Volume1: the Villain's awakening:Chapter7: Selection of the five young masters (3)
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Heavy silence lasted for a few moments, even the wind could be heard, as if the entire arena had lost its voice in an instant, then—
The place exploded with brilliance.
"What did my eyes just see?! That's a sky-blue aura, right?!"
"Yes! It must be!"
"For someone like that to be born…"
The entire crowd was shocked. Not just the crowd—nobles held their heads in disbelief, guards' hands trembled. Everyone was truly shaken.
The mage responsible for commentary stuttered before regaining himself and announcing the result.
"My God! What a glorious day this is?! A person with a sky-blue aura has been born, and at the intermediate rank! We haven't witnessed this in hundreds of years! And on top of that, the damage reached 98%! Breaking Starlon Narsel's record of 96%!"
"Starlon Narsel…"
Upon hearing the name, Dillon lowered his sword and began thinking.
"Starlon was one of the family's ancestors. Like me, a sky-blue aura user. But one day, he disappeared without leaving anything behind. Some said he became immortal, but nothing is clear until now."
He raised his head to look at the people's expressions. Celia was biting her nails in anger, sweat dripping from her forehead.
"Yes, I like that expression."
The corners of his mouth widened even more.
He turned his gaze toward his father, but he didn't expect what he saw.
"Huh? What is this?"
His expression changed slightly. His father had his eyes wide open, the corners of his face raised, smiling.
He wasn't shocked… he was smiling as if something was going exactly in his favor.
Dillon's suspicion grew.
He expected him to be shocked, since even he himself was slightly surprised. In his past life, his aura had been gray at peak stage, but he linked it to Nemesis and his return in time and didn't give it importance. But his father… was smiling.
Dillon didn't understand it.
"What a truly great day! Anyway, let's move to the second stage."
The second stage was verifying the soul core. The soul core of knights carries the color of the aura.
"The second stage? Ah right… this is the day that thing will be revealed. This will be annoying…"
Everyone advanced to verify their cores, until it was Dillon's turn.
"Now, Dillon Narsel, it is your turn."
Stepping forward, he stood before the person in charge of verifying the aura core. The man placed two fingers on his forehead and two fingers on Dillon's forehead.
"…" "…" "…"
Sweat poured from the man's forehead and he said nothing.
"Is something happening here?"
"T-this…"
"What is it? Speak." the mage said in confusion.
The audience didn't understand anything, even Edgar couldn't hide his curiosity.
"T-this… this is impossible…"
Sweat poured from his forehead as he stepped back half a step.
"Young master… Dillon… possesses a second soul core! He can use magic!"
"…."
After a brief silence that felt heavy to some, cheers erupted once again.
---
"Sir young master, His Majesty requests you immediately."
This was Zeke. After all the cheers and heavy shouting, he couldn't bear it and left quickly. If he stayed a little longer, he would have been devoured by the nobles' jealous gazes and whispers. Immediately after leaving, Zeke followed him.
Dillon glanced at him briefly before looking away.
"Alright, tell him I'm coming."
Upon hearing this, Zeke left immediately. Dillon walked along the empty corridor, servants passing by him occasionally. He had already memorized their faces, as they had passed him dozens of times within a single day.
"Hm… did they really think I was that stupid?"
After walking for a few minutes, he finally reached the king's room.
"Sir, the young master Dillon has arrived."
Dillon entered and stood before his father, while Sebastian left them alone.
"You called for me, Your Majesty. Do you need something?"
"Yes. Sit."
Dillon pulled the chair in front of him and sat down.
"Dillon, you possess a sky-blue aura, extremely rare to the point that we haven't seen it in our family for hundreds of years. Do you understand what that means?"
"…" "As you know, power brings trouble. And the greater the power, the harder it is to control it. The sky-blue aura is the hardest to control; it requires great purity and extreme precision. An incredibly pure aura… it chooses its bearer. But be careful, if there is any flaw or mistake in the aura refinement process, a backlash will occur and your core will be destroyed."
'Alright, I already knew this.'
He paused for a moment then continued.
"Let's talk about the gray aura, Arthur's. Although it is easier to control than the sky-blue one, dealing with it is still difficult. Its nature is unstable and may behave unpredictably. If it detects incompatibility with its user or a drop in talent, it will begin to corrode and devour the core directly."
'That was somewhat true… but looking at Arthur, he won't struggle using it.'
"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."
"Yes, you must. And as for the second core… we will talk about it later."
Dillon left the king's office and headed to his room. He showered, changed his clothes, and sat on his bed. He closed his eyes and sank into his mind.
He focused on his vitality, then on his soul core. There were two of them: one sky-blue, containing the essence of aura, and the other radiating the seven colors of the spectrum—a magical core.
While focusing inside his body, on his left side, his heart was intact, and when shifting to the other side—
"W-what the hell?!"
Dillon was shocked and jumped off his bed, his face turning pale in disbelief. He tried again, closing his eyes, sinking once more.
"What am I seeing?!"
It was something like a heart, but black and purple at the same time, emitting a powerful aura that made sweat run down Dillon's face.
"Is this thing… what Nemesis gave me?"
The corners of his lips stretched.
"Hoh… who would've thought I'd obtain a Shadow Heart like this."
The Shadow Heart was something mentioned in ancient legends. It was said that the ancient God of Shadows granted a special power to his closest followers. Whoever obtained this heart was said to have become immortal, or ascended into a fallen angel—but its effects and abilities remained unknown.
"Alright… I'll try using it later."
Dillon left his room and headed to the training hall. He picked up a wooden sword, stood sideways, one hand placed behind his back, and began swinging the sword vertically.
Time passed slowly. Even though Dillon performed hundreds of swings, only fifteen minutes had passed. Still, he continued.
500…
600…
700…
850…
980…
1000…
"Ugh…"
Dillon collapsed onto his knees, drenched in sweat, cursing inwardly in anger.
"Damn it! This body is weak. I need to strengthen it quickly."
As he rested, his muscles screamed in pain, and he thought to himself.
"Someone has been watching me for a long time."
He quickly turned his head toward the door. The moment he did, the person fled.
"A prey… came at the perfect time."
A smile spread across his face.
---
When he saw that she was looking at him, the girl's heart trembled violently as she blamed herself.
"I'm such an idiot! Why was I even spying on him?!"
Cursing herself, Nersia ran quickly—but she soon collided with someone's body. She raised her head, and her eyes immediately trembled. Her legs weakened in disbelief.
"How did he get here so fast?!"
Dillon slammed his hand against the wall, causing his sister to flinch even more.
"What? What do you think you're doing spying on me? What were you planning? Huh? Who sent you?"
"I… I-it's nothing… I j-just happened to pass by…" the young girl stammered, tears forming in her eyes.
Dillon confirmed it—his plan was going in the right direction.
He raised his hand toward her, and the girl closed her eyes helplessly before—
"Dillon Narsel."
A voice came from behind them.
Dillon immediately released the girl and turned toward the source of the voice.
"What? Are you going to stop me here too? Your sister was spying on me—who knows what she was planning."
He glanced at his sister. A spark of hope briefly appeared in her eyes, but he looked away and spoke.
"I don't care about what happens between you two. There is only one thing I care about."
Upon hearing this, Nersia collapsed to the ground in disbelief.
Dillon's smile widened even more.
"What do you mean?"
Dillon asked with a playful expression.
Arthur paused for a moment, then raised his finger, pointing it at Dillon's face.
"Dillon Narsel… I'm interested in you."
"…."
"…What?"
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The aura core has been changed to soul core.
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