After a day of fiddling around with his newfound abilities, William understood the shortcomings that came with the aspect.

Although the boost he would get was massive, deactivating the aspect would cause him to have side effects, just like an addict who ran out of a high.

This meant that he couldn’t use the form for long periods of time; otherwise, he would become dependent on it.

Sighing, he decided to next try out his aura.

He had a feeling that, after awakening his aspect, his physique had become stronger and more solid. He felt as if he was no longer just a scrawny twelve-year-old boy but rather a well-trained knight cadet.

Awakening one's aura was different from mana.

William promptly removed his upper garments, revealing a skinny but still well-toned physique that didn’t match his status as a mage.

Looking down at his body, William was pleasantly surprised at the drastic difference.

‘I guess going through that hellish pain had its positives...’

He thought, remembering the torture he had gone through not too long ago.

The reason he had removed his clothes was due to the after-effects of awakening his aura. Keeping them on would only make it more difficult for him and, in the end, even ruin them.

William stood upright at the center of the room as he weirdly moved his arms and legs, constantly breathing in and out in a rhythmic way.

This was an aura training method, and it was the most basic one, [Basic Aura Breathing].

Although many people would scoff at this method and use advanced arts, William knew well that even the greatest geniuses and warrior families used this method as their foundation.

[Basic Aura Breathing] was just that: a fundamental way to breathe aura in and out of the body, stimulating the body to strengthen itself through repeated actions.

However, it was thanks to this fundamental method that many other methods were created; it was the core and most important part of an aura training method.

William spent around seven hours repeating the same actions, not stopping even for a second.

Awakening his aura wasn’t as simple as awakening his mana.

Steam constantly came from his body, causing the temperature in the room to rise, but William continued.

His skin had long become red, and his teeth had clenched, but he continued breathing in and out.

Usually, one would use the breathing technique over a prolonged period of time, but William needed to awaken it now, especially since he had awakened his aspect.

At the start, he had wanted to postpone it till his body was strong enough, but the awakening process of his aspect had advanced his body to the threshold needed for aura awakening.

Since his aspect awakening had caused such a change, awakening his aura would cause an even greater change, and adding his future advancement to an official mage, the results were more than enough for him to postpone his magic rank advancement.

He knew how important a foundation was, especially when he possessed all three talents. He wouldn’t hinder his future potential with a minor strength boost. His goal was defeating the Demon King and his army, not momentary strength and status.

Finally, after ten hours of constant breathing and basic movements, a wisp of green smoke was expelled from his mouth.

Seeing this wisp, William stopped his movements as he instantly sat down cross-legged, focusing on the energy that formed the wisp.

A new type of energy had appeared in his abdomen area, slowly rushing through his entire body and circulating harmoniously with his mana and Eather.

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Unlike the mana brain or the mysterious eather, the aura seemed to be forged from his own body, as it slowly strengthened all his cells.

William had officially stepped into the aura forging stage, the first stage of aura users.

Now he had to constantly temper his aura with meditation and practice.

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Arithsanat, the capital city of the Thelwedean empire, was located on the northwest side of its land, occupying more than double the size of Kelsein.

All the great noble families of the empire had their unique villas in the capital, usually occupied by the diplomatic representative of each family.

As for organizations, there were countless, from small to large to empire-wide, occupying anywhere from the residential district to the upper district to even the slums.

On the south side of the capital, a separate area, completely desolate of any life or buildings other than a massive stronghold constructed out of black stone,

Inside the stronghold, in one of the highest-security prison cells, a man was chained and ruthlessly whipped, his expression remaining calm despite the immense amount of pain he was going through.

Seeing no reaction from the man, the figure stopped whipping as rage encompassed its whole being.

“Malcolm, oh Malcolm, to think you broke so easily—not even a small reaction from all this beating? What is going on? Is the death of your children affecting you that much? I’m sure you already saw their corpses.

Said the figure in a sinister voice.

