Luke Everhart
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Chapter 90 - The Power Of Aura
🕑 Added 2024-11-26 00:51:30 +0000 UTCNar came to slowly. Peacefully even.
His mind had none of the heaviness and graininess of the last few days, and as he lifted his hand to his face, he rejoiced in the simple lightness of the movement.
Everything felt alright.
Whole, even.
He pulled up his status as he sat up.
Full HP. Full stamina. And my aura… 205/1000.
He paused at that.
205? Wasn’t it at 207 when I unlocked it? And last night I…
Bloody fists and screaming flashed through his mind and he shook his head to make the images go away.
I… I used a lot of aura, didn’t I? Or did I? Did I just recover it? Wait, there’s aura and [Aura] now? And I gained new skills! Shit! I didn’t even check anything!
Feeling increasingly annoyed at himself, he cast a quick glance around him.
All was quiet but for the sound of Mul’s soft snoring and Rel’s light wheeze. Despite the late last night, it looked like he was the first one up.
And yet, he felt so… Well.
He shook his head.
Determined to not waste any time, Nar focused on the biggest and most pressing question.
What is aura? He demanded, staring at his new gray bar.
As expected, a window appeared.
-[ Congratulations!
You have unlocked Aura.
Aura is one of two energy sources available in the Nexus, the second one being Aether. Both of these are used to empower combat and non-combat activities.
Aura is…
(No more information available)
On the other hand, Aether is…
(No more information available)
Both Aura and Aether differ from HP and stamina, in that they are not automatically re-charged. In the case of Aura, a skill such as [Meditation] must be actively used in order to regenerate spent Aura.
In another, crucial similarity, both Aura and Aether require the creation and development of specific channels within the body, not unlike veins for blood. In the case of Aura, these channels take the form of the passive skill [Aura Channels]. There are several benefits from developing and upgrading your [Aura Channels], such as…
(No more information available)
Unlocking Aura is the most basic and crucial prerequisite to unlocking the Auramancer paths. ]-
Nar brought a hand to his forehead and frowned at the window.
What do you mean it’s an alternative to aether? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Is it not our curse? Just… I…
He groaned and pressed his eyes shut together.
First, they had been using aura wrong all their lives.
Second, it actually came from within them. It belonged to them.
Third, what in the pile was that supposed to mean? An alternative source of energy? Did that mean it was an equal to aether? Just a different path to power? Or was it less powerful than aether? What did all of that mean?
With a startle, he remembered Jul’s reaction to his apparent emotions. He balled his fists and closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. His heart raged within him, out of control, and he didn’t want to scare Jul again.
After several minutes of calming himself down, he looked at the window again.
Okay. Okay. So, aura is an alternative to aether, but you won’t tell me anything at all. Okay. Okay. Right…
He re-read the new information again, looking for anything of use that had been allowed to him.
[Meditation]... I remember seeing that. So that’s why I didn’t recover any aura. I need to actively use a skill for that. That's… Interesting.
He considered his aura bar.
I started out with 207, and even after all that time in that room, I only used two points of aura. That means… About 0.7 points of aura spent per hour? And with 1000 points, that would be… Uh. Almost 60 days?
With his eyebrows arched in surprise, he considered the orange room beyond them. Maybe it wouldn’t be a concern after all.
He shook his head at the thought, though.
It’s never that simple. Or easy. There has to be a catch somewhere. All my skills are aura skills now, and I doubt we’ll just be able to walk through this without any problems.
He sighed. Anyways, we’ll get to the skills later.
He turned back to the window and his next big question.
What is an auramancer?
He focused on the word, at the bottom of the window, and a new window appeared, above the first one.
-[ Auramancer – Class of one who uses the power of aura. It is the starting point of the many aura paths. ]-
Well, that’s sort of useless.
It didn’t tell him anything. However, one thing did call his eye.
If aura is meant to be a curse, then why are there aura paths and classes? And many of them, at that?
He pursed his lips.
That was not right.
At least, not according to everything that the workers believed in.
Aether, and magic, was the gift of the Crystal to Its children. Alongside the Source, and through the benevolence of the Crystal and the connection to the System, it was granted to empower the Children of the Crystal.
The workers, the sinners, had been cursed to use the painful, disgusting aura, as a punishment for their transgressions. This was what they knew.
