Deus Necros

The realization settled like a cloak put on in recognition. Ludwig’s face eased marginally. “Okay hit me up, how did you actively change the purpose of Aura?”

“Not change, but attuned it to myself. It’s more like an extension of one’s experience…” Joana said.

“If it’s an extension does that have to do with how I felt your Aura from so far away?” Ludwig said

“Both yes and no… it’s not easy to explain in words…” Joana seemed hesitant a bit.

After gathering her thought she said. “Aura and life force come hand in hand. And lifespan also helps in improving it. It’s like a child that keeps growing alongside you, the older you get the more powerful it gets. That’s one of the reasons why most masters of Aura aren’t the young hot headed youths, but the old fogey who lived far too damn long.”

Joana’s image of life and Aura was practical and slightly mordant. Experience, in her telling, was not romantic. It was an accumulation, years like layers, each adding weight and a different kind of leverage.

“Ahem…”

The cough was a polite interruption, the kind that collects attention without taking offense. A gentle tide of laughter moved under the group like a current.

“I don’t mean you, Lady Celine, you technically had your body’s age frozen in time. Though you were mighty back in your day, can you say your aura’s proficiency is comparable to Titania?”

Celine hesitated for a second, she had seen Titania fight back at Tulmud and the difference in caliber was clear.

“No, she is a different breed altogether…” she shook her head.

Though Celine was a master back in the day, she didn’t physically age, while Titania is several centuries old, that comes with advantages.

“So Aura grows with one’s age?” Ludwig simplified.

“More like one’s experience. The more of the world you see, the more it tunes itself with you. It’s a difficult concept to fully explain, and to be honest its something that no matter how many books you read about, you’ll only learn more if you yourself experience it. Everyone’s aura behaves differently… for example, I come from a tribal background, and that’s why my Aura besides the fact it can empower me and my weapons, can also help me track prey.”

Her explanation braided cultural origin with function. Aura bore imprint of life, of upbringing, of small obsessions and the steady development of faculties. And that explained to Ludwig how she truly managed to ’see’ him from so far away even without a detection ability.

“Mine on the other hand has a debilitating effect…” Celine said.

Celine’s voice seemed rather hesitant for a bit.

“How come?” Ludwig asked. For origınal chapters go to noⅴelfire.net

Ludwig’s attention fully turned to Celine, after all, his aura was a bit similar to what she described.

Celine’s body immediately shone in bright red, almost comparable to Ludwig’s wrathful aura but less annotated.

The glow warmed around her like summer light on packed snow. It was a presence, not a spectacle, but its effect was palpable. The air seemed to lean in, an almost imperceptible pressure riding on the color.

There was a feeling of oppression, nobility and what felt like someone looking down on all creation.

The sense it conveyed was formal and absolute, the behavior of an aura that carried not merely force but judgment.

“Ah… a noble’s presence…” Kassandra’s voice was small, a note of recognition. As if she fully understood the scope of what just happened with this mere observation.

“Yes, it affect all those who think that they’re inherently weaker, it’s an Aura that amplifies my power against those weaker than me…”

A culling of the weak and trampling of the strong, an Aura that simply bore down its full weight on the small fries and caused them to whimper in terror. Oppression, noble oppression.

“Titania’s aura has a different ability…” Celine said.

“I know, I saw it before, it was like water. Calm and serene at times… but when she is in combat, it’s like facing the tides in a raging storm.”

And that was true, after all, Titania was able to coat a branch with Aura and beat Ludwig Black and blue, then when she fought The Shrike her aura was washing all over the battlefield like the waves of an enraged ocean.

“And the Guildmaster who gave you his own aura, that shouldn’t be possible for anyone else. But he is a man who carries and supports others, so his aura turned that way.” Celine added.

They threaded examples like beads on a string, each one building a necklace of pattern. The Guildmaster’s aura explained not only a process but also a temperament.

“Yeah, same for everyone, their Aura are a definition of their own character… but yours… that isn’t your own Aura…” Joana’s assessment landed like an observation in a ledger. When she said it, the world held a breath: borrowed power carries a toll.

“Yeah, it is something borrowed… but eventually, it’ll be mine, despite how damaging it is to myself.” Ludwig’s answer admitted the cost and the hope. Ownership through use, an arc as old as mastery itself. He touched the spot over his heart again where the pulses sometimes made themselves known.

He was using something that wasn’t his after all, and that came with all sorts of backlash, mainly the reason he was throwing up blood earlier.

“Once we reach the Black Tower, we’ll have Van Dijk take a look at you…” Joana said.

Van Dijk was a master of many things, hopefully he’ll have some answers for Ludwig.

“Yes, I was planning that, only Master can solve my issue…”

Ludwig’s agreement was steady. The path ahead had appointments and hands that could reach parts of his problem he could not.

They walked on. Snow clicked underfoot and the mountain spread itself like an instrument tuned to a single, relentless note. Conversation dulled into the rhythm of movement and the small. But the end goal for Ludwig hasn’t changed yet.

For now, the Quests needs to be solved and handled, growth comes first, and after that, who knows, maybe another Usurper will rear its ugly head for Ludwig to cutoff. One down, six more to go.