Chapter 157 - An __________'s Soul

“It’s just so small. What can this even do?”

“Anything you want, all it needs is direction and a little encouragement.”

“I just don’t think it’s that useful when I’ve got a much bigger one to my right.”

“Do you judge a mage’s ability by the size of their core?”

“No I do not.” Ryan admitted. “But that is absolutely something I should start doing to make [Mages] insecure about their size.”

“Not quite the lesson I was trying to impart.”

“A good lesson nonetheless.” Ryan nodded sagely.

A light blue flame manifested itself in front of his chest. A flickering ember that seemed like it could go out by a strong gust of wind. The further he moved it away from his chest the more he felt like he was missing a part of himself.

It was as if the world was more muted. Disquietening thoughts scrawled at the edges of the mind.

Ryan hadn’t even known he could pull his aura outside of his body. The control [Aura Command] gave him was insane… and a little scary. 

What would happen if I just threw this somewhere and abandoned it? Would I feel empty forever?

He shook his head, trying to banish the thought from his mind. 

King Theskar took his time observing the blue aura and it was weirdly uncomfortable. It was nothing like when someone was facing down his fear Epic. That bright red aura was more like an armor or a mask, something to protect and hide himself with. This was a lot more personal. As if Theskar was observing his naked soul and assessing it.

Ryan shifted, remembering the King’s aura from yesterday. “Are you done? I think I’m the one getting insecurity issues.”

King Theskar however, seemed mesmerized. “I see hope, rebellion? No, freedom and something else. It’s hard to tell and there’s a lot here. It just needs direction and I believe we’ll see something extraordinary.”

Ryan unmanifested his aura, feeling it settle back into his chest. Instantly he felt better, like the world was just a little brighter. He shivered at the feeling.

“That sounds like concepts.”

“Concepts?”

Ryan was taken aback, surprised that the King didn’t seem to know what those were.

“Uhh, like classes but of a higher order? More vague? Honestly, I’m not sure I understand it myself, but they’re the building blocks of classes. The direction of these concepts turns into a class I think.”

“Interesting. I must admit, the concept of classes alone confuses me greatly. How does the Trial System simply bestow upon you something that you are not?”

“I think we’re supposed to grow into them. Unless of course, you it evolve it yourself.”

That wasn’t always true either. [Mages] in the fourth realm could form a mana core and still not end up with a different class. 

Though it seemed that it always came back to concepts. The King’s true grand aura was less like a skill and was more like when the dragonslayers were taking down Pinkie. A declaration enforced into the world itself, concepts given direction, a class.

“So I’m trying to decide on a class for my aura, huh?”

“That is probably a bit more of a dangerous way to look at things. I would rather you attempt to learn the basics first.”

“Basics?”

“Auracraft. It is something all the Kings in Valmere learn to take advantage of. You know how to flare it and manifest it, even condense it but you have not seen the subtleties of aura—”

“Crystallize it too.” Ryan interrupted.

“Pardon?”

He raised his right hand and crystallized his aura. A red gem glittered in front of his hand, bobbing up and down, flickering in the light.

King Theskar frowned. “What is this? Pure solid aura?”

“Yeah. Don’t have that in your memories?”

The King’s eyes went blank, once more looking into his memories. He shook his head.

“Not as far as I can recall. What can this be used for?”

“It makes a mean barrier. I haven’t really tested the sword out yet but I haven’t noticed any difference when cutting through things. Oh wait, the aura sticks around longer when I stab it into furniture.”

It was what he had been doing to leave a mark in the nobles’ residences. His solid aura would stick there as a warning to all the nobles of the threat he maintained.

“You crystallize your aura and the only thing you’ve done with it is to create basic weaponry. I do not know whether I should be amazed or disappointed.” King Theskar shook his head, refusing to be more ruffled than this. “I will have to check my memories later but for now it doesn’t change the fact that you have skipped several fundamental steps in understanding the path of aura. I have noticed this when you don’t use your skill. There is a lacking subtlety, now come.”

King Theskar’s golden aura seemed to extend forward in multiple layers, attempting to find weaknesses and gaps in Ryan’s. An invisible tendril pushed at Ryan’s rapidly appearing boundary.

“Both of your auras have a brutal, dreadfully honest quality about them. While you have learned to use the truth as a weapon, in a battle of auras, that honesty only leaves you a blunt, brutish path. The true, much more insidious essence of auracraft, is in subtlety.”

