Chapter 377: Inducing the Presence of Nature

Jyorta took in the vision of his blue soul, watching his surroundings turn dark. There weren't any souls within his range, making him heave a sigh of relief. He was slightly paranoid about coming into contact with a Shoe Fish that would end his final exploration.

Jyorta took in a deep breath, keeping watch on his surroundings as he controlled the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine to gently head into the water. He made it move as slow as possible, unwilling to alert any Frenzy Beast of its entrance. His lips curled up into a smile as his eyes radiated with cunningness.

Aura Induction—Hallucination!

Aura Personification—Hallucination!

He unleashed both the effects into the water, converging them on the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine. But this time, the affected party wasn't it, but the water itself. The presence in the water was induced by him using his aura induction, creating an atmosphere suitable for a hallucination.

He then sent his aura personification of hallucination into it, shaping the presence in the water into a place the effect of his hallucination existed.

Affecting the presence of nature!

This was a peak concept brought into fruition by Aura Induction. It was such a scary concept with strategic value based on use. Jyorta directly used this ability, inducing the presence of the water with his hallucination.

As the water wasn't a rigid body but was continuously flowing, he had to constantly expend his aura reserves to maintain the effect. Otherwise, the effect would subside as the aura fuelling his Aura Induction would get consumed. But, the plus side was that as long as he maintained a steady supply of aura, the effect of his aura personification would spread through the water.

That was what he was gunning for.

The Tier 2 Steel Porcupine floated in place, having never thought about its eventful fate. Through his soul domain, Jyorta noticed tiny murky wisps float across, like paper floating on the water.

Their movements were slow, too slow in fact. It was similar to leaving a piece of paper on a stagnant lake and blowing atop it with the mouth to move it. It was that slow. But, Jyorta became tense the moment he noticed their approach.

In reality, the water was calm, without any beings moving amidst it. Similarly, in his domain, he found nothing. There was only the presence of the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine in the water within his range.

Jyorta inhaled a sharp breath of air, feeling fear at the creepy approach of the Shoe Fishes. His vision, domain, and the feedback of his aura, none were able to spot their arrival. Only his soul domain could spot them. Just this fact alone proved that the beings before him were masters in the art of concealment.

The hallucination he had induced was simple. He never had the intention or desire to change the landscape. He always used reality as the basis to construct his hallucinations. This way, his aura expenditure was lower while he could concentrate more of his mind on the realism of the hallucination.

What he had induced was to change the appearance of the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine. He kept its body structure the same as reality, but placed a dense overgrowth of human legs over it, fully covering its surface. Also, he made its presence the same as a Tier 3 being.

After all, his aura was already in the realm of Tier 3. So, he had just modified his aura according to the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine's aura signature and imbued it in the hallucination of the human legs. This made the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine the perfect target for the Shoe Fishes.

Normally for legged creatures, when they are sighted, a Shoe Fish would attack itself to a leg. There would never be an overlap or any extra Shoe Fish attaching itself to any other part of the body. For serpentine creatures without any legs, they would attach themselves at the part of the body where the leg ought to grow if it developed one.

After all, serpents were reptiles that hadn't grown their legs. And if evolution proved anything, they can grow limbs through evolution when needed. After all, they possess the necessary genetic material, nerve structure, cells, etc.

So, depending on its biological makeup and number of legs, the number of Shoe Fishes attaching to it varied. Moreover, as beings with negligible intelligence, even if they control the host, the most they do would be using it to hunt for food to sustain themselves.

And, if the host dies, they would break free and lie in wait for another one to show itself. But, they didn't have a mechanism to break free voluntarily. Even after the host dies, only after its body starts to decompose and the cells in it die do they come off.

Therefore, in the off chance one of them attaches to him, Jyorta wouldn't be able to use his aura personification to manipulate them into letting their hold off. That was one of the reasons he was afraid of the Shoe Fishes.

