SHADOW AND LIGHT (CHIAROSCURO)

MASTER OF AURA

Aura, as mentioned before is an atomic chemical element of the world that could not be easily seen or touched but felt even controlled.

Thus, the only way to tell if someone was using aura would be by feeling it in the atmosphere like the feeling of pressure under the sea.

The first level for aura benders is Aura Apprentice or Apprentice Of Aura – one who simply can use aura and can improve their physique a bit, thereby allowing them to do things like lift boulders, run fast or even fight beasts like bears or lions but in no way can they match an aura lord.

They're basically humans just above the average man.

The second level is Aura Lord or Lord of Aura – an aura bender with moderately high volume and control of aura, blessed with the capabilities of a dozen men.

For someone like Sir Cassian, he was at the Aura Lord level, having the strength of ten men flowing through his entire being.

As we fought, he increased the volume of aura in his body and used that ten-fold strength to throw his lance at me at an incredible speed. Most of the spectators surrounding our arena didn't even see the lance mid-air.

Unfortunately for him, I had great reflexes. I dodged his lance by a hair's length.

“Huh!? That's impossible!” Sir Cassian thought as he slotted the ground at which his lance pierced and noticed the force from his lance made a huge crack in the brick floor. But didn't even come close to giving me a scratch.

“How did he dodge that? I broke through the brick floor at such speed! And he dodged it!?” I could see the gears in his head turn as he was figuring it out.

For the most part, what confused him was the fact that he didn't sense me use enough aura that would come even close to avoiding such a quick attack

“What are you!?” he asked as he carefully pulled out his lance from the floor.

“Of course, there have been said to be other aura lords in the kingdom of Gladia but not more than three of them exist and that's including me! Could he be the fourth one!?” Sir Cassian thought while waiting for a response from me.

I responded with a mischievous smirk, “What am I? Didn't you already say...?"

"Sir Cassian was perplexed by my question. "Did I?"

"I'm simply an incompetent prince!” I spelt it out for him with my mischievous smile intact. I could see Sir Cassian's brows furrowed immediately after my statement.

“You bastard! I'll crush you right here, right now!” it seemed to have angered Sir Cassian even more.

“Hahaha...! You sound like a mangy dog, Sir Knight! Come at me!” I laughed as he tried to trample me with his steed. But I rolled away from its hooves.

“Enough games! It's time I level the playing field!” I said as I unsheathed my sword from its sheath.

The crowd and the golden knight were shocked by the unusual shape of my sword. It was a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged red blade with a guarded hilt.

Amongst the crowd, Sir Dustin asked me with a loud yell, “Your highness, what type of sword is that!?”

“A sword of the past, a relic known as a rapier!” I stated for all to hear while pointing the sword towards my opponent who was still on his steed, Sir Cassian.

“Have at thee! Sir Knight!” I rushed forward, slid through the ground and with a decisive thrust, I pierced his white stallion at its neck. It fell to the ground with Sir Cassian thrown off its back.

Now dishevelled and unarmed, Sir Cassian lay on the ground with only his armour to protect him. I point my sword toward his neck and said, “Yield!”

The crowd let out gasps of awe and whispers of bewilderment...

—"Bloody hell!"

—"As I live and breathe!"

—“Is that really the incompetent prince?”

—"Could be the second one?

—"Is the captain weak or the prince too strong!"

—“Well, that was easy.”

—“Isn't Sir Cassian, a captain of the golden knights of Gladia?”

—“He lost so easily.”

—“What's with the prince's sword, it looks very light too.”

—“Will he kill the knight for challenging his rule now?”

Seeing how pathetic Sir Cassian looked, especially with his inner garments soaked in his own piss, I decided to let him live, and stated, “Sir Cassian! Let this be the last time that you challenge my rule!”

After it was said, I turned away from the defeated knight and headed into the town square stage. Everyone made way for me, and it was due to fear or hate, no, the people finally showed me respect. Something I hadn't acquired was

Just as I'd turned away from Sir Cassian, he attempted to attack me from behind, “Die!!” he threw his lance towards my back...

“No, Sire!!” Sir Dustin called out to me in despair.

The golden lance was headed for my back at an incredible speed, after all, it was infused with aura.

But just before it made contact, I turned, concentrated some aura into my rapier and threw it towards him, piercing and breaking his lance as well as piercing his shoulder to the brick floor. He lay there impaled to the floor, bleeding profusely but alive.

I stepped up to the impaled knight, knelt close to him with a knee to the ground and whispered right into his ear, “What a shame, and you call yourself an honourable knight. Tell me, where is your honour now!?”

