In the broken down castle, the night sky shone as the moon hid within the clouds. Valeri and Armand had managed to help Gale in her unconscious state, revive Enough Aura to barely hold back her Negating aura. Logan, who'd faced the brunt of the unluck was passed out after he'd suffered from spontaneous human combustion, and with his armor still on, it was a miracle they were able to save him before it got worse. Meanwhile Lucien was Focused on Hector's body, he had healed the gaping wound but began to notice the concentration of the remaining Aura around Hector's Central Core system, the place where Aura reserves are stored, and with the anomalies, he knew there was something wrong. Aura acts like blood. When there's Aura that shouldn't be present or Excessive Mana, it Absorbs it, acting as a cleanser. And when the Foreign Aura is too much to be cleansed, it either attempts to expel it by forcing Aura deviation or Burns the excess by sacrificing its own, this in turn keeps a person weakened, unable to circulate and in common cases, leads to Death. Forced Aura deviation, while Not as incurable, Requires much faster responses. Aura deviation can be prevented from Aura regulation, and if Aura is regulated appropriately to overwhelm the foreign Aura and absorb or expel. This wasn't the case for Hector. His heart wasn't beating, but his mana reserves were circulating themselves to his core system. And instead of his aura to dispel or block, they're leading the way. Meanwhile the remainder of Hector's Aura was faint and the foreign Aura while similar, seemed too different. Lucien tried to imbue his own aura but due to his ki systems shutting down, it was like forcing water through a dam. If he did too much he'd destroy His Ki channels and even if he survives ki deviation, he'd still be crippled. He had to find a way to open up the blocked pathways. But Hector in plain terms was dead. So unless he could bring him back to life, its going to be near impossible for him to save Hector. "I can start his heart for A second just enough to let my Aura through any gaping Hole, I'd be able to Imbue enough to keep them open and help him." Lucien thought to himself as he lay Hector down. "But that would mean simultaneously knowing The right amount of Aura to imbue at the right time and then imbue the right amount to keep all Ki channels Open while I help him regulate his ki. But that's not even the hardest part." Lucien contemplated as he knelt beside Hector. The mana gathering, beginning to slow down as it encircled Hector's Aura and the foreign one."
"HOW CAN THIS BE?" Hector exclaimed, he wasn't shocked at Naran being Alive but rather by the Energy that encompassed him. All the wind Dragon warriors from the memory fragments, gathered like prisoners, all providing aura as lost wraiths for the Preservation of Naran. "If you wanted to preserve his soul, you could've bound him to a soul contract using the remnant energy from the wind dragon essence." Hector said, his arms balled to a fist as he stared deep into his eyes. "You're smarter than you give yourself Credit for, Hector." Aran said, but Hector did not want to hear any of it. "You used them, like you were about to use me, you made them battle for their lives thinking they were cursed. The curse of the wind dragon and The demon that was summoned, your father wasn't the one who summoned it, it was you. You sacrificed your sons Soul to summon the demon so you could fight against the wind dragon, and when you lost, the dragon tried to take back its power but you somehow, in some sick twisted way, sacrificed the demons power instead. What Lies there isn't the demon itself but the mental image you've created to Portray the demon. This "curse" you've carried all along was to preserve your sons soul from its destiny that you condemned it to. That's why you're Moving through without the ritual. You're not bound by the wind dragon. You're bound by the Weight of your son, that is why there is no record of their death in your memories but there is always a written record of their demise in the physical realm. You intentionally remove the memory of their death because you condemn their souls before they die." The reason they die so horribly, its because you condemn their souls. They become husks." It was brief, the silence. It held the air tight and then the deafening laughter shook the space to its core. "Brilliant, Hector, just brilliant. People from your world must consider you among the wisest among all" Arban mocked. His voice, condescending as his previous distraught turned to disdain and pride. "So you know now you must sacrifice your life for my child." Arban had a thicker voice than earlier, it sounded more like a roar with every word, the pressure was suffocating for Hector but he refused to relent to the pressure. " why do you still pretend as if you are bound." Hector's voice was shrill and screamed fear. "Truly Truly you are a philosopher amongst men." Arban said, laughing as this body phased out the wall. A better Description would be, the wall phased into him. The whole space phased into him, as his body revealed itself, he was tall, much taller than Hector, even taller than Harigold who stood at 6'6. His face seemed human like but strange. The horns on his head, the strange definition of his eyes and the scales. It was the true form of a dragon kin, the projection of his aura. "Let me make this fair for you, I'll give you a chance to earn your right, if you win, I'll submit the souls essence to you, if I win, well, you die." The cockiness in his terms made Hector Laugh bitterly, he couldnt believe what he was hearing, "what an honour it is to be given the opportunity to have a chance at remaining in my own body, how could I ever repay you, o great Warrior." Arban was amused at Hectors vein mockery, the ground shook as