Chương 129: Book 3 Chapter 7 - It's Not A Request

Victor continued explaining as his aura increased.

"Anyone without an aura of their own is unable to resist the spiritual pressure that you exert, and with a powerful enough aura, you can completely debilitate those around you. For this reason, once you advance to tier 4, you must quickly learn to control your aura, to prevent it harming those around you." The spiritual pressure disappeared all at once as Victor reigned his aura back in in demonstration.

He hadn't pressured them enough to drive anyone to the ground, but Kiara had seen the stress it had placed on both Zoey and Yeager. Her own Strength and Mind stats were both high enough that she hadn't felt as weak as they'd both looked, but she wasn't sure how much more she could have withstood if he'd continued pushing it.

"Further advancement grants additional spiritual abilities, but that isn't relevant to our conversation today, so I'll leave it at that. Developing your aura is the process of helping push your spirit past its current limits, helping it grow into a new level of maturity. This happens when you advance to tier 4.

"Compressing your core is difficult enough as it is, then if you add in the strain of infusing your concepts into your core, the process becomes quite strenuous. The results speak for themselves though, once you break through." Zoey cut in, "What does it mean to infuse my core with my concepts? How is that done?"

"The process of infusing your core can be visualized in a similar fashion to how you are shaping those wind blades you demonstrated a few minutes ago. There is a shell of a mana construct that you maintain in a certain shape, even as you fill it with mana. Similarly, you will maintain the shape and compression of your core, while filling it with fire mana.

"As you do so, visualize your fire concept, your understanding of fire itself, and how your mana can be shaped and controlled to act like fire does. Fill your core to the brim with both the fire mana and your own personal concept of fire, then maintain that state while you repeat the process with your water mana concept, then again with wind." Zoey's face was a look of pure concentration as she visualized the process. She nodded slowly.

"Take your time with it," Victor advised.

"Starting with the tier 4 breakthrough, the process starts to take a while. Each advancement after this will take increasingly more time. My own tier 6 breakthrough, for example, required an entire month of secluded meditation and focus, and that was after I'd already prepared as much as possible beforehand." Kiara raised an eyebrow.

"A month? Is that why you were gone for so long?" Victor smiled, seemingly pleased that she had noticed his absence.

"Indeed." Yeager spoke up.

"I feel as if I may have peaked at tier 3. Is there a way to continue advancing past where I'm at? Maybe some techniques I can practice or some other way to bypass the obstacles keeping me from advancing again?" Victor mused on that for a moment.

"Hmm. An interesting question." He took a deep breath and exhaled, staring off into the distance.

"I suppose it might be possible, but I've never heard of such a thing. I've always assumed that some peoples' spirits simply haven't grown and matured enough yet to handle growing beyond a certain level, which limits the magical growth they'll see in this life."

"This life?" Kiara asked with a raised eyebrow. Did Victor know something about the World Engine and what came after this life? Victor shrugged.

"I don't know what follows after death, but perhaps that growth might come at some future point. Something beyond our current comprehension." Victor had Yeager show him his own current abilities, resulting in a brilliant display of earth and lightning magic. Visually, it was quite fun to see, but Kiara's danger sense let her know that Yeager's abilities weren't nearly as potent or practiced as Zoey's. Maybe with time and practice he would get there.

After he finished, Victor added one more piece of information for them both to consider.

"Yeager, you will likely find it easiest to develop concepts for earth magic and lightning magic, since you have an affinity for those magic types already, and have practiced them. Your soul will only allow for up to three concepts at tier 3, and it's advisable to learn all three before advancing to tier 4, if you want to maintain a proper foundation." He turned to face Zoey.

"It should be noted, however, that when you advance to tier 4, the number of concepts that you advance with will determine the initial strength of your aura. The more concepts you infuse into your core, the stronger your aura will be once you advance. Avoid taking the easy way out of only infusing one or two of your concepts into your core. Push yourself to infuse all three, and the result will be worth it." She nodded with an excited glint in her eye.

With the mentoring finished, they made their way back to the guest house they had done the soul oath rituals in, where Dustin and the others were still waiting. When they arrived, they found a servant waiting there in an anxious state.

"My lady," she said the moment Kiara walked through the door.

"An envoy has arrived to meet with you. Dustin has already made his way over to welcome them, they are waiting for you in the main house." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Kaira furrowed her brows in confusion.

"An envoy? Did they say who they were or what they wanted?" The servant shook her head.

"They didn't say, my lady, but they wore the colors and insignia of Duke Esborne."

"Oh. Okay, I'll head right over. Zoey, Yeager, why don't you come with me." She turned to face Victor.

"I can't begin to thank you enough for your help today, Victor. We really appreciate everything you've done for us." She pulled the agreed upon payment for the soul oath rituals out of her soul space and handed them to him. He pocketed them in his storage ring.

"Anytime, Lady Yountal. The pleasure, as always, is mine. Would it be rude of me to request to accompany you to see the ducal envoy? I must admit to being curious about it." Kiara shrugged.