However, now, before him, there were two sources! One was aether, as they had always known, and the other was aura. Their aura! Their punishing, painful, disgusting aura… Except it wasn’t any of those things! And for some reason, just thinking about his aura being described as such made his heartbeat race again.
What in the Nexus is going on here?
The two energies, what the workers knew, and what those windows were now telling him, were in direct opposition to one another. And Nar knew that there was only one of them that could be right, and he very much doubted that it was the workers!
So, what in the pile is the meaning of this? What is even the truth anymore?
He felt as though the very floor he stood upon was crumbling beneath him.
He had believed that aura was a curse for his entire life. And not only did he use it wrong, aura was actually a second energy source, with its own damned paths within the System Itself! That meant that there was no breaking of his path at all! For there were aura paths! And many of them at that!
He wanted to scream! He wanted to laugh hysterically!
What was the truth? What was real anymore? Did he even need aether, or magic, at all?
Crystal! What the fuck? I don’t… I don’t get it!
What was he supposed to believe in now?
And at this point, did the workers even know anything at all anymore?
Did they remember anything from their time on the surface that was actually real?
Nar was starting to think that in their Long Dark, they had forgotten everything, and had just made it up instead. He didn’t know whether to be angry at that possibility, or relieved. Because with magic still nowhere to be gained, frankly, he couldn’t deny that his aura was a massive temptation. He had a pile ton of it! And even two modifiers on it!
If aura ended up being just as powerful as aether, wouldn’t it be perfect?
Reeling from all of this, he closed the short auramancer definition, and queried the System again.
What is the difference between aura and aether?
-[ You have been given all the information currently available. ]-
“What in the pile?” he muttered.
Frowning, he stared at the single sentence.
How can I get more information?
This time, no new window appeared. Instead, the words just faded in and out, and a different sentence appeared.
-[ More information can be obtained after the Climb. ]-
Nar scoffed.
So, you’re telling me that I have all this aura, but you won’t tell me if it's better or worse than aether, and that I need to decide whether to ignore it, in the hopes of gaining aether, or to take it, not knowing if its pileshit compared to aether and magic?
The words did not change. No answer was given to him.
He clenched his jaw, and formed shaking fists.
And after all this, You still expect loyalty and faith from me? And love?
How?
How in the Nexus was he supposed to not feel angry and resentful? How was he not supposed to feel hatred, given everything that had been shoved in his face?
He closed his eyes and quietly got up. He walked a ways away from the party, and paced alongside the invisible Pressure boundary.
For a good while, his thoughts were simply a jumbled mess of darkness and confusion. And they were not kind towards the Crystal, Almighty or not.
Eventually though, he ran out of mental energy, and sat down.
With tiredness came clarity, and lucidity, and he realized he needed to keep going. He needed to at least look at his skills, and try to understand, as best as he could, what aura was, and what it meant for him.
First of all, what is the difference between aura and [Aura]? That’s confusing the shit out of me.
-[ Aura refers to a source of energy for various actions. It is…
(No more information available)
On the other hand, [Aura] refers to the attribute itself. It represents the status and strength of your aura.
Simply put, at its most basic definition, [Aura] is just the indicator of how strong your aura is. What you use is aura, not [Aura]. Just like you spend stamina, and not [Stamina].
Just like your [Constitution] and [Stamina], where each point corresponds to 10 points of HP and stamina, respectively, each point of [Aura] also corresponds to 10 points of your aura bar. ]-
Well… I could’ve figured that out by myself, I guess.
He shook his head.
Let’s see those skills then.
-[ Meditation - Recharge your aura through deep breathing, and the emptying of your mind. Through this, it is possible to access a sense of… (No more information available). Cannot be used while aura is in active use.
Aura Channels 4 (Passive) - Channels carved throughout the body for the circulation and use of aura. The higher the level of the channels, the higher its quality, allowing the user to… (No more information available).
Aura Senses 2 (Passive) - Drawing upon your senses, including [Instinct], automatically taps into your aura. This empowers all of your senses by a further n * n, where n is the rank of this skill. Further, this skill is the crucial prerequisite towards the more… (No more information available).
Aura Attack - An attack that does an extra n * 0.55 damage, where n is the amount of aura points you wish to use. Extra damage modifiers can be triggered, based on several factors such as… (No more information available). Cost n points of aura.
