Uncrowned King Revenged

Chapter 9 - Humiliation

Seeing the pendant, his chest tightened again. How could he not? He knew very well that the pendant was a hereditary pendant belonging to the Seremion family, which James had given to Elizabeth, his lover who had been killed a few days ago.

"Yes, sir, I know very well about the pendant, because it belongs to my family. If I may ask, what's wrong with it?" James asked, filled with emotion.

Arthur then took a chair to be able to sit beside James. "The blue stone that decorates the pendant is the Fragment of Sephiroth Tree Artifact, James. Now it's clear why you can occupy the top of the gangster throne, it's because of your ability to fight that's far above normal humans," he said with a deep sigh and paused for a moment.

"You must be from the descendants of Harald Hardrada from the Viking nation. It is said that because of the many lives and blood he shed, his descendants are cursed to have the appearance of a vampire, and that appearance is very attached to you," said Arthur, continuing.

"From the information we have, Harald Hardrada did have one of the Sephiroth Tree fragments that he got from the spoils of war. Then, because they felt that it brought good luck, this object continued to be guarded from generation to generation by their descendants as a family heirloom," said Arthur.

The sadness and regret that James had felt a few days ago was now back many times over. That feeling seemed to embrace him tenderly, slowly like poison seeping into his heart. Without realizing it, his frozen tears were now melting again, dripping profusely as he realized that the death of his lover was because of the necklace he had given her.

The guilt that he could no longer hold back emerged and peaked, manifesting in the form of the weeping tears of a man who was once known as the king of gangsters.

"Our condolences to James on the death of Elizabeth," Scarlet said, trying to calm James down. "You can't blame yourself for everything that's happening right now, because everything was fate."

Arthur added, "Take courage, James. I know what happened to you. Scarlet has told me everything."

What Scarlet said was true; everything had indeed been the will of fate. But even so, he still could not stop blaming himself.

"Now it's up to you, James. Do you want to stay silent and continue to regret everything that has happened, or do you want to rise up and destroy them? I will give you a chance to exterminate them if you join us," said Arthur.

“Join you guys? But I can't even use aura. With just normal human abilities, I'm just going to be useless to you," said James.

“Who said you can't use aura? Now, close your eyes and concentrate. Try to feel the flow of your blood, your breath, the tension of every nerve in your veins. Go even deeper, immerse yourself in full awareness of the body you have and the nature around you. Then find the energy that is there and swirl it around yourself, absorb it and flow it like your blood, exhale it like you breathe and control it like you use your own limbs,” Arthur said.

James closed his eyes, fully concentrating and carrying out the orders given by Arthur. He could feel the energy around him growing in contact with his skin, being sucked in by his breath. He continued to follow the instructions spoken by Arthur, and soon a thin red aura began to appear throughout his body.

Little by little, the aura began to condense, light up and expand like cake dough being pulled. It didn't stop there; the aura began to affect the room temperature, growing hotter and hotter over time.

Slowly, the red aura was no longer in the form of an aura, but transformed into a mimic fire. In an instant, the great flame burned down the bed James was lying on, setting off the alarm and blowing air from the ceiling.

"Gosh," exclaimed James, taken aback by the realization that he had the ability to wield aura. He had been entirely unaware of such power until this moment, and now he was determined to master it. Taking a deep breath, he worked to temper the energy he had just summoned.

The two people who had witnessed this chuckled in admiration and astonishment, because no human who had just awakened the ability to use aura could directly control it and display their features. Even for Scarlet, who was considered a genius in using aura by Arthur, it would take at least a few years to show the characteristics she possessed.

Aura has four different types, depending on their characteristics. The first is the Materialist type, characterized by its ability to create complex shapes such as guns, swords, or even armor. 

The second type is Elemental, characterized by its ability to shape their aura into natural elements such as fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, and others.

Then the third is the mentalist type with mental influencing characteristics; those with the mentalist type can attack with the effect of affecting their opponents' mentality, for example, an attack from the mentalist type can make the enemy go crazy, hallucinate, or even be scared of himself for no reason.

Lastly is the Unique type, which can have the characteristics of the three previous types of aura or not, including all three; for example, a person with a unique type aura can awaken the ability to steal other people's abilities, make predictions with one-hundred percent accuracy, and a number of other absurd things.

Everyone can learn other types of auras to support their abilities. But, especially with a unique aura type, no one can learn it unless they are gifted from God.

"Because you're still very new, let me explain further to you, James," Arthur said. "Humans can awaken the ability to control aura under two conditions: they've either learned it, or they've been hit by an aura from someone, causing their ability to awaken in an instant. This second method is very bad, because if the person can't control the aura that goes in and out of the body, they will die instantly."

