Rebirth of the Phoenix_

An unfamiliar sight stood before Luis, jagged peaks surrounded by barren terrain, a stark contrast to the forests that surrounded his village. There were natural pathways formed and obstacles formed out of rocks coming out the ground. He took a sip of water as he was sweating because of the hot weather. Beside him Sera seemed perfectly fine not a bead of sweat on her, looking fully relaxed while waiting for Luis to finish drinking so they could keep moving forward.

Luis broke the silence first " Aunt Sera this place is supposed to have creatures that grant blessings it doesn't look like anything can survive here"

Sera's eyes gazed Luis's eyes having a hint of disappointment, appearing like Luis asked a very dumb question. "Looks can be deceiving, the creatures here are not strong, but their blessings are fundamental for every aura user. Everyone starts here for a reason."

Luis sighed as he kicked a pebble while walking "but why a defense blessing it seems so boring… I want something coollll like breathing fire or flying or lifting HUGE weights"

Sera smirked, "Luis boring doesn't mean useless, these are the blessings every soldier has, they don't make you invincible but they help you strengthen your foundation allowing you to build on that"

As they continued walking Luis recalled everything he had learnt about blessings from his parents and in school, especially in painstaking detail from aunt Sera.

Blessings are said to be gifts, bonds, agreements, and, rewards between creatures and humans. The creature gives you a piece of its powers if you can gain its favour or trust.

The stronger the creature the stronger it's blessings being but the stronger the creature the smarter it is meaning the harder it is to gain its trust or favour.

You also cannot get however many blessings you want, compatibility is a key aspect to consider. If you want multiple blessings they have to align with each other you can not have opposing elements as blessings at the same time, like fire and ice, they don't instantly start destroying each other but the stronger blessing will replace the weaker one, this process is painful to endure though.

A creature has a one month time slot where if it gives a blessing during that time frame it can choose to just take that blessing back and if the creature dies before a month has passed you also lose the blessing. This is why it's important to protect low tired creature after you get their blessings, making there be mutual dependency atleast for a month.

Blessings like the ones Luis is getting from baby rock golems are considered by scholars to be universally applicable. Blessings that strengthen the body like strength of defense without elements, almost never conflict with other blessings, it is theorised that these blessings enhance your natural aura rather than changing its structure making them universally compatible.

The one he would get from the small baby rock golems are said to increase your defense by 20%.

Luis remembered to back when all he wanted was a blessing that he never considered the challenges that it might bring.

The first group of baby rock golems Luis found matched the description he had heard and read about. Small 7 inches tall, round, and, unsteady, they looked like big pebbles for tiny stubs as legs. They walked clumsily as their legs were short, very often tripping over rocks and falling.

Luis watched as one baby rock golem fell hit another one causing the entire herd to fall and all of their short legs kicked the air helplessly as they had no hands to stand up and very short legs. " these are suppose to give me defense blessings"

Sera chuckled, crouching to make the fallen golem stand up. "Don't let their appearance trick you, They might seem helpless, but their blessings are really helpful. The defense from them is not linked to an element so it won't interfere with a blessing for you in the future, that's why it's so popular for beginners."

Luis looked at the tiny scratches all the baby rock golems had. "If they're so helpless, how do they survive, because some of these seem like they will crack on there next fall."

"They reproduce very quickly," Sera explained, gesturing to a nearby rock formation. "When a baby rock golem falls and his face is on a rock for 1 day they fuse with the pebble to make a new, baby golem, around 50% of the time they end up producing 2 new baby rocks golems. That's why there's hunting seasons because if their population is not controlled it can become a hassle. Luckily there are predators here the birds play with the baby rock golems here and this usually ends up with them falling and cracking but still there are hunting seasons for them, but that does not happen for a while so we have time for you to get your blessing. For now do you see the 3 baby rock golems on the ground with their faces on rocks. The baby rock golems that appear from them are the ones you are gonna take care off. It is faster if you take care of more of them because there's a higher chance one of them gives you a blessing."

During their first two weeks, Sera taught Luis the basics of survival, how to divide tasks in groups and how to do them alone.

She shows him edible berries, patterns on leaves to watch out for, how to use a fishing rod and fishing net.

She also showed him how to interact with the baby rock golems. It was a very tedious and patience testing task. The creatures were clumsy and prone to hurting themselves in every way imaginable.

"How do they fall every second I look away they can never stay up straight even when they are not moving?" Luis complained one the first day, struggling to lift a golem that had wedged itself between two rocks and one that had trapped itself in a dead bush.

Sera smirked. "They fall a lot because their bodies are not made off balance, the legs are too short and their bodies are too heavy but it's a good thing because this also helps you learn patience.

By the end of the first week, Luis was already drained his arms, back, and legs ached. His clothes had holes in them, but he was getting more confident, he was better at anticipating when they were gonna fall, and helped guide them better.

On the 8th day he had been there it finally happened one of the baby rock golems he had just helped stand straight up, lit with a white glow that passed through the golem to him. After that Luis could instinctively feel it his aura was waiting for him to reject or accept the blessing.

After accepting the blessings, Luis is felt it his body felt naturally more stronger. It was not like he was bursting with power. It just felt like it would take stronger hits to take him down.

"You got lucky it usually takes 2 weeks before one of them gives out a blessing," Sera said sat by the campfire. "But now it's time for you to protect if for a month and you can't make it feel restricted because then it might take away the blessing from you, you have to let it roam naturally. Also in 6 days I will be leaving and your gonna have to manage on your own from there no help from me."

Luis froze, bringing the food away from his mouth. "Wait, you are gonna leave that early ?"

"You've got this," she said, with a smirk on her face. "If you learned properly you won't die."

Luis knew that with him being the person who the Phoenix would reincarnate through meant that, aunt Sera will still watch him but "she's not gonna come out unless I'm about to die, with the way she is, she will force me to suffer, I actually don't even think she might help me when I'm in trouble, the stories Maria and Rio told me about their training sounded so bad…."