NOVEL NEXT 8: Soul & Aura
Kai observed Altair for any indication of how to absorb aura. After straining his senses to the limit, he gradually noticed faint disturbances in the air around him, but clicked his tongue when he lost his concentration when something caught the elder Starforger’s attention from the depths of space.
“Ah, this is a splendid opportunity to learn. It appears the other reason we are here has arrived.”
Kai squinted. His sight tracked where the Elder pointed beyond countless stars, and the colour left his face when his eyes fell upon a terrifying leviathan, its body curled around a sun.
Kai was like an ant that had been stomped on as pressure crushed him into the ground. The Starforger clapped his hands together and the space between them voraciously sucked in light, the world darkened as a small black hole tore into reality. The Starforger opened his mouth and spewed forth a torrent of blistering starfire that formed a halo of death around the black hole. Kai gulped. That should not be possible. He was absolutely certain he would have died if this was not a memory; he wanted power like this.
He watched slack-jawed as the leviathan constricted the sun and opened its salivating maw to gorge on it. The Starforger shot through space like a meteor until he collided like a speck of dust against the creature’s titanic body.
The black hole swallowed the leviathan, yet the galaxy burnt white.
Once Kai could see again, his eyes flickered to something he had not noticed before, a small building that resembled a Rubik’s Cube, except it was made of sandstone. Crystal runes etched upon its surface erupted with starfire as it whirled to life, a translucent dome shielding them from waves of volatile energies as the cosmos trembled. What is that thing?
The island shook moments later when the Starforger landed with a thud that flattened the cosmic grass.
“…How?” Wonder bloomed on Altair’s face.
The Starforger’s gaze withered it. “You’re adrift in the shadow of my patience, boy!”
“Sorry fathe— Starforger!”
The harsh, judgmental glare was exactly the expression Kai expected from an immortal being and it made him nervous. The old man cleared his throat. “Once you feel your soul is full, we will move to the final basic lesson.” The Starforger gestured around them. “Keep absorbing aura from compatible sources or aura crystals.” He strode away, his face red. Kai understood the look of frustration on Altair’s face, aimed more at himself than his father, Kai suspected.
He hovered around Altair, observing him with renewed determination, he could see faint wisps of something—misty rivers—flowing into him from the direction of the stars. Was the younger starforger simply absorbing aura that resonated with his affinities? Kai considered his affinities: cosmic, gravity, hydrokinesis and martial.
He sat down and took a deep calming breath, then tried to absorb the abstract idea of these concepts, but his mind strained from the effort and after several failed attempts, he instead focused on the feeling of growing the amount of aura within his soul.
It was not long before he quivered in ecstasy at the sensation of aura flowing into him. It was more refreshing than ice cold water on a hot summer day, and he drank deep and long. No stranger to meditation, he sat like this for days until the hollow feeling vanished and his soul-planet felt true and whole. No longer just a mental construct. That seemed easy... where did all the aura come from?
He gazed upon his soul-planet covered in a thin film of starlit water. More. I want more. He pulled in faster. Snapping pain. The muscles in his left arm strained as a vein burst and a purple blotch spread on his forearm. It was spongy and hot to the touch. He winced. Is this my aura capacity limit, or did I just absorb too much too fast? He slowed his intake, his eyes watered with joy as the feeling of dancing in summer rain returned.
When his aura—the stardust water—was a foot deep around his entire soul-planet, he felt the unwelcome sensation of eating too much. Like he would burst if he continued, so he stopped.
Kai wondered how much time had passed. Days? Weeks? There was no day or night here. Why am I not tired anymore?
He opened one eye to peek at Altair, who was still absorbing; could he store more aura — so it took him longer? Relief washed over Kai and he blew out a long sigh as tension left his muscles. He had finally caught up. Kai plopped back first into the grass and admired the lilac phoenix nebulas on the horizon while wishing he could feel the blades of grass tickling his feet.
After a moment of respite, Kai wondered why the pleasant tingling caress of aura felt different to the hair-raising static energy that had soaked into his muscles and organs when he upgraded his body.
The Starforger exited the strange building and swept towards Altair. Kai scurried to stand beside the young Starforger.
“Now unleash your aura, give it intent!”
Kai was expecting something like this might be next and opened the floodgates surrounding his soul; his intent was to move those blasted hulking stone doors. His aura surged through his body like a rampaging river and burst from his hands to coat them and his body in a thin film of rippling stardust water. My aura. His heart beat with excitement.
He turned and saw a similar look of joy on Altair’s face, however the young Starforger’s aura was gold sunlight peppered with black holes. Kai caught the Elder Starforger beaming with pride.
Kai wagered he could only grasp the beginnings of their abilities, the heritage crystal partially wasted on his limited capacity to sense what was happening, but he too beamed.
Congratulations, your struggle for supremacy has yielded results!
You have glimpsed the infinite cosmos, and understand a fraction of gravity’s power.
-Aura traits-
Weight Surge (Flawed): Decrease or increase the weight of any part of your body or nonliving object through a combination of gravity and mass alteration.
1/10 aura fusions slotted
A stream of knowledge flowed into his mind from the heritage crystal, and new information formed an ingrained memory as if he had read some sort of skill manual. Aura traits were manifestations of concepts his soul had an affinity with; he would encounter great difficulty learning traits outside of his soul’s affinities.
His aura traits would grow stronger as his Soul grade improved, but even more important was the flawed attribute which indicated quality, it implied that higher-tier concepts existed, like what he’d seen the Starforger do.
Kai raised both hands in triumph, wielding the power of gravity… incredible. He innately knew he could decrease the weight of the things, like the doors, or increase the weight of his fists, depending on how much aura he used. He realised he would not be throwing stars like galactic grenades, but it was a start. With this as a foundation, I can escape and get strong enough to never lose anyone ever again. Then he remembered he couldn’t even throw a punch properly anymore and ground his teeth.
The elder Starforger awkwardly placed his hand on Altair Sol’s shoulder.
“Let’s go home — son.”
Kai blinked furiously, confused. Jarred as his vision returned to the sandy crystal basin, the humid cave wall at his back. His very stiff back, his muscles groaned. How long was I sitting like this? He felt like he had spent weeks in the mindscape, yet barely any dust covered him. His stomach grumpily informed him of several missed meals, though he wasn’t really sure if his nutrition requirements had changed with his upgraded body.
What concerned him most was the thick stream of bronze sunset liquid winding through the sand, ending in a puddle that his left hand bathed in. It was the same arm with a burst vein, the purple blotch still there. Was the liquid actually a vast source of unique aura that he’d been absorbing? Perhaps another reason this place was considered legendary. He guessed that made sense. How could you absorb aura from a memory?
He glanced at the heritage crystal — it was clear white, and to his surprise stated that he could use it once more when his Soul reached the D-grade… That’s probably far away.
He pocketed the crystal when the grotto’s water bubbled and the now extremely dim cavern trembled. He realised he’d absorbed most of the special aura and the light that kept the primal creature lurking in the abyssal dark at bay was pretty much gone. While the room was still clustered with glowing crystals absorbing the liquid. The liquid aura itself was almost depleted, and only a thin copper rim remained around the basin.
Kai was in awe of awakening his soul; the euphoria made him briefly consider fighting the underwater leviathan, but he discarded the suicidal idea. He could always come back for the beast and the wondrous crystals later if he escaped; gaining more levels first would be less suicidal.
His heart thumped in his ears while he skirted along the walls, sneaking towards the only tunnel out. When the cavern rumbled, he grabbed his wet shirt and dashed out the cavern just as the water exploded and inky-black tentacles lashed out randomly.