A clear oval face, bright eyes that had a hint of playful demeanour, long eyelashes that magnified the beauty of every eye movement, and a cheerful smile. The face of Vaika was what he noticed the first thing he became aware.

"Ugh," Jyorta grunted, feeling a lot of memories, as if he had experienced a long but vivid dream. But, when he tried to recall the contents, he felt he was unable to do so, feeling surprised since it was the first after he had become an Esper. Through habit, the blue soul searched through the memory fragments in the brain, shocked to find that there was none in the past few hours.

It was a surprising discovery. It was as if he had been sleeping through the time while his brain was in a state of rest, only proceeding with the biological functions a brain did during sleep. There weren't even any signs of him experiencing a dream.

"Ma'am," Jyorta massaged his forehead, feeling pain all over his body as he stood up, stumbling along the way, "What happened?"

Vaika caught hold of him, patting his head, "Congratulations on completing your initiation ceremony. You should be able to use the Unranked Skill Regen without any problems now."

"I can't remember anything," Jyorta muttered, inhaling the aromatic scent of the nurse that somehow calmed him.

"That is only natural," Vaika said, gently making him sit on a stone chain that had appeared as she snapped her finger. Immediately, Jyorta could recall everything that had transpired. Every action, the heat he felt, the emotions he experienced, the pain he had endured, it was as if they were something he had lived through.

Jyorta teared up, the emotion from the final scene affecting him. He then wiped his tears, "Shouldn't it be a simple training to use Regen? Was there a need for such an elaborate setup?"

"Yes, there is a need indeed." Vaika smiled, taking a seat on a stone chair that appeared. "Every Unranked Skill is a product of many Skills extracted from Frenzy Beasts and created into a whole. Therefore, there is a fair amount of their psyche still remaining within the Unranked Skill."

Jyorta sniffed once, rubbing his eyes to clear his view as he heard Vaika continue, "This psyche residue will interfere with your usage of the Unranked Skill. Through prolonged use, it might slightly skew your own psyche. We cannot fully destroy this psyche residue, after all, eliminating it would damage the Unranked Skill."

Vaika threw the fruit in her hands to Jyorta, smiling as he fumbled to catch it, "To prevent it from interfering with your activation of the Unranked Skill and to give you some expertise with it, we conduct an initiation ceremony."

She chuckled, "But, it is not easy. Normally, it would take anywhere from a week to even a month before the individual can activate his/her Unranked Skill instantly without any disturbances. It is a long and arduous process. But, through my hallucination, I created a scene at the end of which a mental input would be planted in you that would override the residue psyche."

"I see," Jyorta nodded, "Through this hallucination, I obtained what would have usually taken weeks."

"But," Jyorta gazed at her in confusion, "If it is like this, then why can't the same be used for everyone else too?"

"Because only I can use the aura personification of hallucination to such a level necessary for it," Vaika smiled, "Besides, since I possess Regen, I know the steps needed to negate the residue psychic in it. I can't help in the cases of other Unranked Skill since I don't know much about them."

Jyorta nodded, deep in thought as he recalled everything he had witnessed in the Crimson Desert, thinking of the scene with the Meka Clan's shaman, "Ma'am, about the tattoos, I feel they…"

"Yes?" Vaika smiled, prompting him to continue further.

Jyorta worded his thoughts in his mind, speaking after careful consideration, "I feel they are not substances of fiction, but exist in reality. Like, I feel they follow some rules that our power system is based on. Ma'am, is the Crimson Desert something that exists or had existed?"

"The Crimson Desert itself is a product of fiction," Vaika nodded, "But, its history was derived from historical data. As for its power structure…"

Vaika smiled, her expression oozing out waves of pride, "It is all real. They are a product of my family's century worth of research that I have completed."

"Which is where I want to ask you something," Her expression became solemn, "What is your true opinion of the tattoos? Do you wish to pursue the peak of the Aura path with them?"

"There are four paths of power: Parasite, Aura, Mind, and the Soul. I started to train in the path of Aura because one, it would complement my lacking strength now, and two, because it would raise my battle strength in the future as I am a healer concerning the Parasite path. My base Esper battle strength could be countered by a similar Tiered Esper foe. To emerge victorious, I should possess more means at my disposal." Jyorta nodded.

