From that day onward, Alric changed completely.
Training was no longer a duty.
It became an obsession.
He trained at dawn.He trained at midnight.He trained until his hands bled and healed again.
Sword forms.Breathing control.Aura circulation.
Even when his body collapsed, his mind refused to rest.
The red aura of House Aurelion slowly became clearer around him—thin, sharp, and dangerous.
The trainees around him struggled to keep up.
"His pressure feels heavier every day…""Is he really just nine?"
Alric heard none of it.
He had only one goal.
Control.
The Moment Everything Broke
It happened during a late-night training session.
The moon was high.
The courtyard was quiet.
Alric stood in the center, sword raised, eyes closed.
Breathe slowly.Mind empty.
Then—
He went deeper.
Too deep.
His consciousness slipped past awareness.
Past control.
Something ancient inside him responded.
His aura surged violently.
The red shimmer turned dark and distorted.
The ground cracked.
Trainees nearby froze as a crushing pressure slammed into them.
"What is this—?!""I can't breathe—!"
The aura exploded outward.
A wave of terrifying energy swept across the courtyard.
Bodies flew back.
Swords clattered.
One by one, trainees collapsed—unconscious.
At the center of it all, Alric stood still.
Eyes empty.
Aura is completely unstable.
Far away, inside the main estate—
Duke Aldric Aurelion stopped mid-step.
His eyes narrowed.
"This aura…"
He vanished.
In the next instant, he stood at the edge of the ruined courtyard.
The sight before him was shocking.
Unconscious trainees everywhere.
Cracked stone.
And his son—surrounded by raging power.
Behind Alric's small body, Aldric saw it.
A terrifying vision.
A demonic silhouette, massive and feral.
An angelic shape, cold and radiant.
Both are overlapping.
Both are bound to the same existence.
Aldric's breath hitched.
"So it's true…"
He stepped forward.
The pressure intensified.
A lesser man would have been crushed.
Aldric raised his hand.
The air screamed.
His red aura erupted—dense, absolute, sovereign.
The unstable energy instantly froze.
This was not dominance.
This was authority.
Aldric moved through the chaos and caught Alric before his body fell.
The raging aura slowly calmed.
The courtyard fell silent.
Sir Kael arrived moments later, eyes wide.
"My Lord…" he whispered.
Aldric did not answer.
Only one thought crossed his mind.
He reached this state far too early.
As Aldric held his unconscious son, something else caught his attention.
A sensation.
Different.
Subtle.
"This isn't aura…"
He focused.
From within Alric's body, a faint magical mana leaked—pure, unfamiliar, and unnatural to sword families.
Aldric's grip tightened slightly.
"Sword aura… divine balance… and now magic mana?"
His eyes darkened.
"What exactly did you bring back with you, my son?"
Alric stirred slightly in his arms.
The night wind whispered through broken stone.
And far beyond mortal sight—
Something unseen reacted.
End of Chapter 7