Chapter 292
Chapter: 292
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 292
>Chapter Title: Justitia (4)
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>“I want to handle aura more skillfully.”
After savoring Louis’s perfect Melbourne brew for a while, Seongjin set down his teacup with a soft clink and spoke first.
“Aren’t you already wielding it freely enough? Far beyond the level of your peers, as far as I can tell.”
“That’s still not nearly enough.”
It was the aura layer he’d barely managed to build up after overcoming depletion. Since he’d gone through the trouble of learning it, he wanted to reap the benefits other aura users enjoyed—to live a little easier.
Like having stamina that held up even after pulling all-nighters for days on end.
“……”
The Holy Emperor fell silent, gazing at Seongjin with eyes that had deepened slightly. An inscrutable, cool gaze that gave no hint of his thoughts.
But Seongjin now knew that this silence was merely him choosing his words for the right explanation.
“…There was once a bird that breathed the air of the continent and soared freely.”
Seongjin took a sip of his still-warm tea and listened quietly to the Holy Emperor’s words.
“It was an extraordinary bird, fearless enough to dive from sheer cliffs and clever enough to turn the turbulent updrafts of fierce storms into thrust, shooting up into the sky.”
“……”
“Then one day, for some unknowable reason, the sky collapsed, and everything in the world plunged into the sea in an instant. Many were cast into the water and lost their lives, but fortunately, this bird soon realized it could create gills like a fish.”
Having said that much, the Holy Emperor peered into his teacup and paused.
“Morres. If you were that bird, what do you think you would have done? Would you have relaxed and gulped down the seawater carefree? Or would you have clamped your beak shut and conserved your breath until you grew accustomed?”
“……!”
There was no need to deliberately imagine the bird’s perspective. The analogy was too plain to miss.
The Holy Emperor was saying that Seongjin had lived in a world utterly different from Delcross, so he wasn’t yet accustomed to Delcross’s atmosphere.
Like a bird suddenly plunged into the water.
‘Right. I’m Lee Seongjin, who lived on Earth for a long time, and my soul hasn’t been in this world long. That’s an undeniable fact, and Father knows it well. So how could I be his…’
Just then, a faint silvery-gray shimmer appeared in the Holy Emperor’s eyes as he stared at Seongjin.
“My son. It’s just an example. Don’t overthink it.”
“Ah, yes.”
The tone was firmer than ever.
Seongjin, who had braced himself to rack his brains, obediently cleared his mind and nodded awkwardly.
He really was uncanny.
“Fortunately, the bird’s extraordinary nature shone even underwater. It began mimicking the way fish moved their fins with its wings and soon swam through the sea faster than any fish.”
The Holy Emperor’s story continued.
The clever bird adapted to life in the sea in no time. Agile like a fish and knowing how to wield its sharp beak as a weapon, it quickly rose above other top predators to become the lawless king of the ocean.
But not everything went smoothly, because organs other than its gills didn’t function as the bird willed.
Its eardrums were still useless underwater, and the soft texture of its feathers was too dull to sense water pressure or temperature like a fish’s scales.
“Does that mean it’s an innate issue the bird can never overcome?”
When Seongjin asked with a serious expression, the Holy Emperor slowly shook his head.
“It’s a slightly different matter. Just as it hastily created gills out of necessity, the bird had the ability to adapt its other organs as it wished. It simply hadn’t yet recognized seawater as something natural to breathe, seeing it instead as an external force to overcome.”
The bird had never deeply known the underwater world in its lifetime. So it didn’t realize that what threatened its breath now could be as comfortable and natural to others as air.
Nor did it suspect that there were sounds it could hear, smells it could detect, and temperatures it could feel beneath the waves.
“Of course, being extraordinary, it will adapt successfully in time. But to gradually internalize something so alien, wouldn’t it need a sufficient amount of time?”
The Holy Emperor added.
“So you’re saying it’s not a problem of me failing to control my aura properly. Then, is it simply a matter of time? Like how the bird needs a long period to accept water as naturally as air—do I need the same?”
“Why? Does waiting it out not appeal to you?”
Seongjin nodded eagerly.
Of course! I want to adapt to this world as quickly as possible!
I plan to meddle relentlessly in the Pangea Chronicle, all while staying healthy and properly managing my Delcross routine.
So explain the underwater sounds, smells—whatever—so I can understand and adapt fast!
“……”
Faced with Seongjin’s fiercely burning gaze, the Holy Emperor stroked his chin, looking somewhat troubled.
“Very well. Then let me show you something amusing, my son.”
With those words, the Holy Emperor slowly closed his eyes. The aura enveloping him sank calmly, pressing down on the surrounding air.
