After walking for more than an hour, Eric finally arrived back at his apartment.
Eric had already stopped using Truth a while ago. He had taken care of all the silver that formed on his skin due to the use of Truth.
He had also given the Imperator's Cross to the golden hand that comes from the dimensional rift when he hangs the cross up in the air. He doesn't trust himself with a Rank 0 relic all that much. It is also a precaution in case the cross is doing something to his body which he possibly can't find out—the difference between their ranks was like heaven and earth!
He was tired from all the work he had done today. His bones were stiff and his muscles were a little sore. But overall, he was very satisfied with all the results he gained from his activities today.
Be it the amount of good deeds stored in the Imperator's Cross, or the knowledge about effectively filling it up with good deeds from his experiments and observations today, to making a new ally—even though Adrian is weak now, with proper teaching and help, he can become a great ally in the future. He will never trust him with his life like Max, though.
Not to forget the rewards that he will be able to get from Edward for finishing his mission! He has also figured out that Sasaki Alberich is the fourth one. He may not understand what the meaning of these numbers is or what relations these "numbered people" have with each other, but it is better to know something rather than knowing nothing.
Due to him being able to get an excuse to go to the Meditation Realm again, he was able to settle some issues that he had there and find out many things that had happened recently in the Aura region.
For example, the marriage of Sasaki Alberich—this legendary genius of the Aura region's current generation—undoubtedly caused a lot of waves to rise in the already shifting, calm ocean of the Aura region.
Many important, influential, and powerful Aura users were about to meet each other in Lumenia. This will for sure lead to a lot of new decisions being made and changed. Eric can already foresee the changes that are about to come.
The situation for lone Aura users with no backing, or criminals, had worsened as security had been tightened highly in the Auralis Solar System. No one wants any mishaps to happen at this crucial moment. What reputation would Lumenia have in the Aura region if they allowed some accident to happen? What would the other three great bodies say about them? For these reasons, many criminals and lone Aura users have been caught.
This is something that he noticed happening in the Meditation Realm too—of course, the commotion made by it was negligible there when compared to Lumenia.
He was also able to meet Visie again and have her stabilize his world of consciousness and sub-consciousness, and the sub-consciousness of his Aura. For the near future, the chances of losing control have been reduced greatly.
This was the advantage of having an Aura user of the Mind Pathway as a friend! She may not have an Aura whose entire purpose is to stabilize the minds of Aura users, but fortunately, just the uniquenesses of the Mind Pathway can allow any Aura user of this pathway to be an expert in therapy and stabilization of the world of consciousness and sub-consciousness.
If not for this experienced woman, who knows how many times he and Max would have been close to losing control? He can already imagine situations where they had become monsters after losing control.
He felt embarrassed thinking of his teenage years where he was inexperienced and stupid, constantly making fun of Visie and the value of her pathway. It is good that she never minded his words and continued staying friends with him.
Of course that wasn't because she just valued their relationship so much. Every relationship between Aura users is simply to make use of each other and not feel lonely so as to not lose control. It was mostly because Visie also needed protection.
First, she can trust Max and Eric as she had known them for many years and had a great relationship with them. Second, due to the injury she got when she was 16, it made her unable to advance any higher than Lysi Nova. She was also an Aura user of the Mind Pathway, which was not well adept in attack or defense. For all these reasons, she decided to maintain her relationship with them.
They also need her help. Maintaining their relationship was something Eric and Max wanted to do too. It is just that they never show it. It is a fact that they have all accepted inwardly.
This shows the shrewdness and wisdom of Aura users, also their traits of being able to accept these truths that may be uncomfortable to many.
If it were not for some special reasons in the past, he would have definitely married Visie. Not only was she a baddie, she also had a great body and figure, with a great personality and mindfulness for others—but these were all just icing on the cake when compared to the usefulness and practical value of her Aura.
Obviously, beauty is something Eric has stopped caring about a long time ago. He makes himself stay away from lust and bodily desires after a certain accident that happened when he was young.
Many mistakes and experiences have shaped the current him. All those setbacks and suffering were lessons. He feels grateful for them.