Aura Quickening - For five seconds your [NPC], [Reflex], [Agility] and [Speed] increase by n * 0.1, where n is your [Aura]. Cost 25 aura. Warning: Severe physical and mental damage may be incurred if this skill is overused. ]-
As he read, the anger that threatened to boil over, from all those “No more information available” blockages, slowly dissipated, and his mind fell into a sort of numbness. A kind of blankness.
After he re-read the description for [Aura Attack] and [Aura Quickening] for the third time, he numbly pulled up his status tab.
-[ NAR293457741235645XAV
Auramancer 1
Health Points: 220/220
Stamina: 250/250
Aura: 205/1000
Attributes
● Strength: 17
● Constitution: 22
● Stamina: 25
● Agility: 19
● Speed: 23
● Aura**: 100
● ???: 19
● ???: 25
● Might: 6
● Endurance: 11
● Instinct: 24
● Reflex: 22
● Hearing: 16
● Sight: 15
● Smell: 8
● NPC: 5 ]-
“By the…” he whispered. “What is this?”
Ignoring the fact that his active skills were now powered by his much, much higher [Aura] points, the sheer numbers from those multipliers… He could barely wrap his head over the calculations.
If I use all of my aura… No! If I use half of it, that's 275 points of extra damage done! Before, I… I…
He scrambled around, shouting mental questions and queries, but no window appeared with the previous version of his skill, [Strong Attack 3].
Ugh! Why can’t I see it? It was multiplied by my [Strength] before, and I only have 17 points… From 17 to 100… Crystal Above All… And my [Aura Quickening]...
Unlike his [Aura Attack] which had kept its 0.55 damage multiplier, his new [Aura Quickening] had been set back to a 0.1 multiplier. However, with 100 points in [Aura], that meant that his [NPC], [Reflex], [Agility] and [Speed] all gained a massive 10-point boost. A 10-point boost! Each! And for a whole five seconds, and only for 25 aura!
This is insane… he thought, staring wide eyed at the numbers before him.
Of course, he didn’t just ignore the warning to his wellbeing. But in the excitement that took him, he barely glanced at it.
He closed all the windows and looked around him.
His heart thumped in his chest.
He knew it was aura, but still… Everything he had read. All the gains. All the skill upgrades… They were nothing short of amazing.
And on a whim, he drew upon his [Hearing]. Instantly, it was as though the Nexus around him shrunk.
He could hear eight people’s breaths, as if their mouths were right next to his ear. Not in a confusion of deafening overlapping, but individually, each as clear as the other. And by the Crystal! What was that low thumping? It was rhythmic, but yet so distinct. Gentle here, and galloping there. It was so familiar.
He strained to listen to these beats, hidden under the breathing, searching for their meaning.
Crystal! It was right at the tip of his mind and tongue. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. It was…
Nar gasped, covering his mouth against the booming sound that escaped him.
Heartbeats. Crystal Almighty. I can hear their hearts.
Shocked, he let go of his [Hearing] and the world plunged into a deafening silence.
“My Crystal…”
Breathing hard, he jumped, and without a second’s hesitation, plunged into the Pressure, reaching for his aura. He felt no more than a gentle humming resistance surrounding him, and his aura came to him with barely a thought.
Nar pulled out his sword and paused.
His heartbeat was fast and loud in his ears.
[Aura Quickening].
For a split second his lungs seized. Then, a rush of air and energy arched his back.
Nar stood, paralyzed. For a moment, he was unable to process the sheer amount of energy coursing through his body and mind. He started shaking, as though he was having seizures.
No. Not shaking.
He was just moving so fast that his minute movements felt like he was trembling all over.
Exhaling, he felt the aura leave him.
Nar licked his lips and grabbed his sword with both hands.
[Aura Quickening]!
Energy exploded through him again. Even though he had braced himself for it, when he moved his sword, it still felt janky and broken. He tried a few more cuts and slashes. Even a few steps, but his body almost felt like it wasn’t his own.
This will take some getting used to, he thought, marveling at the feeling of power coursing through his body.
His aura faded from him again, and he took position once more.
He had spent 50 points of aura just there, but at 155, he felt that he was still safe enough within the Pressure. And there was one more skill to try.
[Aura Attack]. 50 points.
Swirling, hazy gray smokiness covered his blade.
Here and there, flashes of brilliant white pierced through, just as spots of the darkest black also swirled up and down his blade.
With a frown, Nar stared up at the ceiling.
Doesn’t that… Look kinda similar?
