An old hero

The teacher dismissed the class and told Ray to keep a low profile in front of her. She was rude and her behaviour towards a student was unfair but Ray didn't feel anything. He was emotionless as always. 

He remained silent for the rest of the classes by looking outside through the window and then, the school was over. Ray took his bag and walked outside and then, his homeroom teacher spotted him.

"Hey!" The teacher waved at him in front of the school gate. His tall figure and handsome face was making his position in the crowd was standing out. So Ray made an annoyed expression and asked, "Do you want to ask something, teacher?"

The teacher smiled and put his hand on his tiny shoulder. "Can you accompany me to the gym? I want to see something."

Ray wasn't busy and he also had something to do in the arcade next to the school. So he said, "Um. Okay?"

"Then it's settled then. I am going to teach you how to use aura." With a bright smile, he picked Ray on his shoulder and jumped high up on the school roof. He was an aura user so jumping that high was nothing to him. 

"What are you doing?" Ray asked.

"We're going to my gym. I already asked for your father's permission. He said it was okay to take you. Moreover, I'm your homeroom teacher so it was okay for an adult like me to keep you under my observance."

  'Looks like I will return home late. But let's see what is he going to do with me.'

The teacher jumped from roof to roof like a hero and after a few minutes, they reached in front of an old run-out gym. "I'm surprised that you aren't vomiting. I carried someone like this before and he suffered from motion sickness for a whole day. He looked like a dead person back then."

He looked at Ray and saw he was standing still without any problem with his emotionless face. 

"I'm okay, teacher."

"That's good then, let's go inside and meet my grandfather." 

Ray went inside and saw a house instead of a gym. It was a gym or a training hall for sure but it was a home now. A dirty house with trash all over the place. 

"Teacher, are you sure this is the right place?" Ray asked and kicked the empty box in front of him and a rat flew out of it. It squeaked and went inside a hole quickly. 

'What a mess.'

Ray followed his teacher's back and saw an old man praying to a bonsai. He was a Buddhist but he was praying to a tree. "I sense a guest here. A pretty dark one who saw hell with his own eyes." 

Ray finched after hearing the man's words so he took out a pen to attack. But then the old man said, "I can't see through more but young man, why is your aura core poisoned?"

 'This old man is dangerous! I need to kill him quickly and run away.'

When he took a step towards him, the teacher held his uniform and said, "Ray, that man is blind. He is not dangerous and he's not going to harm you. So stay still."

'If he keeps babbling nonsense, my identity will be revealed.'

The old man stood up and said, "Oh. I thought you were a grown-up man. But it looks like I failed to see it correctly. Young boy, who are you?"

Ray put his hand inside his pocket and said, "Ray Li. I am Ray Li. But who are you?"

"Me? I am just an old failure. Don't mind me. But it's my first time seeing a boy with the mind of an adult. You emit a dark wave from your body that I've never felt before. It's filled with sadness, regrets, anger, madness, also happiness. It's so evil yet it's the purest of all aura users. What kind of life have you lived in your 13 years of life?"

  'He even knows my new age. As I thought, this man is dangerous to keep him alive.'

The teacher asked, "Old man, what are you talking about?"

The old man raised his hand and said, "Keep quiet Kangsu. Let me see the boy."

The teacher dragged Ray closer to the old man and then he held his hands. "Dear lord. What kind of curse have you blessed upon his poor boy? How can this innocent boy's soul be so dark? There's no sign of light. Young boy, your core is gravely poisoned. It's something that I can't cure. And your mind is also filled with darkness. I am seeing this for the first time."

The teacher was surprised to hear those things from the old man. He didn't expect Ray to be this wounded. So he said, "Ray, did someone torture you?"

Ray became a little annoyed and said, "If you're done with this, I am going to leave. I have places to be."

The old man grabbed his hand and said, "Dear boy, I am sorry that I can't help you with anything. You're beyond saving. But still, you can use aura. Please sit and I will figure out a way to open your aura paths."

Ray looked at him with a cold gaze and said, "I don't need anyone's help. Aura can't exist in my body and I've been through outer aura circulation multiple times by my mother. It did nothing but harm the organs."

The old man was shocked. "How many times did she perform that on your body?"

"Ever since she found out I can't use aura, she continued it daily until I was 10 years old."

The old man nearly fell to the ground and the teacher held him quickly. "Grandfather!! Are you alright?"

The old man pointed his finger at Ray and said, "That boy is dead deep inside. Only one outer aura circulation can eat up a big portion of a person's emotion. The person is bound to die if one performs this circulation more than 5 times. But that child has been through more than thousands. He's not even a human anymore. He's a walking corpse with a fake mask on."

Ray stood there like a dead person while gazing at the old man's soul. He was annoyed but he didn't want to ruin his new uniform with the blood stains of a dirty old man. So he said, "You just hurt my feelings, old man. You shouldn't say these things to a kid. I feel offended right now."

The old man took a seat and said, "How are you still maintaining your humanity?"

"I simply want to live a peaceful life. That's how. Now I will take my leave and I hope we don't see eachother again. If today's incident leaks out, I'm afraid I'll have to choose a different path."

Ray took his bag and walked outside the house. 'That old man was a shaman. A hero shaman of 1980 who lost his eyesight after defeating the villain Zero. Why didn't I recognize him after seeing the scar on his face and a missing arm? What a letdown. Now I have to deal with this homeroom teacher.

"Ray Li!! Wait!!" Kangsu ran outside with his coat in his left hand and said, "Look! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel bad! I didn't know you've been through such painful times!"

Ray stopped walking and looked back. "It will be better if you don't say anything about this to my father. Or I'll just have to kill you."

The teacher rubbed his face and said, "Look, the old man said sorry and he will never say anything about this to anyone. But tell me one thing. Are you an aura user?"

Ray smiled and said, "Maybe, maybe not. I might be an aura user. Or not. Who knows? But I am sure, I will never forgive the heroes. They are the real evil." 

Kangsu knew what kind of painful treatment outer aura circulation was. 

When an aura-less person wants to make an aura core or pool inside their body to open an aura channel, he has to go through the most painful treatment. 

Everyone has a different type of aura inside their body. It's like humans with different blood types. 

If a person infuses their aura inside another person's body, it will simply break through all the closed paths forcefully, making the person feel extreme pain. 

But this also triggers a new aura to form inside his body but as a payment, he loses a small portion of his humanity. But if the treatment is applied to the same person 5 times, he will die. But going through a thousand trails while keeping him alive is like hell on earth. Even a powerful hero will die if he goes through the pain 10 times. 

But for a small boy like Ray, it was a miracle that he was still alive, walking like a normal person. 

Ray knew what kind of childhood the small Ray had been through and he was also surprised to see that he was alive. His empty core was huge and his pain tolerance was inhuman-like. Even without his aura, he was already a monster waiting to berserk and slaughter everyone. 

He again thanked the system to choose the best host for his soul. 

"Ray!! Wait!!"

Kangsu, his homeroom teacher ran closer to him to walk together and again said, "Ray, I know you can use aura. But why did you hide it?"

Kangsu thought, 'This little boy is like a walking time bomb who holds a grudge over all heroes. Just what kind of mother tortures her own son? She made a villain who will bite her face apart off her skull.'

Ray kept his mouth shut and went inside a shop to eat huge ice cream. He had enough of his day.

"Teacher, it will be better if you forget about today's incident. I will act like nothing happened and I also expect the same from you unless you want to die."

Kangsu gulped in fear and said, "Don't worry. Just don't kill anyone and become a villain."

"That is none of your business."