Controlling The Aura!

"Divide them? How can I do it, Senior?" Raymond asked politely, keeping his head lowered in respect.

[Sigh. It would take too long for you to do it on your own,] Galanor sighed. If not for the fear of getting his soul vanquished when he was going to take over Raymond's body, he wouldn't be so willing to teach him about the Aura of Heaviness.

He did not fancy possessing a body while it was flooded with a soul-crushing aura on the inside.

It was better to take over when Raymond could control his aura and safely draw it out of his body. As long as he was sealed inside the statue, his soul wouldn't dissipate.

He would have a short window of time to possess Raymond before he vanished into nothingness, hence all the trouble of making him inscribe runes on the ground that would keep him away from running.

[Young man, I will give you a runic inscription that can seal your mana for a short amount of time during which you can freely access your Aura of Heaviness. You need to learn how to draw it out of your body during that time.] Galanor didn't bother asking for permission and directly sent another spark of energy towards Raymond's forehead.

A nerve popped on Raymond's head at the blatant display of arrogance by the WindGod. However, he didn't say anything and simply absorbed the new information.

"Senior, I didn't know it was possible to inscribe runes on our skin!" Raymond exclaimed as he digested the runic symbol that resembled a vortex.

[Hmph… inscribing on a solid surface is the limit of what a mortal can achieve. There are three types of runic inscriptions. When you are proficient enough you can draw it on your body and if you dedicate your entire life to perfecting the art, you can even draw the runes on thin air and use it in the middle of a fight.]

"Ohh, I see… my eyes have been truly opened after conversing with Senior." Raymond praised him and started inscribing the runic symbol on his left wrist.

After what felt like an eternity for Galanor, Raymond finally finished drawing the symbol.

"Is this good enough, Senior?" Raymond pushed his left hand towards the statue.

[Hmm? Not bad. It should be enough for now. You can always practise to improve yourself in the future.] Galanor assured him. [Ahem, now that you have completed it, please stand as far away from me as possible. I will instruct you from here.]

If something went wrong during the process, Galanor didn't want to become the victim of collateral damage.

"Okay, I will do as you say…" Raymond agreed and ran to the middle of the vast, expanded space. "IS THIS ENOUGH, SENIOR?"

[Ahh, it should be! No need for you to shout. I can hear you perfectly even from that distance.] Galanor's wispy soul trembled when Raymond yelled at the top of his lungs, causing an imaginary sweat to trickle down his head.

"ALRIGHT, PLEASE GUIDE ME," despite the warning from the WindGod, Raymond continued to scream, just to annoy him.

[Urgh! Stop shouting.] Galanor groaned. [First, start by channelling your mana into the vortex and it will start sucking every ounce of mana from your core. It will feel weird at first but don't worry, you will not have the extremely nauseating effect of mana exhaustion. The vortex will form a connection with the core and fool your body into believing that the mana is still in your core and you won't feel any side effects.]

"OKAY!" Raymond said loudly and started doing as instructed. After practising for a week Raymond could circulate his mana relatively easier than before.

-Voom!

A heavy, oppressing vibration ripped through the air as the runic symbol on his wrist lit up when Raymond guided his mana into it. The symbol started glowing brightly and started absorbing the mana from Raymond's core.

Raymond frowned as he felt the vomiting sensation for a split second before it vanished as if it had never been there before.

[Quick! Close your eyes and feel the aura flooding your entire body.]

Raymond closed his eyes quickly and his senses reached every part of his body, from the tip of his toes to the top of his head.

A colourless energy permeated through every organ and vein in his body. Raymond became acutely aware of the so-called Aura as he scoured through everything.

It was not the first time Raymond had exhausted his mana, but the lack of nausea vastly changed the experience he usually had to go through. Now, however, his body and mind were in perfect harmony which allowed him to sense the mysterious energy.

Raymond sucked in a deep breath and tried to release his Aura as he exhaled. Just as the terrifying Aura inside his body moved, the vortex on his wrist dimmed and the mana returned to his core in the blink of an eye.

He clicked his tongue and started to send mana into the vortex again.

[You're doing great for a beginner! Keep going, don't be disheartened by a few failures.]

Raymond tried a few more times and two hours passed by until he finally brought his Aura outside before his mana could return to the core.

