'You took their power? Even Void's? And Sky spoke for once, saying it'll allow it? That must mean you're draining Void enough to make draining the other three worth it. Impressive bastard, ain'tcha?' Lone praised his aura.
Just as he did however, his consumption of SP skyrocketed as the aura of the annoying elder that looked like Lossa got added on top of the aura already pressing down on his partner.
Blood spurted out of the mouth of Lone's aura. Not real blood of course. It was merely a way for the thing to express that it was under extreme pressure and that it was struggling.
Seeing this, the annoying elder smirked. "Truly remarkable to withstand the aura of Eighth Elder Irona and myself at the same time, but is this not enough? I fear if we add the aura of Sixth Elder Raleel, then you will suffer grievous harm. We would not want that to befall a friend of the White Dragonkin Clan and a guest of the Elders, now would we?"
Lone clasped his hands behind his back and stealthily released three fingers from his Dimensional Storage into his sleeves before wrapping them in tiny Blood Clone Fortress Shields. He'd taken Sofia's assigned Blood Clone and the one that usually swam around in his blood for this purpose earlier.
Lone stepped forward, looking completely unbothered while his aura's legs wobbled, ready to buckle. It truly was remarkable that it could endure this much already. The resistance had broken through to master rank, Lone knew that much, but he hadn't actually checked his notification log just yet. Still, for such a new aura ego to be so fierce... he was filled with pride.
He put a hand to the side of its head once more and looked it in the eyes. He wasn't touching it since it wasn't a physical thing, but the gesture carried meaning. "That's the thing about me. If it can't annihilate my existence, then no, it will never be enough. Sixth Elder Raleel, please, go ahead. He can endure more."
At the same time, he reached within himself and conveyed some words to his aura privately. 'Put half of the burden on me. I can handle it. You can't. Also, stop looking so pathetic. You're a part of me. Regenerate like the rest of me. My soul might not be able to do that just yet, but you're essentially a part of my mind and my body, both things under the purview of my unique skill. Even if Basic Regeneration doesn't cover my aura, make it. You're an ego, basically a person. Will an additional effect into existence. There's plenty of pressure to go around to facilitate that right now.'
It growled powerfully in resistance to the idea. Specifically, the idea of off-loading some of the burden onto Lone.
'We are partners, not owner and pet or master and slave. There will be no pointless grandstanding here and forcing yourself to endure more than you currently can just for the fuckin' sake of it. Now do as you're fuckin' told and give me half. You've shown off and impressed me enough already,' Lone demanded. 'Don't make me wrestle you for it.'
The aura fox grunted in agreement as if it was doing so purely to stop him from nagging it further.
It took every scrap of Lone's willpower to avoid flinching, allowing his back to arch under the weight, or for his knees to buckle under him. 'Fuck me. It's been a while since Xer'rava and everyone else above him outclassed my aura so much... Need to get Master Mezro'nan to desensitize me to X-ranker auras after this if six more elders don't do it. Then Prince Keining for XX-rankers. I can piggyback off of Hazel to use Divine Tethered to skip XXX-rank and go right for Divine auras after that.'
He couldn't allow himself to appear as if he was struggling. Not if he wanted to earn the variant of Magnetic Appearance he was gunning for, that was.
Lone's aura? The bugger could struggle all it wanted, but he himself wasn't allowed to budge, regardless of how much of a burden his body was being put under.
Sixth Elder Raleel smiled faintly and added her aura into the mix.
The pressure surely increased, enough so that it was taking Lone all of his mental focus to stop the pain from showing on his face or in his body language, but it wasn't as substantial of a change as he was expecting.
'I see. This is like when King Heidron, the dukes of Milindo, and the other nobles and spectators blasted me with their auras when I cut the prince's arms off ages ago in Ranton. The auras are increasing the overall pressure, yes, but not multiplicatively or even additively. There's no teamwork. No synergy. It's like a 100 going to a 170, and then that 170 going to 200. Each added aura will make it harder, but not unbearably or exponentially so,' Lone concluded.