He scoffed at himself. What a random thought.
He shook it away, and focused back on his sword once more.
The gray aura covered it from the base of the blade to its very tip. He gave the sword a few experimental swings, but he felt no noticeable difference.
He brought the sword close to his face and examined it.
The blade did not shine blindingly like it had before. The traces of that white light were there. He could see them, here and there, in the swirling grays. But it was now just another shade in a plethora of different shades of gray, down to even black itself.
Is this what my Aura really looks like? Are these all the impurities I had to cut away?
His jaw tightened.
What’s impure about this?
Nothing.
It was beautiful.
It was exactly as it should be.
From the very moment he had laid eyes on that small ball of light within him, he had felt nothing but love for it.
It was a part of himself. It was neither punishment, nor curse. It was perfect the way it was, and it was his, unlike all of those attributes that came from the System.
And that pained him all the more for it…
He released the aura in his sword, and noticed how it returned to his hand, and into him. However, a good deal of it simply dissipated from the sword, like strips of cloth fluttering away into smaller and smaller pieces, until none was left.
All in all, about 30 points of aura from the 50 used to power the skill returned to the gray bar.
He felt the sting behind his eyes and he blinked away rapidly. He took a deep breath and stored the sword away.
He passed a hand over his hair.
I can’t… I can’t risk it. Can I?
Because, for all the [Aura] that he had and the two modifiers on it. For all the insane skills that he had just gained. For all the promises of power and potential paths that aura opened up for him… There was something else to be said for all that he had just learned.
It had been dropped on him so matter-of-factly, so un-emphasized besides the startling findings about aura, that only now was his brain fully catching up to the full ramifications.
Aura was an alternative to aether.
And that, just there, said almost so quietly as to go unnoticed, was the System confirming to him what he had been hoping for all along.
He brought up that window again, his eyes drinking in the words.
-[ …the second one being Aether.
On the other hand, Aether is…
…and Aether differ from HP…
…and Aether require the… ]-
Aether was real.
Magic was real!
The doubts that had been growing inside him throughout this entire Climb… Doubts that had been compounded and strengthened by Wik and Tas, and the lack of even the smallest drop of magic amongst all the Climbers he had met and seen… He could now put them all to finally rest.
Aether is real… As so is magic.
Nar Who Was One With The Wind wielded magic. So did Ghroumvar. So did all the Named Few in that chapel!
Wind! Fire! Ice! Lightning!
For the fucking Crystal! It was fucking real!
It was all real!
He baled his hands into fists and pressed them against his eyes.
It’s real… And I fucking need it. Don’t I?
He clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt and cracked in warning. His nails dug into the palms of his hands and his arms shook.
Because for all that my aura promises me, the real power is still with the fucking aether, isn’t it?
Hysterical laughter sought to escape him. But he bit down on it at the last moment. Hard.
He took a deep breath, savoring the heat.
Then he exhaled just as slowly.
He eased his fists and dropped his arms.
He relaxed his jaw.
And an eerie quiet took over his mind.
He snorted. He was surprised of himself. He really was.
Knowing that aether was real and that he had been pushed so far from it, perhaps irreparably so, should’ve broken him. It would’ve most certainly broken that boy that had first stepped onto that corridor, all those months ago. Crystal, that felt like another lifetime…
But he wasn’t that boy anymore. He hoped he had grown… To be the same person he was, hopefully, but maybe… Better.
And who knows, maybe his newly unlocked aura was perhaps even strengthening his very mind too. It did come from inside himself… So maybe there was something to say about that.
He shook his head and regarded the little ball inside him.
An alternative, eh… You know, part of me really hopes that you’re just as good as aether. No. Maybe I hope you’re even better…
He sighed.
Gad says we’ll find a way, he told himself. And we will. I just need to focus on Climbing first. Then… Then, we’ll see. Nar Who Was One With The Wind was definitely a Climber too, and she found a way. I just need to hold on. Be better. Stronger. And I’ll find a way too… I know I will.
But a part of him would hold onto that little hope that maybe he was wrong. That maybe, it was aura, and not aether, that Nar Who Was One With The Wind wielded somehow...
He wiped at his eyes angrily, and turned to return to the others before they woke up and noticed his absence.
However, he froze as he found Kur standing by the boundary.
His party leader was staring at him.
Looking at the floor, Nar walked to Kur.
He released his aura as he stepped back into the safety of the corridor, but it was a full minute before he faced Kur.
