21 Chapter 20

Although his question was heard, it was ignored as the two seemed to want to catch up.

"Who else would know about your terrible stuttering phase?" She asked rhetorically.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that." He said exasperatedly, helplessly and hopelessly trying to remind her. Seeing that she wouldn't even try to listen, he looked to Silva who sighed at that moment.

"I tried to talk her out of it but you know how she gets." He spoke tiredly, already knowing the question he was going to be asked.

He had learnt long ago not to try and change Miko's mind on anything. Not only was it tiresome, it was entirely hopeless. Once she set her mind on something, no one could talk her out of it. Sometimes it was a good thing and the other times it was…not good.

"What brings you here to menagerie?" Ghira inquired, his being filled with nostalgia.

"Can't a woman just drop by for a visit?" Miko asked with an amused smile.

"Your visits normal involve something getting destroyed or someone getting maimed. Believe me, I don't know which one is worse." He whispered the last part to himself.

"Good to see you still remember her." Lisa who has been silent all through added. Miko's smile twitched as she turned to look at Lisa with a childish angry face which sent Reid's head spinning.

'How the hell did she go from threatening to kill tens of soldiers to….this.' He thought, looking at his mother now sulking while looking away from Silva and Lisa who both had deadpanned expressions.

'She apparently knows Ghira so that was probably her backup plan for when we got discovered.' He figured that out by how unsurprised she was at Ghira's appearance. The question still remained.

'What is our aim here?' His eyes widened greatly as he recalled her words.

Drop by for a visit…

'Damn it! I was so worried about meeting any of the belladonnas but it turns out that they're the reason we're here!' He couldn't be more frustrated at this turn of events.

"Nothing I can do about it now…"He muttered helplessly under his breath.

"Why are you mumbling about!?" Ashton who was now back to his normal self pestered as he suddenly got close to him.

"Shut up idiot. You done shivering?" Reid shot back halfheartedly. Ashton was taken aback at the retort and quickly answered back.

"I wasn't shivering! I was only watching to see how strong they were!" He defends in a smug tone.

"Sure." Reid replied, sarcasm rolling off his tongue as he focused somewhere else.

"You don't believe me!?" Ashton screamed/asked, only to receive a blunt answer from the other boy.

"Not in the slightest."

"Why you…!" His head was practically emitting steam at this point as he notice Reid's lack of attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guards had eventually left them at Ghira's orders, though they were reluctant to do so. They had also left the open street and were now in the belladonna residence, something that Reid was against but didn't voice out.

The belladonnas would be hosting them for the duration of their stay. The same was offered to Silva and Ashton but they declined. Silva wanted a much needed break from the madness that is Miko.

As usual Lisa followed the mother son duo as the three were ushered to guest rooms. They were left to their devices to rest till evening when discussions would commence. Although we were told to rest Miko had other plans.

"Reid, since unlocking it you seem to have a decent grasp on the concept of aura. Though that concept is shallow and basic at best." Miko spoke to her son in a stern tone. This is what Reid categorizes as lecture mode.

"What do you know about aura?" She posed a simple but heavy question. Without wasting too much time, he gave her the general answer.

"Aura is a manifestation of the soul." After his answer she gave him a look that asked him to continue. He seemed confused for a moment.

'My aura is different from others so my explanation wouldn't make sense. What other explanation is she looking for…' he racked his brain for a while before deciding to give his own answer.

"Aura is a type of energy produced by all living things. It can be used to perform things other than what the general public know." He explained his own type of aura, having no other answer.

Miko nodded her head to Lisa who reciprocated before leaving the room. Although she left, he could still see her shadow at the foot of the door.

"You are correct but you're missing few points." She spoke, causing Reid to look in confusion.

"You're right in the sense that aura is energy but you are vaguely aware of the uses. An example being the way you pushed your aura through that boy's sword. What the public and even huntsman don't know is that there are two types of aura." She explained causing Reid's eyes to almost pop out. She ignored his look and continued explaining.

"The first type is the aura is used by everyone and follows the definition of the soul's manifestation. This used by everyone but the second type is known to a select few. The second type of aura can be called internal energy. Different from the soul." She paused giving him time to digest it before she continued.

"This type of aura is by far more powerful than the first. It can only be unlocked by opening the nodes in the body that keep the aura in." The moment he heard nodes, his mind started working at light speed.

'Could it be…'

"The first type of aura users have all their nodes closed and it's best if it stays that way. If a user of the normal type of aura tries to open their nodes, they would leak out their life energy…and there would be no way to stop it." She finished as a deadly silence came upon the room.

'Does that mean I can't…that this power will forever be beyond my reach…Pathetic…' He cursed at himself. He missed a chance to become even stronger. His face showed utter devastation which caused Miko's expression to soften.

She wanted to comfort him but this was very important lest he remain ignorant of it forever. Beside she wasn't done.

"You're ability to channel aura through the blade is unusual. It is something that shouldn't be possible with the way your aura unlocked." That brought him out of his depression.

"What do you mean?" He asked, with so much emotion in his voice that made Miko's heart ache.

"That technique is possible with normal aura but the power in it is unusual. It's power is that of the second type. Let's call it Nen you're bound to get confused if we call them both aura."

"A blade with aura flowing through it is only slightly enhanced so it's nothing more than a slightly sharper blade. A blade that has nen flowing through it however multiplies the blade's power and sharpness by several folds. An aura infused blade can cut rocks but a nen infused blade can split a mountain if used properly." She explained in one breath. She looked to see if he was understanding which he did, going by his nod so she continued.

"Your aura has the same energy properties of nen despite your nodes being closed. I use nen and seeing as you have aura, I was skeptical about teaching you my techniques as they could prove disastrous. After observing your usage I've come to a conclusion…" She paused as she could see he edged closer to her unexpectedly in wait for her next words.

"I have concluded that it should be possible to unlock your nodes and survive." The look of intrigue and anguish turned to joy but he was quickly interrupted.

"The question is…do you want to go forward with it knowing that you may not survive?" She asked stopping him cold. He had already set his mind to it the moment he hears it was possible.

"I do!" He said with absolute determination as he stared straight at her.

She regarded him for a moment. It would e irresponsible to give such a heavy decision on a child but she knew he wasn't just a normal child, most times. His mind far surpassed that of children and so he must understand the consequences should this fail.

Some would call her an irresponsible mother but to this was her way of making him strong.

"I understand." She spoke sternly and took a step closer and stood behind Reid who had been sitting on the bed this entire period. Stretching, she laid her hand on the top of his head.

Her dark blue aura shone for a second before it was dwarfed by the explosion of aura from Reid. Her eyes widened before it relaxed. Her black eyes turned scarlet as she observed him.

"Try to control it!" She spoke to him above the noise as purple aura was bursting from his body.

'Amazing. Even mine wasn't like this when I unlocked it. You are just full of surprises!'

The violent aura grew silent as now it was simply rolling of his body like steam out of a kettle. She observed him carefully with her sharingan.

'All his nodes are open but he isn't in danger. His body is automatically adapting to it…amazing!'

"How do you feel?" She asked Reid who was now staring at his hands in amazement and purple aura visibly rolled off his body.

"I feel…"

He was silent for a second before he turned to face his mother as he responded. Her shock was visible as scarlet eyes met scarlet.

"Reid! You…!" She was at a loss for words. She stared at him. More specifically, she stared at the glowing red eyes that replaced the former black.

"I feel…powerful!" He spoke with passion as his sharingan perceived the world.