Lone cracked his neck and returned the sixth elder's smile. "Impressive. You're making my aura sweat. He's really disappointing me thus far. He might not even make it to the fifth elder, let alone the first. Isn't that right, partner?"
The aura growled ferociously and its blind eye sockets stared daggers into him.
'If ya wanna prove me wrong, then start regenerating,' Lone scoffed mentally. 'You insist that scars are proof of strength. Fair enough, I can get that perspective even if I don't really agree, but just try and argue that you being on the verge of destruction despite having just fundamentally powered up with a skill rank up and by siphoning the strength of four Primals is a sign of strength.'
'Well said!' Darkness remarked in a genuinely enraged tone. 'If you're brazen enough to steal my energy you had best accomplish your goal. Taking is one thing, taking and wasting is another.'
That shut his aura up.
'Learn to regen before two more auras are added or give me 75% of the burden. You're a part of me so I have exceptionally high expectations. Don't disappoint me any further, 'kay?' Lone conveyed.
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The aura fox nodded subtly.
A few moments passed before the next elder added their X-ranked aura, increasing the pressure from Lone's mental figure of 200 to about 220.
Lone felt his organs being crushed under the weight but he didn't allow himself to show it. He was busy using Basic Regeneration to prevent himself from passing out or vomiting blood.
His aura, meanwhile, was melting. It was barely sustaining its own existence. Oh, it was putting up a fight. It was roaring and growling unlike it had ever done so before, shaking the very foundations of the Matriarchal Hall but that wasn't doing it any good.
It was being worn away and torn asunder by half of the collective might of four X-ranked auras.
Lone prepared himself mentally. He was all but certain that when the next elder added a fifth aura to the attack, it would cripple his partner beyond immediate repair just as Divine Dragonsworn had done to it.
'So be it. I can handle another one or two on my own and I'll force my way through the last elder if need be. I'm not passing out here. I've been planning this long before my aura grew a personality. If anything, it made this easier than expected since it's done so much already by burdening all of the pressure at first and half now. You can give up now, if you want to, partner. I'll manage. It'll be more impactful if I willingly retract you rather than let you fail on your own,' Lone said as he reached out in an attempt to pull his aura back into his body.
The bus-sized fox growled and resisted.
'Wha- hey! Don't put up a fight with me, you little shit! A big growl only matters when your bite's as big if not bigger. Stop struggling and come back before you fuckin' explode all over this hall,' Lone ordered sternly.
It howled so loudly in defiance that the auras pressing down on both it and Lone seemed to hesitate for a moment. They soon pressed down on the two of them again with renewed vigour, especially the aura coming from who was likely the seventh elder - the one who resembled Lossa.
That very same elder smiled cruelly upon seeing the aura fox weaken even further after its show of bravado. "Fourth Elder Senso, I think it has been long enough now. Surely it is time for you to add your aura as well, no?"
"It's a rather immature beast. It clearly has an ego. Very rare for our kind as that demands intense emotions tied to one's aura, but seeing your multiple awakenings... It doesn't seem so odd despite your age. Are you ready, Immortus the Immortal? I specialise in aura control unlike my fellow elders. The pressure will double when I add mine to the fold," the fourth elder said in a surprisingly polite and respectful tone.
Lone nodded. "We are ready."
The aura fox howled in solidarity, though it was a strained howl born of intense struggle.
Fourth Elder Senso closed her eyes and then willed her aura to join the auras of her four fellow elders.
Lone's vision clouded. To prevent himself from collapsing, he used Bone Armour to create a exoskeleton hidden within his garbs to support his body while he stabbed into the tile beneath himself to stop him from tumbling over.
He couldn't see his aura since the pressure had blinded him. He could only hope that he looked normal on the outside, but at this point, the special variant of Magnetic Appearance he was gunning for didn't matter. He cared far more about the historic moment he was creating and the growth of his aura than about a skill he could potentially learn later.