“Did Cen tell you?” he at last asked the party leader.
Kur nodded.
“I can’t accept aura,” Nar said.
“I know,” Kur whispered.
“It feels… Wrong, not to. But the risk,” Nar whispered, hating every word coming out of his mouth. “I still don’t know for sure if aether is what I need. Everything is just… A mess. But for now, I still think I need it.”
The party leader nodded again. “I know.”
Kur crossed his arms and continued staring at the room beyond. “How does it feel, though?”
“Good. Very good. Very strong,” Nar said.
“Will you use it if you have to?”
“Of course! I’ll do my part. I’ll do everything to keep us safe, and get us all out,” Nar vowed. “It would be… The most stupid, fucked up thing to not use my aura when we need it. But I can’t accept it. At least not with what I know so far…”
Kur nodded as well, and exhaled wearily.
“Thank you. That’s all I ask of you. That’s all I can, since that’s as much as I’m willing to give myself. I too, will not give up on aether. Not yet, at least. There’s just no way of knowing if it’s a bad choice or not…” he said. “Crystal. Why can’t They just tell us?”
Nar nodded in slow agreement.
“And… What about Cen?” Nar asked, grimacing. “How’s she doing with all this?”
Kur rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, she’s happy with it. And very happy, surprisingly. Finding that ball of light inside her did something to her… Like, I tried to talk her through it, you know. That she needed to consider the long term and all of those heavy, tiresome things. But she’s holding on to hope that in the end, aura will prove to be just as powerful as aether. She read alternative, and that’s what she’s getting from all this. And no matter my opinions on the matter, she will make her own path. We all will.”
His party leader sighed again, and squeezed his fingers around the bridge of his nose.
“This fucking magic better be worth it,” he said.
Nar nodded sharply.
It better be.
“So, are you going through it?” Nar asked. “The class change?”
“What choice is there?” Kur said, shrugging. “I’ll wake up the others and we’ll get it done. Can you help Cen with it? I want it done as soon as possible, so that everyone can fill up their auras before we head into that Pressure. And we’re leaving as soon as we can. I’m sick of this place. I’m sick of all this pileshit being constantly dumped over our heads. I just want this Climb to be over and done with.”
Yes. So, do I.
Comments
Lucas Onderwater
Yeah, they're caught in a moment in between "damn, we were lied to" but also "wait, the Crystal is real? What else is real then?". So, I think it would've been like getting hit by a double whammy from two opposite sides here, which further increased their confusion and prevented them from making proper conclusions of what had just happened... 😅
Faces The Wind
I dig it. Their entire religion has been proven to be at least partially lies... but also partially true. How can they cleanly renounce their spiritual abusers when they aren't sure how much of what they believed was true? The real-world parallels are strong and anyone who has experienced a major turning point in any variety of ideology from Santa Claus to public education can likely relate somewhere here.
Lucas Onderwater
Hey, thanks for the comment! And, yeah, I agree! I've actually been editing through the chapters leading up to this moment, plus a couple more after, because I felt like things weren't quite right/aligning... And thank you for pointing out that sentence in particular. It does feel weird for Nar to suddenly not want magic anymore, so I changed it to him instead seeing aura more as a bit of temptation, giving how much he has, with the two modifiers, and how strong it is... But since he still doesn't know whether aura is worse than aether or not, he's still holding off on it. But it's starting to be more and more difficult for him to do so... I hope things read better now. And don't worry about being critical! I really appreciate the feedback and it really helps me improve the story!
Frederik Bernt Scharff
To my mind you are hammering on it slightly too much. He just had multiple epiphanies toppling basically everything underpinning his understanding of his world. Says to himself that he doesn't even want magic anymore really and then does a 180 pivot back to no I can't use aura. I'm not trying to be overly critical, but it just flows a bit weird like you are really trying to force the whole doent use aura part. Would maybe consider at least removing the sentence about not wanting magic anymore
Lucas Onderwater
Hahaha! Yeah, the anti-aura sentiment is quite ingrained in their minds, isn't it? Or is it that they just believe in the fabled magic way too much? Maybe now that everyone is undergoing the class change, they will start to change their opinions about aura too?
Kaze
Jeeze. He gets a whole class based around it, it's his highest stat by like 70 and we're still waffling about whether he's going to use it or not? At some point enough is enough, Nar. lol.
