DIMENSION ECLIPSE CHAPTER 2
Chapter 2 – Investigation and Aura Explained
The meeting room was tense. Several teachers sat in shock after hearing disturbing information from Teacher Siwo.
Teacher 2 asked with concern, "Are you really serious about this?"
Teacher 1 nodded firmly. "Yes, absolutely."
Teacher 3, worried, spoke, "You do realize, Mr. Siwo, if what you're saying turns out to be true, what will that mean, right?"
All eyes turned toward teacher 1 / Mr. Siwo, the homeroom teacher of Class D, First Year.
Teacher Siwo calmly replied, "Yes, I am completely serious."
The Principal, concerned but attentive, asked, "So according to you, the barrier inside the runes wasn't actually broken by the Skeleton Knight?"
Teacher Siwo responded, "Yes, that's exactly what I want to say, because we already confirmed with Ms. Mayu that the Skeleton Knight's strength could at most be mid B-level."
He continued, "But the aura warrior who created that barrier was of A-level strength."
Teacher Siwo added, "So there's no way that a B-level Skeleton Knight could break that barrier."
Hearing this, all the teachers were deeply shocked. The thought that something far more dangerous than they had assumed might be involved struck fear into them.
Principal asked with urgency, "So you're saying that at the time the barrier broke, a monster stronger than A-level was present there?"
Teacher Siwo replied, "Not exactly... it's not exactly that."
He then continued, "I would also like to call someone else here."
Principal asked, "Who?"
Teacher Siwo answered, "Chief Investigator Mr. Lim."
After 15 Minutes
Teacher Siwo addressed the room, "Mr. Lim, I want you to explain the details you told me earlier."
Mr. Lim, the Chief Investigator, nodded respectfully. "Sure, Sir."
He began, "When we conducted a thorough investigation of the runes with our aura warriors, we discovered that someone had entered the site a week before this incident."
Everyone gasped in shock.
The words of Mr. Lim sent the entire room into deep shock because runes and rifts, which were cleared and secured at all times, were supposed to be inaccessible to anyone. That such an intrusion could happen shook their confidence in their own defenses.
Mr. Lim continued, "And that's not all. When we investigated further, we discovered that someone had deliberately manipulated the energy of this dimension to flow into another dimension. This caused the gates of the runes to open again."
He added gravely, "Upon inspecting how the barrier was broken, we found it was shattered from only one side. Further inspection revealed that someone had used their aura weapon there."
Hearing this, fear spread across everyone's minds. It became clear that there was a traitor among them, someone from within their ranks working against humanity's future.
Mr. Lim continued, "Just a few months ago, there was a tragedy at the Astral Academy where 13 students died due to a barrier breach."
Teacher 3 / Mr. Bekiyon, from Class C, immediately responded, "If that's the case, then the authorities should have investigated this thoroughly."
Teacher Siwo replied firmly, "Absolutely. But they avoided investigating the issue."
Teacher Bekiyon added with suspicion, "Could it be that someone among the higher-ups is involved in this incident?"
As soon as the teachers in the meeting hall heard Bekiyon's words, anxiety and fear were clearly visible on their faces. The thought that someone might betray their entire empire was terrifying.
The principal, taking control of the situation, spoke, "Then fine. We will make sure this issue is thoroughly investigated. We must speak to the authorities ourselves and look into this matter."
He concluded, "For now, this meeting is adjourned."
The teachers now realized that someone among humans was trying to destroy the future of humanity.
Scene Shift – Shirou's Thoughts
Shirou, alone, murmured to himself, "It's been a week since that incident where we lost JOHNDRIO… honestly, he was such a fool."
SHIROU - continued, "Does he think of himself as some hero? Why did he do that for me?"
Just then, a teacher entered the classroom unexpectedly.
Teacher SIWO smiled and said, "Alright children, today I'll explain how the aura is used."
He continued, "We'll learn about the stages of aura and how many ways you can use it. We'll also cover aura manifesting."
Shirou, thinking to himself, "Oh… so they're just explaining the basics… I already know this."
Teacher SIWO began explaining seriously, "Let's start with aura. As you all know, the year 4044 was a turning point for humanity. That's when dimension cracks started appearing, and from that moment, humanity changed forever. Even 400 years later, we've only been able to reclaim 45% of the land from monsters, and this has been possible only because of our aura warriors fighting on the front lines."
He continued, "Let's learn how aura works."
Teacher SIWO:
"First of all, aura is an energy that comes into this world along with the appearance of runes and rifts."
"It interacts with the human body, and gradually the human body starts absorbing it. Initially, this caused problems like sudden burns or mental instability, but over time, humans adapted to it. A new power was born humans could feel the aura within their bodies."
"They learned to extract this power and use it in their own way. Eventually, they discovered they could manifest it into weapons. This led to the birth of aura forging – the process by which humans could manifest their aura into any weapon."
"As humans evolved, they found more ways to use aura. A few exceptional people could even see the spirit form of their aura. They could make contracts with these aura spirits to make their weapons even more powerful. But only a handful of people could do this."
