"Wake."
Aaron's upper half shot up fast, his breathing ragged and his skin covered in sweat.
His head was murky, though he could still tell that he was within the swordsman's cabin and that, currently, he was shirtless.
What was I…
Memories flooded back to him of his battle against Rudiger, with the mangled hand he had left with coming to the forefront of that history first.
Hurriedly, his eyes locked onto his right arm, preparing for the worst.
However, contrary to his belief, it was in pristine condition, with the only blemish being the scar he had earned against the corrupted creatures of Sea Fallen.
"How could this be?"
Murmuring in disbelief, he tried to search his mind further, yet a barricade of information still blocked his way.
Regardless of how strong he had grown, that being inside his head would not release even the smallest fragment of control.
Giving up with a defeated sigh, he examined the rest of his body carefully.
His left hand was still gone, with the only sign of its slow but possible rebirth being the lack of building scar tissue.
If the bandage wrap that covered it was removed, the sight of exposed bone would greet him, and anyone who bore witness to it would cause a scene that he would rather avoid.
That illusion wasn't kind to me… Though I don't think I was kind to it in the end either…
Cracking a light smirk, he pulled himself out of the neatly made cot and stretched out his body.
For some odd reason, all the muscle soreness, callosities, and scars that had accumulated through his two training sessions with Rudiger had faded completely, and his mental clarity was unparalleled.
Could it be the Regeneration ability? If so, I must've been asleep an entire day for the break in the storm to grant the ability enough time to heal me…
Thinking of what Masaru's reaction to his prolonged slumber would be, he could only groan and brace for an extra day of training in the tundra.
Leaving the chamber, he gradually made his way towards the living room.
While the storm overhead prevented his core from functioning, there was nothing that could suppress the sheer strength that oozed from the exiled Marshal.
He was, without a doubt, one of the strongest people the boy had ever met, with his power even comparable to that of the Sea Kings.
As he entered the chamber and gazed upon his form that was relaxed in a chair, though, he felt something off about his usual demeanor.
Is there something wrong?
Nodding gently, Aaron moved quickly and found a seat directly across from his newest mentor.
"Good morning."
Beginning the conversation with a friendly, upbeat tone, he allowed himself to smile and awaited a response.
Masaru's lips parted slowly, and a sigh slipped from within.
"How is your hand?"
Masaru's question was direct and to the point.
The blond-haired boy glanced downward at his limb that sported that familiar sapphire ring and scar while replying to the man's question.
"It's better thanks to the Ghostship's healing abilities, and hopefully, I'll be able to head out today for another session against Rudiger."
Not believing he said anything deceitful, he continued to smile even as the black-haired man did not.
"Memory…"
Aaron furrowed his brow as he heard the weak murmur.
"What was that?"
Masaru twitched at the boy's question, seemingly surprised that he heard him.
"Ah, it's nothing…"
He paused, looking back into the child's turquoise eyes as if he were boring holes straight through them.
"What we must discuss is rather the healing process itself."
As he spoke, there was a seriousness that Aaron could not ignore, causing him to instinctively lean forward.
"Was there something wrong…? Or was I—"
A sudden pang of concern ran through Aaron's mind.
"How long was I asleep?"
Fearing the worst, he gripped the side of the chair tightly, nearly warping the wood with his enhanced strength.
"Do not fret about time. It has merely been two hours since you fell in the tundra."
Reassuring him calmly, Masaru gave him a second to process the knowledge before continuing.
"Your injury, which was far more severe than a mangled hand, could not have healed in such a short period of time, even with your uniqueness. This is a fact that you know well."
Aaron's expression darkened at the words, his own voice coming out as a sharp response to the man's comment.
"Eleanor told you of my particular specialty, did she not?"
Masaru nodded, not allowing any additional time for his pupil to dwell on unjust possibilities.
For a moment, neither of them said a word.
The ambiance of the living room echoed throughout with the crackles of the fire, akin to the heartbeats of both men.
Outside, far beyond their view, the blonde-haired priestess that they had referenced only a moment before fought against the despair that stuck within her.
Rudiger remained on guard at the cabin door, the various things that dared trespass on the home of the swordsman meeting a creature who had become that man's pet upon arrival.
The mentor and the apprentice were utterly separated from all else, and as such, their thoughts were theirs and theirs alone.
"What was it that you hunted?"
Aaron was the first to speak out of the pair, asking a question that he could already feel coursing through his veins.
The man regarded as the strongest swordsman in the world showed no expression as he answered coldly.
"A frost wendigo. Magnitude five exactly."
The boy's brow knitted inward as he sorted through the new feelings that he had noticed upon his awakening only a few minutes prior.
Now that he knew that he had been given the core of a sea terror, he could identify that strange new energy coursing through his own suppressed core.
There is no new ability, but the previous ones have been enhanced… The strength and regeneration of the Lady Thorn's core have doubled, while on the other hand, Mana Vision seems to have gained a new side-effect.
Taking a deep breath, he gently raised his right hand to his head and tapped his temple.
Immediately, the mana that had begun to overflow within his locked core seeped out in a wave that even the vortex could not control.
For a single moment, his vision clouded over, and overlapping lines came into view.
Yet this time, while he had previously been able to understand the basics of what the colors of the threads meant, now it was on another level.
Before, all he knew were the three most common colors and what they meant: red threads signified fiery and explosive mana, blue meant tranquil and calm mana, and green was reserved and passive mana.
The solid colors split into fragmented shells of what they once were, creating long, winding tapestries of thread colored in different hues.
The lighter the shade, the weaker the attribute, and vice versa, the darker the shade, the stronger the attribute.
With the sight being a dramatic upgrade, and his core working at a new level for a brief period, Aaron couldn't help but gaze upon Masaru's form.
Surrounding him, but never touching, a beautifully threaded masterpiece of black, gray, and white engulfed anything within.
They were a perfect blend of strong and weak mana, balancing out perfectly along a centerline of equilibrium.
Black, correlating with tactile and precise mana, clashed against white, correlating with an ancient and serene type of mana.
When mixed, those two forces crafted a new color never seen by him before, even when he had looked with his previous version of the Mana Vision.
It was not the yellow correlating to divinity that he saw when he looked at Eleanor, nor was it like the turquoise he viewed upon Mr. Crab, correlating to fair and concise mana.
No, it was something unique to him and him alone.
Gray, the combination of the raw strength of the ancients with the precision of his own skill… A real living monster of a man…
What shocked him to his very core, though, was something he could barely see through that thick wall of thread.
Hidden within the blurred gray mana, near the back of the swordsman, three tightly shut eyes floated mid-air without any indication of stirring.
Without even needing a moment of forethought, he understood that the pressure of that thing was unique to only one lifeform that he had ever come across.
And with his knowledge of the man who sat before him, there was only one likely candidate for who it could be.
"Sir…"
Aaron spoke aloud, glancing away from the slumbering gaze while deactivating his improved Mana Vision before it shocked him out of it.
"Sir…? Why is it that you've called me that all of a sudden?"
Visible concern appeared across Masaru's face as he examined the boy's form closer, looking for anything of note to worry over.
His search was stopped, however, when the child's expression darkened to an even deeper emotion that the man couldn't easily pinpoint, and his mouth began to move.
"Are you perhaps contracted with a god?"