Chapter 223: The Edge of Truth

Location:- Yuuta Apartment Yard

Isvarn quietly observed Yuuta without speaking. The old dragon could clearly sense the pure aura flowing naturally throughout the young man’s body.

Unlike before, the energy was no longer unstable or leaking uncontrollably. It moved calmly through Yuuta’s veins as though it had finally accepted him.

Even Yuuta’s eyes had changed. The fear that once clouded them was still there, but now it was accompanied by determination and confidence.

Yet instead of feeling relieved...

Isvarn frowned.

His thoughts drifted back to the mysterious aura he had sensed only moments ago. It wasn’t Yuuta’s newly awakened aura that troubled him. It was the other presence the unknown aura that had appeared inside the Soul Realm before disappearing without a trace.

Even after living for centuries, Isvarn had never heard of someone possessing two different auras. It defied everything he knew about the laws of Nova.

Slowly, Isvarn closed his eyes.

His mind wandered through centuries of memories. He searched every ancient record he had studied, every forgotten legend, every scroll hidden within the libraries of Atlantis, and every journey he had taken across Nova.

Throughout his life, dragons had called him the most knowledgeable advisor in Dragon Valley. If such a phenomenon had ever existed before, he should have remembered it.

But...

Nothing.

Not a single memory.

Not a single legend.

Not a single line recorded in history.

Yuuta quietly watched his master.

He didn’t interrupt.

Seeing Isvarn remain completely still with his eyes closed, Yuuta understood that the old dragon was searching for an answer. All he could do was wait patiently.

Several minutes passed.

Finally...

Isvarn slowly opened his eyes.

He looked directly at Yuuta.

A long sigh escaped his lips.

"I admire your determination," Isvarn said quietly.

"I truly do."

Yuuta’s eyes lit up slightly.

"But..." Isvarn continued, his voice growing heavier,

"I can’t help you enter the Soul Realm again."

Yuuta’s expression froze.

The hope that had just appeared inside him instantly disappeared.

"What...?"

"What do you mean, Master?"

Isvarn remained silent for a moment before answering.

"To be honest..." he said, "I don’t believe you can enter the Soul Realm a second time."

Yuuta stared at him in disbelief.

"Why?" he asked immediately.

"Why can’t I enter again?"

Isvarn looked toward the sky for a brief moment before speaking.

"According to every record I have ever studied, once a person awakens their aura inside the Soul Realm, that journey ends. Your soul has already accepted its power. Whether you like that power or not... whether you reject it or embrace it... it has already become yours."

Another sigh escaped him.

"In all of Nova’s history..."

"No one has ever entered the Soul Realm twice."

The disappointment in Isvarn’s voice was impossible to hide.

For a brief moment, he had truly believed Yuuta might become the first exception in history.

He had believed the mysterious aura he sensed would overturn everything he knew about the Soul Realm.

Instead...

History remained unchanged.

Yuuta slowly looked down at his hand. The green aura quietly flowed around his fingers, moving like a gentle stream, yet for the first time since awakening it, he didn’t feel excited. Instead, disappointment slowly spread across his face.

"So..." Yuuta said quietly, staring at the energy surrounding his hand.

"Does that mean I can’t become strong?" His voice grew softer as he continued.

"Then... is this power even worth having?"

Isvarn looked at Yuuta without answering immediately.

The old dragon felt even more disappointed than Yuuta himself. For a brief moment, he had truly believed Yuuta would become the first person in Nova’s history to challenge the laws of the Soul Realm.

He had hoped that mysterious aura would rewrite everything he knew. Instead, every answer seemed to point toward the same conclusion.

Yuuta had lost that chance.

Just as Isvarn was about to speak, his eyes suddenly paused.

His gaze slowly drifted toward Yuuta’s exposed upper body, where the newly awakened aura quietly circulated beneath his skin. Until now, he had been too focused on the mysterious aura hidden inside the Soul Realm to properly observe the aura Yuuta had actually awakened.

Now...

He truly looked at it.

His pupils narrowed.

