The boost provided by Isaac’s evolved Aura had doubled.
It was an enormous upgrade. Evolved Aura already enhanced the performance of every skill he possessed, so increasing its effectiveness by another hundred percent meant every one of those skills had become noticeably stronger.
Whether it was Telekinesis, Spatial Seal, or any of his other abilities, they all benefited from the improvement.
That alone would have made the evolution worthwhile, but Isaac quickly realized he had gained something else as well. He took a slow breath before releasing his Aura again, wanting to understand exactly what had changed.
The invisible pressure spread throughout the gym with surprising ease. The first thing he noticed was its range. Previously, he could only reinforce weapons he was holding or coat arrows in Aura before firing them, making sure they struck their targets before the Aura dispersed.
Now, the Aura expanded far beyond that. It reached every corner of the gym while remaining completely under his control, and maintaining it required almost no effort. It felt as though the entire room had fallen within the reach of his will.
Isaac slowly looked around, trying to understand what he was sensing. His Aura was not merely filling the room anymore. It felt different somehow, as though it had become part of the surrounding space instead of simply covering it.
"It feels different, but I can’t tell what this is supposed to do," he muttered.
Before he could think any further, his senses picked up an extremely fast presence rushing toward the gym. The warning barely registered before the entrance exploded inward.
The gym doors shattered into splinters, and a blazing fireball crashed through the ceiling, blowing open the floor above. Stone fragments and dust rained down as violent shockwaves swept across the room. Isaac reacted immediately, grabbing Celia with Telekinesis and pulling her beside him while shielding her both from the debris.
She didn’t need to be defended from debris of this scale. Her stats were high. But Isaac’s body had reacted instinctively.
The dust lingered for several seconds before gradually settling. When Isaac looked toward the ruined entrance, he saw Eleanor and Sera standing there with their weapons drawn. Above the newly opened hole in the ceiling, Avery and Alice watched from the upper floor with equally alert expressions.
"Where is the intruder?" Eleanor asked as she scanned the room.
"...Intruder?" Isaac stared at her in confusion.
Eleanor ignored his question for the moment and continued looking around. Her eyes narrowed slightly before Sera reached over and tapped her shoulder. She pointed directly at Isaac.
"He is the one who opened a Domain," Sera said.
Eleanor shifted her attention to Isaac. Her gaze lingered on him before slowly moving across the gym, as though she could perceive the Aura surrounding everything. When she looked back at him, her expression had become noticeably stranger.
"You evolved your soul again?" she asked.
"Yes," Isaac answered with a nod. He glanced at Eleanor, Sera, and Avery, noticing that all three of them were looking at him strangely. Meanwhile, Alice and Celia appeared just as confused as he felt.
When the silence dragged on, Isaac decided to ask the obvious question. "This thing I’m doing by covering the gym with my Aura... is it called a Domain?"
"Yes," Eleanor replied.
"So it’s something powerful?" Isaac smiled slightly.
The destroyed gym barely crossed his mind because replacing a ceiling was much easier than gaining another powerful ability.
"It is powerful, but not for you," Eleanor answered,
Isaac frowned at her response, making Eleanor explain. "Your soul has evolved enough to form a Domain, but your actual rank is still only Adept. Even though you’ve awakened one, your soul isn’t strong enough to use a true Domain properly."
"But that’s why it’s even better that you have a Domain now," Sera said.
"It is," Eleanor agreed with a nod. "That’s why I’m so surprised. Normally, people would give Soul Evolution Potions to someone much stronger instead of an Adept. Since he received enough to reach this point, he was incredibly fortunate."
Isaac looked even more confused. "You just said I can’t really use it because my soul isn’t strong enough. How does that make me lucky?"
"Because Domains are extremely difficult to master because of how strong they are. Even Overlords usually spend at least a decade learning how to control one. Your Domain is weak because your soul is still at the Adept level, but that weakness actually makes it easier to handle," Eleanor explained patiently.
She continued before Isaac could interrupt. "You can begin learning how to control a Domain now, while it’s still manageable. By the time your soul becomes powerful enough for a true Domain, you’ll already have years of experience. Most people never receive that advantage."
Isaac’s eyes lit up as he understood what she meant. If he started learning now, he would be far ahead of everyone else once his soul caught up.
Eleanor noticed his excitement and sheathed her sword. "Not now, though. Focus on your Conqueror Trial first. After you return, we’ll begin your Domain training."
"Got it," Isaac replied with a firm nod. She was right. No matter how valuable Domain training was, the Conqueror Trial had to remain his priority for now.
Eleanor patted Sera’s shoulder, signaling that it was time to leave. Sera started to turn before her eyes landed on Celia. She stared for a moment, making Isaac follow her gaze.
Only then did he realize that Celia was still suspended in midair by his Telekinesis.
Eleanor looked at Celia before glancing back at Isaac. "Don’t mind them. Those two are always acting childish whenever they’re together. It’s probably another one of their little games."
"Oh my, young love," Sera said with an amused smile.
Chuckling to herself, Sera followed Eleanor out of the ruined gym. Avery and Alice exchanged looks before quietly leaving as well, leaving only Isaac and Celia behind.
Celia’s face had turned completely red. While blushing, she still secretly tried activating Vector Shift skill, hoping to swap places with another object and escape the Telekinetic hold.
Isaac immediately sensed what she was trying to do. Without giving her the chance to succeed, he activated Spatial Seal. The skill instantly suppressed movement abilities within its range, causing Vector Shift to fail before it could activate.
Celia froze in disbelief. She struggled once more before realizing nothing was happening, then looked at Isaac with an expression full of disbelief.
"You bully! This is cheating! Stop using my skills against me!"
Isaac simply smiled and ignored her complaint. Watching Celia struggle against her own abilities was surprisingly satisfying after everything she had put him through. Taking revenge on this little chaos gremlin felt much better than he had expected, and he decided he should do it more often.
Carrying Celia with him, Isaac walked out of the damaged gym and contacted a construction company. He informed them about the collapsed ceiling and shattered entrance before arranging for workers to repair everything. Once the details were settled, he ended the call and slipped his communicator away.
A moment later, Catherine appeared beside him. She looked completely relaxed, and the pleased smile on her face suggested that whatever she had been doing had gone exactly as planned.
"I’m going to take over Fortified City 62," she said.
"You’ve already made it there? I thought you still had some business to take care of before heading over." Isaac raised an eyebrow.