Chapter 269: Aura Training

However, even if the thoughts of ’rebelling’ arose in his mind, Zild gritted his teeth and stayed still.

The reason for this was simple: it was because they had already tried to fight the pretty boy before them, and all lost miserably.

Zild looked to his side and saw Kara, Morgana, Rumi, Palma, and Sera, who all had bumps on their foreheads.

Earlier, they had teamed up to fight Killian together for their own reasons.

The Exemplar party wanted to beat the shit out of the one who called them ’wannabe knights’, which, to them, was very insulting.

As for the five members of Gotun, they felt that it was unfair that they had lost the team spar earlier just because their leader wanted to fight with her hands instead.

All in all, they really wanted to punch Killian in the face.

And this was approved by Regis since he had assigned him to be the trainer of those who wanted to focus on the path of aura, such as weapon techniques and body strengthening.

Of course, since Vanta, Exemplar, and Gotun had just fought Regis, they were all quite exhausted already.

But, considering that it was essentially nine versus one, they still agreed.

It was just that, since Regis wanted it to be part of their preliminary training, he forbade them— both Killian and the others— to use any kind of energy,

’All things aside, his swordsmanship is really good.’

Zild felt like punching himself, ’No, it’s not good to be stingy with praises. As a knight, I must acknowledge my weaknesses and my opponent’s strengths without prejudice! Only then could I call myself a knight!’

He took a deep breath as a single thought appeared in his mind.

’He’s the best swordsman I have ever seen.’

’He’s really weird...’ Killian thought at the same time as he observed Zild’s ever-changing expressions.

Clap—-

He clapped his hands once, and the Exemplar party members, along with the five members of Gotun, instantly straightened their backs.

Their expressions also turned solemn without a touch of any earlier mischievousness.

Killian could not help but look at his hands, muttering, "It’s really effective..."

This was the method that Regis had told them about earlier.

Well, it was not really that much of a method considering how simple it was.

However, its effectiveness could not be doubted.

Killian remembered how Regis told them that the children of the former suicide squad tend to tense when they hear a single loud clap because of how the demonic human leader in the past gathered their attention.

Thinking about this, he could not help but feel strange, ’Is this not just taking advantage of their trauma?’

As he made a mental note not to use this ’method’ casually, Killian looked ahead, "As you all know, I am a noble, a descendant of Gladius Familia— a family of knights and swordsmen."

"However, I want you all to remember that I am not standing in front of you as a noble nor as a Gladius."

"Right now, right here, at this instant. I am Regis’s knight, a member of his party, and his First Sword."

At his words, the members of Exemplar all widened their eyes.

’First Sword?’

These young men had all dreamt of becoming a knight, like those in fairy tales their parents used to tell them when they were still living normal lives.

It was precisely the reason why they were all able to gather and pursue the same goal.

Exemplar was built on the premise that they wanted to act like knights.

And Killian’s words evoked this desire deep within their hearts.

After all, they all knew that the term ’First Sword’ was one of the most prominent titles for a knight.

It essentially meant they were the right hand of the person they served, which, to them, was the highest honor imaginable.

As expected, Zild, Hans, Sora, and Dabi’s eyes were all shining like stars as they unconsciously fixed their postures further.

For the first time, they felt respect towards the pretty boy in front of them and even found him quite likable.

Meanwhile, Gotun’s members appreciated the fact that he introduced himself to them, even though the rise in their morale was not as high as that of the preceding group.

Looking at the group of people in front of him, Killian spoke, "Frankly, I don’t like any of you. Especially you, the boy with dark hair, along with your goons. You’re all staining the image of what a knight should be."

Just like that, the budding goodwill the Exemplar party felt toward him vanished in an instant.

Still, Killian kept speaking, "However, I do admit that all of you have talent. And as our lord had instructed, I will be in charge of your training from this moment onwards."

’Our lord...!!!’

Hearing him address Regis in a way that knights commonly would, Zild and the others felt excited once again.

Sera, Kara, Rumi, Palma, and Morgana all rolled their eyes as they thought, ’Simpletons...’

Oblivious to what the people in front of him were thinking, Killian continued, "I have seen your skills already, and I know that you all are tired. So for our first training session, we’ll focus on energy circulation."

"I know that your aether could be used to power both aura arts and magic spells, but I want you all to treat aether as aura every time during training, understood?"

Without a second’s delay, Zild and the others saluted, "Yes, Captain!"

’Captain...?’

Not only Killian, but also Sera and the others looked at the party members of Exemplar with weird expressions.

’Well, I guess it’s fine as long as they’re energetic...’

Killian cleared his throat, "All right, sit cross-legged for now, all of you."

"Try circulating your aura first."

He walked around, touching their backs in order to sense the way each of them was circulating their energies.

This lasted for a few minutes before Killian’s voice resounded once again, "Alright, stop."

Both the members of Exemplar and Gotun looked at him with attentive expressions on their faces.

Killian sighed, "Try circulating your aura again, but this time, you must focus on your heart.

You must manipulate the aura inside your body along with your heartbeat— feel the way it pumps blood throughout every corner of your body.

Use the blood as a guide.

Trace the blood’s path with your aura and don’t lose sight of it until it circulates your whole body and goes back to your heart.

From there, you must repeat the process seamlessly without any delay."

’’’’’’’’’What...’’’’’’’’’ was the thought in everyone’s mind at this moment.

Killian looked at their expressions and smirked, "I know what you’re all thinking, but that’s just the basics of the basics. I noticed that the way you circulate your aura is very inefficient— chaotic and unnatural."

"This method is commonly known as the ’Heartbeat Method’ by professionals in the field of aura."

At this moment, Zild raised his hand and asked with a gulp, "How good should we be in circulating aethe—aura this way?"

Since they were already told to consider their energy as aura earlier, they decided to stick with it.

Hearing his question, Killian thought for a moment before replying, "Hm, you need to do it while eating, drinking, training— even while sleeping. Basically, it should be as natural as breathing."

"..."

Everyone could not help but become speechless.

"It takes even talented people years to master it, but it should take you all a few months at most, since I do believe that your talent is at least worth that much." He added, a little afraid that they might be demotivated in training.

Zild raised his hand again, "Can we ask how long it took you to master?"

Killian merely raised three fingers in response.

"So, three months—-"

"Three days. I did it in three days."

"..."

Killian was, after all, the most talented prodigy in the history of Gladius Familia.

It was the kind of pure, natural, raw talent that could only be said to be the epitome of humanity.

This was not considering Regis, of course.

However, had it not been for his tendency in the past to waste his time partying and chasing skirts, he would have surely been way stronger than he is right now.

Seeing their downcast expressions, Killian pointed at Zild, "You."

"Me?" The person in question tilted his head.

"Yeah, you. Don’t you want to try taking the position of First Sword from me? You have a gift and I don’t— which is a very big advantage for you. You might catch up to me if you work hard enough."

He then pointed to all of them one by one, "You. You. You. You. You... Don’t you all want to repay the things Regis did? With the power of aether, which does not lose out to divine and demonic powers, you all have the potential to even become stronger than me."

At his words, not only the party members of Exemplar, but also Sera and the others felt a fire emerging from the depths of their hearts.

"Of course, I have no intention of just waiting for you to catch up." Killian smiled confidently.

"So, what are ya’ll waiting for? Focus! Circulate your energy with every beat of your heart!"

"Yes!!!"

Just like that, the training of the soon-to-be corporation’s vanguards had started.