Aria Intent and Purification

"Our total loot amounts to about 6 Practitioner Cores and 400 Awakened Cores" Prakash said.

"2 Practitioner Cores per each" Suggested Li Qiu.

"Done" Agreed Enbi Arin

"We'll divide 399 Awakened Cores into 3 equal parts and give the last Awakened Core to Prakash for his excellent performance today" Commented Li Qiu.

"Oh, you're making me blush" Replied Prakash with his hands over his cheeks in a bashful manner.

Enbi Arin rolled her eyes in disgust.

"So, how much stats do you suppose these Practitioner Cores would give us" Questioned Enbi Arin.

"I can't say for sure. But the awakened lizard Core initially gave you 20 stats worth for Aria and 20 more for the other attributes. So, I guess a practitioner stage Aria Core would give us about a minimum worth of 80 stats in Aria and 80 more for the other attributes" Theorised Prakash.

"We'll know once we absorb them anyway" Li Qiu retorted.

After that, the trio each sat on their respective beds and began absorbing each Aria Core in a sequential manner beginning with the practitioner state Aria Cores.

It took a total of about 2 hours before Li Qiu finished absorbing his batch of Cores. Prakash took about 3 hours to absorb them while Enbi Arin took a total of 8 hours to complete her absorption.

The strangest thing was that Li Qiu fainted right away after he finished absorbing all of the Aria Cores he had.

The same situation repeated to both Prakash and Enbi Arin as they fainted immediately after absorbing their portion of Aria Cores. Since absorbing on Aria Core required intense concentration, the trio failed to notice the weird situation that was currently happening to them.

The next day, 14th November 2018, 08:00 AM

<Ding!>

<Li Qiu>

<Might: 303 ( World Average: 70 )>

<Toughness: 293 ( World Average: 56 )>

<Agility: 120 ( World Average: 83 )>

<Reaction: 59 ( World Average: 42 )>

<Aria Quality: 2 ---> Practitioner>

<Aria Quantity: 642/642 ( World Average: 98 )>

<Aria Purity: 22% >

<Ding!>

<Prakash>

<Might: 375 ( World Average: 70 )>

<Toughness: 55 ( World Average: 56 )>

<Agility: 226 ( World Average: 83 )>

<Reaction: 100 ( World Average: 42 )>

<Aria Quality: 2 ---> Practitioner>

<Aria Quantity: 714/714 ( World Average: 98 )>

<Aria Purity: 13% >

<Enbi Arin>

<Might: 371>

<Toughness: 245>

<Agility: 84>

<Reaction: 83>

<Aria Quality: 2 ---> Practitioner>

<Aria Quantity: 629/629>

<Aria Purity: 6% >

<Myra>

<Might: 140>

<Toughness: 220>

<Agility: 300>

<Reaction: 87>

<Aria Quality: 2 ---> Practitioner>

<Aria Quantity: 390/390>

<Aria Purity: 96% >

(Author's Note: These stats displayed for Enbi Arin are provided from her miniature soul while the stats of Myra are unknown to anyone in the story. I'm the only one aware of this truth, huhuhu)

"Ugh.....What happened.....My body feels heavy" Li Qiu woke up with a groan and tried to stretch his body.

The only thing restricting his movements was the sense of weakness he felt all over his body. Not the weakness one has after not eating for a month, but a weakness experienced during a high fever. Your body's strength still exists but you wouldn't be able to do any work and your mind would also feel lethargic. This was what Li Qiu was currently experiencing.

Before he started to panic, Li Qiu immediately used his 'Essense Sense' innate ability and was greeted with the all familiar black world.

Li Qiu observed his body's essences with great concentration.

"Shit...…What are those!!" Li Qiu exclaimed both due to the fear of the unknown and also due to being creeped out.

The reason being, when Li Qiu observed his body, his Aria looked a bit different. Usually, all the Aria he had observed till now was of a bright pure golden colour. But now, there existed small minuscule dots all over his Aria which were impeding the flow of his Aria.

Li Qiu tried to zoom-in on the dots but it seemed that the present amount of clarity was his current limit. Maybe he could view even further when he evolved to an Adept stage or further beyond.

"B-Big bro, help me" Prakash suddenly exclaimed in a weak tone.

Li Qiu immediately helped Prakash to a sitting position. His condition was even worse as compared to Li Qiu. Those various dots were even more numerous as compared to on his Aria.

"H-how are you feeling now. Can you accumulate some strength in your muscles?" Stuttered Li Qiu in worry.

"I can barely activate my innate ability, my muscles feel weak and I'm unable to feel my Aria" Prakash replied in a feeble voice.

Li Qiu felt tears swell up in his eyes as he made Prakash to once again lie down on the bed "Just rest for some time. Let your Big bro take care of this situation"

Prakash suddenly clutched the corners of Li Qiu's shirt just as he was about to get up.

"Big –bro" Prakash called out.

"Yes, tell me" Li Qiu exclaimed as he immediately took hold of Prakash's hands in his own.

"I-I think something was wrong with the Aria Cores we absorbed. B-but since all three of us absorbed a similar amount, then all of us must have been affected equally but you could still move relatively fine as compared to me. Bro, the solution lies within you. Find it " Said Prakash as he immediately fainted at the next moment.

