68 Chapter 14: The Elementalis

When Joshua entered the other side of the door he found himself standing in what looked like a large forest. He could hear the chirping of birds and the sounds of animals fill his surroundings as the door behind him disappeared the moment he stepped into the new area. He noticed that the place had a nice breeze flowing past causing several leaves to flutter above him. Looking around he could see squirrels roaming through the tree tops and for a moment he thought he saw a fox behind a bush that quickly scurried away at his presence. The whole place just emitted a natural feeling as if the plants and animals around him were completely carefree.

Joshua started to move forward through the forest while following a small path that was clearly there to show him the direction he should head. As he moved down the path the area that he had already passed would quickly be covered in grass and flowers as if the forest was alive itself and new to cover up the path after he had finished passing by. The further he went the more relaxed he felt as if the area around him was calming his nerves. It was a wonderful feeling and he started to notice faint outlines surrounding things in his surroundings as though they were giving off a subtle glow. Plants would glow different shades of green depending on their size and how vibrant they were. Animals would each give off their own colors as they moved by or stood and watched him walk past them. All of these glows grew more distinct the further in he moved and by the time he entered a small clearing they all came to a head.

In the center of the clearing Joshua could see Ysildea sitting cross legged on the grass with her eyes closed as she sipped at a wooden cup that gave of the faint smell of herbs. She wasn't alone in the clearing though as several animals of different shapes and sizes seemed to relax as they either laid down nearby her or covered her surroundings. Squirrels seemed to playfully run around her while a couple of foxes laid down next to her and stretched out as their tails waived back and forth. A few deer were spread out in the surroundings calmly eating grass while occasionally looking towards him without any hint of fear. Birds lined the trees in the surrounding as they singed different melodies that somehow seemed to work together in a sort of natural orchestra.

All of this was out shined by the vibrant glow that surrounded Ysildea's body. This glow only grew brighter the more he looked as if he were staring into a bright light just outside of a dark room. All of the glows from the plants and animals in the surrounding seemed to pale a bit in comparison, but they all seemed to be connected to the woman sitting in the middle of the area. It was as if a network of dim wavy strings was connecting all the things in the clearing to her as she calmly sipped at her tea. By the time Joshua had gotten close she had opened her eyes which shined a bright golden color for a moment before settling back down to their usual green pigment.

Ysildea looked over Joshua and smiled as if she had found something interesting. "It seems that our time together training won't take as long as I thought." She calmly said before waiving to the spot in front of her to welcome Joshua to sit down with her. Joshua quickly took a seat and was surprised when the animals nearby didn't even move away from him. One of the foxes even stretched out a bit before lying its tail across his lap. Joshua simply smiled at it before turning his attention back towards his new teacher. "You don't have to worry about the animals. They are attracted to my presence and won't fear you as long as I am here."

"That's good to know." Joshua said as he scratched the back of the ear of the fox that seemed to enjoy it. "So what gave you the impression that our training would be shorter? I know that I want to make as much progress as fast as possible, but I expected you to be the one to try to tamper my expectations."

"Simply because of the fact that you can see aura already." Ysildea said getting a confused eyebrow raise from Joshua in return. "That faint glow that you've been seeing from all of the plants and animals in the area is their aura. Of course this place was made to make it easier for people to connect to aura. It's a training ground that I've had specially made through the system to help train other new elementalist for the most part. Even so it usually takes a few meditation sessions for newcomers to be able to see the aura of living things. Based off of how you looked at me earlier you can probably even see how big an aura is correct?"

"Yes, yours was like a shining sun in comparison to all of the animals and plants around you, but it seemed to be feeding off of their auras to some extent. It was as if your aura grew even stronger being surrounded by theirs." Joshua replied as he closed his eyes trying to picture the memory.

"Good, I have no doubt that you will be able to gain the job of aura user from how well you've started off." She said with a graceful smile. She then waived her hand and pulled out what looked like a wooden teapot from her inventory that was probably enchanted in some way to remain hot. She took out another wooden cup and filled it with the contents of the teapot before handing it over to Joshua. "The effect of the aura that you noticed was the key point of an elementalist abilities. Our strength grows from our surroundings, from the life in our vicinity, and even some times from the planet itself. I can assure you I am quite the terror in a fight when all of nature itself supports me."

Joshua took a sip of the contents of his cup. It was a slight golden color with a few leaves floating throughout it. After taking one sip he was delighted at the taste, it seemed to be some cross between honey tea and some sort of herbal leaves that he had never tasted before. It instantly had a calming effect that gave him a serene feeling. "Garlin told me about how much trouble she has when fighting you. She seemed quite pissed by it at the time."

