"So… do you have any tips for me on how to train this technique? How can I attain mastery faster?" Leo asked, hopeful that Moltherak would have some practical advice. However, the ancient dragon offered no simple solution.
"It is impossible for me to guide you directly on this path, because every person perceives and understands aura differently.
The colors I see, and what they mean to me, might not be the same as what you will see. That is why it is crucial to first observe yourself and understand what each color represents within you, before looking outward to see how those same colors resonate in the world around you," Moltherak explained, his voice steady as he tempered Leo’s excitement.
"The fact that you were able to see even one color means you are capable of seeing many more. If you continue training relentlessly with the same method, the rest will follow.
Do not stop pooling mana behind your eyes, not even while you sleep. If you stay consistent, you will soon be able to perceive the seven basic emotions.
And once you pass that stage and enter the string world, you will already be a quarter of the way toward mastering Aura," Moltherak added, as Leo nodded, a bit deflated but still absorbing every word.
What Moltherak said mirrored the teachings described in the codex, making Leo realize that mastering Aura was a path one had to walk alone. It could not be handed down through instructions or copied from another’s notes.
It was not something to be taught through diagrams or rigid explanations. It had to be felt, experienced, and gradually grasped through repeated, personal exploration.
Still, if there was one thing he took from their conversation, it was that he had been wasting valuable time.
Every hour spent in this time-stilled world was a gift he could no longer afford to ignore.
If he was truly serious about mastering the codex, then he needed to dedicate himself completely and train with unrelenting focus until the technique became as natural as breathing.
"It seems you have reached some important internal conclusion… good. Always thinking about how to improve is the only way to become a Supreme Warrior," Moltherak said with approval, as Leo gave him a thumbs up.
"Alright, old bones… my turn to ask questions.
Why was I pulled into this painting? And what exactly happened to you Beast Gods of the old?" Leo asked, eyes sharp and tone serious, as he seemed to be ready to finally get the answers he had been waiting for.
Moltherak inhaled deeply, steadying his thoughts before beginning his tale.
"This mural once stood within a shrine built in honor of the gods, back when this world was still alive with mortals and civilizations.
People would gather before it, kneel, offer sacrifices, and pray. And on rare occasions, when the stars aligned or our moods allowed, one of us might listen.
But for the most part, we were far too preoccupied to bother with mortal whims.
After our generation of gods was toppled, I stopped receiving prayers altogether.
It has been several millennia since I last felt a single soul reach out through this shrine—until today, when I sensed your presence and used the last traces of my power to call you in," Moltherak said, as he finally began to reveal how Leo had ended up here.
"As for what happened to us beasts of old? Well… that’s a kind of tragic tale," Moltherak said, his voice quiet now, filled with the weight of memories far older than Leo could grasp.
"There was a time when we were at the peak of our power. The twelve of us—each ruling vast swathes of the cosmos. We didn’t ask. We didn’t negotiate. We took what we wanted and destroyed what we didn’t. If a planet held a resource we needed, it was razed. If a civilization dared to defy us, it was wiped from history."
Moltherak paused, the glow in his eyes flickering as if reliving those long-gone moments.
"I myself destroyed an entire galaxy once. Thirty-seven planets, turned to ash in less than a month. No war. No reason. Just arrogance. Just because I could."
He fell silent again, and for a moment, the only sound was the faint hum of the space around them.
"It was that very arrogance… that bad karma… that made certain mortals rise. Vengeful ones. Brilliant ones. Relentless in their will to strike us down."
"They weren’t gods. Not yet. But they were close. King-tier warriors—what your kind now calls Demi-Gods. They had cultivated their souls to the brink of godhood, and unlike us, they were unified. Strategists. Thinkers. Crusaders."
Moltherak exhaled slowly, smoke trailing from his nostrils.
"You see, we were immortal in the sense that we could not die. Our souls had already reached the Emperor tier… but our bodies had not. We were invincible in flesh, but not untouchable. And when the first King-Ranked humans came to power, the retribution we had long evaded finally came calling."
Leo stayed silent, listening with a strange tightness forming in his chest.
"They couldn’t kill our souls. No one could. So they devised something worse. They bound us. Each of us was sealed inside one of these soul prisons… cut off from the rest of the universe. They used the energy of entire planets, entire suns, to anchor the spellwork… and the result was what you call today Time-Stilled Worlds."
"They took our powers, they absorbed what they could from us to breakthrough to the Emperor stage and become completely untouchable, however, in doing so, they inherited some of our characteristics….. and they were usually the worst one’s,"
Moltherak’s gaze lowered.
"Some say we deserved it. That it was justice for us to be hunted down, and maybe… maybe they’re right."
"But the ones who replaced us? The new pantheon that rose to power after we fell?"
He snorted again, this time not in amusement but in bitter contempt.
"They were worse. Far worse. The universe did not find peace after we were gone. It didn’t heal. It simply changed hands—from one tyrant to another."
He looked back at Leo, voice quieter now.
"We were beasts. Monsters, some might say. But we were honest in what we were, and did not hurt those who believed in us.
The new gods however wear masks. Smile while they slit throats. And that… makes them infinitely more dangerous." Moltherak concluded, as he seemed disgusted by the beings that once claimed his life.
"…And to make matters worse, they are completely immortal," Moltherak added, his voice darkening further.
"They have mastered the dao of time— transcended the third dimension entirely and ascended into something higher.
They are now beings of a realm where death has no reach and time holds no meaning. Which means… they cannot be killed, not by blade, nor poison, nor spell. Only one who exists on the same plane as them can even hope to bring them down.
But all the modern Emperors are cowards who do nothing but finger one another in their asses.
They don’t like each other, but they’re too scared to go against the other.
Fucking cowards…. Every last one of them!" Moltherak said, as he seemed to get more agitated the more he spoke.