"The more, the merrier." They made their way to the main house, where the servant showed them into the sitting room where Dustin was conversing pleasantly with three people Kiara had never met. In the center was a female mage, tier 4, and Kiara's danger sense alerted her that this was the strongest tier 4 she had ever laid eyes on. Even Kane, who had been quite strong, didn't quite measure up to this woman's strength. On either side of here was a tier 3, both male.

One wore plate armor, with a sword on his waist and a spear leaning casually against the back of his chair. The other wore mage robes and carried a gnarled wooden staff with a large crystal atop it; he was clearly a long-range mage. The tier 4 herself was tall for a woman, which Kiara noticed because all three of them stood when she entered. She had long, red hair, bright green eyes, and wore what looked to be an official uniform.

Her uniform, as well as the armor and robes of the other two, all included the same color scheme. Blue as the primary color, with bold silver accents, and an insignia over their left breast. Since Kiara had [Magical Sense 4] running when she entered, she also noticed that Victor's apparent tier dropped to tier 2 long before they got in range of the newcomers. Very interesting – she might have to ask later why he had done that. All three newcomers greeted her with a bow as she entered, which she returned.

They cast a quick glance at Zoey, Yeager, and Victor as they entered, but focused their attention mainly on Kiara.

"Greetings, Lady Yountal," the woman in the middle said.

"My name is Esmerelda, and these are my companions Bruce and Bronson. We are an official delegation from Duke Esborne's court, here to invite you to a meeting with Duke Esborne at his estate in Lakeshire." Kiara scratched her ear.

"Ah, thanks for the invite." Dustin had made his way over to stand near her, and he leaned in to whisper, "It's not really an invite or a request. Think of it more as a summons." Kiara nodded lightly once to show that she understood.

"I see. I don't know exactly where Lakeshire is on The Central Island. Can you point it out for me on a map, by chance?" Esmerelda smiled, politely, but all business.

"Better yet, you can travel with our caravan when we return. We can give you a week to get your things in order here, and then we will depart." Kiara was about to say something about preferring to travel on her own, but Dustin leaned in again.

"I don't believe that was meant to be interpreted as an invitation or a request, either." Oh. Was she under arrest or something?

"Might I ask what this is about?" Kiara asked after a moment of thought. Esmerelda responded in that same businesslike tone.

"The duke has requested your presence, and I am to escort you to Lakeshire to ensure your safe arrival. That is all I know, Lady Yountal, my apologies." Kiara shrugged.

"Okay, I can be ready in a week." Esmerelda smiled, more genuinely this time, and bowed her head.

"Thank you, Lady Yountal, we appreciate your cooperation in the matter." They excused themselves, and Dustin showed them out, returning a few moments later. He glanced at Victor, who was still hanging around, then shot a questioning look to Kiara to see if it was okay if he stayed. She nodded once in response.

"Thoughts?" Kiara asked, looking around at each of them in turn. Yeager, who looked surprised to be included in the conversation, raised a hesitant hand. Kiara nodded for him to speak his mind.

"Pardon, my lady…"

"Call me Shian."

"Uh… pardon, Shian, but what are you asking for right now?" She shrugged.

"I just want everyone's thoughts on what just happened. Why did the duke send an envoy to escort me to his estate in Lakeshire? What does he want? Is it anything I should be concerned about? How long will a trip like that take? Who all will come with me and who will stay behind? What will things look like here while we're gone?"

"I… see," Yeager replied.

"Thanks for expounding on the question." He fell silent after that, clearly not comfortable enough yet to share his actual thoughts. That was fine, Kiara didn't want to rush him, but it would be good for him to get accustomed to being a part of these types of meetings. Dustin looked thoughtful, but hadn't said anything yet either. Victor, surprisingly, was the first one to speak. He cleared his throat.

"If I may be so bold, Lady Yountal..."

"Call me Shian."

"If I may be so bold, Shian, I believe this may have something to do with the tier 4 that was killed recently." Zoey looked up at him in shock.

"Ugor?" Victor glanced at her in confusion.

"Who's Ugor?"

"The tier 4… oh," Zoey trailed off as she realized who Victor had been referring to. It was obvious Victor was referring to Kane Vondeer. Kiara was surprised that he'd already heard about that. Then again, he was a tier 6, he probably knew way more than he let on. Then again, if Duke Esborne had already heard about it all the way up north on The Central Island, then it made sense that Count Dremond knew as well here in Portish, along with a handful of other important and powerful people.

She wondered if that was any reason to be nervous. She looked at Victor.

"Why would the duke be interested in something like that?" Victor shrugged.

"Wouldn't you be, if you were in his position? Tier 4s aren't common, especially this far from the capital. When one is killed in a public duel, word spreads fast. No doubt Count Dremond himself sent a report up to Lakeshire, which likely included more detail than you'd like about the up-and-coming House Yountal." Dustin hummed to himself, nodding.

"Mmm, that makes sense." Victor turned back to Zoey.

"Who's Ugor?"