The next morning, I woke to the sound of knocking at the bedroom door. "Emily? Tesla?" Came Serena's voice. I looked over to see that Emily was still asleep. "Yeah Serena?" I called back, shuffling up the bed to sit up. Serena's head poked around the door and smiled at me. "How'd ya sleep?" She asked, walking in. "Pretty good! Thanks for asking! How about you and Kai?" I replied, smiling. A deep blush spread across Serena's face. "V-very well! Hehe!" She giggled. I rolled my eyes. 

"Was there something you wanted, Serena?" I asked her. She nodded. "Kai told me to come and get Emily for a trip. He said we need to gather some supplies for some reason. He was very vague about it. But he's already headed out so I can't get any more details." She explained. I nodded. "Okay." I replied, nudging Emily awake. "Emily? Sweety? It's time to get up cutie." I said gently. 

I watched as her gorgeous purple eyes flickered, then opened. As soon as she saw me, she gave me a big kiss and blushed. "Morning big boy~ Last night was..." She began to say, but I coughed and looked over at Serena, who had started blushing again. Emily looked and giggled. "Sorry Serena." She said, scratching her head. "It's fine. Now can you get dressed and equipped please Emily? Kai said we need to go out on a gathering trip." Serena explained. 

Emily's face sank. "What about Tesla? We can't leave him alone!" She snapped back. I grabbed her hand and smiled. "I'll be fine Emily. Don't worry." I said reassuringly. "If you're okay with it then okay..." She replied, planting a kiss on my cheek and pulling her clothes on. "See you later baby..." She said, leaving with Serena. 

I looked around and sighed. "Not a lot for me to do now." I said to myself. I looked down at my leg and growled. "No broken bones are gonna keep me down!" I yelled, standing up, before falling back on the bed. The only reason I wasn't crying was that my Rage power had improved my resiliance, and increased my pain thresh-hold. "Grrr...." I said, getting up again and slowly hobbling through to the front room, and flopping on the sofa. "Dammit that hurt..." I grunted, clutching my chest.

Once I got my breath back, I looked down, happy that I was at least partially dressed, my boxers and leggings on. "I might as well go to sleep now." I said, before a voice from nowhere startled me into silence. "Do not fret Tesla. Your sheer will and courage is worthy of praise, and I am here to deliver a gift upon you!" The feminine voice said. 

I looked around, shaking with fear. "Who are you?! Show yourself!" I called out, trying not to sound scared. Before I knew it, a small bright blue owl appeared in a ball of light in front of me. She was like a ghost, hovering silently in front of me. I couldn't speak, my eyes wide open in terror. "Don't be afraid Tesla! I am Leyana, the master of Aura." The cute owl explained. 

I gulped. "Wh-what do you want from me?" I asked, a lot less frightened. "It's not what I want from you, Tesla, It's what I want to bestow upon you." She replied. "I am going to give you the power of Aura. With it, you will be able to defeat the Black Shadow and banish them from this realm!" 

My jaw dropped. "Really?" I replied. Leyana nodded, and blasted me with a bolt of pure energy. "Aaggghhh!!!" I yelled, the energy pulsing through my body, burning like the sun had settled in my stomach. Leyana narrowed her eyes. "Let the Aura flow through your blood, Tesla. Do not fight it." She said.

I growled, letting it fill me. After a few minutes, the burning went away and I felt better than ever. "Whoa... It healed my body!" I grinned, tearing off my bandages. "That's it." Leyana smiled. "You now have control of Aura. With training, you will be able to use Aura as a weapon, improve your own abilities and become an Aura Warrior!" She explained. I smiled. "It has, however, replaced your Rage abilities, but you use Aura powers in much the same way." She added.

"Thank you Leyana." I said to the little owl, before hugging her. She blushed and grinned. "Don't mention it! And I'm gonna help train you in Aura, so if you ever need me, just summon me. Put your hands to your head and say my name in your head, and I will appear." She added, before disappearing in a ball of light.

I grinned. "I have control over Aura! Sweet!" I said, swinging my fist. It became enveloped in bright blue energy as I swung, almost like a meteor. "Whoa..." I smiled in awe. "This is so much more powerful than my Rage powers... I better get training. After all, there is a long way to go to unlock the most powerful aspects of Aura." I said to myself. 

I had heard about Aura before. While learning about Rage, I read a book that described a group of people  known as the Ancients, who were masters of a power known as Aura, as well as being masters of Rage. They could use Aura to call stars down from the sky, manipulate matter and animals, and even use telepathy, teleportation and telekinesis. Lucario's were direct descendants of the Ancient's, hence their ability to use Aura, but it didn't explain why they couldn't teach others to use it. Now that I had  this power, I was going to wield it as effectively as possible, which meant reading up on it.

I grabbed my cloak and wrapped it around me, before leaving a note on the door for Emily and the others. "I need to get to the library as fast as possible, so I didn't attract any attention from the guards or the Black Shadow. As an Assassin, stealth is my forte. 

I got to the library in about ten minutes, and grabbed the book I needed. Paying for it, I slunk out and headed for a place I always went to practice with weaponry and fighting; Ironwood Grove. 

Ironwood Grove was a beautiful glade in the middle of the Northern Forest, full of trees that were almost indestructible. They made great training dummies, and my greatest test was to try and break one with my bare fists. I never managed it, even with a full powered Rage Breaker, but now, maybe...