Chapter 259: Killing Intent, and Compassion

Jyorta used the piece of cotton to apply pressure on the spot he had used the syringe to extract blood. The blood slowly diffused into the bowl water, taking its sweet time.

There was a small red mark on the piece of cotton; it was a drop of his blood. Jyorta glanced at the marked spot, noticing that the blood no longer leaked out.

He sat in silence, training his mind while waiting for the blood to finish diffusing into the bowl water. Five minutes later, the bowl water had turned a shade of pink, almost homogeneous. He then picked up the nail by holding a strand of hair wound around it and gently placed it on the water surface.

It floated without trouble, its body partially submerged. The presence of the 12 hair strands kept it afloat. The bowl was currently on the table; Jyorta sat on the chair, situated 40 centimetres away. He gazed at the nail, beginning to emit his aura.

This was the first process he had been told to do. He emitted his aura, steadily increasing it in intensity until the amount equalled one percent of his total. As an Area Controller, limiting the emitted aura was a simple feat.

The aura was focused on the nail; the blood mixed into the water stirred up in response. The blood congregated under the nail, forming lines that resembled the 12 hair strands. They eerily floated in the water like worms, as if they were alive.

For a moment, Jyorta wondered if they were a part of his Wisdom Parasite that had seeped out. But, after some time of observation, he concluded that wasn't the case. What had been mixed into the bowl water was just plain blood.

The 12 lines in the water eventually emerged, stabilising just underneath the surface. They divided the surface area of the water into 12 equal segments. A tiny circle formed in the centre, situated just underneath the nail.

It spanned the length of the nail, separated from it by hair-thin distance. The 12 strands of hair soon aligned with the 12 lines of blood, their arrangement similar to a clock. The outermost strand of hair aligned with the 1'o clock position. So on, and so forth, the innermost hair aligned with the 12'o clock position.

"Preparations are complete," Jyorta muttered, seeing the result before him. Everything occurred just as the nurse lady, Vaika had said. "Now, I need to test the aura personifications one by one."

Jyorta closed his eyes, beginning to think, all the while maintaining a steady emission of his aura. As the aura was wholly focused on the nail, the amount spreading around was minimal. The tinge of aura that seeped further was absorbed and negated by the room walls.

The blue soul sent some memory fragments into his brain, solidifying his imagination, and making him recall the memories in their grandeur. He experienced the memory of when he was in the Labyrinth of Frenzy, fighting a Spiked Lizard.

The moment he killed the first Spiked Lizard, his aura experienced a change. Now, it possessed killing intent. Moreover, this killing intent was more effective against the Spiked Lizards, as they had been the cause that produced it in the first place.

Jyorta immersed himself in the memory, soon noticing the change in reality. His aura was tinged with killing intent, the same as before, except weaker in effect.

Aura Personification—Killing Intent!

The effect pervaded the nail; a ripple formed on the water surface as the aura travelled through the hair. The effect in them resonated with the lines of blood; after all, they were all from Jyorta's body. The aura they possessed was the same as him. But, as they had been subjected to the external environment, they were slowly losing their aura.

When they chanced upon Jyorta's aura, they sucked it greedily, replenishing their expenditure. Blood was the vital fluid flowing through the body, carrying everything that needed to be transported from one place to another.

The nutrients required for the growth and maintenance of muscles and organs, the oxygen they consumed, the carbon-dioxide they released, the Nurturing effect of the Wisdom Parasite, and aura every cell emitted; the blood carried them all. Also, to prevent any reaction between the various components, the blood acted as the perfect solvent, a vehicle that isolated each and sent them to their respective destinations.

It also possessed components that fought against anything that proved harmful to the body. When Jyorta's aura—using his aura personification—arrived, it was greedily absorbed by the nail and the strands of hair.

The lines of blood though only absorbed the base aura. It offered a certain rejection to the aura personification. As a hair strand absorbed the aura personification, the blood began to push it away, causing it to slowly rise.

