Setting Goals

Aura faintly wisped from the tips of Akiol's fingers.

Having been practicing this for the past hour then cut the Aura short and flexed his arm. It felt normal to use. . .

Akiol crossed his arms and fell into thought. It seems Aura itself wasn't a direct cause of his cells dying. At least not from his tests. It was likely that it was the forceful usage of Aura. He pushed every bit he could during the fight against the EXOs, perhaps such violent usage tore him apart. Additionally Rue's technique with demonic energy to temporarily let him regain strength might also play a hand.

"So gentle usage is fine?", Akiol questioned himself.

A light usage of Aura allowed him to practice his efficiency. Something he was already doing when he could. Even if Aura was the cause of him dying, that didn't matter. It was clear he needed strength in this world, and Aura was the answer. Even at the cost of his lifespan.

Still, if he could reduce just how quickly he was dying that would be a more efficient answer to his troubles. The Form of Fortification was likely the culprit.

"Is it because I'm a slime in-game that it didn't hurt me? I'll have to ask Stars if Aura had known drawbacks during those times."

If he could gain the strength of the Form of Fortification without actually using the Form of Fortification that would solve all his troubles. Although this thought wasn't very realistic to him currently.

Extending out a hand Akiol focused and summoned the Strand of Existence he found in the Landwell Manor. The individual who scolded him mentioned that he was to gain an insight on new knowledge regarding Aura at a later time. Could that be an answer?

Moreover could he summon this information? 

Pushing Aura gently down his arm he extended a thin line to connect to the Stand of Existence. The two mingled together before Akiol's mind flashed with knowledge. 

He could!

As he received the last of the information a frown began to form on his face. This newfound technique. . . was basically useless?

It was named the Form of Harvesting. A technique of Aura used to harvest Aura from other users. It was essentially an technique that belonged to the more villainous side of Aura users. Since it allowed them to rob their victims.

This was the last Form of Aura known. Yet it was essentially pointless. Aura had died out, it wasn't an exaggeration to say Akiol was the very last individual capable of wielding it. Despite him attempting to teach it to his Party members they couldn't quite grasp it themselves.

Granted his understanding of Aura back then wasn't as proficient. Was this meant to tell him to teach Aura to others and take it to better himself?

This only brought up more questions. Since he learned about Aura, and its existence, came from A World's Legacy why could he use it outside of the game? If the unnamed God that spoke to him spoke the truth regarding the game, then the Soul energy the game was harvesting. . . was Aura?

Assuming this is true then it was clear that every time a Player was pushed to their limits and changed as a result there was a bit of residual Aura that their soul shed. This must be collected by Horizon's Origin for their own purpose of 'opening a portal to the afterlife'. 

Did Aura actually hold that property? If not: then the energy was not Aura. If so: then he still lacked a fundamental understanding of what Aura was capable of. Moreover if it was Aura, why did that God not mention it?

The mentors that taught Akiol the various Forms of Aura often were censored. Could it be that certain individuals could not speak of it? What happened to the Aura users?

With this conclusion that perhaps there was a sort of universal censor when it came to the topic of Aura, Akiol felt he could no longer trust the Gods words regarding the intention of Horizon's Origin. 

So he leaned back for a moment and addressed what he knew so far.

First, Aura was real. This was indisputable. It was likely A World's Legacy stumbled upon it with the information of that strange device the God mentioned. This was also likely how A World's Legacy was capable of completely replicating mana from their world despite Earth being completely devoid of it.

Second, Billiam Thornwall--the CEO and Founder of Multimount Inc, the ones' behind the VR headset--was aware of the Strand of Existence. This much was known when Akiol was gifted the gaming pod as a congratulations for finding it. It was unknown if Billiam was entirely aware of what the Strand meant exactly. This meant that there was another force behind the mystery of A World's Legacy. Akiol was unsure if Billiam was aware of what Horizon's Origin was doing, or if he had a hand in their goals as well.

Third, Horizon's Origin is likely collecting either Aura or something with Souls. Their goal was still unknown if he excluded the information given by the unnamed God, but this energy was being used or stored for a purpose. Additionally Horizon's Origin kidnapped Rue and were seemingly aware that she was not from Earth. This could also mean that Akiol's--and by relation: his Party--were also known to be not from Earth. There was implications behind this assumption that Akiol didn't address currently.

Fourth, there were other supporters of--or being supported by--Horizon's Origin. Those responsible for the EXO suit creations were one such example. Moreover they seemed to be targeting various individuals in the real world for an unknown reason. 

Fifth, somehow A World's Legacy held the focal point of all of this. Without it a lot of the connections didn't make much sense. There was still something about A World's Legacy that wasn't known to him. Something of extreme importance. 

With these rough conclusions made of the little information he had Akiol then turned his attention to what he needed to accomplish. 

The first goal, find out the purpose or reasoning behind A World's Legacy. He already had a clue, since Horizon's Origin was harvesting soul energy or Aura from it. There was also the chance that this was A World's Legacy's sole purpose. Yet Akiol was very suspicious and felt there was a missing piece.

Second, find Horizon's Origin. The best lead to this is any memory Rue had. Only by finding them could he finally figure out the underlying plot. The God mentioned that the best way to stop their intention was to end A World's Legacy as a whole. Yet Akiol was unwilling to do this until he figured out the real purpose of it. Perhaps there was leads within the game that could lead him to Horizon's Origin. There was also a slim chance that they could approach him directly. They already indirectly approached him before.

Third, figure out how to slow his body from dying. He couldn't quite stop his usage of Aura due to his dire need of strength. So finding out how to use Aura without killing himself was ideal. This meant further practice and careful usage of Aura both inside and outside of A World's Legacy.

Finally, do all of the above before James' body fell apart. If he ran out of time before completing these goals he could only relent in his inability.

Okay, the key to everything lay with Aura. That would be the first priority right now. As he practiced he needed to also find the Strands of Existence. Each time he found one one of the mentors gave him new insight about Aura. One of the remaining Strands could hold the key to solving all of his issues.

Akiol recalled the elder's words when he obtained the Third Strand:

-<"If you cannot grasp what Aura is, you do not have a chance to grow in the future. This will be as far as you go.">-

Fine, add one more goal to the list:

Sixth, find the remaining Strands of Existence.

Akiol changed his focus to remembering how he obtained the Strands of Existence. There was immediately two key factors that came to mind.

The first was obvious, each time he came to a new realization regarding Aura. When he first found about its existence he obtained the first. When he questioned what it was he obtained the second. When he desired its strength he obtained the Third.

The other was the location. The Center Continent he obtained the First. The Eastern Continent he obtained the Second. The real world he obtained the Third.

Akiol frowned as he remembered the Slime King's final intentions. How they pointed him towards the Western Continent. Originally he thought he was intended to find something regarding the Slimes over at the Western Continent. . .

Did the Slime King know? 

For now Akiol assumed that finding a Strand required both the right area and requirements. Which meant when he was practicing Aura he should travel to the Western Continent! This could also fulfill his side condition of figuring out the rules and techniques of A World's Legacy. Learning about foreign Skills and techniques could help him gain insight on how A World's Legacy operates. There was just one issue with this idea.

How was he to get to the Western Continent?