The old dragon remained completely still as he carefully observed the aura flowing around Yuuta. The more he looked, the more unbelievable it became. There wasn’t a trace of impurity within it. Every strand of aura flowed with perfect harmony, as though it had been refined over countless years.

"This..." Isvarn murmured to himself.

"It can’t be..."

His expression gradually changed from disappointment to surprise.

Among all races in Nova, the elves were known to possess the purest souls.

Because of that, the aura they awakened was regarded as one of the purest forms of aura in existence. Countless scholars had spent centuries studying that phenomenon, yet even among the elves themselves, reaching absolute purity was incredibly rare.

Yet Yuuta...

A young man who had never been raised among elves...

Who had never received their teachings...

Who didn’t even know his own past...

Had awakened an aura purer than any Isvarn had ever witnessed.

A genuine smile slowly appeared on the old dragon’s face.

Perhaps...

Yuuta wasn’t hopeless after all.

Isvarn looked back at him and gently shook his head.

"That isn’t true."

Yuuta slowly raised his head.

"You can still become stronger."

Hope returned to Yuuta’s eyes almost instantly.

"Really?"

Isvarn nodded.

"What you possess is Pure Aura," he explained.

"It is considered one of the strongest aura types in Nova, second only to the Dragon Aura." His eyes once again drifted toward the energy surrounding Yuuta’s body.

"And even among Pure Aura users..."

"I have never seen one this pure."

Yuuta looked at his own hands again.

"So..."

"I can become strong?"

"I can become someone like you..."

"...or Erza?"

A faint smile appeared on Isvarn’s face.

"I can’t promise that," he answered honestly.

"That depends entirely on your determination and how far you’re willing to go. Aura is only a beginning. The person using it decides how powerful it will become."

Yuuta slowly clenched his fist.

The disappointment inside him gradually disappeared, replaced by curiosity.

"Then please..." he said eagerly.

"Teach me more about this aura. I want to know everything. I want to learn how to use it."

Isvarn remained silent for a long moment before slowly lifting his gaze toward the afternoon sky. The warm sunlight filtered through the leaves above them while a gentle breeze passed across the apartment yard.

He genuinely wanted to begin teaching Yuuta immediately. In fact, after witnessing the purity of Yuuta’s aura, he was even more excited than before.

However, the old dragon could also see the exhaustion hidden behind Yuuta’s determined expression.

The boy had pushed both his body and soul beyond their limits today. Continuing now would only burden him further instead of helping him grow.

"We’ll continue tomorrow," Isvarn said calmly.

Yuuta looked at him in surprise.

"Tomorrow?"

Isvarn nodded without hesitation.

"Yes. There is no point forcing yourself today. A warrior who ignores his own limits will only destroy the foundation he has just built. Rest while your body absorbs today’s awakening. From tomorrow onward, I will begin teaching you everything you need to know about Pure Aura."

With that, Isvarn slowly turned around and began walking toward the large tree standing at the edge of the apartment yard.

Yuuta quietly watched his master’s back disappear step by step. Instead of feeling relieved, a bitter feeling slowly spread throughout his heart.

He lowered his head and looked at his own hands. Somehow, he couldn’t stop comparing himself to the heroes from the stories he used to read.

They always seemed to understand their powers immediately.

They awakened, became stronger, and kept moving forward without hesitation. Meanwhile, he still understood almost nothing.

Even after awakening his aura, he still relied on Isvarn to explain every little thing. The thought made him feel weak... almost pathetic.

His fingers slowly curled into a fist.

He hated that feeling.

He hated how powerless and ignorant he still was.

Then, as another memory suddenly flashed through his mind, Yuuta’s eyes widened.

The vision.

The elves.

The Song of the Fallen.

His forgotten childhood.

"No... wait, Master!"

Isvarn stopped walking.

Without turning around immediately, he quietly waited for Yuuta to continue.

Yuuta took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Before we end today’s training... there’s something I need to ask."

Only then did Isvarn slowly turn around.

"What is it?"

Yuuta looked directly into his master’s eyes.

"Who... am I?"

The question lingered between them.

For the first time, even Isvarn’s expression changed slightly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Yuuta slowly raised the hand surrounded by green aura.