‘What’s this guy up to now?’
As Seongjin blinked in confusion,
“…Huh?”
Was it his imagination? A sound like music drifted from somewhere. So faint that even his sensitive aura sense barely picked it up.
‘…A music box?’
A clear, resonant percussion like tapping a glass, yet endlessly continuing like strings. A mysterious harmony.
Ding, ding.
Thud. Thud.
That indescribable chord enveloped the study, delicately vibrating all the air around them!
“I hear music from somewhere, Father.”
As Seongjin whipped his head around and said this, the Holy Emperor slowly opened his eyes and replied.
“Yes. It’s a piece Amelia often plays. She seems to have considerable talent for instruments.”
That was right. It was a melody etched in Seongjin’s memory. Amelia had once played it in the Pearl Palace, saying it was one of her favorites.
“But……”
The fact that its source was unknown hadn’t changed.
No presence of a performer nearby, and it didn’t match any instrument in the imperial palace!
Moreover—
“…Aura manifestation!”
Seongjin quickly grasped the sound’s true nature.
It was clear. The refined aura swirling around the Holy Emperor was vibrating the air with exquisite movements!
Aura could be used like this?
“Hmm……”
Once you learned something, the natural urge was to try it. Seongjin furrowed his brows and strained to vibrate the air similarly, when a low chuckle came from beside him.
“That’s not how you do it, Morres. I don’t separate Amelia’s complex harmonies note by note and move aura for each one.”
“Huh? Then……”
“I simply conjure a strong intent based on memory to form a perfect mental image. Then the aura flows naturally along that image.”
The method of conjuring intent.
He’d learned it once from the Holy Emperor—on the night of the divine incarnation, when he’d fallen into the Rift.
Back then, Seongjin’s Demon King No. 2 had produced quite the flashy flames.
Of course, that was because the Rift was an extraordinarily special space, and later attempts never summoned Demon King No. 2 again.
“There’s no need to think of intent as something difficult. It might feel like a special power to you, but in truth, everyone in this world uses intent naturally, knowingly or not.”
As the airy performance built to a climax, the Holy Emperor continued softly.
“The way aura users protect their bodies is much the same. All born into this world are enveloped in aura from the start, growing and breathing with it.”
Children instinctively protect their bodies, and this instinct becomes natural intent.
All those faint intents accumulate day by day, forming a solid mental image. Even before aura users sense and layer their aura, protecting the body becomes as natural as habit.
Having said that much, the Holy Emperor looked straight at Seongjin and asked.
“But what have you thought of aura until now? As merely a sharp weapon gripped in your hand?”
“……!”
“Have you ever let it flow freely instead of controlling it perfectly? Have you ever strongly yearned for it to protect you?”
“I……”
Flustered, Seongjin’s lips twitched before he continued.
“I thought I needed to control aura more properly. That through training, if I led it strongly enough, I could eventually manipulate it perfectly without harming my body.”
He’d attributed his aura’s wild movements to his own inexperience in control.
Since he’d started later than others, he just needed to focus harder and control it right.
Logan had advised something similar, if in slightly different words.
Seongjin’s aura obeyed his will even against the natural impulse to protect his body. So to control even those unconscious movements, he had no choice but to train harder.
“That’s not wrong either. Perfect control is one solution, and a talented child like Logan could certainly achieve it.”
But the Holy Emperor added that it was no different from deconstructing every note for a single performance.
Imagine applying it to the body’s movements.
Flexing respiratory muscles to breathe, manually operating involuntary muscles for digestion. Even consciously regulating endocrine functions people don’t notice.
“But you have a stronger power to conjure intent than anyone, Morres. What you must do isn’t break down these notes one by one—it’s to vividly recall the memory of hearing the music and concretize the emotions you felt.”
Then release your aura to match. As naturally as can be.
‘It kinda makes sense…’
Seongjin decided to try it right away.
‘I still don’t fully get intent, but focusing on relaxing should do it, right?’
He tried slumping in his chair, draining tension from his entire body, letting the aura flow through him without interference.
So absorbed in relaxing that even his facial muscles went limp.
“Your Highness, so moved by the tea’s flavor? This Louis feels truly rewarded in serving you.”
Louis, who had entered with fresh tea, startled at Seongjin’s face, turned away, and reddened at the eyes.
“Uh, yeah. Thanks for always preparing such fine tea.”
Not quite it.
Seongjin gave up and straightened his posture. Man, relaxing is harder than it looks. Guess it’ll take some time?
“No helping it, then. Until I get used to forming intent, I’ll be imposing on your study often.”
“…….”
I really picked up bad habits.
Hearing the quiet mutter, Seongjin flashed a grin.