Ryan stared at the lines of invisible aura coming at him and started shifting things up.

…

It did not work as well as the King might have hoped. Theskar sounded like he had expected this to be a journey, one where he could teach Ryan how to use the push and pull of aura. To use it to read others and their lies. The long journey of Valmere’s secret auracraft lasted… for about two hours.

The primary reason? Ryan technically had maxed out [Aura Control]. Theskar had seen his crude use of [Aura Command] and assumed that he couldn’t control it in a more subtle manner.

“I… must admit that I’m at a loss. I didn’t expect you to have picked that up so quickly.”

“Don’t feel bad. That’s just Trial System enhancements for you. I learned [Aura Command] after [Aura Control]. Since it’s a precursor skill I can still use [Aura Control] whenever I need to at max level. I did pick up some nice tricks, so thank you for that.”

It wasn’t perfect, but Ryan was now able to push and prod with his aura to see someone’s intentions. As long as he did it subtly, it could even be a lie detector.

King Theskar allowed himself to close his eyes in exasperation just this once. Then he was ready to move on.

“Then other than that the only thing I can teach you is a path for your aura.”

“I think I’ve got a path for mine already. I already have a direction for it.”

“And what would that be?”

Ryan gave King Theskar a triumphant grin. “Adventurers.”

When the King realized Ryan was being serious he shook his head. “Even going through my memories, I have not met anyone quite as obsessed with adventurers as you. Nor do I think it’s the best path.”

“No, it’s the perfect path. Being an adventurer is what I want to be, it’s what resonates with me the most.”

“Do you have any idea what that kind of aura would even result in? How would that be useful in any sort of scenario?”

“No, but isn’t that great?”

The King insisted on a more unreasonable path. “For example the path of a liberating hero can provide you with unrelenting willpower in times of need. It could then combine with your arm to reinvigorate your allies and provide awe and fear—”

Ryan waved away the bad advice.

“Heroes invite villains, and we can’t have villains that can kill millions of people with a single skill.” Ryan dismissed it without even thinking about it.

The more he explained his position, the more he felt it was right. No he knew he was right.

“Adventurers? We’re just people with a job. We’re greedy, we’re silly and we have to compete to get people’s attention. You might look up to a hero and want to be like them. People look at adventurers, laugh and think they could do better.”

Something beat in his chest. Whether it was excitement or his aura, who could say? Ryan drew out his sky blue flame.

“That’s what it is. Relatable, no matter how strong we become. We don’t lose our touch with the rest of the world. We come and go, but we’re part of it, a part of civilization, not standing above it.”

The light blue flame flickered. It wasn’t any larger than before but it was starting to turn just a little deeper in color. He stared at it, not feeling the emptiness he had before. His eyes were entranced at his own aura.

“Gambling with our lives against the unknown, just to find something that nobody else might have found before. Hoping for a better future.”

The concepts within his aura began to whirl, the flame had found a path.

And the Trial System agreed.

Class change detected.

Class [Rogue] (Common) -> [The Rogue Adventurer] (Class, Rare, Realm 4) 

“So, that’s how that works.”

Ryan smiled at the title class that would only be there for a short while.

For a moment it was glorious.

The aura began to turn a deeper blue, with the color the nature changed too. It was no longer a fire that balanced his right arm. Now it was constantly searching for the next adventure. Ryan let it back into his chest, the class settling and changing him whole. For some reason, the fire of [Unrelenting Aura of Intimidation] no longer seemed satisfied with its position.

As if realizing that its position was no longer the dominant one.

It pushed, trying to barge its influence back towards his center. A willful mind of its own, a tyrant. A barrier of blue held strong against the red, refusing to relent. A delicate balance of blue and red butting heads against each other.

Despite the red aura having both an Epic skill as a core and a Epic class as its might, it had no chance.

After all, it could not do anything to something that refused to cower in front of it. 

Whether King Theskar approved of this or not, he simply ended the lesson with some final words.

“I wish I could be there when both auras find harmony with one another.”

=====================================

And things changed once more. Direction or growth, who knew?

Miles, Fetters, Agrinth, Theskar, the scribe and Ryan sat back down. Back with more details regarding the spread of visualization techniques for the future. Ryan had mulled over the pragmatic question when Miles had brought it up.

