“AAAHHH!!” The bandits cried, jolting me out of my anger as I felt myself freeze.
“Oh no,” I muttered in sheer disbelief.
How? How did this happen? How coul-
“Eli! What’s going on?” Melly asked, waking me from my confusion. Somehow, she was completely ignoring my aura.
“I, I don’t know,” I responded, confused, and becoming even more so with every breath I took.
What’s going on with me? Why am I so, so uncertain? My trait is supposed to be confident! Did my loss really bring me down so low? Am I really that shallow, that pathetic!?
No, something is wrong, but not in the normal way it is whenever I activate my aura. Something about my aura’s ignition was different this time, but how?
Did, did I finally get control? Is it no longer a curse? Am I finally fre-
Suddenly, Melly was shaking me. “Eli! Wha- OW!”
“Melly… You’re not supposed to shake people when they’re focused on something.” I shook my head. “It might startle them.”
“Gee, who would have thought?” She grit out.
"Yup, super surprising, almost as surprising as the bandits biting off more than they can chew.” I agreed while giving the bandits a pointed look.
“Please, we’re sorry, we’re sorry! We won’t do it again!”
“You’re sorry? Really, truly sorry?”
“Yes yes, we are!”
“Good!” I smiled. The bandit then stared at me hopefully.
And stared.
And stared.
Until they couldn’t even keep up their false smile.
“Are, are you going to stop?” He asked through suppressed tears.
“Nope!” Ah, seeing the hope leave their eyes is glorious! I should have done this earlier!
Yeah, not feeding them is good, but they got so annoying about it; their muffled cries and groans are much more palpable.
Haa, if only I could stay like this until we turned them in, this trip would be so peaceful, and I’m sure the bandits would be nice and obedient by the end.
And it’s not like they wouldn’t deserve it either, considering what they are.
But no, I sadly can’t, as disappointing as it is. Why? Simple.
“I know you’re having fun and all, but it’d be nice if you would turn off your aura,” Melly suggested. “Please?”
Haa. “Fine,” I pouted. I never get to have fun with it… and it’s really good at dealing with stress. I simply have no worries like this!
Anyway, I did as I was asked, and was once again left confused.
Was that just my imagination? Or did I really not fall under the sway of my trait initially?
And if so, what doe- ”Are you okay?” I was suddenly interrupted by Melly, who looked fairly concerned.
Why woul- ah. “I’m fine, Melly, just thinking.”
“Are you sure?
“Positive,” I confirmed.
“Okay.” She accepted. “So, wha-” She started before there was another interruption.
“By the Gods, what was that hellish thing!” A bandit shouted, having finally recovered enough to continue wasting our time. And patience—can’t forget that.
“It was my Saintly Aura,” I informed him, using the rarely used official title. Its name is so seldomly used that I didn’t even know it had one until I read the pamphlet I was given.
It’s not a great name, admittedly, but I’d think something so ubiquitous to the saintess would be more well-known.
Or maybe everyone just thought the name was unofficial? I could see that being the case.
Oh well, not like it really matters.
What also doesn’t matter, but is acting like it, is the group of bandits complaining about what happened.
Eventually, I had enough. Again.
“Shut Up!” I shouted at the pests.
And once again, they screamed. And once again, I felt doubt.
Which, considering how arrogant and self-assured my trait’s bleedthrough makes me, should be an impossibility.
And yet, here I am, wond- ABOUT TO BE INTERUPTED AGAIN!
“Melly!” I stated tensely. “I’m fine. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”
She raised her hands placatingly. “Okay, okay. I was just worried.” And now I feel bad.
Haa. Let’s just go through what happened, before I get interrupted again.
So, first, I apparently activated my aura. Twice.
Then, instead of losing control as usual, I just... didn’t?
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Why? What could possibly be so different that I didn’t change? And I know it’s not because of the stupid dingo things, because not long after I first burned the bandits, I became my usual corrupted self, inflated self-esteem and not-so-friendly fire included. So it wasn’t some permanent change, disappointingly.
But it is replicable, apparently. I just need to figure out how.
And if the bandits decide that twice wasn’t enough and continue annoying me, I might just find out.
(Un)Luckily? The bandits finally learned their lesson and kept quiet.
Regardless, I need to find out what happened. Though that will have to wait until after I answer to my party.
Explaining my sudden burning of my allies with illusory fire takes priority, after all.
“So,” the Hero started, “care to explain why you decided to blast us with your aura?”
Well, here goes nothing. “Haa. fine. So, I got annoyed.” I ‘explained.’
Judging by the looks I’m getting, that won’t be enough.
“That’s really it.” I sadly affirmed, “Like, yeah, I was extremely annoyed, but annoyed all the same.” I sighed. “I just lost my temper and had an outburst.”
As everyone digested that, Rapunzel spoke up, “She has been quite stressed lately.”
“She has.” The Hero admitted.
“Indeed.” Hansen followed.
“Still, she did ignite her aura, effectively attacking us, so we do need to talk about it.”
The Hero has a point, hence why I’m worried. I don’t think anything too bad will happen as a result, but he’ll likely assign me something annoying, like directly watching the bandits.