Sir Cassian grunted, “I'll...–”

“–You'll what!?” I interrupted.

“I'll..! Apologize. I was wrong, your highness. Please spare me.”

I tightly gripped my rapier, twisted it while it was still impaled into his shoulder and pulled it with perfect precision. “Arghh!” Sir Cassian screamed in pain.

I sheathed my rapier, looked at the bleeding Sir Cassian once more, and glared deep into his frightened eyes. Something in me pushed me to scare him even more, gradually strangled him with my right hand.

As I strangled him, I whispered into his ear, “Do you wonder why I am called The Dark Prince? Let me tell you a secret that only the peasants know, It is not because of my jet-black hair...” I was bluffing of course.

At the time, I truly didn't know why commoners called me that. Even so, for some odd reason, I felt a dark feeling towards him and that feeling urged me to scare him even more.

While strangling him, he began to struggle and then choke, he tried to use aura to strengthen his neck but...

“Something's wrong, I can't use my aura, what black sorcery is this!? It can't be, he couldn't be...!” Sir Cassian thought as he struggled to breathe, not only that he began to feel something cold enter his veins through his neck.

“I... I can't... I can't breathe!” he said, choking on his breath. He was slowly losing consciousness, fading from my tightened grip on his neck.

Amongst benders of aura, there were also the elites of the ability to use aura known as Aura Masters also called Masters of Aura. Just as normal aura benders could use aura to strengthen their physique, and Aura Masters could strengthen their physique as well as infuse aura into items, aura masters were even more impressive.

They could not only strengthen their physique and infuse aura into items but also absorb or infuse their aura into people thereby strengthening them for a certain amount of time or breaking said people by infusing too much aura into people's psyche—the arethian soul, mind, or spirit.

However, there is a limit to how much aura that aura masters can absorb or infuse from or in another arethian, it mostly depends on their level of control which takes years to perfect or their overall strength of will.

As a master of aura, breaking aura benders was the same as destroying their psyche thereby turning them into a cripple—known as those who have lost the ability to use aura.

But if an aura master was to go even further infusing aura into people's bodies and psyche, especially into non-aura benders, they could easily make them lose their senses, go mad, or if infused into the heart, even lose their life.

In this case, though, I was unknowingly infusing aura into his mind, I was doing something much more different than the usual breaking which could have turned him into a cripple.

For some odd reason, I was instilling tremendous fear into him instead. To the point, he began to see things that may not be there...

Unbeknownst to me, but very clearly visible to Sir Cassian was the abrupt change that enveloped my pupils, my pupils had turned completely black, like murky black mud covering them in a constant flow-like current.

The image of my blackened eyes continued to hunt him to the point, he had begun to hyperventilate and... Urinated on himself.

But I had already let him go, “Awaken, you coward! I had let you go a few minutes ago,” I said, looking at his confused but fear-filled demeanour.

He looked at the crowd that saw him tremble and relieve himself like a child before me and fell to shame. In an attempt to maintain some form of dignity, he stood up before me with his legs shaking and bowed to me. He then proceeded to grab another steed in the town square and left the town as abruptly as he came.

Just as he galloped away, the townsfolk gradually began to chant my nickname, at first it started like a loud whisper...

“Dark Prince...! Dark Prince...! Dark Prince...!”

“People are so fickle,” I thought as I smiled in acceptance of the chant.

So in an attempt to indulge the people I unsheathed my rapier once again and proudly raised it to the sky. The chants became explosive...

“DARK PRINCE! DARK PRINCE! DARK PRINCE! DARK PRINCE! DARK PRINCE...!”

“Tonight, we feast!!” I roared to the people, and the chants grew even more... Explosive.

“DARK PRINCE!! DARK PRINCE!! DARK PRINCE!! DARK PRINCE!!...”

My nickname continued to be chanted till the evening came. I hosted and paid for a huge feast for the entire townsfolk, mead was distributed, meat was shared, and the men, women and children were joyous as they all ate happily.

I stood up from the throne they had made from dark oak, looked towards the people over the incredibly long rows of tables that were filled with a plethora of food, and gave a hearty toast, “As of today, I, Prince Philip Tenebris Gladia, pledge myself to rule this land and it's people with honour and valour!!”

Out of the multitude of subjects, Sir Dustin raised his cup to me and said, “Hear! Hear!!”

The entire town followed with, “Hear! Hear!” as well.

The entire night was long, intoxicating and very much exciting, we partied the night away and for the first time in a long time, I had fun.