To an extent, he agreed he was being stubborn here.

“We need some more widespread education to spread the net. What we’re looking for is someone that seems to have an intuitive sense of visualization techniques. It was how they advanced rapidly back home.”

Ryan nodded at Miles, trying to convince the pragmatic child sacrificing bastard.

“This is the right way. I know you’ve already copied these down and are planning to go through with your idea. It’s going to cost too much. Find someone talented and see how they do it. Then take it step by step. Tell everyone that wants to follow this the risks and benefits. Everything must be done above board. Understand?”

Miles seemed surprised that his plans had been seen through. Ryan just rolled his eyes.

“Every action we take will have a knock on effect on the next generation. You sacrificing kids for the greater good will have lasting consequences on your Kingdom’s culture. Do you want the eighth realms growing up believing that sacrificing anything for the greater good is right?”

Miles looked like he believed it was a perfectly acceptable culture to have. Though he did not voice his opinion. Still embarrassed at having been called out in front of his King.

Ryan shook his head.

“Neither you nor I know what the greater good even is. Who knows, introducing this might end up creating a dragonslayer–I mean ascendant that destroys your entire kingdom. In that case, none of this is for the greater good.”

Ryan took a breath.

“What we can do is draw lines in the sand. Show the future generations good principles by following the right way ourselves.”

The way it had been done in The Realm. Ryan nodded at Theskar and the King nodded back. Assuring him that Miles Knightly wouldn’t cross lines into unforgivable territory.

“Now, Fetters, I want to show you something really cool.”

Ryan took out Felsley’s smartphone. It had 8% charge left, a respectable amount considering he had used it quite a fair bit. He had kept the charge for something important.

“I’m not saying you should recreate it in time, but maybe there’s something you can do with this.”

If he wanted a testing ground for his ideals, he might as well have it as similar to his home as possible.

===================================================

When they had concluded, Ryan sat with Agrinth on a balcony under the moonlight. The teenager had been unusually quiet throughout the day and Ryan had noticed the disturbed flickering in the teen’s aura.

Agrinth just stared at the bronze colored moon.

“You really are from another world.”

“Yup.”

“How many worlds are there?”

“I don’t know, maybe hundreds, maybe a billion or an infinite amount?”

“And my world is just a training ground for yours?”

“Sorta.”

“So nothing we do matters?”

“Nihilism again?”

“I looked that word up. It’s true right? What does it matter if there’s an infinite amount of worlds out there and my world is even lesser because it’s just something a higher world uses to train on.”

Ryan sat back, enjoying the sight of such an alien moon. He leaned over and ruffled Agrinth’s hair.

“Of course it matters. Do you think that King Theskar would act the way he did if none of it mattered? If it didn’t matter he’d be banging his wife twenty four seven.”

As much as his crude words threw the teenager off, it seemed to do little to convince him. Ryan sighed.

“Look. You’re alive right here, right now. Your suffering mattered enough for me to drop everything and try to make your world right. Doesn’t that show that you matter?”

“I matter only to teach you lessons.”

Ryan didn’t disagree with that, he didn’t want to lie to Agrinth either.

“Sorry, that’s just the way it is right now.”

“Right now?”

Ryan winked at the little demon teen. “I promised King Arctus that I would destroy this entire system if I ever became strong enough.”

Silence filled the air once more, Agrinth glared up at the moon, as if blaming it for all his problems.

“Can you promise me something as well?”

“I can promise to listen.”

“Can you punch those that made my world go in cycles?”

“Oh yeah. Don’t worry about that. I’ll find a way to make sure they regret creating the Trial System.”

As if it were watching. Eighteen minutes later, as they were staring at the moon, the world stopped.

The Highest Trial has been completed. All system portals will be made available and time has been resynced with Earth.

Total Realmtime elapsed: 15:03:02:12

Total Earth time elapsed: 1:12:18:12

Earth time until the next Highest Trial must be completed: 5475:00:00:00

What took Mezhar’s team over thirty days, only to end up failing, took the Tyrants a little over fifteen days to complete. 

He had gone through a realm expansion only once in his life and it was probably the most exciting event he’d watched. He was almost tempted to leave the Fifth Trial as is. 

Unfortunately he had priorities.

He had a date with the Manager to prepare for.

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