Not like I wouldn’t deserve it…
“Now to pass judgment! For her punishment,” He paused for dramatic effect, “we will feed the bandits… One meal!”
…Wha?
“Yay! Food!” A bandit cheered, before realizing what was specifically said.
Heh.
Still, that was it? No actual punishment; I just have to feed the bandits? And I mean, yeah, having to interact in any way positively with bandits is not something I’d enjoy, but I was more or less expecting to have to do that anyway.
While you can survive without food for quite a while, that does not apply when you are using as much energy as the bandits likely are, given the forced march situation we’ve forced them into. They probably would have been fine until we reached the town, but the risk of them not isn’t something I’d like to deal with.
Well, I’d be fine with it, but I doubt my companions would, considering they’re, for some odd reason, treating the bandits as surrendered prisoners of war instead of the monsters that they are.
Alas, some people just don’t understand that.
Regardless, that’s not really noteworthy right now; what's important is what happened to my ignition that stopped me from losing control.
And I really want to know, considering it didn’t affect Melly at all—something I find quite desirable.
Now, if only I had any clue as to why that happened…
“Moving on to the next thing on the agenda, Eli, if you would?”
“What?” I asked, earning me a look. Okay, fine. “So, something is up with my aura.”
“Again?” Rapunzel questioned, worrying Melly.
“Yes.” I agreed before realizing that was a bit misleading. “Well, not exactly, but it’s similar. Probably. I think so, anyway.”
“Very informative.”
“It’s not like I have much more to add.” I point out. “Every time I’ve tried to figure out more, something’s distracted me.”
“Sorry.” Melly apologized.
“It’s fine. I understand why you did it; it’s just fairly annoying to deal with when you have no clue what’s going on.” I sighed.
“Well, now’s as good of a time as any to find out.” The Hero suggested.
“True. So, somehow, my aura ignited to burn the bandits.” Nods. “Except that it didn’t ignite because even Melly can’t just act like nothing is happening when I do so.”
“It is rather difficult to act rationally when abruptly engulfed in flames.” Greg agreed. “Despite, or perhaps bolstered by, their ethereal nature.”
“Yeah, not reacting in the slightest isn’t something really practiced.” Melly agreed. “While training to limit your reactions can be valuable, negating them is only really useful for intimidation.”
“And I doubt trying to intimidate Eli into not using her aura would work very well.” The Hero agreed.
“Please don’t,” I asked. “I don’t know what I’d do in response, but I doubt anyone would enjoy it.”
“Right, I’ll try to avoid that.” Melly deadpanned. Fair.
“Anyway,” I continued. “When I did but didn’t use my aura, the first thing I noticed, even before noticing Melly wasn’t affected, was my doubt.”
“Doubt? Did you not believe that you had ignited your aura?” Greg questioned.
“No, I knew that I did; I just wasn’t fine with it,” I explained, getting confused looks. “Okay, so, whenever I activate it, I always think it’s a good thing; the time I was on watch being a noticeable exception, but even then it was only because I woke everyone up, not that I was hurting you.” I sighed. “I always have this great self-esteem at the time, that I could do no wrong, so the distinct lack of that was disorientating.”
“Ah, that would be quite noticeable.” Rapunzel agreed.
“Right. Sadly, before I could figure out what was going on, Melly distracted me.” “Sorry.” “It’s fine; you were the one that had to deal with the consequences after all.” I joked.
“What happened then?”
“I activated my aura, properly this time, and I was luckily able to turn it off without much fuss. The bandits then proceed to piss me off again, pushing me to reuse the pseudo-aura thing again. Somehow.” I shrugged. “And now we’re here.”
“That we are. The question is, What do we do now?” The Hero asked as if he didn’t already know.
“Now I try to figure out what happened.”
“Is it the same as when you flared your halo?” Hansen inquired.
“What? No, of course not,” I denied. “I think we would have noticed if I burned the bandits at the time.”
“We would.” He agreed. “But it could just be an expansion of what you already did.”
“How so?”
“How you are now is the default, flaring the halo is an ember, what you just did is a spark that didn’t ignite, and your aura is a proper flame.”
That… that might just be it! “Thank you, Hansen!” I shouted as I gave him a hug. “I didn’t think of that.”
“Indeed. You are welcome.”
“How are we going to test it, though?” I wondered... before looking towards the bandits.
Well, we do happen to have plenty of potential test subjects.
Alas, it seemed my party thought of the same thing, so they were quick to put a stop to that idea.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” I relented. “Unless they push me,” I stated, glaring at the bandits. I’ve had enough arguments for a while.
Miraculously, the bandits stayed silent.
Anyway, that’s that mystery solved. Probably. It makes sense, anyway. It also explains why it wasn’t in the pamphlet as well, now that I think about it. Why describe flaring the halo and the like when it’s just part of the process of turning it on?
And, wow, is my calling the process of turning it on ignition perfect. I doubt I could’ve come up with something more fitting if I tried.
Though now I feel like an idiot for not realizing.
“Just noticed, huh.” The Hero mocks as soon as I finish that thought. Haa, the things he uses his power for…
Whatever, I guess it’s fine to let him have his fun; he did just kill what, sadly, almost everyone considers people for the first time, so it’s best to let him have this.
Wait…
“Who here has killed before?”