Chapter 676 - Physical Manifestation

Demon was anxious to intervene but his Master had ordered him to stay out of it so all he could do was stand at the side and watch her with worried eyes.

Sharing a similar feeling was Jax whose eyes never left his Boss's figure, ready to step in if she could not carry on.

On the other hand, Fryght and Rouge weren't too affected by this scene as they watched the two children jumping back and forth with a lazy attitude.

While Rouge had confidence in her master that he could deal with that child, Fryght was only gazing at them with amusement in his eyes.

He was the oldest present here, both humans and etchers alike were younger than him.

Being the most experienced one here, he could see things through a perspective that the others weren't able to.

'He is holding back and she is pushing her limits.' He could tell with a single glance at their body language.

The boy named Topher could have defeated her in a single move and even hurt her gravely but he had not done so.

Just like the trainer that came over this morning, this boy too was only using a limited portion of his powers with the intention of gauging her skills.

Likewise, his Master's child also was treating this with the same seriousness that she did her classes with that highly-skilled man, the Captain.

Therefore, he knew that there was no real threat to the child and did nothing to interfere.

Thus the only people moving in the garden were Topher Tanner who took on the offensive role while Yvonne, the weaker one among them, was obviously forced to defend herself.

"The granaries," Topher muttered as he leaped towards her, his fist flying in her direction.

Yvonne lost balance of her footing while avoiding his strike, causing her to fall to the ground.

Her peach dress had long been soiled but she did not care as she rolled on the ground, creating distance between them.

Topher smirked at her smart move which proved that her safety was her priority rather than making sure that her dress was tidy.

Yvonne did an effortless kip-up, despite wearing a dress which made Jax applaud for her fluid movements.

Topher too was impressed that she had already learned this move from the Captain as he too had been taught how to do the same from that scary man.

'She must have struggled.' He pitied the child who had to be tormented by the Captain known for his ruthless nature and strict means.

However, what he did not know was that even when Captain Desmo had asked her to rest during their training, Yvonne had insisted on carrying on and had learned to do this trick with ease in just a few hours.

"Granaries?" Yvonne did not mind their appreciative gestures but inquired about what he had muttered.

Her dress was as good as ruined by now so all she could do was dust her palms before getting back into a defensive pose.

Topher did not stop their impromptu sparring match as he inched towards her.

"You asked us to build granaries." He explained, bringing a spark of understanding to her eyes.

However, letting him continue would lead them to the same conversation as before which was not what she wished for.

Therefore, while he moved towards her, for the first time today, Yvonne took the initiative during this match.

Caught unprepared by her sudden movement, Topher was jabbed straight in the gut, bringing out a pained groan accompanied by choking coughs.

Yvonne smirked at her victory before continuing with her attacks, unwilling to let go of the momentum she had gained.

She could not utilize her legs to their full extent as the dress was hindering her movement.

Therefore, she focused more on punches and jabs while keeping her legs free to dodge his attacks if he made any.

She gave him no time to recover from the earlier attack as she rained more punches to his upper body.

While she may seem tiny in appearance, Topher was shocked to see that her attacks were filled with power.

His shoulder was struck during their back and forth and he let out another pained groan as the shooting pain radiating through it was higher than he had expected.

'Training with the Captain was the right choice.' The child praised her father who had chosen the perfect trainer for her.

Captain Desmo had taught her how to take on someone older, taller, and stronger than she was.

Thus she was able to keep up with Topher and even gain an advantage over him.

However, this could not go on forever, as until now, Topher had not been using his full power.

Finding that being lackadaisical in this match would not do, he decided to use his aura now.

Yvonne wasn't too surprised as her father had taught her how to do the same during the lockdown when he was in charge of training his children.

Therefore, seeing that a flaming red light, the physical manifestation of aura, enveloped his entire body, she wasn't taken by surprise.

Closing her eyes, Yvonne lowered her head for just a second before raising her head and opening them back up.

It was Topher who was left speechless at what he saw.

He had used his aura, a semi-transparent but colored light that formed a layer over his entire body.

However, it was surprising to see that the child before him had managed to do the same.

Aura was innate to everyone but only a chosen few with higher amounts of aura could awaken the powers residing in their bodies.

Once awakened, they might or might not find their etchers as that was a matter left entirely to fate.

However, those who found their etchers were bound to be more respected as they possessed great potential depending on the type of etcher they were fated with.

To Topher, who was fated with a red fox, a predator, he was said to have scope for great improvement.

After finding his predatory etcher, Topher was able to manifest the physical appearance of aura which was exactly what Jax and the rest were observing now.

With the innate aura within him and the assistance of his etcher's powers, his strengths would only amplify.

However, he had never expected that this little girl was the same as him.

Rouge was a predator though not the best but she was still at a higher level on the food chain when compared to Demon who was a horse.

Yet now what he sensed went against the knowledge he had obtained in the past.

Yvonne smirked at his confused appearance as she glanced down at her hands.

If Topher had a bright red light emanating from his body, Yvonne had a dark black glowing luster illuminating her entire body.

At this moment, the two were matched up in the aura they were radiating through their bodies.

Neither one was lower than the other which came as a shock for Topher.

'She must be using her aura to the full extent.' He surmised as there was no way that a little child could possess an aura of this intensity and maintain it for long.

The aura of a person was directly proportional to their etcher.

Only someone with a high aura could meet his fated etcher and in the same way, after forming their bond, the etcher's high aura could elevate their powers.

Etchers and etched had a symbiotic relationship where both were mutually benefited by the existence of the other.

In Topher's case, he already had a high amount of aura in his body and with the addition of his predatory etcher, he could become more powerful using her aura as well.

This was how he had come to his earlier conclusion because Demon's power could never be on par with Rouge.

However, this was where Topher was wrong in thinking so.

Being an etcher of the predatory nature, Rouge should have been the one with the higher powers here but this was not true due to a few reasons.

There was much that wasn't known about Demon, a beast who had been brought from a different Kingdom as a tribute to the King who later escaped from his confines and formed a bond with Yvonne.

Not to mention that Demon was the only etcher in this entire world who had come in contact with a God, even receiving a blessing from him in order to protect his chosen Master from danger.

Therefore, Topher's thoughts regarding Rouge being higher than Demon was most certainly not true.

Whether they were matched up in power or Demon was higher than Rouge was still a mystery but it could be said with certainty that the fox wasn't greater than the horse.

However, Topher who knew none of this was still under the misconception that the little girl was struggling to maintain her aura in order to stand against him.

Yvonne had no clue about what was going through his mind as she was focusing on the feeling of invigoration that coursed through her body.

Only once before had she tried to envelop her entire body with her aura and that was under the careful observation of her father and brother who wished to see if she could accomplish this feat.

Once she had achieved it, they had made her stop right away in fear of over-exerting her powers which might be harmful to her.

However, Yvonne knew that it wasn't possible but she agreed to ease their worries.

Seeing that there was no one to stop her now, the little girl grinned evilly that she had finally gotten the chance to test these new powers out.

'This much should be enough..' She nodded as unlike what Topher had assumed, she had only used a tiny portion of the aura residing in her body.