They left me alone for a while, the hood still obscuring my sight. Progress with the brand's power had hit a standstill. So, seeing no other option, I attempted to return to the mindscape. However, the environment and the fear in my mind made it impossible. My pounding heart, with the feeling of walking on a tight wire, wasn’t exactly letting me enter the calm state needed for the mindscape. There was no certainty here, none.

There had to be a way out of this situation. Or at least some way to give me time. Who knew what they were going to do to me?

First, I breathed in deeply. My thoughts were in the way, preventing me from adapting to the present moment and situation. Instead, my focus was directed towards my breath, along with the now slowing beat of my heart. Then, it extended to the environment around me. The damp ground, the turbid air. There was a slight scent, but it was hard to make out. All the sounds around me were muffled. None of that mattered now. Breathe in, and breathe out. Each time I did so, a sense of calm began to build until I finally entered my mindscape again.

"Took you long enough to come here, Electi. Just what kind of mess have you landed us in now?" Her tone was more amused than anything else as if my predicament was a source of entertainment.

My mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, but I knew I had to take a stand. My life was even more out of my control than before. At least the auramancers didn't intend to seriously harm or kill me. But a group of mages under Velexa's lead? Only an idiot would believe they had benevolent intentions. Velexa was a grand mage. That was a grand mage! Even if a target was necessary, it’s not like they grew on trees; why would she be here? How did she even get into this place unnoticed?

No, that was irrelevant right now. The situation called for acceptance. It was time to embrace the Moth, or rather, Mundara fully. Sure, the forced initiation still grated on me, but my vow of silence had done nothing but cause me problems. Even if I acted like I had little say in the matter, I did have a choice, didn't I? Remembering how life was before, at the bottom of the slums. I was not accepted by most around me, although the reason why was blurry: something to do with mana? Aura was my way forward now. Mundara gave me that way out. And then Elnara gave me the brand, an invaluable gift thus far.

With that, my throat tightened. Even if they had physically damaged my voice box and tongue, talking here was still possible. You’d think that meant the same for my eyes, but apparently not. Ulysses’ method must’ve had something to do with that. At least the hood was gone in here. From me came a crack of noise. Not any words. After a few more attempts, my vocal cords adjusted.

"Mundara, I need your help," I managed to say after a slight pause. "Please."

"Refusing my Electi is not an option," she responded, her voice laced with determination. "Helping you is why I took this form in the first place."

Her gaze felt steely, not towards me, but for those who had taken me just after she had awakened to that form.

"Two things will aid you in this predicament, Falond," she said. "One, I can teach you, but the other, you must discover on your own."

"What are they?" I asked anxiously.

“Considering your current situation with the sealing rope being put on you, I’ll teach you granular control of aura and the aura breath technique. While two parts, the technique is only possible with granular control.”

Her gaze lingered on me for a moment before she continued.

"You must adapt to the environment around you. Once you leave this space, assess your surroundings. Is anyone else present? What's in the other cells? Are there guards? Observe the world you are in.”

"But I'm practically deaf out there. All sounds are muffled; only those within a few feet of me are audible. And as you know, I'm blind. What else is left?”

"Oh, my dear boy, what else is there? They inadvertently took away your taste, and that hood significantly diminishes your hearing. It wasn't just meant to keep you blind, Falond, but also to muffle your hearing. Your captors already know you get around by sound. Your aura perception is practically non-existent due to your state, but you've only scratched the surface of its potential. Finally, your sense of smell has been impaired as well."

Her gaze softened, and I felt a gentle hand rest on my cheek.

"Tell me, Falond, what do you feel?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"I feel... Wait, feel?"

I practically palmed myself. Of course, wasn’t I trying to figure out the touch domain anyway? But even then, how was I supposed to use the touch domain without any aura to fuel it? As for smell, my experience with enhancing it was only more than that of taste.

“That’s what I have then, touch, smell, and some sort of sixth sense?”

"While it's true that you have touch and smell, sadly, that hood has also stifled your sense of smell by stealing your aura. If you were a more awakened aura user, you could overload it, but being only at the threshold of the first gate, that's out of your reach."

“Then the rope around your wrists takes your hands away for touch, so what’s left is touch through your legs and feet. Also, aura perception and sixth sense are still available, even though you haven’t fully developed them. Aura perception isn't limited to your head but extends throughout your entire body. Even though it's impaired right now, you can still tap into it.”

“Then, Falond, my Electi, you understand what resources you have left and have the path of nature from your brand. So, what's holding you back now?”

I started to think about it. I needed to be more knowledgeable on how to use the path of nature. Besides the technique Verdenia taught me, I was clueless. The passive enhancement was incredible, particularly for healing, but its other applications remained a mystery. For aura, the lack of reserves was the issue. If it could recover, then being able to use touch and some aura perception would give me channels of information again. Mundara had offhandedly mentioned many things, like gates and otherwise. The focus for me should be on figuring out how to gain aura back.

