Chapter 164
The Aura General Assembly was the premier festival for Aura users, held once a year.
It was the best opportunity for them to showcase their growth and appeal to Korea’s hero, Aura Master Kwak Chun-sik.
I, too, had shed much blood and sweat with my master for this day.
“Uriyat!”
I shouted as loudly as I could, thrusting my aura-covered sword toward the enemy.
At the same time, he collapses with the sword stuck in his throat.
It turns out that my master’s neck slice was one of the strongest techniques in the world.
However, if there was a problem, it was right there.
In the place where each student was showing off his or her prowess, which had become a virtually uninhabited area there was a kid with clenched fists.
The child seems to be standing still, but exudes so much aura that he looks like he’s ready to slaughter you if you approach him.
At first, I had doubts and jealousy, but now I understand.
Having this much aura at that age means that he must have had an extraordinary life, maybe he was the only surviving boy soldier in a war zone.
As I approach him he reflexively lunges at me like a beast but he’s easily subdued.
‘You’re wild, but you can be stronger! Now, run for the sun!’
‘Hmph, he must have lived a hard life like this. What a big heart the Aura Master has!’
But that’s not what matters now. I only have to think about the outcome of this duel.
In the end, because of that child, a no-man’s land had formed in the center of what had started out as a 100-versus-100 fight, and the gap in the formation made it very difficult for us to enter the enemy’s formation.
“No way, I didn’t expect this to happen just by spitting out his aura…… Someone go over there and take care of that kid!”
“Is that okay, senior?! If he’s a disciple of Grandmaster Kwak Chun-sik, shouldn’t you handle him?”
“Don’t you know that we don’t have time to worry about such things during the duel, now!”
Hearing my shout, the junior immediately rushed towards him.
Since all he’s shown so far is his aura, I might as well send a junior to test his skills──
“How dare you target master!”
“How insolent!”
However, the junior was stopped by those who suddenly jumped out.
It wasn’t hard to guess who they were, given the aura in their hands and the junior’s tanned robes.
“If it’s a gimmick, it’s the Blue Moon Workshop……!”
They had a reputation of being the madmen of Jeju Island, having been known to strip travelers on the island in the past.
“You guys won’t be able to touch master ‘s hair!”
“Master is working directly with us, so how dare you!”
I don’t know what the hell they’re doing with him, but I do know that if we don’t get rid of them now, we’re going to lose.
“Yi Yun! Let’s charge!”
“Charge!”
The arena instantly transformed into a battlefield with the figure of the young master looking down on it.
Could it be that the guy over there who’s sowing his aura has calculated this far?
If so, that being was a terrifying existence that possessed the strength to survive on the battlefield and a mind of its own.
* * *
No, what the hell is going on here?
No one was charging at me, and my Human Totem trait was activated, so I stood still, but then things started to get weird.
Enemies suddenly started coming at me but the apprentices of the Blue Moon Workshop fended them off.
The two factions started fighting, and that’s when the chaos began.
They’re charging at me, and we’re throwing everything we have at them to keep them from reaching me.
Suddenly, the two factions that had been holding their own were fighting full force.
‘I didn’t do anything.’
Is this the ability of the Human Totem?
[Human Totem]
[1. Human Totem: You help your team just by standing there. Standing around doing nothing slightly increases the luck of your teammates and gives the talent holder a behavior modifier.]
The important thing here is that it gives the talent holder a “behavior modifier”.
This means that even if I’m doing nothing, the enemy perceives that I’m doing something.
‘So, you’re saying that even if I don’t do anything, I’m still looking like I’m doing something?’
It’s a bullshit ability.
Indeed, it seems that the slight uptick in teammates’ luck was working as well, as people in our formation began to chip away at theirs.
And finally, only about 19 people, excluding me, stood on two legs in this arena.
“Well, I originally planned to raise the power of the winning formation, but the battle has become more intense than I expected, so I won’t be able to do that.”
Kwak Chun-sam’s voice came from the podium.
“I think the next round should be conducted by the 20 survivors. Father.”
“Let’s do it. Hehehe!”
Apparently, he was thinking of letting only the survivors participate in the next round.
“Thanks to you we won, master!”
“If it weren’t for master holding them back, it would have been difficult!”
“Huh?”
The two apprentices bow to me while saying something unintelligible.
Apparently, the other two were out.
“Alright, see you in the next round.”
I patted them on the shoulder to show my appreciation for their efforts.
“Moo, what are you scared of?”
“We’re going to stop here, since we seem to have succeeded in spreading the word about the Blue Moon Workshop as ordered by the Workshop Master. On top of that, we don’t have the stamina to make it to the next round!”
Certainly, their words were true, and their appearance was far from normal, considering the scars on their bodies and the ragged breathing.
Well, it’s nice to have fewer people around.
I nod, and they both breathe a sigh of relief.
“Even though we lost here, we’ll be cheering for master from the sidelines!”
