Chapter 170: The Aura Core | Magic Castle Bonus

Elias’s eyes widened as he stared at the colorless sphere before him.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Countless layers overlapped within the sphere, constantly shifting and flowing like water while simultaneously burning like an endless flame, and yet neither description truly captured what he was looking at.

It flowed because as long as a person possessed will, that will remained uncontrollable.

It burned because as long as a person lived, that will was never truly static, constantly changing according to thoughts, emotions, experiences, and desires.

And yet, forming an Aura Core required Elias to strip away both of those natures.

His will had to become controlled and unchanging, like a monolith that remained unmoved no matter how heavily the rain fell upon it.

Under normal circumstances, finding one’s will buried deep within oneself was incredibly difficult, and reaching this point would have been nearly impossible without the two advantages he possessed.

The first was his Mind’s Eye, which allowed him to actively dive deeper into his own existence and search through the depths of his spiritual self.

The second was his A-grade talent, Unbreakable Will.

His will was already strong enough that, rather than forcing himself to search blindly through his own spiritual self, he had been directly pulled toward it.

Elias slowly walked toward the sphere, his eyes wide with barely contained excitement.

If he had possessed a physical body within this spiritual realm, he was certain his heart would have been beating like a war drum.

For years, he had dreamed of becoming an Exalted swordsman.

For years, he had believed that awakening Aura would finally prove that he wasn’t useless.

And now, after everything he had experienced, he was finally standing before the threshold.

Elias closed his eyes and stepped inside the sphere of will.

The instant he crossed its boundary, every thought stopped taking shape within his mind.

There was no fear, no excitement, and no anger. Only serenity.

Elias floated cross-legged at the center of the sphere, completely immersed within his own will, and understood that this was where the true challenge began.

To form an Aura Core, a swordsman needed to use their understanding of themselves and their sword to strip away the flowing, burning nature of their will and transform it into something controlled, something unwavering.

Years ago, his maidservant had already prepared him for this moment.

To advance, he needed to revisit everything.

Everything that had shaped him.

Everything that had made him who he was.

Elias Crimson.

The bastard son of Duke Aegon Crimson.

He had been born into the prestigious Crimson Ducal Clan, and from the moment he was born, expectations and barriers had been placed before him.

As an illegitimate child, most of the clansmen had never cared about him when there were already ten legitimate children worthy of their support.

Elias had believed that everything would change once he was finally allowed to pick up the sword.

He had believed that if he became strong, the clan would acknowledge him.

He had believed that if he proved himself, they would finally look at him as a member of the Crimson family rather than an unwanted bastard.

But when that day came, the result had been heartbreaking.

He possessed almost no talent for the sword.

The acknowledgement he had desperately wanted became even more distant, and yet he refused to give up.

For the next eight years, he had risen every morning to train and continued until nightfall, pushing his body until it was too exhausted to move.

Again and again, he swung his sword.

Again and again, he fell.

And every morning, he stood back up.

Unfortunately, none of it had been enough.

Then came the King’s decree.

He had been ordered to marry the three Cursed Flowers.

At that time, Elias had wanted to refuse.

He had wanted to yell.

He had wanted to demand why his life was always being decided by others.

But when the words reached his throat, nothing came out.

The possibility of finally being acknowledged, along with something else he couldn’t yet understand, had stopped him from refusing.

And so, he married three women who could very well have become the end of his life.

But when he met them, everything changed.

He saw their suffering.

He saw the wounds they carried.

He saw the ways they endured their pain and continued living despite everything the world had taken from them.

And Elias remembered Balith.

He remembered how he had once stood up for her, how he had helped her see that the world wasn’t entirely cruel, and he wished to do the same for these three women.

The sword he had once picked up to prove his worth had gradually changed.

It was no longer a tool for gaining acknowledgement.

It was no longer something he wielded because he envied those who possessed the strength he lacked.

Instead, he drew his sword to protect his wives and to slay anyone who dared hurt them.

The man who had once desperately wished for acknowledgement now wished only for his wives to one day be cured and healed.

His sword was no longer filled with desperation and envy toward the world.

Instead, it carried resolve.

It carried defiance.

It carried the will to change the world itself.

For his wives.

And for his own happiness.

A sharp crimson light suddenly seeped from Elias’s spiritual body and spread across the sphere of will.

The countless layers began to tremble.

The crimson light grew brighter as it expanded, and the burning nature of the sphere gradually began to halt.

The flowing layers slowed as well.

Then, little by little, they began to harden.

Elias remained perfectly still at the center as the crimson light continued spreading farther and farther, swallowing the sphere of will until the entire spiritual realm was illuminated by its radiance.

The darkness at the far edge of his spiritual self was eventually devoured by the crimson light.

Elias felt something changing deep within himself.

He could feel it.

And as that transformation reached completion, a familiar voice suddenly rang inside his mind.

[Weapon Mastery: Sword — Advanced VII → Sword — Elite I]

[The host has created the Aura Core!]

[The host has awakened Weapon Aura: Sword — Tier I.]

Elias smiled.

However, the system wasn’t yet done.

[Ding!]

[Talent: Unbreakable Will (A) and the host’s Aura are influencing one another.]