3

Writing my biography through the ages

Chapter 3: The Mystery of the Aura

Daegal couldn’t bear his wife’s continuous crying any longer. Worried about his son as well, he personally sought out an expert who studied the soul.

His sister, Adelaide, paced back and forth beside the bed, constantly blaming herself for not going to bring her brother back that day.

The doctor with gray hair standing nearby knew there wasn’t much he could do, so he left a prescription for the headache and took his leave.

Seeing this body’s mother crying, Bertram couldn’t bear the empty feeling in his heart. He wanted to offer some comforting words, but when they reached his mouth, his body seemed to resist speaking. It seemed the previous owner of this body truly couldn’t communicate with his family like a normal person.

But the previous owner of this body was no longer present, so Bertram cleared his throat and finally spoke in a confident tone: "Mother, don’t cry anymore. Now that I’ve awakened, it’s a good sign that I’m fine. I just have a headache, so there’s no need for anyone to examine my soul."

The high level of education Bertram was familiar with showed in his words, knowing that in this kind of medieval era, it was of utmost importance.

But seeing the expressions of both women in the room, Bertram realized something had gone wrong, and the worst part was that he didn’t know what exactly.

As soon as he spoke, his mother Amelia’s sobs abruptly stopped, and Adelaide, who had been constantly blaming herself, also looked at him, her eyes filled with surprise.

“What did you just say?” The two voices spoke the same words, filled with admiration and shock.

Seeing their incredulous expressions, Bertram was baffled by the situation.

"You’re my mother, and you're my younger sister, aren’t you?" Bertram had no idea what was happening—did people in this era not speak the way he just had? Even though he was in a world where immortality was practiced, also known as cultivation, his manners should have been acceptable.

Smack!

In the next moment, without explanation, a sharp slap echoed through the room, surprising Bertram and catching Adelaide off guard.

"Mother, why did you slap me?" Adelaide covered her reddened cheek, looking at her mother in disbelief. She had never been hit by her before, and now that she had, she didn’t know why it had happened so suddenly.

“Is this not a dream, Adelaide?” Amelia first rejoiced, but then her face paled as if she had thought of something terrifying: "The demon Bertram fought must have damaged his soul and the blow to his head, his memories. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be acting like he did five years ago."

As soon as her words ended, the tears flowed like an unstoppable rain once more down the mature woman’s face.

Adelaide wanted to tell her mother to slap herself if she believed this was a dream, but as a well-mannered young lady, she sighed impatiently and comforted her devastated mother. "Calm down, Mother. Father has personally gone to bring the soul expert, and he’s the best physician in the household. You know better than anyone that your crying won’t change anything."

Bertram’s mouth twitched as he forced a smile, finally understanding the situation unfolding before him was his fault.

The maid in the green dress, noticing the heavy atmosphere in the room, took the initiative to fetch a basin of hot water and brought it to the bedside, intending to wipe Bertram’s sweat-covered face.

But as a man from the modern age, he couldn’t let someone do these things for him, even if she was his nurse.

"I’ll do it myself." He took the towel, dipped it in the hot water, wrung it out, and wiped his face.

In the iron basin, the clear water reflected Bertram’s face. With his more mature appearance, sharp gaze, and black hair, this description was similar to Adelaide’s. He had the look of a good fighter, while his sister seemed more inclined towards books. Unfortunately, a person’s innate talent had little to do with appearance.

At that moment, Bertram noticed a flash of golden light in his eyes as he looked at his reflection in the basin!

But when he looked closely, the golden light had disappeared. Had he seen wrong?

Bertram tightly closed his eyes, then opened them again, looked at the basin for a moment, and only saw his face without any kind of glowing light.

“Lord Bertram, is the water dirty? Don’t worry, I’ll bring more water for you,” the maid asked clearly.

“That’s not necessary.” Bertram shook his head, and as he looked up, something unexpected happened.

The beautiful maid in the green dress had transformed into the silhouette of a translucent human body, as if he could only see her soul. The flow of energy, that bright white light where the heart should be, and her silhouette appeared clearly under Bertram’s sight.

Bertram couldn’t believe what he was seeing, then heard a sharp breath, which brought him back to reality.

The maid’s expression turned bright red with embarrassment. She looked at Bertram, then bit her lower lip lightly, and after bowing, ran out of the room.

The other two people in the room seemed surprised.

“Brother, what were you just doing?” Adelaide looked at her brother with a slightly interrogative expression, demanding an answer.

"Bertram, did you..." Amelia covered her mouth, hesitating to say what she was thinking.

"I must have touched her to be sure." Bertram was too shocked at the moment to give a formulated response, so he simply answered with the first thing that came to mind.

“Bertram…” Adelaide, with a perplexed expression, looked directly at her brother and said seriously, "I suggest you reserve your chastity until marriage; that’s the only way you’ll find a partner to accompany you for hundreds of years more."

Bertram opened his mouth, now unsure of how to respond to his sister’s inappropriate thoughts. He knew that anything he said at that moment wouldn’t make sense.

But what exactly had happened? Why could he see people’s souls or their auras as if they were specters? Was this due to some quality people had from cultivating profound strength, or was it a new ability he had mysteriously acquired?

But what good was it to be able to see people in their spectral form? Could this ability perhaps be a way to perceive people’s auras?

As he thought about it, Bertram shook his head in regret.

Still, having such an ability was much better than having none at all. The key was how he had activated this special vision in the first place.

Bertram pondered with his head lowered, then focused his mind on his eyes. A flash of golden light appeared deep in his pupils, and everything in front of him seemed to change into a field of vision filled with auras.

In the air, golden specks floated like fireflies, creating a beautiful sight.

He turned to look at Adelaide, and just like when he saw the maid earlier, he could see through her soul. But unlike the previous case, she shone more brightly.

It had to be said that those who cultivated inner energy could shine differently depending on how they cultivated, what they thought, and how they trained. She had an aura circulating in her abdomen like a small vortex, and that vortex of energy nourished her entire body uniformly and kept it in sequence.

These characteristics were similar to how the heart pumped blood to every part of the body, but unlike everything before, the golden energy in every cultivator’s body was their most precious asset.

What Bertram wondered upon seeing this was if there was any benefit to having this ability or if, instead, it was something common that people who cultivated immortality could see.

Bertram searched through the original owner’s memories but found no relevant information.

At that moment, a loud voice came from outside the room: "The soul expert has arrived. How is our son?"