"The tattoos are powerful, and they function similar to Skills. From what I witnessed, they can either be partially activated to produce weapon-based effects or fully activated to unleash the beasts within." Jyorta praised, "If mastered, they would become significant battle strength."

"And…" His gaze shuddered when he wished to continue his opinion, only realising the latter statement of Vaika, "…Peak of the Aura path?"

"Yes," Vaika smiled, "A century ago, when other families were intent on investing their manpower into the creation of Unranked Skills, my great-grandfather predicted the development of the Aura path and instead invested in it. He developed many things based on aura and passed them through our family. But, unlike others, we didn't establish any official family, instead passed on the research results from parent to children. As we carried that, I inherited them and finally conceptualised it."

The air around her shimmered as her voice turned serene, "If we are talking about talent in aura, there are a few who are on par with me in the 7th Ring, but they are all retired Tier 5 powerhouses. When I spoke about it before to you, I wasn't speaking the truth. If we consider the accomplishments in the Aura path, I am third in the entire Marble City, following Rhachis Ancestor Strongest, and Madam Atika Light."

Jyorta shuddered, looking at her in a new light. He knew Vaika was different from the rest, but he never knew she was this amazing.

"When your understanding of the Aura path progresses to its peak, you can create an ability that is similar to a Skill. In the entire Marble City, there are only two such abilities. One is in the hands of Rhachis Ancestor Strongest that was jointly created by him and his mother, Madam Atika Light. The other ability is with me."

The shimmering on her back morphed; lines spun from the centre, forming rings as they created contours, zagged shapes, overlapping lines, etc. becoming a tattoo, derived from the head of the Helical-Horned Goat, the tattoo of the Meka Clansmen.

Having experienced the events in the Crimson Desert, Jyorta could easily recognise the tattoo. He then saw the tattoo change from the Meka Clan's to the Mosali Clan's tattoo, taking the shape of the clawed beast's head. It then changed to the Raga Clan's, followed by the Kaki Clan's and the Odatha Clan's.

Finally, the tattoo of a human, a boy in his teens, a familiar face appeared. It was his own. As Jyorta stared at it in shock, Vaika said, her tone suffused with dominating might, full of regal aura, "Aura Induction, that's the name of this ability. Through my aura, I would induce a tattoo on my opponents, shaping their aura. Just like you, unless the target's comprehension of aura exceeds mine, they would never know it. After that, I just have to activate an aura personification…"

The stare of her eyes scared him as Vaika spoke, "And, the aura of the target itself will shape accordingly and plunge the individual under the effects of my aura personification. As long as their body contains aura, the effect would persist."

"Now," She gazed into Jyorta's eyes, "Do you wish to learn this? You already know everything necessary to use Aura Induction. I have imparted the inheritance to you in the Crimson Desert. But, there are some conditions before you realise the details pertaining to it."

The shimmering air died down as the tattoos disappeared, "Once you graduate, you will have to pay me a royalty of 15 percent of your income every month. If you don't wish to use Aura Induction, you can say so."

Vaika pointed at her surroundings, at the peaceful meadow, "We are still in the world I made. Everything that happens here is only recorded in your aura. So, if you don't wish to use Aura Induction, I would pull out all the related memories of it here. All I need to do is retract some of the aura I induced in you."

'So, that was why I couldn't find any memories of the Crimson Desert in my brain. Everything I sense and experience here is only perceived and stored in my aura.' Jyorta nodded, standing up as he bowed, "It would be my honour to use Aura Induction. 15 percent royalty is nothing as compared to that."

Vaika chuckled," I knew you would say this. That's why I sent a letter to Ancestor Strongest to request permission to impart it to you. There is a procedure to follow before abilities with strategic value like this could be imparted."

She sighed in helplessness, "After all, you are the only individual I found apart from me who can learn and wield Aura Induction. I'm not including Madam Atika Light and Ancestor Strongest in this list though, since they also know it."

She then waved her hands, "It is good that you have expressed your willingness. Otherwise, it would have been embarrassing for me."

"Ma'am," Jyorta chuckled, "I would have to be a peerless idiot to not learn Aura Induction after witnessing its magnificence."

"Ah, about that…" Vaika coughed awkwardly, "What you saw is not even the tip of what Aura Induction can do."

-----------------------

Read and support me. My Comic is free to read on Tapas.io

Search "ARTHROPOD IMPLANT" in it and read this awesome comic.

----------------------