In the aftermath of the Orc Lord's destruction, as his body lay on the ground in the town square, smoke emerged from his body.
Odessa stared at Jaenor with eyes wide with disbelief.
Her centuries of experience, her mastery of the Origin arts, and her deep understanding of the fundamental forces that shaped reality—all of it crumbled in the face of what she had just witnessed.
"You..." she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "you can use aura?"
The words hung in the air between them like an accusation.
Odessa's deep dark eyes, normally so composed and knowing, now held a mixture of wonder and awe and something approaching existential horror.
She had just watched Jaenor wield Origin power and aura simultaneously—something that shouldn't be possible in a million years, even if the greatest spiritual minds in history attempted it.
The very concept violated every law of origin theory she had ever learned.
Origin and aura were fundamental opposites, like matter and antimatter.
