Chapter 1044: Daki’s aura

Chapter 1044: Chapter 1044: Daki’s aura

Daki who was in mid pout, her back fiercely turned away from Frost as a show of defiance blinked rapidly, his teasing words making her head spin and then explode.

"....What did you just day? Aura?" She turned around, grabbed him by the shoulders and practically screamed. Her eyes radiating disbelief, shock and an intense desire.

She’d been stuck at the C-rank for so long, years without much progress, progress that she had long given up on until she met Frost.

He inspired her, his talent destining him for greatness, to stand head and shoulders above everyone else, to hold up the sky and challenge mortality. If she wanted to be with him and to stay with him for longer then she needed to change herself.

It started simple at first, basic training, daily exercise and a nutrient rich diet but eventually she upped her game, pushing herself until she lay flat on the floor practically paralysed from exhaustion. Her physical strength was growing, her endurance climbing and even her understanding of aura had begun showing minor results but after months of effort she soon realised that a body designed for battle was not ideal for her.

Her skills and talents lay in blacksmithing; she was a woman of the forge through and through thus her goal changed. She would ascend through tradecraft, achieving the rank of 4 star blacksmith and in turn use that accomplishment to invoke evolution.

With her man being as strong as he was and supported not only by a deluge of monsters but two other women who both vastly surpassed her in strength, improving her own power was effectively pointless. No she needed to help him in other areas, areas which didn’t simply rely on whomever had the biggest fist.

She would become his eminent blacksmith, providing him with a vast arsenal of weapons and equipment. Her creations serving to protect and support her family....a noble goal.

Alas her recent attempts to reach the rank of 4 star blacksmith had repeatedly ended in failure, her confidence taking a hit and her fundamental skills seemingly diminishing.....she hit a wall and was struggling to find a way through it or around it.

In an effort to help his lovely green enchantress Frost ordered her to stop any forge work, to simply live her life and enjoy the bounty that their little kingdom provided. The idea being to pull her out of the hole she got herself into, to expand her insights and knowledge...efforts that appeared to be working.

Daki was no longer despairing or feeling down on her luck but at the same time she still lacked inspiration, the flash of creativity that would allow her to pierce through the veil and ascend.

Her current state could be considered both building up to something and stagnant depending on how optimistic or pessimistic your viewpoint was.

But now thanks to an artificial brush with death Daki managed to get in touch with her aura, to summon it instinctively as a means of protection.

If she was planning to ascend through the normal battle focused method then this discovery was akin to placing her foot in the door, all she needed to do was walk another step and she’d reach B-rank, a rank that demanded a level of respect throughout all of Nova.

But since she desired to ascend through tradecraft her situation was a little different. There was no foot in the door no road half travelled but rather insight, new possibly paradigm shifting knowledge. Instead of using aura to pressure others, to improve their own power and lend weight to skills and magics those travelling the path of tradecraft used their aura to improve their creations, infusing it within their products, strengthening them, applying unique abilities and more often than not increase their base rank, pulling a greater degree of potential from the materials used.

By understanding her aura and possibly learning to channel it Daki would be able to see her forging process in a new light and thus potentially find a way to breeze through the wall that had been keeping her trapped so obviously she was more than a little shocked when Frost said she managed to summon her aura.

"Un, when I stopped protecting you from Maya’s killing intent, your body after recognising the danger conjured a veil of aura, diminishing the effects it had on you and thus allowing you to somewhat overcome your fear....it’s why despite being a little shaky you still have the strength to shout and wrestle with my robes."

If Daki failed to unleash aura her body would have never managed to recover so fast, she’d still be locked in place, frozen in fear, her heart threatening to stall and her consciousness slip at any moment. But because she did she had the strength to meander over to Frost, mock him and partially manhandle him.

"I-I really managed to summon aura?" Daki couldn’t believe it, so much struggle yet because of a simple brush with Maya’s killing intent what had escaped her all these years suddenly appeared with practically no effort on her part.

Her eyes looked down on her still trembling body, looking beneath the skin, beneath the flesh and bone. She internally sighed feeling as though the entirety of her previous efforts were null and void in the face of luck and external stimulus.

Did she really earn this or was it something given to her out of pity.

"I know that look Daki. You think this is just a twist of fate, a mockery of your efforts." Although she initially showed a brief burst of joy and relief it was soon eclipsed by a sense of shame. Mainly due to the fact that she couldn’t summon her aura consciously, she could slightly sense it now after checking but it refused to obey her orders, inert and unresponsive.

"Can it be anything else?" Her efforts to replay the event fell on deaf ears, no give, only a silent yet blaring rejection. Unless she faced another brush with death it was unlikely she’d be able to repeat it.

"Hahahaha that’s a bit arrogant of you my love. Just because you’ve learned to sense your aura and managed to conjure it when at death’s door you think it should ultimately follow your will....even a genius would spit on you for your hubris." Frost couldn’t help but slightly mock his darling green beauty as she tried to command her aura to show itself. A foot in the door was ultimately just a foot, several more steps were needed to be undertaken in order for a person to cross the threshold.

Daki was too impatient but that wasn’t her fault, repeated failures and a fractured confidence would do that. Now with light shining at the end of the tunnel, a light that suddenly appeared after she had stopped moving forward, perhaps even falling behind of course she’d question its origins.

"That may be so but still, it’s too much of a coincidence, it feels like someone just handed it to me on a silver platter." The improvement was so sudden and unexpected that she couldn’t form a connection with it, there was no sudden enlightenment or the shattering of a limitation it just appeared.

Daki therefore continued to dwell in negativity before Frost spoke again this time after playfully flicking her forehead.

"Haaaaa yes there was an external stimulus, there’s no denying that, but do you think you would have achieved aura release if you hadn’t built up your foundations, if you hadn’t trained to the point that you could go no further?" He firmly asserted forcing Daki to really think about her current state.

She was equivalent to C-rank late stages possibly even peak and her skills, knowledge and foundational fundamentals when it came to blacksmithing were at the very brink, just a paper thin margin away from reaching 4 star, all she needed was that flash of inspiration to tip her over the edge.

She may have connected with her aura because of Maya’s killing intent but that didn’t mean she didn’t work her ass off to make that possible in the first place.

If she was still in the early stages of C-rank or her blacksmithing abilities had only just reached the 3 star level it wouldn’t have mattered how much killing intent she endured, she would have lacked the foundational strength to communicate and conjure her aura.

"....." The clouds blocking the light in Daki’s mood started to clear as Frost’s words sunk in, the dark, dreary rain disappeared replaced with bright skies, blaring sunshine and soothing birdcalls, a beautiful landscape as far as the eye could see.

"You’re right, I worked for this, this is my achievement." A smile appeared on those plump lips of hers, begging Frost to take a bite.

"Yes it is and you should be thoroughly rewarded for it my dear." Said Frost, his lips forming a charming smile, his wayward hands finding firm purchase on Daki’s elegant curves.

His intent was obvious and his reasoning....not bad.

Daki found it hard to reject such an offer, she did deserve a reward after all and with Frost’s handsome face looming ever closer, his sensual touch and with how he violently subdued Maya she had to admit she was more than a little horny.

’Perhaps granting him his desires before he leaves would serve as better encouragement.’ Her stance was beginning to crumble, her blood starting to boil as the look in her eyes turned hungry and filled with lust.

If something wasn’t done she’d end up falling under his spell and giving him exactly what he wanted.