There was also this mysterious Paris operation that has been going on. Except for some members of the four great bodies, most of the Aura users aren't even aware of it.
The four great bodies are holding all the information about the operation very tightly. It is hard to know about even if one is a member. Their focus here has led to trouble happening elsewhere in the region decreasing by a huge degree.
Eric was recalling his entire day as he moved up the stairs to the thirteenth floor. He quickly went to his apartment and opened the door with his pair of keys. The sound of him entering was heard by Ruby as she got out from their bedroom.
Seeing her, Eric for some reason felt a little at ease. Ruby, looking at him, felt a little embarrassed. She started to play with her hair as she looked away and welcomed him.
Eric thanked her for no reason and gave her the umbrella that he had bought this morning the moment he had gotten out of the building from an old man.
His habit was to first take a shower after getting home. He immediately entered the bathroom and took a cold shower. His mind was refreshed and he felt clean. He had put his black suit in the laundry for Ruby to wash it later. As far as he knows, he won't be using his new persona until Monday.
After getting out of the shower, he went to the dining table and sat down, waiting for Ruby to bring food.
Ruby quickly came out of the kitchen with two plates. Tonight's dinner was simple steak. As they sat down and started to eat.
As they ate, they had small talk about their day. Eric was being way too generous in his compliments today. He was making up for not being home the entire day.
"How was your day?" Eric asked in a probing manner.
"It was fine. I finally decided to go out with Zoe today! We talked about this and that and went to the mall nearby. There, we met a beautiful lady with green hair and eyes like me. Her name was Kalamine. She had come here to look for a job. She is a very gluttonous person, always hungry. She ate so much the entire day. It made our jaws drop to the floor. Hehe."
Eric listened while Ruby blabbered on and on about her day. He picked the most crucial points—like what they talked about and the details of Kalamine—and put them in the back of his head.
Ruby, however, didn't tell him about her talk with Zoe regarding the weirdness of their husbands after coming to Paris.
After eating, they sat down on the sofa and watched a movie while eating ice cream. Ruby then changed her clothes and went to sleep while Eric stayed in the living room. Ruby was long used to him being a night owl. She didn't ask any questions and simply left.
Eric was now finally alone. He stood up and stretched his body a little first before walking toward his office and opening up a drawer. In the drawer was the pink bodysuit that was sent to him by Edward.
Max and Eric had these bodysuits teleported to them early morning. Since Eric had woken up early and left already, making him unable to wear the bodysuit, Max woke up way later than him, thus being able to wear his bodysuit and go out. After getting the message from Eric through Meditation Aura, he became a woman and entered the Meditation Realm, going to Visie's house, waiting for him and Adrian.
Eric was just simply taking a look at this bodysuit and checking its quality. It is not like he never had a bodysuit; in fact, he had one in his youth.
Eric Heisenberg had naturally awakened his Aura at 12 years of age. Not only that, his Meditation Aura was also naturally awakened. This was a secret that he had hidden deeply. This was something he had not even told Max.
Why was that? Why did Eric hide this from his dear friend, who he had known his whole life and been in life-and-death situations with? Max was someone who was closer to family, someone he could sacrifice his life for, someone he told everything.
He actually had a secret hidden from him?
The reason was simple. It was too shocking!
A person has the most chances of naturally awakening their Aura when they reach sixteen. If it doesn't happen naturally, then they can use awakening relics to awaken. Obviously, not everyone has the aptitude to become an Aura user.
There have been hundreds of cases of people naturally awakening their Aura. These people are talented and often have great aptitude; most of them grow up to be those who control the masses, talents who people look up to.
In most of these cases, the person only awakens their primary Aura and that is it, but there are rare cases where one can unlock their secondary Aura instantly too—that is, the Meditation Aura!
The Plasma Aura can't be naturally awakened. It requires certain methods and training to unlock, and these methods are being held tightly by the Hoshina family.
Eric had been able to live this long because people never gave much attention to him. On top of that, he doesn't trust anyone. In his youth, this trait of his was even more intense. He had huge trust issues after a certain accident in his youth and he always felt like he was in danger.
