who nodded once, and I did the same. However, Ambrosio responded with,
"We also extend our greetings, Miss Marris."
"Please, follow me."