the scenery changed from The white space to a forest unique in its topography with trees taller than the eyes could see, it was a field like forest with the uniqueness in the land, the area was vast, however in its space covered in grass, the trees seemed to bend Away from the field, leaving an unusual amount of Sunlight with little to no canopy, despite the rustling of leaves sounding closer than they seemed. "This is the wind Dragon's village, it doesn't feel the same." Hector blurted, as the space formed, "Because it isn't, this is my alterations to how it usually looks" Arban responded blandly, he looked slightly annoyed as his face turned towards the floating shell protecting his son. "But what were the changes? It looks the same but the difference is so Glaringly obvious it's hard to spot." Hector said gently, walking Around to observe the scenery. "The trees. You wouldn't notice it if you don't spend endless years striving in the environment. These trees are real. Or made to be real. Our trees are artificial. Made to protect the village from hostile sightings and keep us hidden. "They're artificial? Made from what? From the memories, they resembled Normal trees" Hector was confused at what Arban was saying, although it was dark in the memories, the Heightened senses through the eyes he saw them from resembled everything in its natural form. And then the realisation clicked, "they're made from Dragon skin." Arban said bluntly. The realisation set in for Hector, it explained the strange sensation of the area around it, it made even more sense why when the village was found, the trees were so easily cut down. "But if they're corpses, how could it have looked so much like real trees? And to have that many corpses to cover the whole village..." Hector's question was met with brief silence, but Arbans eyes darkened, "the beauty of Mana" he said, rather sarcastically. But it would make sense to consider. Dragons are known as beings Made from the true essence of Mana and Aura, with mana being their driving force and Aura their identity. Dragonkin are beings created from Dragon's mana and imbued with their essence giving them their distinct features depending on the taste of thr dragon who makes them. Ever so, Dragon kin also have high compatibility with Mana and have Nigh precise levels of control over their Aura making them "the perfect beings." That would also mean their body loses its Value once dead due to being created from Mana. Their innate Mana makes them the perfect vessels for their imbued aura which means once the mana channels no longer work, their imbued aura dissipates leaving them empty shells. Hector had read this somewhere sometime during his research on dragons, that when a dragonkin dies, their body Turns to a mud like lump over time, the true term would be their Scales losing its shape and with their hardened feature, they coagulate in a way, lumping themselves together to form a weakened shell covering for their internal organs. The thing about this weakened state is, its flexible, the books described it as a rubbery and sticky lump. A true embodiment of the term "from dirt we came and to dirt we shall return."
"When you're done reminiscing about my past, shall we begin?" Arban interrupted Hector's glaring sololoquising, he summoned and threw a spear towards Hector's feet, indicating he picks it up. Then, he stretched out his arm to his side, a low hum reverberated in the air, as if the air stood still. Hector felt it, not the power from the summoning, but the depth of something else, something similar to the rift he'd felt earlier, the rift that separated him from himself but kept him so close to everything else. The air gathered to where his Arbans hand stretched out, forming a long strange shaped spear, as the vortex faded away. It resembled the wind dragon spear in the memories but Looks strange, corrupt, wilted. Perhaps this change came from the strange red orb attached to it's blade,but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. The more he stared at it however, the more he felt uneasy, until it pulsed and he felt it pulse in his heart. It was excruciating, for the first time since he'd come here, he could feel pain rather than passively resonating with emotions. And with pain, came the fear of What was truly going on. "Why is the demon still alive Arban." Hector asked, clenched his chest as he fell slowly to his knees. "HA HA HA HA" the eerie low Yet forced laughter reverberated once again. The courageous look from Hector has vanished, and he only felt fear. But to Hector, the change was not something he wanted to predict. And with the voice that echoed through, he was afraid it was the only thing imminent for them; "Faust." Hector said bluntly, "In the spirit" Faust said, with a tone that resembled two voices. Faust and Arban had merged, in the same way Hector wished to merge with Him. "But how? Both of you can't exist simultaneously." Hector wanted to deny every fact that would bring him to face a demon. In the flesh or in the spirit. "We're not." they replied simply. "I am the sole possessor of the demons power, he merely lives on as an extension of his power." It was Arban speaking but it didn't feel that way. "So does that mean Arban controls the dragon power and the demons power simultaneously? Is that what you used to trap the souls and preserve Naran?" "Yes." The answer was brief, but ever since the merge, every word felt like it could cut through anything, including Hector. "Our battle begins now, brace yourself to die." Arban said gently, the echo of the two voices returning, followed by a deep crash. The sword had buried itself into Hector's arm, and with the force of the swing, Hector was pushed back. It stung. For Hector who had finally gotten back the feel of his emotions, it couldn't have been worse timing.