-Zingg!

[Kek!] Galanor's non-existent eyes widened in horror and his fog-like body quivered by the sheer pressure exerted by Raymond's Aura. Even though his statue was far from the centre of that oppression, he couldn't help but tremble in fear.

In his long life, Galanor had only once encountered someone with the Aura of Heaviness and that was nowhere near Raymond's level.

If he had a physical body, Galanor doubted if he would be able to move a muscle without bursting apart under that pressure.

The time itself seemed to be afraid of moving as Galanor even saw the dust particles hovering in mid-air, unable to descend onto the ground.

[De-Dear Mother! He is freezing the time with his aura!] Galanor screamed inwardly. [No! That can't be! He-He is simply creating a separate space with his Aura where nothing moves without his will!]

[This is absurd…!] Galanor started contemplating his life choices as he witnessed something mind-boggling.

Was it even possible for him to take possession of someone like Raymond? What was he thinking?

[No! I can't give up now. I have already wasted a lot of my energy to make him believe me. Everything will go to waste if I back out now. I don't even know if the World Tree will loosen its control over my seal again in the future!] Galanor knew he was taking a huge risk, but he was too far into his plans to give up now.

If anything, it would only serve to make Raymond suspicious of him if he chickened out and didn't complete the ritual.

Raymond abruptly opened his eyes as his mana returned to his core. He was overcome with joy when he saw the Aura still spread over the region.

He called back his Aura and it silently followed his order like a domesticated animal and retracted into his body. Raymond could clearly feel his Aura moving separately along his nodes before quietly hovering around his fractured core.

The process of separating his Aura and mana was over and Raymond was itching to experiment with his newfound ability.

Sensing that Raymond was about to unleash the terror again, Galanor tried to stop him.

[Young man, wai—Ack!]

Raymond completely ignored the WindGod as the Aura made its presence known by absolutely crushing Galanor's spirit.

[This is madness! You need to stop, young man! You're going to break the spatial chamber at this rate!]

In response, Raymond turned towards the statue and smirked. "You know, I wouldn't have been able to figure this out so soon if it weren't for you! I must thank you for that."

[Hah… no need to thank me. Just do the ritual and we're even.] Galanor heaved a sigh of relief as the Aura disappeared into Raymond's body.

"Of course, what do you want me to do?" Raymond played along to see what the WindGod was planning.

[Alright, young man, here is how we're going to do this. Stand in the middle of that formation you've inscribed and infuse your mana. After that, release my soul by destroying the statue. Just keep your eyes closed and supply mana to the formation and I will do the rest.] Galanor instructed, keeping his voice as calm and steady as possible.

"Hmm." Raymond nodded and stood in the middle of the formation and started pouring his mana into it.

-Crack!

The statue exploded as Raymond flicked his finger against it.

[Hahaha, finally, I am free!] Galanor hollered as a cyan-coloured wisp broke out from the destroyed statue and flew into the formation.

[Young man, you've done enough! Just keep the formation running.]

Raymond smiled at the wisp, closed his eyes as instructed before, and began injecting his mana at a steady pace. Already, his reserves were running low and it was only a matter of a few seconds before he was exhausted of mana.

Seeing that the brat was following his instructions, Galanor smiled inwardly and used his soul power accumulated over the years to make some subtle changes to the formation.

Just as he finished, Raymond felt the air around him changing as it became ominous. Crimson chains rose from the formation and quickly snaked around his legs and slithered up to his torso.

[Don't worry, young man. The ritual is using you as an anchor to determine my location and I will be gone in a minute.] Galanor lied through his teeth and went straight for Raymond's forehead.

[Huh…?] Galanor's formless body flickered in and out of existence as if it was on the verge of being snuffed out. He had used most of his energy on changing the formation and was about to get himself sent to nothingness any second now.

As such, he had shot towards Raymond with all the speed he could muster and yet he wasn't able to enter his sea of consciousness.

Instead, he found himself behind Raymond as if he had simply passed through his body. Galanor glanced at Raymond, the brat had his eyes closed and doing his all to keep the formation running.

[What happened?] However, Galanor didn't have the time to think about it and just jumped at Raymond's head again.

[What the? What is going on?] Galanor uttered dumbly as he again found himself passing through Raymond's body.