The Shoe Fishes approached the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine and gently attached themselves to a foot each. When they grabbed hold of the foot, they failed to catch anything. After all, the aforementioned foot didn't exist in reality.

Due to their lack of intelligence, they didn't even realise it and moved further forward, attaching themselves to the skin of the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine behind. There were many nerve endings under the skin that they connected themselves with.

They came to realise that they didn't attach themselves to their desired locations. Unfortunately, it was too late. Unless the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine died, they were bound to it for life. Jyorta smiled, watching every Shoe Fish in the vicinity attach themselves onto the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine.

Their bodies shrunk, becoming thin like paper, forming a layer over its skin. Now, the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine's defence was elevated to a whole new level. Unless a Tier 3 being targeted it, it couldn't be killed easily.

Through his soul domain, Jyorta noticed Shoe Fishes numbering in the double digits linger in the waters. And, thanks to his aura personification, even more seemed to be lured over. Jyorta gazed forward, noticing a couple of Frenzy Beasts engage in a fight.

It was a Rigordile and a River Whale, both at Tier 2. The River Whale was wrapped by a thick layer of water that shielded it from the Rigordile's attacks. The Rigordile leaped from the water and used its massive body weight to slam its tail on its opponent.

The River Whale lost some altitude from the impact, the water around it splashed forth. It made a dive and brushed its body along the water surface, recovering the volume of water around it. Jyorta became happy, sensing traces of psychic energy mixed into the water around it.

He faced his palm towards it, unleashing an aura beam imbued with a tattoo of hallucination. The aura beam struck the water around it, facing some resistance before it hit the opponent. Its aura was only on the level of a normal Tier 2 being, so it couldn't resist the power of his aura attacks bordering Tier 3.

If Jyorta had gone all out with the attack, then it wouldn't have even been able to resist. The River Whale struggled for a moment as the tattoo settled within its aura, inducing the effect of hallucination.

Such tattoos wouldn't last long and would eventually be destroyed. After all, they weren't tattoos he had customised for the target. But, they were enough for the time being. Based on his experiments, such tattoos existed for at least a day before being destroyed. For Jyorta, that was more than enough.

The duration was brought about by the difference in their aura quality. If it was a being on the same level as him in terms of aura, then the tattoo's life would be in the seconds.

The River Whale increased its altitude, causing the Rigordile to stare at it in anger. It glared for a couple of seconds before retreating into the water, watching the River Whale fly towards Jyorta. It couldn't see Jyorta, only gazing at the Tier 2 Steel Porcupine floating in the water nearby.

After a moment of thought, it lay in wait, unwilling to make a hasty move for the time being. Jyorta controlled the River Whale, feeling a bit tired from the aura expenditure. He used his psychic arm to pop another small bit of the healing salve into his mouth.

He then turned his smaller psychic arm pale blue, seeping it into his body before healing his exhaustion. After Vaika had imparted all the information about the Unranked Skill Regen, he gradually came to understand why she delved into the field of aura while possessing this Unranked Skill.

It was because Regen not only grew back the lost parts but was also capable of replenishing the expended aura. With this, as long as the individual possessed enough psychic energy, he/she could replenish their aura reserves easily.

So, as an individual whose development in the path of aura surpassed everything else, Regen was a valuable tool to sustain their advantage longer. Jyorta smiled upon sensing his aura reserves recover to their peak in a couple of seconds.

He had consumed around thirty percent of his psychic energy. But he wasn't concerned. For, a steady stream of energy continued to refill his Brain Crystal. As the River Whale approached him, he directed the hallucination in the water, making the River Whale the target.

Now, in the eyes of the Shoe Fish, the entire body of the River Whale was covered by human legs. The Rive Whale entered the water and dissipated the film of water around it. Through his soul domain, Jyorta witnessed the scary scene play before him. The Shoe Fishes gently approached the River Whale, attaching themselves to its body.

"Before heading into war, one must armour their steed."