Extra's Ascent-Chapter 123: Second Clover Revelation (i)

With exam season in full swing, the flow of days had become erratic for the students of Eldora Institute. With exam around the corner, schedules blurred. Routines bent. In the haze of academic chaos, most students juggled between study groups and training regimens. But not Saldrich not today.

She had carved this day out for something personal. No distractions. No intrusions. A sibling date, if one wanted to call it that. However instead of beginning with shared snacks or nostalgic stories, this date kicked off with Saldrich dragging Aldrich into one of Eldora's many training facilities, a space designed for students to hone and refine their Arts.

Aldrich stood across from her, arms loosely crossed, clearly unimpressed.

"I'm all ears, Sal. You made me ditch a team bonding exercise for this, so it better be good."

It wasn't just Aldrich's team he'd bailed on. The newly formed squads of first-years, those grouped from F-Class through S-Class were all investing time in building camaraderie through exercises and collaborative drills. It was a necessary step in preparing for the trials ahead.

Yet here he was.

A day prior, Saldrich had approached him with urgency, asking for a private moment just the two of them. She claimed she had something important to share, something that couldn't wait another day.

And because of that, Aldrich had bowed out of today's team session, choosing instead to listen to whatever revelation Saldrich had in store.

"Relax, Al. By the time I'm finished explaining, you'll be thanking me on your knees if I dare say so," she said with a grin, exuding confidence.

He raised an eyebrow. She had said she wanted to show him something, not explain. But either way, he was willing to play along for now.

"Fine. Let's hear it."

He was curious, but more than that, he wanted to get on with it. The anticipation was starting to itch under his skin.

Saldrich didn't waste time. Her opening question cut straight to the heart of the matter: had Aldrich truly awakened his second Clover?

She wanted to confirm if what she saw during his battle with Kyle Dandada, the second Clover shining through his gaze had been real. Was it the genuine second stage of the Aldaman's signature Art, or just a phantom brought on by adrenaline?

To answer, Aldrich simply activated his Clover Eyes.

Two silver clovers shaped like hearts danced within his pupils, gleaming under the artificial light of the facility.

Saldrich took a step back, her mouth slightly agape. "It really is… the second Clover," she murmured, awestruck.

The timing shocked her. From awakening his first Clover to now wielding the second, the period had been remarkably brief. Too brief. Compared to her own journey of nearly a year and a half between the two stages.

For Aldrich, his growth bordered on unprecedented.

"When you used the second Clover for the first time," she asked softly, "how did it feel? What did you feel?"

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What did he feel?

He searched for words, ones that could even remotely capture the storm of power he had touched that day.

"Unstoppable," he finally said, his voice low but certain. "Like I could break through anything. Like nothing could hold me back."

The sensation had been overwhelming, freedom in its rawest form. Like invisible shackles had shattered in an instant, unleashing something buried deep within. There were a dozen emotions tangled in that moment, but at its core, unstoppable was the truest word he could find.

Saldrich nodded knowingly.

"That makes sense. There's a very specific reason for that sensation."

"There is?" Aldrich blinked, genuinely surprised.

She took a breath and began her explanation. The Clover Eyes, an exclusive Art to the Aldaman bloodline were divided into three distinct stages, each offering a progressively more refined mastery of perception and manipulation.

The first Clover manifested at the moment of awakening, where both pupils turned silver and a single clover leaf formed in each eye. This first stage granted heightened visual perception so acute it was said time itself seemed to slow in the user's view. An ability so precise, that it bordered on divine insight.

Then came the second Clover. When a second silver leaf emerged beside the first, forming a pair of clovers in each eye, it marked the next stage of evolution.

The second Clover built upon the first, but its true strength lay elsewhere.

It allowed the user to see the skeletal structure of living beings, not bones per se, but a detailed visual map of mana pathways, pressure points, and internal flows. With this, the user could predict movements, detect shifts in intent, and most importantly, observe the infusion of mana in real-time.

Such knowledge gave an advantage in battle that few could counter. By understanding when and where an opponent would strike, a skilled user could adapt or counter before the attack even landed.

But that was only the beginning.

The second Clover also allowed the user to register the mana configuration behind an opponent's technique. In doing so, it enabled them to replicate it, reproducing any Art they witnessed, flawlessly, using their own mana.

"Wait… replicate?" Aldrich echoed, wide-eyed.

He believed he had just heard her wrong, wanted to believe he wasn't hearing her right.

"Yes. The second Clover lets you mimic any Art technique you witness just once," Saldrich said with a smirk, watching the disbelief spread across his face.

"Well, not any," she added. "There are exceptions."

It couldn't copy Bloodline Arts, those were intrinsically tied to specific ancestries, requiring innate traits only found in particular lineages. Nor could it replicate Secondary Elemental Arts, since those were fusions of two Primary Elements. Unless the user possessed both elements required for the fusion, the technique remained inaccessible.

But outside of those exceptions?

"Any Art outside the two categories? It is yours the moment you see it."

Aldrich was speechless. He stared down at his hands, then back at Saldrich, as if the very skin on his arms had started glowing.

"You're telling me... I can copy any Art I witness. Just like that?"

"In a world where power is built on mastery of Art," she said quietly, "you now wield a shortcut that very few would even believe existed."

He didn't respond immediately. He couldn't.

The value laid in her words crushed down on him. The implications… they were monumental. In a realm where strength often came through blood, sweat, and relentless repetition, here was an ability that sidestepped all of it. A power that defied conventional training, and replaced it with perfect mimicry.

"Is that even fair?" he whispered.

The question wasn't aimed at her, it was to the world itself.

Was it just? Was it balanced? An eye that allowed its wielder to transcend the grind that others toiled through for years?