Li Qiu carefully removed his hands from Prakash's hold as he used his 'Essense Sense' innate ability on Enbi Arin only to find small traces of golden Aria in her Aria pathways. Those dots were so numerous in her that they covered over the entirety of her Aria.

Enbi Arin didn't even wake up till now. This implied her situation to be the most critical of them all.

Li Qiu left their base and headed towards the ant nest and entered inside it.

Since he didn't know the exact path required to traverse among all the strange pathways and passages, Li Qiu just stood at the cave's entrance and kept repeatedly shouting Myra's name aloud.

"W-What happened" Asked a flustered Myra as she ran all the way to the entrance of the nest from her chamber.

"Come with me" Li Qiu didn't explain further as he brought Myra back to his base.

Myra just stood petrified as she saw both Prakash and Enbi Arin in their unconscious states.

Myra gazed at Li Qiu with a flustered expression on her face.

"Everything happened after we absorbed those Aria Cores" Li Qiu explained.

"What should we do now? Will – will they be alright?" Myra exclaimed in distress.

"Trust me, I'll figure out the solution to this situation soon. So tell me how you gain stats by eating only the monster carcasses and not the Aria Cores" Li Qiu enquired.

Myra calmed her nerves a little as she recollected her experiences a little " The Aria Core is the source of power for any creature but when Aria flows in a creature's body through the Aria Circuit, it sometimes seeps into the various muscles and bones of the creature thereby reinforcing it. When we eat them, we absorb that energy present in their muscles which invariable lets us gain stats"

"Then why don't you guys eat Aria Cores. Won't they give you more stats?" Questioned Li Qiu.

"This was what happened to us. During our initial hunts, a few of our ants consumed the Aria Cores of other creatures and quickly gained strength. But later they started to sometimes behave erratically, like they had a difference in their thought process. It felt like their intentions were completely chaotic.

They eventually lost their minds and were killed by other creatures when they went on a killing spree" Said Myra still puzzled about the reason as to why Li Qiu was suddenly asking such questions.

Li Qiu sat down on the floor cross legged as he used his 'Essense sense' innate ability on Myra. There existed only a few random spots over her Aria.

Li Qiu then checked his stats 'My stats have risen exponentially but I don't even feel a tenth of my initial strength in me at present'.

"What….Aria purity?" Li Qiu suddenly exclaimed while taking a look at his stats.

"Did you find something?" Myra asked Li Qiu with an expectant voice.

Li Qiu ignored her and continued his observations.

"My Aria purity is at 22% huh"

Li Qiu mulled over his thoughts as he observed his Aria Circuit. With his Aria Core being his heart, Li Qiu observed the flow of Aria in the immediate vicinity around his heart from the different arteries and veins connected to it.

Li Qiu noticed that the concentration of the dots while entering his heart through his veins was relatively higher than their concentration in his arteries.

"Different species, Aria Cores, reinforcement, dots, heart" Li Qiu suddenly felt a spark zap through his mind.

"Intents, That's right. They must be the intents of the dead creatures present inside their Aria Cores.

So, those dots may be the various intents of the dead creatures whose Aria Cores I have absorbed. And their decrease in concentration after entering my heart, Hmm, what is special about my heart other than it being my Aria Core…..Damn, I must be becoming an idiot to not have figured this out sooner. Spirit Essence flame...that's right. They have the ability to burn anything spirit related" Li Qiu mulled over in his mind as he connected all the mysteries pertaining to his current stuation.

Li Qiu willed his Spirit Flame to act and his heart began to pump out wisps of Spirit Flame through his blood vessels. The moment the Spirit Flame came into contact with the dots which he came to instinctively know as Aria Intents, the Spirit Flame immediately burned the dots while it too got consumed in the eventual process.

"Success" Li Qiu exclaimed.

Myra too widened her eyes in joy and surprise. "Did you succeed?"

"Yep" Li Qiu nodded giddily with joy as he continued to burn the rest of the Aria Intents in his body.

<Ding!>

<Aria Purity: 100% >

<Ding!>

<Skill created: Flame Purification>

<Flame Purification: A skill that makes the Spirit Flame to flow through the Aria network and burn the remnant Aria Intents>

"Eh? I gained another skill? Sweet"

"What will you do now" Myra anxiously questioned Li Qui because curing oneself and others were two different scenarios.

"I will have to try no matter what" Li Qiu retorted as he placed his hands on Prakash's forehead at the exact spot his Aria Core was located.

Li Qiu then slowly channeled his Spirit Flame to pass through Prakash's Aria Core and enter his Aria Network.

"Ugh.....Arrgh" Prakash grunted due to the pain he felt which was as if molten iron was poured into his nerves.

Li Qiu continued for about approximately 5 minutes until when Prakash could no longer bear the pain.

"Aaaaarrrgh...….b-b-big...….b-bro"

Li Qiu immediately stopped using his skill on Prakash as Prakash currently laid on the bed with his body completely drenched with sweat.

<Ding!>

<Aria Purity: 17% >