The training field behind the military barracks was quiet just after dawn. Dew clung to the blades of grass, and a crisp wind rustled through the trees beyond the fence line. Auron stood in the center of it all, breathing slowly, deeply.
Not as a boy anymore.
As a weapon learning to become more than its edge.
His shirt hung on a tree branch nearby, already soaked through from the previous drills. Sweat glistened on his skin, and his eyes—those brilliant silver irises with golden centers—were half-lidded in focus.
"Again," he muttered to himself.
His fingers weaved a rapid sequence of hand signs, his body glowing faintly with red-violet chakra.
"Chakra Art: Multi-Form Projection."
In a flash, two clones emerged from him—chakra-based, identical in appearance but made of condensed willpower. They moved instantly, one rushing him with a blade, the other from behind with a sweeping kick.
Auron pivoted, dodging the strike from the front, while blocking the kick with his forearm.
CRACK!
Even his own chakra constructs were strong enough to bruise him. That was how he'd programmed them—to be merciless.
If he couldn't beat himself, he had no hope of surviving what was to come.
---
Elsewhere, Edward and Alphonse watched quietly from the shade.
"He hasn't stopped since before dawn," Alphonse said.
Ed frowned. "That's how he trains. He said he has to keep pushing his limits or the chakra inside him will overflow."
"He doesn't have a limit, does he?"
"No… but I think that's what scares him."
They stayed quiet, watching Auron clash with his clones—each blow cracking the ground or sending shockwaves through the air.
He was more than alchemy.
More than chakra.
He was becoming something else entirely.
---
Later, as the sun climbed higher, Auron finally collapsed to one knee, panting heavily.
His clones dissipated into swirling energy.
His muscles screamed in protest. His skin was lightly singed from channeling elemental chakra too quickly. His fingers trembled, and small arcs of red-violet lightning danced across his back.
He gritted his teeth.
"I'm not ready yet," he growled. "If I can't handle three chakra-enhanced clones, how can I face what's beneath Central?"
That image from his Rinne-Mangekyō's vision haunted him.
That darkness, crawling beneath the city like a parasite, threatening to devour Amestris from the roots up.
He had to be more.
Stronger. Smarter. Sharper.
Or else Edward and Alphonse would die.
Winry. Riza. Olivier. Julia…
He wouldn't let it happen.
---
In the barracks, Lieutenant Hawkeye entered the field without a word. Her sharp eyes scanned Auron's posture, his ragged breathing, his bruises.
"You look like you've fought a war."
Auron stood slowly. "I have. Inside."
She tossed him a water canteen. "That's a war you can't win by breaking your body."
He caught it, drank deeply, then looked at her. "But it's the only battlefield I can't abandon."
Riza stepped closer. "You're powerful. Too powerful to go unnoticed. Colonel Mustang knows it. So do I."
"Then why haven't you reported me?"
She tilted her head. "Because I don't see a threat. I see someone trying not to become one."
That struck a nerve.
He looked down. "Sometimes I wonder if it's even possible."
"It is," she said softly. "But not if you train like you're already a monster."
Auron exhaled slowly. "Then help me."
Riza raised an eyebrow. "Help you how?"
"Teach me precision. Control. I've got the strength. But if I can't control my power under pressure, it'll consume the people I'm trying to protect."
She studied him for a long time. Then nodded.
"Tomorrow at dawn. We start with guns."
---
That night, while the others slept, Auron sat on the roof of the barracks building. Moonlight bathed the city, casting a silver sheen over the quiet streets.
His Rinne-Mangekyō activated again, involuntarily.
He saw flickers of life and energy across the buildings—souls sleeping peacefully.
But beneath them all, it still writhed—the Homunculus energy, the twisted alchemy of Father's underground lair. He could feel it moving now, more actively than before.
> "It's waking up," he whispered.
He gripped the edge of the roof tightly.
The time to act was coming sooner than any of them were ready for.
But if he wasn't ready by then…
There wouldn't be a second chance.
---
The next morning, Riza met him in the forest clearing with a set of pistols.
"We're starting small," she said. "I want to see your reaction time, your aim, your restraint."
Auron nodded.
But inside, he was already calculating.
> "Restraint… that's the only part of me that's truly human."
She tossed him one of the pistols.
He caught it cleanly.
"Let's begin," she said.