“Master, you have to win!”
It’s hard to imagine the tanned, muscular brothers cheering for me, but they were also in the line of fire so I was grateful for their support.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get first place anyway.”
Kwak Chun-sam’s voice came from the podium at the same time.
“Except for the participants in the next round, everyone else, move to the back!”
Fifteen people were left in the arena.
Up until now, they had all fought together, but now they were enemies.
At the same time, the aura in my body began to rampage.
‘You’re going to come out like that?’
There was only one reason for the aura to suddenly rise in this situation. It meant that everyone had a grudge against me now.
“Yeah, well, it’s only fair since I didn’t do anything in the first round.”
This body was Vito Corleone’s blood, after all, and I couldn’t believe how much my body ached from just watching the others fight.
“Okay, come all at once.”
“Kishaaaaaat!”
The first disciple rushes in with a bizarre scream.
I don’t know which faction he’s from, but he touches his fingertips like an animal, then swings his arm around and starts to claw so I throw my aura-covered fist at him.
Kwajik──!
His face is crushed and he falls to the ground.
It was only possible because this was an aura event that was oriented towards practicality and combat.
“Next?”
I wipe the blood from my knuckles and look around.
I’ve only faced one so far, and they’re already cowering.
‘No, why are these guys so weak?’
I’m wondering if I should go and beat them up one by one.
“You don’t care if he’s one of my disciples, so show me your strength!”
Kwak Chun-sik words came from the dais.
To others, it might have appeared like an insult to his apprentice, but to me, who knew his true nature……it sounded different.
‘Let’s get this over with, Eugene!’
I’m sure that’s what he meant, and even now, outwardly, the scowl on his face is supposed to be a stern look, but I’m pretty sure he’s stifling a yawn out of boredom.
“The Grandmaster has spoken! Let’s go!”
“Even if it’s master, I won’t let him get away with it!”
“Brace yourself, master!”
Still, the old man’s shouting seems to have given them a boost, and they all start running at once.
Since this is an Aura ceremony, I can’t use weapons, so I’ll have to fight them with my fists.
Deciding that it would be better to take them down with the techniques I learned from the old man rather than just punching them, I immediately put aura on my leg and headed for the ground.
“Dig.”
Carrying the aura on your leg and pushing it toward the ground was a basic Aura technique that unleashes aura to shake the ground.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle──
“Ew, ew!”
“Dig! All power to the lower body!”
As it is Kwak Chun-sik’s technique, the power of the technique is unexpected, and the center of the others collapses, creating a gap.
I don’t miss this opportunity and the power I’ve condensed from my grounding is now converted into a leaping force, and I shoot forward.
I punch the first off-center one in the stomach, sending him flying backwards, slamming him into the wall and knocking him unconscious.
One punch for a guy who looked pretty strong…….
With the buffs from my Fear and Talent already stacked up, I’m as good as fully doped.
There was no stopping me here and now.
“Gah!”
One seems to have spotted an opening and lunges at my back with a kick but using the [Aura Sonar] I had deployed at the same time as my punch, I ducked down to avoid the kick, then grabbed its foot and stabbed it right into the ground.
That’s three.
But there were still a lot of them aiming for me.
“All at once!”
More than a dozen people rushed at me from all directions.
They were moving with weight in each step, as if they were conscious of the waves they were about to dig into.
“Solitary Youth.”
If that’s the case, then using a technique that can attack in all directions simultaneously is enough.
It was a technique that only Kwak Chun-sik and Kwak Chun-sam were still known to be able to use, that’s why no one would have expected it.
───Kagakak!
The aura that rippled out from my toes began to take root, spreading out and shooting toward the others.
“How did he do this?!”
“No way──!”
Panicked by the unexpected attack, they allow it to continue.
I plan to finish them all off with this one blow, so I put all the Aura I’ve collected into this attack, maximizing its destructive power.
──Bang! ──Bang! ──Bang! ──Bang!
The energy that was supposed to spread like a needle now spreads in a blunt form like a hammer.
As a result, a sound like breaking stone echoed through the arena, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten people were knocked unconscious at the same time.
“……Ah, I’m exhausted.”
It was a technique I hadn’t yet mastered, so there was quite a bit of wasted energy.
It couldn’t wash away the fatigue that was coming on, but the effect was obvious, and the people lying around didn’t even show any signs of getting up.
I lifted my head and looked at the old man and Kwak Chun-sam sitting on the dais.
Kwak Chun-sam has a shocked expression on his face, as if he didn’t expect this, and Kwak Chun-sik is smiling like he’s about to die.
Isn’t this enough to raise the elder’s profile?
As he raised his arm, Kwak Chun-sik, who had been sitting in his seat until now, stood up and shouted while using Aura to amplify his voice.
“The winner of this Aura General Assembly is the heir to the Aura Formula, Eugene Han!”
Yep. He was totally excited.