“What’s stopping me is a lack of knowledge of nature’s essence. And the depletion of aura within me.”

With a clap, she said. “Now, you understand. Lucky for you, granular control of your strands of aura will help with the issue. Especially when it becomes practiced enough for the aura breath technique. As for your brand, the woman who gave it to you should teach you or the lovely Saintess you flirt with.”

Before I could utter a word, Mundara swiftly moved on with her guidance.

"We'll start with you attempting to isolate a single strand of your aura. It sounds easy, but at first, it will not be simple to do.” she forewarned. “Keep attempting so until it's subconscious, much like you achieved when connecting to the soundscape through aura. This requires extreme focus to learn.”

She let a beat pass, then added, "Fortunately, you have two distinct advantages. One, you have so little aura in you that segmenting it down to one stand is as easy as possible. Two, you have me, a world beast of aura. With me, your connection will always be more potent than others.

As an afterthought, she added, "Remember, you're yet to unlock your traits from our bond, but that will come."

“Now, stay still; I’ll be placing my hands on your back, helping you to isolate an aura strand. This is our starting point," she said, her tone teeming with authority.

A soothing feeling came to me as Mundara touched my back. Like I’d been cleansed of negative emotions and even physical issues. With such an unexpected boon, finding the remnants of aura was easy. Mundara intentionally pulled all of it to one place in the pit of my stomach for me. With time and attention on this tiny pool of my left-over aura, the drops that made it were easier to see. Getting this together was easy, but what was the next step? Seeing the individual strands of the drops wasn’t possible yet.

Mundara sounded next to me. “Take the smallest portion you can and move it around your torso. Be careful; if you push to your arms or neck, it’ll be absorbed.”

Keeping her warning in mind, my will took the smallest portion of aura within my abilities. Out of the small pound left, a few drops were separated.

“Not bad for a first attempt," she commended. “You’ve got about seven hundred or so strands there. Get used to moving just those around until it’s no longer straining you.”

Aura drops started to rotate around my torso. The added constraints of making it so they didn’t go towards my neck or arms made the task more difficult. The benefit, though, was that my control was forcibly getting better. With the occasional guidance from Mundara, my control was getting better. The entire time, the practice was giving me a headache. Mundara, to her credit, told me this was just a price to pay for increased control, that the headache, while partially still from aura depletion, was mostly just my mind’s capacity being expanded.

"Normally, you would bring a droplet of aura to your hand or foot and then expel it. However, your level of control could be better. So, after you've spent time guiding these droplets, guide them back into your aura pool."

Taking the few drops, they were dumped back into the aura pool at the pit of my stomach. Then, an intention was felt from Mundara: to breathe, then use the breath to feel the pulsing of the aura in the body, and use heightened sensation to take an even smaller portion of aura. It worked incredibly well, from seven drops to just one.

"Excellent, you've condensed it to a hundred strands, signifying the second level of control. This is the hallmark of someone who can manipulate their power by the drop. Your efficiency in usage and how much power you can bring out of aura from now on will be above most of those hooligans in the ‘citadel.’ That skittish girl Vivian doesn't even possess half of this finesse. But don't let this inflate your ego," she warned.

“Now, home in on the singular drop. Guide it slowly through your body, resisting its natural urge to move quickly. You are the one in control. Once you can easily control the path and speed of one drop, we will move to the next step.”

The task was more demanding this time around. It wasn't just about letting a single drop of aura flow freely around my body but also controlling its speed. Was there a benefit to this beyond just better control?

“There is, but now’s not the time to think about that. Concentrate, Falond. The night is nearly over, and you won’t have a peaceful morning.”

She was right; if anything, my thoughts would wander far too much. With a mind that wandered less, my control over aura increased, meaning I’d have more control over this situation. And any future situation life throws my way from now on. I didn’t know you could sweat so hard from trying to control what was already within you, but now I did. Reining in this drop of aura felt like attempting to dam up a raging river with nothing but my willpower. Any lapse of concentration and the drop would go back to normal speed.

"You're bound to fail at the start. Try again," Mundara instructed.

"Again."

"From the top."

"Once more."

"Try again."

Damn, this was hard. I’ll admit, the early progress had gone to my head. This next level was some threshold, even if you had advantages like me. Reaching my limit, I brought the singular drop back to the pool as slowly as possible. Even that was draining, but Mundara wouldn’t allow it any other way.

"Morning has arrived; brace yourself, my Electi. The path ahead is full of thorns and pitfalls. Keep your wits about you.” Mundara warned.

Mundara did something that I had no idea she could do. She pushed me out of my mindscape. If there was a wonder before if she was part of me, now there was no doubt.