THE ALMIGHTY DOMINATING AURA

CHAPTER 2 - FEAR IN THE COURTYARD

The courtyard was silent.

Only the ragged breathing of the fallen disciples broke the stillness. Dust still hung in the air from the cracks Kael’s awakening had caused, glimmering faintly in the slanted sunlight.

Kael stood in the center, his chest rising and falling heavily. His robes were torn, blood smeared across his lips and jaw, but no one dared laugh anymore. The boy they had called trash moments ago had become something else—something terrifying.

One of the younger disciples tried to rise, his legs trembling like reeds in a storm. “H-he’s a monster,” he whispered. His voice carried farther than he intended, and fear rippled through the group.

Kael’s dark gaze swept over them. The weight of it alone made the boy collapse back to the ground, face pale as chalk.

Rynald Draven, noble scion and Kael’s tormentor, was still pressed into the dirt, gasping for breath. His fine robes were coated with dust, his hair matted with sweat. Pride, the arrogance that had once defined him, was gone. What remained was raw terror.

Kael stepped toward him. Each footfall echoed like a hammer striking stone. Thud. Thud. The courtyard seemed to shrink with every step he took.

Rynald scrambled backward on his hands, his voice cracking. “S-stay back! Whatever you are—it’s not natural!”

The other disciples dared not move. Their eyes flicked between Kael and Rynald, their minds struggling to reconcile what they had just witnessed.

Kael stopped a pace away, looking down at the boy who had mocked him for years. His lips curled slightly, not quite a smile—more a grim acknowledgment.

“For years,” Kael said softly, “you made me kneel.”

The words hung in the air, heavy and sharp.

Kael crouched slowly, his aura no longer flaring but lingering like a stormcloud on the horizon. “Now tell me, Rynald… how does the ground taste?”

Rynald’s face twisted in fury and humiliation, but when he tried to rise, his body betrayed him. His knees buckled. The memory of that crushing aura clung to him, dragging his pride into the dirt.

A few disciples exchanged glances. Whispers began to rise.

“Did you feel it? That wasn’t just aura…”

“It was like the heavens themselves bowed.”

“Impossible… no one awakens power like that.”

Kael ignored them. His focus was on Rynald, who at last managed to croak out words between ragged breaths. “Y-you won’t get away with this. My family… my clan will destroy you!”

At that, Kael’s eyes narrowed. His expression didn’t change much, but the temperature seemed to drop.

“You think your family’s name will protect you?” Kael asked, voice calm yet cutting. “The moment you raised your hand against me, you gambled with your life. Do you think your father or brothers will always be there to shield you?”

Rynald swallowed hard, unable to respond.

Kael leaned closer, his whisper like thunder in Rynald’s ear. “Pray that they never find out how weak you truly are.”

He stood again, towering over Rynald, then turned his back and walked toward the academy gates.

The disciples parted like waves before him, their eyes following in silence. No one dared block his path. The boy they had once mocked had become a storm none of them understood.

As Kael’s figure disappeared beyond the courtyard walls, the murmurs grew louder.

“Did you see his eyes? They glowed—like molten gold.”

“What kind of aura was that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Maybe… maybe it wasn’t aura at all.”

Rynald remained on the ground, trembling with a mix of rage and shame. His fists clenched until his knuckles bled. He could feel the eyes on him—not of respect, but of pity. The noble’s son had been humiliated before the entire academy.

“No…” he muttered through gritted teeth. His body shook, not just from fear, but from fury that threatened to consume him. “This isn’t over. I’ll make him pay… I swear it.”

Kael walked alone through the academy’s outer grounds. The sunlight bathed him in warmth, but he felt none of it. Inside, his chest still burned—not just from wounds, but from the strange, overwhelming power that had erupted moments ago.

He clenched his fists. His palms were still trembling.

What was that? he thought. It wasn’t aura… not like the others have. It felt… alive. Like it wanted to crush everything around me.

For as long as he could remember, Kael had dreamed of awakening. He had begged the heavens, cursed the earth, trained until his body collapsed. Yet year after year, nothing came. His parents had long since vanished into the war between kingdoms, leaving him alone in the world. All he had left was his stubborn will.

And now… this.

A power that terrified even him.

Kael touched his chest where the strange energy still lingered, pulsing faintly. It was like carrying a storm inside his ribs.

His thoughts raced, but one truth was clear: this was no ordinary aura. Whatever it was, it had chosen him.

And the moment it awakened, the world had shifted.

Kael lifted his gaze toward the academy towers rising in the distance. He knew the elders must have felt that eruption. He knew whispers would spread by nightfall.

But instead of fear, a strange calm washed over him. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t invisible.

For the first time, he wasn’t weak.

Kael’s lips curved into the faintest hint of a smile, sharp and resolute.

“They wanted to call me worthless,” he murmured to himself. “Fine. Let them. Soon… they’ll choke on their words.”

He walked forward, each step steady despite the storm still raging inside him