A mournful growl entered his ears. 'Ah, it's about to die, huh? Well, not die, but as close as a living aura can get without actually expiring. I need to brace myself. The pressure that just exploded in force is gonna double when he disappears. I should double- no triple the thickness of the bo-'
Lone's mind was interrupted by a sensation of unbridled power flowing through his body as if a blocked dam had been burst. 'Ah. That makes sense.'
His vision cleared to reveal his aura with its head pointed to the sky, howling madly with a massive grin on its lips. It was slightly bigger than before but was otherwise unchanged excluding one very important difference.
His aura fox, his partner, was no longer partially-opaque like a spirit but was instead a physical manifestation.
It stopped howling into the ceiling and glanced down at him. With an arrogant huff it forcefully put all of the aura pressure back onto itself, relieving the burden upon Lone tremendously.
Just as he was removing his Bone Armour exoskeleton and after he had stealthily repaired the pierced tiles beneath his shoes with a silent cast of Creation Magic now that he no longer had to endure the aura pressure, the woman who was presumably the third elder addressed him.
"Congratulations on reaching A-rank. I must say, it was the most impressive rank up I have ever seen. Your aura is not struggling at all anymore. Is there any point in adding my pressure to the mix? Or Second Elder Denlon's and First Elder Lelgu's?" the tall and well-endowed third elder asked.
Lone smiled politely. "Of course. Who's to say I won't run out of SP and thus fail that way? It's not like I have an infinite amount of that resource."
He ignored the pointed look Gilbert gave him upon hearing that statement.
First Elder Lelgu narrowed her eyes. "Would you be opposed to us three adding our aura at the same time? We, too, do not have infinite SP and Eighth Elder Irona may run out before we naturally reach myself in the order."
"Of course, I agree," Lone replied as he looked over the woman who resembled Lossa. "I can see that the seventh elder is struggling rather fiercely too. I would suggest taking a potion or two to restore your SP should you possess any. I wouldn't want you to overtax your aura. Not everyone has the... how to say it... strength of will in them to endure that with grace."
"You impudent little ba-"
First Elder Lelgu shot a meaningful look that elder's way, shutting her up, before she employed her aura alongside the second and third elder.
Lone didn't feel a thing since his own aura was forcefully enduring all eight X-ranked auras on its own. It looked a bit pained doing so but it was in a far better condition that it was with even just three such auras when he and it were at B-rank.
A few moments passed before First Elder Lelgu waved her hand and all eight auras returned to their sources.
As soon as that happened, like a well erupting, power exploded out of Lone's aura, enough so to shake the very foundations of the building and crack thousands of floor, ceiling, and wall tiles while threatening to topple a few supporting pillars.
That power quickly suppressed itself within the bus-sized blind fox. It's Primal-infused tails returned to being half severed and its bone armour disappeared. The beast growled faintly in a threatening manner before it jumped into Lone, disappearing as it did so.
'You fucker. That was cool. So that's how much strength you were using to fight off all of those aura's, huh? Well, since you've made yourself look like such a badass, I need to follow suit and embarrass them with my words, don't I?' Lone said internally.
He glanced at Breena and noticed she was fine, having been completely untouched by the aura's outburst at the end there. 'Just like me, huh? You can be considerate when ya wanna be.'
A faint sense of a tired growling was given as a response.
'Yeah, yeah, rest up. You've earned it... I wonder how Scott's doing? Hopefully your growth doesn't kill him. I kinda need his boost,' Lone thought, though he assumed it would be fine given his stats were still being doubled.
He needed to thank the kid. Without his unique skill doubling the power of his aura, there would be no way it could have endured long enough to facilitate Lone's A-ranked enlightened.
Regardless, he clasped his hands behind his back once more and discretely removed his Blood Clone Fortress Shields while putting his severed fingers back into his Dimensional Storage.
"With the greetings over, shall we start our meeting now?" he asked with a charming smile.