Chapter 414: Valuable Guidance
(Active Military Base, Planet Juxta, Leo’s POV)
Ignoring Charles’s childish insults, Leo stood tall before him with both arms folded behind his back, his gaze fixed on the man with an unamused expression carved into his face, as though daring him to say something else ridiculous.
"You said if I manage to escape within twenty-four hours, you shall help me with my aura training. Well, I have escaped...." Leo stated sharply, his tone calm but pointed, as Charles paused his laughter mid-chuckle to properly examine the stubborn defiance on the boy’s face.
"Alright, alright, Mr. Upright Man," Charles relented at last, brushing some imaginary dust off his coat as a smirk curled at his lips. "Since I’m in a good mood this morning, I’ll honor my word..."
With that, he gestured to dismiss Lieutenant Bart and casually placed an arm around Leo’s shoulder, letting his fingers hover just above Dumpy’s head, coming dangerously close to making contact but stopping just short of brushing the slimy surface.
’Come on... just a little lower... let the poison from my skin melt your damned fingers!’ Dumpy thought gleefully, his bulbous eyes twitching with anticipation as he stared at the hovering hand and silently prayed for Charles to make that glorious mistake.
"Before I give you my insights on aura, tell me what you’ve grasped so far," Charles said, gently steering Leo forward as he encouraged him to speak first, "so I can figure out where to begin."
*Sigh*
Letting out a long and deliberate breath, Leo began to explain how he was currently studying the Sevenfold Revelation Codex, and had so far managed to detect six of the seven foundational aura colors, which made Charles raise both brows in surprise, thoroughly impressed.
Though he didn’t voice it aloud, a flicker of genuine astonishment passed through the old commander’s mind, for he knew it had taken him over fifty years of dedicated training and countless brushes with death to comprehend all seven, yet Leo was standing before him barely a year into his journey and already nearing the end of the first path.
"Well, I can’t exactly tell you what the final color will look like," Charles said, tilting his head as if weighing his words carefully, "because aura doesn’t manifest the same way for everyone. It’s tied to your interpretation of the universe."
"But based on the six you’ve already identified," he continued, his voice growing firmer, "I’d wager the last one you’re missing is green."
Charles explained everything in plain, easy-to-understand words. There were no dramatic pauses, no cryptic metaphors hidden in his speech like most high-level warriors preferred, as Charles simply laid it all out straight like a crude man.
"Green is one of the hardest colors to witness," he added, his fingers rubbing along his chin with a touch of nostalgia as he searched his memory. "In fact, I think I’ve only seen it once in my entire life."
He fell quiet for a beat, then continued.
"I saw it during a rescue mission," he said, his voice quieter now, touched with a faint reverence. "We were sent to extract a Transcendent-tier operative trapped behind enemy lines. He had been tasked with retrieving something vital for the Cult... something irreplaceable."
Charles’s tone hardened slightly, as his words grew more deliberate, each syllable laced with memory.
"But by the time we found him, the man was torn to shreds. Wounds across his chest, limbs severed, entrails spilling out... yet still breathing. Still clinging to life as though even death itself wasn’t man enough to take him."
"And that," Charles said, his voice dropping to a murmur, "was when I saw green."
His eyes momentarily glazed over, lost in the memory.
"And the man... despite it all... looked me dead in the eye and said, ’Commander, don’t worry. I will not die.’"
Charles placed a hand to his chest, pride swelling in the gesture as though honoring a fallen brother-in-arms.
"I believe the emotion he felt in that moment was the pure, undiluted will to survive," he said slowly. "Not the shallow desire to live longer. Not the instinct to avoid death. No... it was deeper than all that."
"Don’t confuse it with fear or the desperation of someone who clings to life out of panic. This wasn’t that. This was something only the rarest of men possess."
His voice sharpened now, like he was trying to emphasize the importance of his next words.
"That soldier had reached a point where most would beg for mercy, where the pain alone would drive a weaker soul to choose death over continued suffering. A point where the average man would give in, not out of cowardice, but because their will would break."
"But not him. That man endured it all. Through sheer willpower, through nothing but refusal to die. He kept going."
Charles fell silent for a moment, letting that idea sink in, before speaking again.
"I can’t explain it with absolute clarity... no one can. It’s something you must feel yourself before you truly understand. But if I had to summarize it : I’d say green is the color that stands in direct defiance of death, the aura of life at its most stubborn and unyielding."
He smiled faintly, the kind that carried both sadness and respect.
"The soldier lasted another two days after we brought him back. And I swear to this day, he did not die until the moment that emerald aura finally faded from his body."
"As long as that green light was wrapped around him... not even death could lay a finger on him."
Leo’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard these words.
He had never expected Charles to casually teach him something so valuable when the stubborn Codex would not even give him a single hint on what he was supposed to be searching for.
He still did not understand the concept fully and would likely have to see it for himself before he understood what it really signified, however, at least now he had a rough direction to look towards.
The chances of him randomly stumbling over a dying guy that had this tremendous will to survive were pretty low.
However, now that he had an idea as to what he was supposed to be looking for, he could actively visit hospitals and other institutions where individuals were often found near the verge of death, to hopefully increase his odds of spotting green, as compared to walking around randomly, just this little insight was unbelievably valuable.
’Holy shit, this goofball doesn’t look like it, but he’s quite knowledgeable when he’s serious.
Maybe I was too quick to judge him.
Maybe I can really learn a thing or two from him.’ Leo thought, as he bowed his head slightly in appreciation.
"Thankyou," he said with genuine gratitude, as Charles began to laugh out loud yet again.
"A grateful student? I never thought I’d have one of those...HAHAHAHA" Charles laughed, as if this was one of those things in life he never expected himself to experience.
"If you don’t mind me asking? How far along are you in learning the Codex?" Leo asked, as Charles paused in his laughter for just a moment, before bursting in laughter yet again.
"HAHAHAHA.... BOY! The Sevenfold Revelation Codex is not the only Aura meditation technique in the universe.
However, the first layer of almost all Aura meditation techniques is to understand the seven basic colors.
The technique I’m following is the one taught to Soron, the younger brother.
The technique that you’re learning is from Kaelith, the elder one" Charles said with a smile as he ruffled Leo’s hair and pointed towards the sky.
"Look at that white cloud in the sky...." Charles pointed, as both Leo and Dumpy looked towards where he was pointing, only to be immediately knocked out unconscious by Charles who hit their pressure points.
"HAHAHAHAHA! ABSOLUTE IDIOTS!" Charles laughed, as he put them both over his shoulder and carried them towards the second prison building, where they would wake up and try to break out, all over again, this time with a different set of conditions.