"Dead?" James asked innocently. "Aren't we just going to be exhausted, like running out of stamina?"

"No, James," Scarlet responded. "If you can't control the aura that keeps coming out of your body, your stamina will also be drained."

"Using aura has many times more burden than physical activity. So when you can't control the aura that comes out of your body, the result is you will be exhausted to the point that you can't breathe, and your heartbeat slows down. Simply put, you will definitely suffocate," he continued.

“It's exactly as Scarlet said; you will suffocate,” Arthur said calmly.

"But in your case yesterday, you were lucky because we were able to dampen your aura, seal it by force so it doesn't come out, so you're still alive today," Arthur said and then continued.

"One more time I will ask you!" he said firmly, “Did you join and fight against them or silently regret everything that happened?” Arthur asked, holding out his hand.

“You don't need to ask anymore, should I avenge myself? Lives will be rewarded with lives,” said James, as he steadily shook hands with Arthur.

Thus, James became part of the Shadow Corps, an independent group unaffiliated with any party. Their sole task was to prevent the destruction of the dividing wall between dimensions caused by any party, including the government, the Church, or sects of god-worship, which are eternal opponents of satanic sects who worship seven devils as symbols of grave sins.

"Since your body looks fine, James, how about we practice immediately so you can get used to using aura soon?" Arthur asked the two young people in front of him.

Feeling that he had no choice, James nodded and accepted the invitation. Scarlet, who had initially felt free from Arthur's training, was also dragged into it.

"Why do I have to come to practice, sir? Shouldn't I already be considered a pass? That's what you said yesterday; don't say you took it back," Scarlet protested to Arthur.

"Hahaha, it's true that you have already graduated, but now you have a new task: to help teach your underclassmen so that they are as proficient as you are," Arthur said cleverly, silencing Scarlet's nagging mouth.

Coming out of the room where he had been treated so far, it seemed to James that he was in a facility that was so magnificent and large. They walked out of the palace-like building into the field behind it.

Everyone who passed by them bowed their heads in respect. That respect couldn't possibly be directed at Scarlet, let alone James, so it was clear that Arthur was a highly respected person in that place.

Arriving at the back court, they apparently weren't alone; there were many people practicing there.

"It's rare that you bring people here, Arthur," said a man with gray-black hair, light brown eyes, and a goatee-like beard. His stature was as straight and muscular as Arthur's, and even in terms of age, they seemed to be the same age. "But I feel sorry for him; he will definitely always be in the shadow of your genius student who is next to him."

"I don't have time to serve your chatter, William," said Arthur.

"Oh, so that's the attitude of a hero whose name has been tarnished, all right. Please leave then, Master Hero Killer," William said condescendingly to Arthur.

Scarlet, who heard those words, couldn't help but let her emotions overflow with the desire to beat William. It didn't matter if he was someone with a higher position in the Shadow Corps.

But before Scarlet had even released her aura, Arthur had already stopped her by raising half of his left arm, giving her a signal to not continue with her intention.

"Tell me directly what you want, William?" Arthur asked in a very calm tone, with no change in facial expression or tone.

"You're quite understanding, Arthur," said the tutor. "Actually, I was just looking for a match for George, who was under my tutelage, just to see his progress. And I see it looks like you've also brought in a new student. How about we have a simple sparring match to see what each of our students is capable of?" he asked.

"Okay," replied Arthur with a very serious face full of calm.

Then he continued, "If that's what you want, William, but give me at least three hours to prepare, since this kid was only able to use aura a few moments ago," Arthur said to William, agreeing to this crazy challenge.

"Why did you forbid me, Master? Sometimes people need to be taught a lesson. And why don't you just volunteer me to fight George?" Scarlet said, not accepting her master's decision.

"Calm down, Scarlet," said Arthur. "It will be better if James gains experience in using aura soon. What's more important now is to train James as quickly as possible, so he can face George.”

Why do you have so much faith in me, Sir?" asked James. "Don't get your hopes up too much; there's no way I can win against an expert aura user when I've only just mastered it a few hours ago."

"Don't worry, James, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose this practice match. The important thing is that you get your first experience as soon as possible in a battle between aura users. But even so, I'm sure you really hate to lose. That's why we should practice immediately," said Arthur.

In those three hours, Arthur was really getting James ready to fight. He coached James in the easiest, quickest, and most concise way he could teach. Luckily, James is a genius, so what Arthur taught in just a few minutes was mastered by him.

Without feeling the seconds ticking, passing minutes swallowing hours, finally three times had passed and Arthur and William's entourage had met and faced each other.