Hearing the voice, the man, Malcolm Don Virtu, raised his head and stared at the figure expressionlessly.

After a few seconds of looking at the figure, a smile appeared on his rugged and emaciated face as he chuckled lightly.

“Max... oh Max... You... do you seriously think those corpses were family? I think you should at least hire a magician. Even if I’m just a grand knight, I’m at least able to distinguish my family…. unlike trash like you who already turned his family into demons…”

He took deep breaths after each sentence since his body was aching, making all actions harder to do.

Hearing his words, Max Byrd’s aura burst out, covering his body in black smoke, wanting to kill Malcolm on the spot but stopping himself since he knew if he did so, it would ruin his plans.

Calming down, he spat on Malcolm’s face as he exited the cellar room, ordering the guard to take care of things inside.

Suddenly recalling the words he heard earlier, he couldn’t help but frown and take the path to the exit.

After a while of navigating around, he reached the gates of the stronghold, entered his carriage, and drove off to his villa.

On the way to his villa, he spoke out loud.

“Jack, have you found the three fools?”

A figure made of shadows condensed in front of him as soon as he stopped speaking, forming a bald middle-aged man. The man had tan skin, sharp ears, and blood-red eyes, with a small goatee covering the lower half of his face.

“We found some clues after the fire; it seems that they have entered Kelsein; many people saw them entering, but around a week ago, they seemed to have disappeared, and we have been unable to find them.”

Spoke the man, his tone apathetic, just like a machine.

Max frowned as he pondered what he should do. After a bit of thinking, he spoke once more.

“Have you sought out information from Pandora? I bet those rats have some information on this matter.”

Jack shook his head.

“We tried to communicate with them, but they seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth; every hideout we knew is not there anymore, as if they have re-located.”

Hearing his words, a vein bulged on Max’s forehead as he punched his seat, causing the wood to break.

Thankfully, he knew how to control his strength, so just the seat broke, not causing any major damage to the carriage’s functions.

Taking a deep breath, he ordered.

“Take that slave, Yolanda, and make sure she examines the bodies thoroughly. I want to be sure that the corpses belong to those three kids. Malcolm’s words give me a strange feeling, and I don’t know what to believe.”

Jack hurriedly nodded and disappeared, only leaving a black smog behind.

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The royal castle encompassed a vast amount of land by itself, having countless royals and nobles since the royal mage, scholar, and knight academy were located here, each having its own section of the castle and acting autonomously from the royal family.

Inside the royal courtroom, a man whose head was covered by a weird-looking blindfold knelt, in front of him a man was sitting on a majestic ornate throne.

“Your majesty, I have brought the newest change in fate.”

Said the man wearing the weird blindfold.

The man’s name was Antonio Weaver, the current master of the Soul’s Order, and in front of him was the current emperor of the Thelwedean empire, Emperor Nikolas II Rothsgomery.

Emperor Nikolas II was a middle-aged man with a thick brown beard and sharp eyes, the wrinkles on his forehead accentuating the constant scowl on his face. A unique ornate crown was located on top of his head, showcasing his position as the emperor.

“Antonio, I’ve always relied on your prophecies to save our empire, so I have put great importance into the fate you describe, but now you are telling me that the fate of doom has changed?”

Antonio nodded restlessly.

“I don’t understand how the change happened, Your Majesty, but it seems someone is tampering with space-time, causing a butterfly effect and changing fate in the process.”

Emperor Nikolas II frowned when he heard his words.

He had heard of this so-called ‘butterfly effect’ before, as it wasn’t the first time someone had tampered with fate, the six heroes being a great example.

“We will research this and inform the Royal Mage, Randolf, on this matter; if you two can’t find the reason together, then you can head over to the magic empire. Although the empire is important, saving Roia is more important. The demons have gotten more intrusive the past few years, and I suspect many of my subjects have already joined their side.”

Said the emperor as he sighed, his face seeming to age a few years with just the mention of the matter.