Code Collector

What a fair deal it was for Allen to take Sebastian's tasty offer. It wasn't a hard task for him since he only needs to get stronger through Sebastian's help.

At the same time, he knew that there was a silver lining in all of these. Sebastian wanted to use him in the future for whatever reasons, but then again he had no other choice but to take on this offer.

"Okay," Allen said, offering his hand to Sebastian. The man smiled and took his hand, shaking it. "But one question before we start, how were you able to see my facial expression or basically whatever is happening around you?"

"I can't see, that's quite obvious," Sebastian said. "But what I can do is perceive the things around me. I am at the level of a Grade grade beast when I lost my vision. Starting then on, I relied with my intuition and my instincts."

"But aren't you afraid that your instincts might be wrong?" Allen asked. "What if one day you find yourself in a tight situation, and no instinct can help you to escape? And that you'll only be alone for the rest of your life because you relied on your instincts too much."

"Once your blind…" Sebastian trailed off and smirked. "Doubt has no room in your heart. I am a healer. My teammates rely on me ninety-nine percent of the time. If I doubt myself, how can I ever repay their trust?"

"But—"

Sebastian placed his finger on Allen's lips before the boy could continue. "No more buts, Mr. Dante. No doubts. Start with that."

Allen took a long and deep breath. "Okay. No more doubts."

"Good," Sebastian smirked and walked by the doorway. "Come over downstairs. I bet you're hungry. We need to prepare your for your training. And just a little warning, the training sessions will be intense."

–

"Stop," Allen groaned as he fell to the ground. "I can't breath. My legs… my hands… I can't feel anything anymore."

"That's because you stopped giving out energy throughout your body," Sebastian said. "I told you to minimize it, not stop."

Allen groaned and rolled to his back. He looked at the beautiful blue skies as he laid on the grass at the back of Sebastian's villa in the woods. 

He was indeed friends with Bernard after the similarities between their villas. There was a tall and powerful fence that guarded around the villa while the inside was a beautiful field of flowers and grass.

On the backyard was a specific patch of a special grass that was grown by Sebastian himself. He partnered with scientists that specialized botany in the Otherworlds to alter the grass that he had on his villa. This particular grass was aura sensitive. It changes color when it detects a presence of a Hunter, a beast, or anything that has mana in them.

Allen's task was to stand on top of the patch of grass. There, almost immediately, the grass changed color. It went from green to bright gold right at the moment Allen stepped inside.

"You really are a Bearer," Sebastian smirked. "Now, minimize the flow of your aura. It's like you're turning a faucet down or changing a stove flame from high to low."

"That doesn't sound easy," Allen said. "Can I— uhm, could you show me a demonstration?"

"I guess so," Sebastian nodded.

The two men switched places and it was now Sebastian inside the pale yellow patch of grass. "See the difference in the saturation? I'm at the level right below the Primordial Beast Bearers and my color is much paler than yours."

"What about Bernard?" Allen couldn't stop himself from asking. "Is he the same as me?"

"No," Sebastian answered honestly. "His color is only a bit more saturated than mine, but never like yours. Your color is the one that Drake Nelson has. The bright golden hue that shows dominance over every other being."

As Sebastian said those words, Allen saw that the grass had slowly returned to their green color. His eyes widened and his lips became slightly ajar after seeing the color changes.

"Wow," Allen breathed out. "That is indeed amazing."

"That's because I hide my aura well," Sebastian said. "And if you encounter stronger people with that stench of aura in you, you're gonna get yourself killed."

"Then teach me," Allen said. "Please teach me how to hide my aura properly."

"This is already a lesson," the blonde man said with a smile. "Your task now is to stand here and let the grass revert back to their green color. If you can't do it, then I don't have any other means to help you."

Thus, Allen continued with his new training. He did as was told and limit the flow of his aura throughout his body. He himself didn't know how much was enough or how little was too much limitation. What he did was just restrict everything from flowing.

He saw the patch of grass turn from the bright gold hue, slowly transitioning to the green color. That was when he couldn't feel his legs and he couldn't feel his body next. "What's happening?"

"You could've died," Sebastian said. "I went inside to get us something to drink when I didn't feel you. It was like you vanished altogether."

"That's not what we want to happen?" Allen asked.

"Definitely, a hundred percent, not," Sebastian scoffed. "What we want is four you to have a faint aura that would camouflage you in the crowd, not make your presence vanish like some ghost. I hate ghosts."

The thought rang in Allen's head like a bell, and he immediately asked, "But can I do that?"

"Do what?" Sebastian crossed his arms and quirked one of his eyebrows up. "What's on your mind right now, Dante? Why don't I feel so good about this?"

"I want a technique like that," Allen said. "I want something like a vanishing technique. Something like when you encounter a ghost and they suddenly disappear into thin air, their presence gone without a trace."

"No," Sebastian said immediately. "I don't allow it. I know how aura feels better than anyone and it's probably impossible to make your aura disappear like that. You just felt what it's like to run out of mana for a couple of seconds, and it didn't feel good. The only thing that's closest to not having an aura is also not having a pulse."

Allen wondered for a moment. He took in Sebastian's words and analyzing it thoroughly. He then smirked and raised himself off of the ground.

"What if I don't make my aura vanish—"

"Good," Sebastian shut him down but Allen continued.

"What if I simultaneously let the aura in the air pass through me?" Allen said. "If I can somehow make that work, then I'll be able to be completely invisible."

"That's…" Sebastian trailed off and placed his finger on his chin, deep in thought. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

Allen smirked but Sebastian gave him a deadpan, making him frown.

"What now?" the boy pursed his lips. "You said it was good."

"I didn't say anything like that," Sebastian scoffed. "In theory, that could happen. But how on earth would you let aura pass through your body without anyone noticing?"

"If I master the flow of aura in the air, that should be easy," Allen suggested. "And since you know well how aura travels, you can describe it to me and I'll go with the flow of the aura's fluctuations. It's like driving on a car on a smooth road."

"You're not a Bearer for nothing," Sebastian grinned. "Tell me more about this plan of yours and we'll make it happen. But you still need to practice limiting your aura. It will be weird if you use this technique in public. People will wonder why they can't feel you, but you are there with them."

"Okay," Allen said with a smirk. "But I won't agree to help unless you tell me that I'm right."

Sebastian gasped and scoffed, "Don't be childish at a time like this, Dante. You just said a groundbreaking suggestion for a technique that no one else had thought of before, and now you're acting like a child."

"Say it," Allen said without hesitation. He was tenaciously asking Sebastian for a favor and he wasn't going to stop until he gets it. "Just say I was right."

"Fine, you're right," Sebastian groaned. "You're the master of wits and trivia. Now let us experiment on you so we can master this technique."

Allen smiled but couldn't help but form a lump on his throat. He looked at Sebastian seriously, making the man worry that something might be wrong.

"Are you okay, Dante?" Sebastian asked. "If you see a beas that looks scary, don't worry. The fence will keep them out."

Allen was still silent for a couple more seconds, making Sebastian even more worried. "This is not funny anymore. Why aren't you speaking—"

"Allen," Allen cut him off. "My real name is Allen."