When Zan stepped out into their backyard, he saw his mother sitting in her chair and holding a shirt made out of small metal rings. Since he couldn't resist his curiosity, he went closer to see the clothing.

"This is a training armor for warriors," Arilia said, then handed a sleeveless chainmail shirt to her child. There was also a pair of arm guards, and a pair of shin guards lying on the table. The armor set looked plain and simple, but every piece of it was created from the same copper-looking material.

Despite the equipment's ordinary appearance, Zan was thrilled to receive a real armor from his mother. Even though it seemed thin and weak, he was sure that he could use it in his upcoming battles. 'Finally, I am starting to look like a real hunter,' he smiled, but when he took hold of the chainmail shirt, his arms immediately fell down, and he almost dropped his training equipment.

"Why is it so heavy?" he asked in surprise.

"I already told you that this is a training armor. Its purpose is not protection, but training. The chainmail shirt is thirty pounds, and the vambraces and graves are ten pounds each," Arilia said as she picked up one of the arm guards. "The armor set is made out of a special metal, wich other than being heavy is also soft, so with the right amount of power it can easily bend. The metal is called tonen and is mainly used for creating training armor and balancing weapons," she said, then put the vambrace down and got up from her chair. "You will be wearing this set of equipment every day when you train. However, you do not have to wear it now, because first, I will teach you how to defend yourself." She then went to the peach tree at the back of their yard. There she picked up a staff from the pile of sticks near the fence and began to spin it around her body. Her movements were fast, yet elegant, and the rod seemed like it was flying in her hands. However, after a few spins, she stopped and looked at her son.

Zan quickly put the chainmail shirt on the table and hurried to his mother.

But just as he was a few steps away from Arilia, she parted her lips, "Defend yourself!" Then she swung her staff and hit her son first at his right arm, then at hit his left foot.

In Zan's eyes, her movements were as fast as lightning, and he couldn't even see where the attacks came from. He was only able to tell where his mother hit him when he was already on the grass. Though she forced him to the ground, her strikes weren't really painful.

"Get up! This time try to defend yourself," Arilia said with a mocking smile.

"I wasn't ready!" Zan said, then got up on his feet quickly.

"Your opponents will not wait for you to get ready, nor will they tell you when they will attack. You must always be ready to fight. Now, take on a fighting stance", she said, then she began to correct her son's posture. "Put your feet more apart, bend your knees slightly, and bend your arms up so that your fists are near your shoulders. When I swung the staff toward your head, you lift your hand up, and when I try to hit your waist, you swing your fist down."

"And what if someone wants to punch me in the stomach?"

Arilia planted her staff into the ground. "Then you step back with one of your legs, and with your opposite arm, you hit the fist or the weapon away." She explained while showing the moves. "It is always better to dodge than to block the attacks, but the latter is obviously much easier to do.

She picked up her weapon again. "Since you are now at the aura level, you can only use your mana for defense, so we will practice that. I want you to use your mana to create your aura around your body. Imagine it as if you are wearing a thin armor or a second skin."

"About that... what does aura exactly mean?" Zan asked, as so far, his mother never really explained to him. She always told him that it was pointless for him to know before he awakened as it would only distract him from his training.

"Aura is the protective layer, or we could even say shell that you can create out of your mana and can surround your body with it. At the beginner stage, everyone's aura is about one inch thick, at advanced it is two, and at the master level, it is three-inch thick," Arilia said as she was circling her son. "However, the quantity and quality of the aura are different for everyone. A few of us even have a different color of mana than the others. Your mana is faint red, which is the most common color on Imana, but it may change in the future. It could become brighter or even darker."

"How does the color of mana change?"

"It can change from many things. Some potions and plants can change your mana temporarily or permanently, as well as some special places can lighten or darken the color of it. To tell you the truth, right now, the color of your mana does not matter at all. What is important is the quality of your mana, but we will talk about that later. Now defend yourself!" She swung her staff again.

This time, however, Zan was prepared. He quickly created his aura and blocked the blow. Yet he couldn't celebrate his momentary success even for a moment as soon he received a series of attacks from his mother. Each of her swings was faster, and each hit was fiercer than the previous ones, but he bore all of them without batting an eye.

Although to the neighbors, it might have looked like Arilia was beating up her son with a long stick, however, she was always careful with his strikes and didn't cause too much pain for him.

After a short while, Zan's aura suddenly vanished, and he fell to the ground. He was on all fours and was gasping after air.

"You could keep up your aura for about a minute. It is still weak and imperfect. It has many holes in it. Today we no longer practice fighting, but from now on, we will do this every day until you can make a perfect aura that covers your entire body, and you need to maintain it for at least a quarter of an hour." Arilia said, and after a few breaths, when her son's breathing became normal again, she continued, "Put on your chainmail shirt and wear it under your clothes so no one can see it on you. Then go run a few laps around the village."

"All right," Zan nodded. He did as he was told, and wore the heavy equipment under his shirt. He clearly felt it as the weight of 30 pounds pulled him toward the ground, and although he couldn't run, he could still walk. He felt enormous pressure on him, but he didn't show any signs of pain. Only a smile appeared on his face, which was his desire for growth.