Theo stared at his hands for a few seconds. These hands, which could now shatter rock effortlessly, were both the symbol of his new strength and his prison. He slowly raised his head, his gaze meeting his aunt's steady one. The resolve in his eyes was a thin mask hiding a sea of despair and doubt. He didn't fully trust the information he had gleaned from his future, but he understood with harsh certainty that he no longer had any other choice.
Danger lurked everywhere, and in a bitter irony, the more his physical strength grew, the tighter and more ferocious the circle of danger around him seemed to become, instead of fading away. External enemies were not his only concern now; his own body had betrayed him. His magic was as weak as a child's whisper, and his body, despite its apparent strength, couldn't withstand the strain of a real battle. The only solution before him—patience and slow absorption—was a luxury he couldn't afford in a world that doesn't wait for the weak to mature.
He had tasted enough defeat and suffering in his few years to know that their journey would inevitably end in failure if he continued on this path. Sometimes he imagined a less tragic end, perhaps settling in one of the few remaining empires, living in the shadows, forgotten. But even that option felt like a surrender he wasn't yet ready to make.
"I have a temporary solution to this crisis." The words left his mouth with surprising firmness, before his mind had a chance to consider how to hide the other details from his aunt. He had decided that honesty, however dangerous, was better than deceiving the only person he could trust in this world.
Celia didn't shift in her seat, but her gaze sharpened, as if trying to pierce his skull and read the thoughts behind his words. Her silence was a clear invitation for him to continue, so Theo began to explain, choosing his words carefully.
"I found a technique by chance," he lied, knowing the word 'chance' no longer existed in his vocabulary. "A technique that allows me to forcefully absorb aura, but I haven't tried it yet. I can start using it. I've understood its mechanism over the years, but I never dared to use it."
Theo fixed his gaze on Celia, his eyes holding an irreversible decision. Even if she objected, even if she tried to stop him, he would do it. But he wanted to inform her first, rather than use it in secret, knowing full well he couldn't hide something of this magnitude from her.
He understood from his future and from what he knew of the technique that it was terrifying in its simplicity and brutality. The principle was to open a physical hole in the body. When the technique was used, this hole would act as a vortex, forcibly absorbing the surrounding aura. The more numerous and deeper the holes, the more insanely fast the absorption rate became. What was most unsettling was that the technique mentioned no side effects other than pain—a pain that increased exponentially with every second of use. The pain was logical; the body was being subjected to an immense and unnatural load. But the absence of any other effects was what was suspicious in itself. No power in this world comes without a price, and the silence about that price is what made it more terrifying.
Celia felt the coldness of his resolve and realized he wouldn't tell her the true source of this knowledge. She didn't press him. She had seen enough to know that Theo's inner world had become a complex place, filled with secrets she might never understand. After a few moments of silence, she gave a slight nod.
"You can begin. Don't worry about anything. I'm here."
The intensity in Theo's gaze softened slightly, and he felt a wave of relief wash over his tension. He sat on the floor, his back as straight as a spear. He closed his eyes and began to calm the rhythm of his breathing, waiting for his turbulent emotions to settle.
After several minutes of absolute silence, Theo opened his eyes. In a sudden, swift motion that stunned Celia, he extended his left hand and, with immense force, stabbed his sharp fingers into his own body, at the point just to the left of his chest, next to his beating heart.
Celia almost moved, almost screamed, almost stopped him, but she reined herself in within a fraction of a second. She had noticed with her magical precision that his fingers had pierced skin and muscle but had swerved with terrifying skill to avoid the heart, lungs, and any other vital organ. Ignoring the bones that might have been broken, there was no critical injury, except for some torn arteries.
His superhuman body began to heal immediately. As soon as his main arteries had healed, leaving behind a gap—an open channel in his body—Theo began to absorb the aura as he had learned from his future.
In truth, Theo was being reckless to the extreme. To create a hole of this size, in such a dangerous location, on his first time using the technique, was pure foolishness—a foolishness born of despair.
Immediately, the atmosphere in the room changed. The surrounding aura began to gather around Theo, not as a gentle mist, but as a violent vortex. Celia felt the pressure in the air mount, to the point that she sensed the aura was on the verge of becoming physical—dense and heavy like the air before a thunderstorm. The pressure around Theo was terrifying, and even he himself began to feel the intense pain the technique had promised. It wasn't a sharp pain like the stab wound, but a crushing one, a sensation that his body was being squeezed from all directions, that every cell within him was screaming. But he didn't dare open his mouth, didn't dare to voice this pain, knowing that any loss of focus could be fatal.
Blood poured from his eyes, nose, and ears, but he paid it no mind, continuing the absorption with blind determination.
All the earth crystals scattered around him disintegrated in an instant, turning into an energy dust that Theo's body absorbed, but it wasn't enough. Those crystals were merely an appetizer. His fifth-rank body was endlessly hungry, and the deficiency he suffered from made him a bottomless pit.
The aura truly began to take physical form around Theo, like a silver mist swirling about him, and the pressure on him increased to a level unbearable even for his superhuman body. He began to hear the faint sound of his bones cracking, and his consciousness started to drift in a sea of crimson pain. At that moment, Celia's sharp voice pierced directly into his mind.
"Stop now! Hurry up, you fool, stop before you cause a catastrophe that not even I can handle!"
Theo became aware of what was happening around him. He saw the dense silver mist and felt the pressure that was about to crush the entire building. He immediately began to deactivate the technique. The vortex began to subside, and the aura returned to its original gaseous state. But, as if angered at having its feast interrupted, it surged toward Theo in one final, violent wave. He felt as if his soul had been ripped from his body for a few moments before it returned with a painful shock.
The aura vanished, and as soon as silence fell, Celia appeared at his side, her glowing hands beginning to inspect his body. She began to assess the results in a loud, clear voice.
"Good, your body is in a stable condition."
"All of your cells are terrifyingly vibrant, as if in a state of voraciousness."
"Your heart is still slowly distributing the absorbed aura to the rest of your body."
"Your body is close to a state of satiation."
She paused for a moment, looking at him with absolute seriousness. "My assessment is that if you don't engage in physical combat, you'll be able to last for two, maybe three years without using your technique. But the condition is that you must forget you are a martial artist. Live only as a mage, relying on your weak magic. Any significant use of physical strength will rapidly deplete this reserve."
Then she moved closer, leaning in until her face was inches from his. The calm in her eyes vanished, replaced by a frost-cold anger.
"But what in the hell taught you that suicidal technique? I wasn't planning on asking, but now, you are compelled to answer me!"