"You just told me that I’m carrying one of the strongest aura types in Nova," he said quietly. "Then why do I have it? I’m supposed to be human... so why did I awaken an some being aura from Nova?"

His breathing gradually became heavier as more questions escaped his lips.

"And... Why did I see those elves? Why did that place feel so familiar even though I’ve never been there before? What was that vision of my childhood? And every single time I try to remember my past..." He paused and pressed a hand against his forehead.

"My head starts hurting so badly that it feels like someone is splitting my brain apart."

Yuuta lowered his hand before looking at Isvarn once more.

"I don’t understand any of it, Grandpa. I don’t know who I am anymore."

Isvarn quietly looked at Yuuta before letting out a slow breath.

There was no impatience in his expression, only the calmness of someone who had already expected this question.

"What you experienced..." Isvarn said,

"...is exactly what I told you before. You have reached the edge of the truth. The visions you saw, the pain inside your head, and the memories buried within your soul are all pieces of a truth that has been hidden from you. If you want to uncover the rest of it... then you need power. Only by becoming stronger can you reveal your true self."

Yuuta frowned in frustration.

"Why does everything require power?" he asked, unable to hide the irritation in his voice.

"Why do I have to become stronger just to know who I am? If you already know something about my past, then why won’t you tell me right now instead of hiding it? I don’t understand any of this."

He lowered his head before continuing.

"When I first wanted power... it was only to protect my family. That was all I cared about. But now everything has become so complicated. Every answer only creates more questions. I don’t even know why I’m chasing strength anymore... or what I’m supposed to do with it."

Isvarn silently watched him.

For a brief moment, genuine pity appeared in the old dragon’s eyes.

Yuuta had never wanted power for glory, revenge, or ambition. He had only wanted enough strength to stand beside Erza and protect the people precious to him. Yet the moment he stepped onto the path of power, the world itself had begun changing before his eyes. It wasn’t fate that had changed...

It was his perspective.

The stronger a person became...

The more of the world’s hidden truths they were forced to see.

Isvarn spoke calmly.

"Answer me honestly, Yuuta. When you first decided to seek power for Erza’s sake... did you ever stop to ask yourself who you really were?"

Yuuta thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

"...No."

A faint smile appeared on Isvarn’s face.

"Then what changed?" he asked. "Why do you suddenly want to know your origin?"

Yuuta remained silent for several seconds before finally answering.

"I don’t know..."

He slowly clenched his fist.

"I just... feel like everyone around me is hiding something from me."

Isvarn nodded as though he had expected that answer.

"Exactly."

"When you were weak, you avoided those questions without even realizing it. Every mystery surrounding your life... every strange detail... you accepted them because you lacked both the strength and the courage to challenge them."

He slowly stepped closer to Yuuta.

"Tell me..."

"Have you ever truly questioned your own eyes?"

Yuuta blinked in confusion.

"You’ve lived your entire life with crimson eyes, yet everyone around you has ordinary ones. Did you ever ask yourself why yours are different?"

Yuuta froze.

His mouth slowly opened, but no words came out.

He searched through his memories and realized...

He never had.

He had simply accepted them.

He had convinced himself they were nothing more than a curse.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

"...Because I was too weak to question myself."

Isvarn nodded.

"That’s right."

"The moment you chose to pursue strength, your eyes opened to truths you used to ignore. Your origin, your memories, your visions... they were always there. You simply lacked the ability to notice them."

He paused before continuing.

"And if you continue becoming stronger..."

"You will uncover even more."

Yuuta lowered his head again.

"But..."

"I still don’t understand."

He looked back at Isvarn.

"What would really happen if you simply told me everything now?"

For the first time...

Isvarn’s expression became unusually serious.

He looked directly into Yuuta’s eyes before answering in a quiet voice.

"If you want the truth..."

"Then I’ll tell you this much."

"Your origin..."

"...is one of the darkest things I have ever witnessed."

The old dragon fell silent for a brief moment before speaking again.

"And if I revealed the entire truth to you right now..."

"You would die."

Yuuta’s breathing stopped.

His pupils shrank.

"I..."

"...would die?"

"But why???"....

To be Contiuned...