"Even today, there are aura users who can contact their aura spirits, but not everyone can."
Teacher SIWO:
"Let's now learn how the aura is used."
"First, aura users are divided into 3 categories."
"First category – normal aura users. They simply have aura power and use it."
"Second category – advanced aura users. They also use aura like normal users but after gaining control over it, they can manipulate a specific elemental power and use it."
"Third category – aura users who use the aura from their surroundings. They don't need to channel it from their own body as much. They can use the ambient aura freely. This is an outstanding ability."
"The third category can also be used by some other aura users, about whom I am going to tell next , Type 3 Users."
---
Teacher:
"Now let's talk about types of aura users."
"Type 1 – Aura users who manifest their aura into weapons and use them."
"Type 2 – Aura users who use aura with their physical body, enhancing their strength and even attacks."And they can use their aura by combining it with their physical power, due to which they can use very powerful moves, just like aura punches and etc.
"Type 3 – Aura users who shape their aura freely and attack from a distance. Their aura is extremely dangerous and looks like magical attacks. They can control aura in any form and also use ambient aura for more power, giving them an advantage."
Teacher:
"And dear students, besides these, there's another type… much more powerful."
"That type is called Aura Mastery. Those at this level are at the pinnacle of aura usage. They can use abilities from all three types and have complete control over their aura. Some genius students in our academy's Class S have achieved this. If you reach this level, you could easily rank among the top students."
He concluded, "That's it for today. Write a proper assignment on this topic."
Students, groaning together, "Oh no! Even here you've given us homework!"
Teacher, smiling but serious, "Learning is important for your future."
Scene Shift – Cafeteria
Narrator:
The cafeteria scene was shown where Shirou sat to have his lunch.
Shirou thought, "It's been almost a month since I came to this academy, and they haven't even started the aura inheriting test. Maybe because of this incident, they'll delay it a little."
Scene Shift – Reunion
While lost in his thoughts, Shirou didn't notice that in the cafeteria, Kaede had reunited with Shru.
Kaede, shy and nervous, stammered, "Hey, sister Shru… you're here?"
Shru smiled, "Oh, you're the one I met in the runes! What was your name again?"
Kaede replied softly, "My name is Kaede."
Shru cheerfully asked, "Great! So how are you, Kaede? Are you here for lunch?"
Kaede hesitated, "Ah… h… yes…"
Kaede, inexperienced in talking to others, blushed a little while facing Shru. But Shru, noticing this, put her arm around Kaede's shoulder playfully and said—
Shru laughed, "Don't be so shy! There's no need to be so formal with me. Let's have lunch together."
Kaede, stammering, "Ah… h… ho… I'm not shy… actually, the thing is…"
As they were getting along, someone suddenly called Kaede's name. Hearing this, Kaede became nervous, and fear spread across his face. Shru noticed but didn't pay much attention.
Riyo called out, "Hey, Kaede!"
Kaede quickly said bye to Shru and hurried toward Riyo, clearly scared.
Kaede said apologetically, "Sorry, I'm a bit late."
A boy with yellow hair scoffed, "Yeah, it's obvious… but why so late?"
Riyo, teasingly, "What's this? You've become popular with girls lately!"
Kaede, embarrassed, "No, it's nothing like that…"
He quickly added, "I was just thanking her for saving me in the runes."
A blond-haired boy joked, "By the way, who's that girl? Looks pretty good! Hey Kaede, set me up with her!"
The yellow-haired boy laughed, "What do you think? She'll agree with you, idiot Kaede!"
Riyo and his friends burst into laughter.
Even though Kaede was angry hearing all this, he knew he couldn't do anything about it.
Kaede, thinking bitterly, "Why… why do I have to put up with this? Is it just because I'm weak? Is weakness the only mistake I've made?"
Scene Shift – Auditorium
Meanwhile, Shirou walked toward the auditorium. Suddenly, he felt someone's presence behind him.
Startled, he quickly turned around.
Kaede, awkwardly, "…ah… hi…"
Shirou, frowning, "Hey! What are you doing here?"
Kaede, nervous but sincere, "I just came to thank you."
Shirou, thinking, "This boy is strange… I didn't feel his presence at all when he came near me."
Kaede, calling softly, "Shirou…"
Shirou, impatiently, "Yeah, say it."
Kaede, earnest, "Thank you for saving me…"
Shirou, dismissively, "Look, I didn't do that to save you, and I had no such intention."
Kaede, quietly, "But you tried to save me…"
Shirou, sharply, "Enough! If you want to survive, make yourself stronger. Nobody will put their life at risk for you. If you've understood that, let me go. I need some rest. Next time, don't come to me for such useless stuff."
Kaede watched as Shirou walked away without looking back.
Shirou, thinking to himself as he left, "What does this kid want? And why is he not affected by that thing? This is seriously strange…"
He continued, "I need to be cautious around him."
What exactly was Shirou referring to? Why didn't Kaede's presence register? These questions remained unanswered for now.
To be continued…
End of Chapter 2