Ysildea simply giggled a bit at the words before responding. "Garlin is to prideful to admit that it's a dumb idea to fight me outside of the system where she has a slight advantage. Without nature I'm not quite as strong but I can still use my own aura quite efficiently. Not at the same level as an aura user like you plan to become, but more than enough to cause a ruckus." She smiled before her eyes glowed for a bit with a hint of mischief. "One thing Garlin doesn't know is that exceptional fighters that have an understanding of aura to a level as high as mine can see the aura in others no matter how small it is. From the way it moves and courses throughout their body I can often tell exactly what they will do throughout a fight. Garlin is fairly straight forward so when I have a heads up on all her moves along with her entire surroundings trying to take her down you can imagine how that goes."

Joshua was a bit taken back at the smug look the woman had after what she implied. "I feel kind of bad for her now." Joshua said with a little chuckle. "So how exactly are you going to teach me?"

"Well first off you should know why elementalist is the best job for me to have for guiding you into becoming an aura user. The main reason is the fact that we both have an exceptional link to the aura in our bodies and in our surroundings. Elementalist primarily rely on the aura of the nature around us to create attacks and abilities that can devastate our enemies through our own small amount of aura. Aura users are the flip-side of that idea. They use the aura in their bodies to effect the surroundings of not only themselves, but when strong enough others as well." Ysildea explained with a smile as she waived her hand and caused some of the plants in the surroundings to grow quickly. Joshua could see her aura connect with the plants and cause it to grow at a rapid pace. The connection strengthened her own aura slightly in the process.

"So then an aura user has to have a vast amount aura in the first place right? I mean I'm sure martial art type jobs can probably use aura to some extent as well yet they aren't given the name aura users." Joshua asked curiously.

"That is correct. Martial artist often have a very small amount of aura, but they are usually extremely good at using that small amount to strengthen their bodies and create interesting techniques. Aura users on the other hand have far larger amounts of aura than martial artist and are able to use that large amount in far different ways. They can also connect with nature to an extent this allows them to project their aura in to the surroundings to a far higher degree than any other job. Without a connection to nature aura cannot be projected into the surroundings because the surroundings will reject your aura if you aren't able to establish a connection with it. Thus martial artist can only use their small amount of aura to strengthen their bodies and do small burst attacks in comparison to aura users who can project their aura into their surroundings." Ysildea explained before taking another sip from her cup.

"If that's the case then how exactly do mages and other magic using classes work? Do they use aura as well?" Joshua asked curiously. It seemed kind of weird for mages to control the elements if there was a job class called elementalist.

"Mages are different in the way they use their mana to conjure up the elements through spells and dimensional phenomena. Unlike elementalist they do not connect their aura to the surroundings, but instead burn through their mana pool to cause magic to take effect no matter their surroundings. Of course this has its ups and downs. As an elementalist there would be no way for me to conjure up water while sitting in a desert unless I could feel some in my surroundings. A magic user on the other hand could simply use a spell to create a water ball from the air. The downside for them is the fact that if I was standing next to an ocean and decided to create a tidal wave all it would take from me is for me to connect my aura to my surroundings and ask nature to help me to create said occurrence. A magic user on the other hand would have to use a highly complex spell that would drain most of their mana away to cause a similar effect. In the end I would be just fine with nature even making me stronger while a mage would have to put in a lot of effort to match my attack." Ysildea said with a tone that clearly showed how proud of her self she was.

Joshua nodded. "I'm guessing there are probably other things that can affect how some of this stuff works, but for now I would like to know just how exactly I am supposed to train my aura." He asked.

"Well then let's get started. This training will be rather simple, but will still take time for you to complete. All you have to do is meditate." She said with a smile causing Joshua to look at her weirdly.

"Meditate? That's it?"

"Yep, it's that simple in the end. I've provided you with the best possible environment. Now all you need to do is clear your mind and connect with your soul. Eventually you will find that connection and slowly will be able to control the flow of your aura. This exercise will both help you gain a connection with your aura and raise your stats in intellect and wisdom. Meditation is the perfect act for all three things. Now get to it." She said with a slight smirk before once again closing her eyes.

Joshua followed suit and started to close his eyes and clear his mind. He had done this several times before while training in swordsmanship with Aito's father. The man always said a clear mind was needed for a strong blade. Soon Joshua started to zone out as he slowly focused on his breathing and allowed all the subtle noises in the forest to fade out. He wasn't sure how long it took, but soon he could start to feel an odd sensation in his surroundings. It was as if a warmth was bathing him even with the cool breeze flowing over his back. This sensation lasted for a while until even with his eyes closed it was as if he could feel everything that was around him. They came in their own blurred colors that were slightly distinct from each other at times, but for the most part blended into his surroundings.

Joshua kept calm as he waded his way through these odd sensations that he had never experienced before. Then a far stronger sensation overwhelmed everything and seemed to pulse out from within his chest. He could feel a strong burning feeling coming from it as it slowly started spreading throughout his body. When the sensation had completely taken over every inch, a sudden snore like sound appeared in his mind before the vague image of the little wolf like soul beast appeared in his head. His eyes opened wide at the sudden connection he felt and he was met with a smiling gaze from Ysildea's now glowing golden eyes. "I told you, it won't take much time at all." She said with a chuckle.