Adrian was sitting on a black chair in his room. In front of him on his study table were the seven red-covered books that had been given to him by Visie. Each book was thick and heavy and had taken him much effort to bring from the alley where Eric and Max had left him back home.
Behind him stood Mr. Clown, upright like a bodyguard with his hands clasped behind his back.
The room was completely dark, and the only light sources were the lamp on Adrian's study table, illuminating the books, and the moonlight coming in through the window from the sky.
Adrian's gaze shifted from one book to another.
He had neither Meditation Aura nor any practice in ancient Lumenian, the language the contents of the books were written in.
Adrian, however, was able to read these books now.
The one who should be given the credit is Mr. Clown. He had used his Aura and fooled Adrian's mind into thinking that he could read ancient Lumenian.
In the short run, it is fine if used in a limited way, but if used long-term with no control, it can have severe drawbacks due to being under the effect of another person's Aura: inability to read, becoming a lunatic, loss of IQ, or even losing control.
It also has its weaknesses. For example, Adrian may be able to read the content, but he is unable to comprehend any knowledge. So all he can do is read, but it won't help in the development of his world of consciousness and sub-consciousness.
This may seem like a small thing, but it is very harmful. The mind is able to absorb the most knowledge when it first reads something.
Mr. Clown had explained it deeply to Adrian just now. He had suggested that he read it for Adrian. It would be the best option as he wouldn't need to directly learn the language or get under his Aura's influence.
Even though it wouldn't be as effective as Adrian reading it himself, it would be the best choice. But!
Adrian had just awakened. He is still an excited young man who is ignorant of the dangers of this world. He naturally is not afraid of taking risks and even getting himself in danger. He wants to read these books himself. He had promised that this would be the first and last time.
"As if," Mr. Clown heavily doubted it in his mind.
And now, after all this, we have reached this stage. Adrian took a look at each book's cover and inwardly said their titles.
"The Two Inner Realms of the Body: The World of Consciousness and Sub-consciousness and the Domain of Emotions" "The Legends of the Nine Meditation Masters" "The Thirty Legendary Immortal Beasts" "Encyclopedia of Auras" "Introduction to the Thirty Primary Pathways" "History of the Aura Region" "Fundamentals of Relic and Domain Card Forging"
All these books were alluring and filled with knowledge of their respective topics and subjects.
Adrian was a total beginner who was eager to learn, but looking at this huge mountain of knowledge, how could he not feel confused?
Even after several minutes of contemplation, he couldn't decide where to start. He looked back at Mr. Clown, who was staring at the streets from outside the window. His black eyes reflected the glow of the moon.
Due to his clown makeup, terrifying smile, and personality, he is normally very creepy, but right now his being exuded seriousness, wariness, and professionalism.
His eyes' depth vaguely shone with the light of longing.
He had sensed that Adrian would gaze at him from his body language minutes ago, but he didn't say anything. Now that Adrian finally was asking personally, he decided to react and act as the teacher he was supposed to be.
Mr. Clown stepped forward and took out his Fooling Aura. His Fooling Aura's colour was light red with a hue of crimson; black particles flowed in huge numbers in his Aura.
A huge amount of his Aura came out of his left arm in liquid form and, on his will, started to make a chair near Adrian's chair. After forming a simple chair, Mr. Clown willed and the liquid Aura became solid, allowing him to sit on it.
After sitting, Mr. Clown started to talk. "All these seven books are important and vast in knowledge for a Nova like you. The subjects consist of Auras, rituals, forging, and history. They all contribute to your growth, but for now, I will suggest you read this."
He raised his left hand and picked up a book. The title was one of the seven that Adrian had read before: "The Two Inner Realms of the Body: The World of Consciousness and Sub-consciousness and the Domain of Emotions."
Adrian looked at the book's cover and said plainly, "I have already gotten a lot of insights on the world of consciousness and sub-consciousness from Eric and Max, but I have no idea what the domain of emotions is?"
"The domain of emotions is just like the world of consciousness and sub-consciousness in the fundamental sense. The only difference is that the former is in the heart and the latter is in the mind. Just like how the world of consciousness and sub-consciousness is an inner realm of an Aura user, which appearance varies from person to person, the domain of emotions is also the same. The only main difference between them is that one holds the thoughts, knowledge, memories, your consciousness, and both your Aura's and your sub-consciousness, etc.
"Not only that, it protects you from the attacks of your Aura's sub-consciousness and helps you comprehend knowledge in the most efficient way."
"While the domain of emotions holds your emotions, important memories, true feelings about others, and many other minor details. These inner realms are huge and vast, and people have spent their entire lives researching them. The books you have gotten only tell the basics. You should read it and gain as much knowledge as you can. After this, I will have you practice ancient Lumenian so that you can read these books yourself. Just take a simple book for now. I am giving you an hour."
"Obviously, the usage and working of the domain of emotions is very deep and profound. It is not something you could understand by just reading this simple book. People have spent their entire lives researching these realms and are still doing it."
"If you were an Aura user of the Emotion Pathway, you would have been able to absorb knowledge regarding this realm much more easily and efficiently."
Adrian nodded at Mr. Clown as he lowered his head to the book, opening it and starting to read.
Before he started, he took one last look outside the window, glancing at the moon as a thought formed in his mind:
"I wonder what Eric is doing right now?"
…
Eric was sitting on a stool beside the window of his apartment's bedroom, gazing at the moon high in the sky.
Ruby was on the bed, already sleeping soundly. She was very tired after the date; they had gone here and there. There was a lot of walking involved. It was normal.
Eric gazed at the moon for a few minutes, breathing deeply.
In and out… In and out… In and out…
Trying to calm himself, with the supplementary feeling of the sense of familiarity from Max who is in the apartment next door, the serenity he gets from the moon, and finally his breathing itself.
Eric was able to calm down to the fullest. In his hand was a small silver round earring. This was a relic of the Emotion Pathway he had lent from Edward for this occasion using the contribution points he had gained as the reward for completing the mission given to him.
He had gained a total of 1000 contribution points. Lending the relic cost 300; it cost 300 because this was just an Auri Nova rank relic. Otherwise, the cost would have been higher.
Edward "generously" gave him some information about the domain of emotions too and how to handle stuff in there lest some problem arose.
It was obvious to Edward what Eric's plan was after seeing what type of relic Eric was borrowing.
It has always been costly to buy or lend relics from others.
For 400 contribution points, he exchanged for 40 aura stones, replenishing his decreasing aura stones storage while keeping the remaining for the future.
Eric was going to go into his Domain of Emotions tonight and ask his emotion persona for answers about what he feels about Ruby.
He would be lying if he said that he wasn't anxious. Not because of whether he loved Ruby or not. But because this was his first time entering his domain of emotions.
He had never known an Aura user from the Emotion Pathway, so it was normal for him to not have confidence or any deep knowledge about this inner realm. But he was still ready to take the risk.
He has to get stronger. To become stronger, he has to increase the rate of his control on his Aura. For that, he has to complete the steps of the method of control.
His control is at 60%. He is very close to reaching the third step; he just needed the final push.
Taking his last deep breath, Eric opened his eyes and looked at the moon for the last time before muttering and activating the relic.
"Let's do this."