'F#ck this.' Mark thought as he walked away from the crumbling Underling whose heart he had just pierced.
His blood was boiling.
[Your Underling is returning to the dead.]
'I just can't develop Passive Skills anymore it seems. What the hell??'
Mark turned his gaze towards another Underling.
'You, come at me.'
Mark's anger was such that his whole body was covered by Aura.
The Underling attacked as fast as it could, but Mark easily dodged by lowering his body before punching the attacker's stomach, launching it into the air.
'F#CK! I need to calm down...' He thought.
Bam-
The Underling's body hit the ground.
Mark took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.
'What can I do to get stronger now? Before going through that door, I need-'
Mark felt sharp claws entering his skin.
Without opening his eyes, he tried to deflect the attack.
Mark had gotten used to fighting without his sight.
Just by him being touched, he could perfectly pinpoint the opponent's position.
Mark could do the same using his hearing.
Although a lot less precisely.
Of course, it wouldn't go the same way in a real fight against multiple opponents.
Toward the spot Mark felt he was being attacked, he slammed his elbow, aiming to break the attacker's wrist.
But to his surprise, that elbow cut through the air.
He opened his eyes.
An instant later, the claws that he had felt hit his body.
They weren't the sharp claws of Velvet Werewolves.
Therefore, the claws broke upon contact with Mark's scales.
He instinctively jumped away, perplexed.
'Uh... What was that? I felt like those claws cut through me, but they hadn't. They couldn't...'
[Congratulations!]
[You have learned the second most basic aspect of Aura!]
'Is that so? I have no idea what that was though?'
To that question, no answer came.
***
Inside a castle far, far away, a black-haired man was getting grounded by a red-haired woman.
"Are you dumb? Please, leave now. He's supposed to learn by himself." She scolded.
"But I-"
"No buts. Leave."
The man left with a defeated expression.
***
Mark focused on his fist.
Aura engulfed it.
'So what I felt had something to do with Aura? Was it the claws entering the Aura? Those claws couldn't enter my skin. But it felt like it. So I felt them tear through the Aura...'
Mark moved his fist around.
'Now that I think about it, it kind of felt like a premonition...'
The Aura around it danced like a flame.
'That's pretty cool... Mm. it's the first time I'm taking the time to really check it out... When was it that I started using Aura anyways? After the 8th Floor's Guardian, right? But I got the Aura Manipulation Skill during my fight with the 7th Floor's Guardian though...'
Mark sat down.
He thought deeply while staring at the red Aura that he could make appear and disappear on a whim.
'It feels like an ON and OFF thing. I can't really control the amount... Although I can control where I want to... Produce? The Aura...'
Mark focused on his left foot, and Aura appeared around it.
Right shoulder, left side, lower body.
ραпdα Йᴏνêl(сòm) No matter which zone of the body, all could be covered by Aura.
'It doesn't consume any Mana, does it?'
[It does not.]
'Endurance?'
[It might.]
'Might...? Aura can help me surpass my body's limits in a way. I can hit harder using it. Or use it defensively. Covering a body part with Aura is kind of like wearing armor. I thought that was all there was to it. Honestly, it seemed like plenty, but...'
Mark remembered the enemies that had blinded him.
How powerless and confused he felt.
How lost.
Maybe even scared.
Mark shook his head, as if to clear his mind.
'Still, this is great. At least, I know...'
Mark got up and cracked his knuckles.
'Aura. That's what I should focus on.'
He walked towards one of the walls around him.
'Let's test it.'
After all the training he had done with his Underlings, most of the walls were cracked.
Mark raised his right hand towards an intact portion of a wall.
His open palm was about two centimeters away from it.
Using a small portion of his strength, he slammed his palm against that wall.
'No effect. Not one crack. Good. Now, let's try with some Aura.'
His palm was immediately covered by the red energy.
Mark performed the same action as before.
A small crack appeared on the wall.
'Alright. Aura doesn't make a huge difference but...'
He suddenly remembered something.
'Wait. The amount of Aura isn't the same. It changes. Yeah...'
At first, Aura was the effect of a Passive Skill under the name of "Royal Minotaur's Aura[C-]".
Mark remembered the times when the amount of Aura increased.
He remembered the times when Aura manifested by itself, as if it had a will of its own.
'Aura is... Linked to emotions or something, right? Emotions...? Something like that.'
It was more of a finding that he wanted to proclaim than a question to the System.
'The times when I felt the angriest. That's when Aura manifested on its own. That's right, sometimes just the Aura around me was enough to crack the ground below me or even walls...'
Mark raised his palm towards the wall once more.
The Aura around his hand was about 10 centimeters thick.
'I'll crack it. I'll break it. I'm... Destroying this wall.'
As his focus got sharper and sharper, the amount of Aura increased slightly.
Mark started thinking about various things.
Things that annoyed him.
Things that had enraged him.
He thought about every Guardian that had made him struggle, every enemy that had made him bleed, every fight where his life was on the line.
Mark thought of the time when he was a weak Skeleton, cowering in fear in front of an injured Gray Wolf.
He thought of the outside world that he did not get to see.
Every time, more emotions were thrown into the mix.
Annoyance, fright, anger, and pride.
Those four especially, made his Aura balloon up.
The red Aura, which looked like a small and calm flame moments earlier, now looked like a huge and ferocious blaze.
But there was one thing.
One thing that produced Aura like no other.
One thing that made Mark angrier and more pissed off than anything else.
As he thought about it, the Aura became twice as thick, but also denser than it had been previously.
Mark slammed his palm against the wall, using all of his physical strength.
SLAM-
Hundreds of cracks appeared right away.
His hand went through the wall.
'It really pisses me off...'
Mark pulled his hand out.
'That I can't remember a thing about my past life.'
The whole wall crumbled.
'I thought it didn't matter. I thought I didn't care, but-'
Just as Mark's mood was taking a turn for the worse,
[The Moonlit Feline is unhappy with the situation.]
[The Moonlit Feline is sick of being imprisoned.]
[The Moonlit Feline demands freedom.]
'Oh. Sorry, forgot about you. Come out. Light and Fiery too.'
The three Underlings appeared in front of their Master.
As soon as it appeared, the Moonlit Feline turned away from Mark and sat on the ground, as if sulking.
'Oh! I've thought of some names for you by the way. Wanna hear?'
Immediately, the Moonlit Feline turned back, its eyes shining.
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