He had even once almost made up his mind to kill Visie, but Max talked him out of it.
The actions he took in his youth were also the results of these traits of his. These traits that he built in his youth are the reasons that led him to become such a quiet, cold, unexpressive, and observing person.
This may not be obvious to others, but talents like him often don't get to mature. Many get killed before maturing. Eric had already faced danger due to it. If they knew that he had also naturally awakened his Meditation Aura, meaning he was a talent among talents! What are the chances he would have a bounty on him? The chances of him getting assassinated?
The answer is: very high.
There are many small and mid-sized organizations whose entire purpose is to kill talents like him. They identify talents like him and put bounties on their heads. Many desperate lone Aura users take these jobs and go to assassinate these talents.
When he was fourteen, he had joined a small organization in the Meditation Realm. This age was when the voice also spoke in his head for the first time. It was also the time that he forgot his dream. He also feels that he has forgotten some other things too, but he doesn't remember what.
He doesn't know how long the voice has stayed in his mind, though he guessed that it was either ever since he was born or when he awakened his Auras when he was twelve.
After joining that organization, he and Max had gotten a pink and purple bodysuit respectively. It was very low quality and run down, though.
But the one that Eric was holding in his hands right now was of high quality and was shining beautifully under the moonlight that shone in from the window of his office.
The bodysuit was very light in weight, even lighter than a feather and silky smooth to the touch, with intricate designs and tight consistent weaves.
It was very stretchy, but no matter how much he stretched it, it never showed signs of being torn. This showed its endurance. It can easily adapt to the body of anyone who wears it. It was very comfortable to wear.
Eric decided to wear it on Monday when he goes to help Voyage. But for now, he just put it back in his drawer.
Eric had also realized why Edward teleported the bodysuit to this drawer. It shows that Edward knows where they were living and in detail at that too. This was nothing to Eric because Edward was a Hypernova. How could he not gain something as easy as this?
Edward wanted to put some mental pressure on Eric with this move, but Eric was not bothered in the least.
Eric sat down on the floor of his office, covered with white tiles, in a cross-legged position and started to meditate. This is to calm down his mind and increase the rate of recovery of Meditation Aura. Meditation Aura doesn't have a sub-consciousness and can't take over one's sub-consciousness, but there were other restrictions on it.
Those restrictions are a topic for later. Just one thing should be remembered for now: Meditation Aura is an essential thing for an Aura user at all times. Eric had used a lot of it today to use Truth, the divination coin, the Imperator's Cross, and heal his injuries after he cut down the silver that forms on his skin, taking Adrian back and forth from the Meditation Realm.
Since the natural recovery is too slow, meditation can help increase its recovery.
After an hour of intense meditation, Eric stood up. His Meditation Aura wasn't fully recovered, but he had produced enough that it would mostly be filled up in his sleep.
He had nothing to do anymore. He decided to go and sleep quickly.
After getting into his bedroom, he saw that Ruby had already long gone to sleep. He lay beside her and put the blanket on her shoulders that were uncovered. He stared at her beautiful face for a few seconds. He was having trouble feeling what he felt for her.
Taking a long sigh, he stopped his wandering thoughts and lay back on his back, slowly closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
He was thinking that today was going to be another normal night.
After a few minutes of falling asleep, Eric's eyes opened—not in real life, but in his dream.
Eric's brows furrowed as he looked around. He looked at his hands and touched his cheeks. He realized that he was in a dream. He wasn't surprised. Ever since the voice had started to speak in his mind at fourteen, he had been gaining visions and dreams like this often. In fact, him moving to Paris was entirely due to the vision of the Eiffel Tower shown to him in his sleep by the voice back in Moscow.
Eric found himself on a pink road with white winds blowing around. He felt calm and a deep sense of nostalgia rose in his heart.
He suddenly started to remember many things that he had forgotten as his eyes widened in shock. His mouth gaped open as he kept remembering many things. He also understood many things at this point!
"This is… that dream that I got when I was fourteen!" Eric realized where his sense of nostalgia was coming from. He turned his gaze to the right and vaguely saw a shadow.
The shadow was that of a black umbrella.