The moment Arryn touched the light, it coiled around his finger and then slowly moved up his arm while the boy himself watched in awe. What he was seeing was so ethereal he didn't even know how to describe it.
'So beautiful...' He thought as he saw the strands of energy cover his entire arm and move up. He felt a comfortable breeze of air caress his body gently, like a caring mother. Then, he felt energy pumping into his veins and muscles.
Meanwhile, outside, Talon was watching with a surprised look on his face. He noticed that Arryn's aura was suddenly starting to change after 15 minutes passed. Before, it was faint and weak, almost unnoticeable for most people.
But, out of nowhere, it started growing and increasing in power. The energy coiled around his body and formed what Talon could only describe as some kind of barrier.
"Interesting... He is doing something..." The young man murmured as he watched from up close. "I didn't expect him to do it this quickly, though."
Controlling Aetheris for the first time wasn't an easy task, even Talon struggled a little bit with it when he first got his powers. But, Arryn was able to do that quite quickly. As seconds passed, his aura only grew bigger and bigger till eventually, it exploded.
A small gush of air hit Talon's face as he put his arm against his eyes. 'Wow, that was strong.' He thought to himself.
The explosion of Aetheris could be felt by anyone. It even moved the tree leaves around them. A few seconds after that, Arryn's eyes started opening as he stared around in a daze.
"Welcome back," Talon said as he stood up. "That didn't take too long."
"... Did I?" Arryn asked as he looked down, feeling really different from before. His body felt a lot lighter than before.
"Yeah, I think you did something," Talon said. "Your aura had changed a lot. Did you feel your Aetheris?"
"... Yeah, I felt it. It was... Amazing." Arryn replied with a quiet tone. He was still thinking about that experience that he just went through.
"I bet it was." Talon smiled. "Now, did you understand what you have to do?" He asked.
"..." Arryn took a moment to calm down before he closed his eyes. 'I could've not done it any worse. I have really wasted so much time because of my ignorance. Thank you for giving me another chance, I will definitely do my best!' He thought to himself as if he was talking to his Aetheris.
"Yes, I can." He said as he turned to Talon.
"Then do it. I'm watching."
Arryn then slowly stood up, his eyes were completely focused on what he was about to do. Even though this was a crucial moment for him, a very long-awaited turning point, he still felt rather calm.
With that, he silently watched the boy cry his frustration away. He needed that moment to finally break through and reach a new level. This was but a first step, but it was still a step. What comes after it might be way harder, but now that Arryn had overcome that fear and that doubt, Talon was sure that the boy would handle everything coming his way in the future.
***
Then, for the next few hours, Talon helped Arryn start his actual training. The boy was able to replicate that attack again and again while getting pointers from Talon on how he could adjust it and make it more efficient and better.
Surprisingly, Arryn was able to understand everything Talon told him almost instantly and execute it with a few tries at most. His Aetheris control was improving in real-time. Talon didn't even realize that the boy had such a talent hidden the entire time.
In a few hours, he was able to improve a lot and slowly form his own style of manipulating water. With each success, the boy felt even more excited.
However, even as he was training him, Talon knew that the boy was gonna need way more than just this to truly start shining. He had to kill monsters to get stronger and that requires risk. So, the next step was obviously making the boy fight monsters.
Naturally, the way to do that was through becoming a Sky Seeker. If Talon can do that, then he can take the boy out to the desert without raising any eyebrows. So, the next day was going to be crucial.
The Sky Seekers exam.
***
Early the next morning, Talon woke up and quickly left the inn to go to the Blue Tower. Arryn was exhausted so he continued to sleep. Today, the city seemed rather active more than usual around these times.
He could see many people excitedly heading toward a single location... The Blue Tower.
Reaching that area, Talon was shocked to see giant crowds of people surrounding the entire building like a group of fans. The entire place was filled to the brim with thousands or even tens of thousands of people.
"What the hell is going on here?" Talon raised an eyebrow as he looked around him. "Are they all here for the exam?"
"Seems so..." Acrypha replied casually. "That Emino human said that many people try to join the Sky Seekers guild on a monthly basis."
"But I didn't expect this many..." Talon murmured. Looking around, he noticed quite a few old people and children too which made him assume that a good chunk of the crowd was just the families of the contestants coming to sheer them. It made a lot of sense since this was a very crucial test for them.
'Feels a lot like joining the army.' He thought to himself as he finally started making his way to the blue tower. 'Well, an audience is no big deal. I will just do what I have to do.'
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!