The outermost hair strand—aligning with the 1'o clock position—had absorbed the most of the aura personification, causing the rejection it experienced by the blood to become the highest. It swiftly rose, standing perpendicularly from the water surface.

Once it rose, the second hair began to absorb the aura personification, beginning to stand up too. Jyorta concentrated on the process, noting the speed of rising of the second hair strand to be slower to the first.

One, two, three…soon, nine hair strands rose. The first three hair strands even wriggled, dancing in the air as if swayed by the wind. Jyorta sighed, feeling mild sweat form on his forehead. Just this experiment alone told volumes about his character, personality, and nature.

Killing intent didn't suit him; if he continued to unleash killing intent through his aura, his body would suffer damage. Even though only 9 hair strands had risen up and not all 12, the first 3 hair strands danced. This means that, despite him being able to use this aura personification, his body would be damaged every time he used it.

Jyorta felt a bit troubled. In the world he was in now, war persisted. Battles and skirmishes occurred everywhere, and every day; death, grudges, and hatred were accumulated with the passing of each day.

When he fights an enemy, unleashing his killing intent through his aura would be the easiest method to make his foes wary of attacking him. That would allow him to conserve energy and not become embroiled in all the battles he comes across. But now, this option was no longer feasible to him. His body would be damaged if he unleashed his killing intent.

"I should think of some alternatives," Jyorta sighed, controlling his mentality and emotions, slowly retracting the killing intent suffused into his aura. Soon, his aura returned to its base form. A moment later, the hair strands that had risen began to bend, slowly returning to the water.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes had spanned, the hair strands had returned to their original positions. Jyorta still maintained his aura, picking up a slip from his pocket. Many options were listed in order on the slip. Using a pen, he crossed the first option, "Killing intent."

The list consisted of all the forms of aura personification that had been documented to date. It was given to him by the nurse lady, Vaika. He read the second option, "Compassion."

Jyorta closed his eyes, submerged in thoughts, recalling the incidents from when his emotional state conformed to the emotion of compassion. Using his brain to think, the blue soul immediately unearthed numerous memory fragments, most of which were from his previous life. It then sent them to his brain, allowing them to be processed.

Jyorta experienced many scenes; they felt as if he were experiencing them again. They were realistic. Had it been anyone else, then they would have to spend hours at a stretch to recall memories, consolidate the emotions, imbue them into their selves, and exhibit that feeling. Only then will they be able to emit the respective aura personification.

Humans experience many things from birth; of them, only a few incidences are vividly ingrained in their minds, stuff they can recall instantaneously and those that can affect their emotions. As for the rest, they would pale in comparison. For most incidents, the person would have to spend a lot of time recollecting, and even then, it wouldn't be vivid. At most, it would be a dry memory, without any added attachment.

But, the existence of the blue soul allowed Jyorta to extract and store every memory in its most vivid form. And, whenever he wished to recall, he could experience the memory a second time, as if he experienced it in reality. The number of times Jyorta could experience a memory was infinite.

This advantage allowed him to quickly find the necessary memory fragments and experience them, affecting his emotions. Soon, the aura he emitted changed. The surroundings became calmer, i.e. the state they were in.

If anyone were to stand near him at present, they would feel safe, secure, and would be able to trust Jyorta and even depend on him as an emotional pillar. Even someone that didn't like him or considered him a foe would experience a reduction in their killing intent while standing beside him.

Aura Personification—Compassion!

The hair strands began to rise, one by one. Jyorta's eyelids twitched as he watched them rise, the twitching increasing in intensity as the number of hair strands grew. Finally, 8 hair strands stood; thankfully, none of them wriggled and stood still.

"I'm neither suited to be a killer nor a saint," Jyorta muttered, controlling his urge to facepalm. He sighed, changing his mindset, beginning to retract the aura personification. He crossed the second option, writing the number '8' beside it, and the comment, 'No wriggling'.

He saw the long list of options, heaving a grunt before beginning to focus on the third option. The blue soul began to scoop out memory fragments one after another and sent them all to his brain.