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Chapter 525: Deal\'s Finitude, Good and Bad News

"I believe so," Fuhrer said before smiling. "I\'m certain the display served its purpose. It should have created more than enough allure seeing as I employed it at the highest possible level. Sadly, it\'ll be a while before I can reveal that level of Dominion again."

"That\'s fine. I\'m confident in your recovery rate. It\'d be ready by the time we set out, correct?" Apollo answered while glancing above. He could sense Saehtyn and the others nearing the conversation. Meaning, this conversation would need to be cut short.

"Undoubtedly. It shouldn\'t be too long. Perhaps a week shall be enough to accumulate the needed resources," Fuhrer admitted before falling silent immediately after. Needless to say, the others arrived in the nick of time.

Out of the four, the first to speak was Xorgrah. Although he tried his best to conceal his curiosity towards Aura, Fuhrer noticed all of the signs without fail. Conversely, Saehtyn remained silent as he mulled over Fuhrer\'s earlier comment. He couldn\'t see how Fuhrer thought he and Lucifer were similar. 

Not to mention, the comparison infuriated him. Hence, his continued silence with a disgruntled expression.

"You said… any demon can learn this power and it manifests differently in every individual, correct?" Xorgrah asked, seeking to confirm the truth.

"That is correct," Fuhrer nodded. But after a faint pause, he clarified. "However, just because every demon CAN awake the power, doesn\'t mean they\'ll be able to do so. The weaker the Demon Body and Cardinal Sphere, the more difficult the awakening will become."

Xorgrah\'s expression grew complicated as he heard this. Perhaps his expectations were too high. How could such a strong ability be easy to grasp? "Are those the only two limiting factors?"

"The two worth mentioning. The last factor is something rather inconsequential. Rather than a limiting factor, it is an alleviating one. Of course, it is someone difficult to find currently," Fuhrer responded.

"Which is?" 

"Something that is known as a bloodline. If you possess one with a dominant trait, your Aura is more inclined to adopt the same power signature as that bloodline," Fuhrer revealed, causing everyone presents aside from Apollo to go silent. After all, the matter of a bloodline was something that demons barely acknowledged.

"But, don\'t let that deter you, as I\'m sure you felt it before. You are on the precipice of forging your Aura, you simply need to instill the determining qualities to complete the process," Fuhrer said, reassuring Xorgrah of his progress. As mentioned before, Xorgrah was the single most demon closest to awakening his Aura.

Unlike the others, he simply required a small push in the right direction to complete the progress. As a result, Xorgrah gave a subtle nod while looking towards the other Lords who seemed to have little to no opinion regarding this matter. Evidently, the demonstration left a meaningful expression on them.

Rather than refute its existence the Lords began questioning ways to claim this power. Should they accomplish this feat, the chance of them losing control of their Rings would decrease drastically. Even if the connection with the Tower was lost, their current strength coupled with the usage of a worthwhile Aura would elevate them to another level.

"You said a 70:30 split, was it? Is there a way to negotiate that value? Despite the allure of this power, the circumstances don\'t allow for singular greed. I believe strong items would be just as beneficial as learning this ability," Xorgrah said suddenly after giving the matter some thought.

"You\'re correct, it isn\'t the time to display one\'s greed. That\'s why I\'ll be willing to suffer a loss and trade Fuhrer\'s knowledge for a 50:50 split of the materials extracted from the ruins. Furthermore, I\'ll send one of my people on each expedition led by your people. Satisfactory?" Apollo responded.

For a moment, Xorgrah was silent. Truth be told, Apollo\'s immediate and willing concession stunned Xorgrah because he didn\'t expect it you happen smoothly. Typically, these types of discussions required prolonged amounts of back and forth only coming to an agreement after painstaking compromises.

However, what Xorgrah didn\'t realize was that Apollo never intended to claim seventy percent of the materials. He simply presented an outlandish request to make his following request much more reasonable, which appeared to achieve its desired effect as Xorgrah contemplated agreeing to this deal.

It wasn\'t a bad deal. After all, the items Xonnomor would only circulate to the demons worthy of receiving one, just like the technique. So, his argument as the technique being equally beneficial was another statement that Apollo could exploit if Xorgrah decided to haggle the split lower.

Apollo could argue that equal value should beget equal rewards, removing Xorgrah\'s ability to play that card. Granted, it was unknown if Apollo truly desired the materials that much. While it required an obscene amount of materials to forge the Hell Bringer weapon as well as repair the lost territory, Apollo understood that it\'d take countless visits to amass the needed items.

Rushing now would only expose his expiration.

"Understood. I\'ll be willing to accept this deal provided that you train us as soon as possible," Xorgrah said while clearing his throat to gain the others\' attention. "Is that alright with you all? Will you like to enter Fuhrer\'s tutelage as soon as possible?"

"It\'s the only reasonable solution. There\'s no other choice as pleasant as this one," Saehtyn answered. However, despite being in agreement with the decision, his expression remained sour.

"That power is quite scary and I have little to no way to get around it, so the only choice would be for me to learn its usages," Belphegor answered while tightly gripping his chin. He could still feel the odd sensations of the Dominion locking his jaw in place, removing his ability to open his mouth to begin the devouring process.

Similarly, Asmidia gave a nod while clutching her chest. Although the Dominion\'s pressure was long gone, she could still feel its presence compressing her chest. It was a frightening experience to withstand.

"If that\'s true, then we can consider this deal sealed. In exchange for receiving many pointers in learning Aura, we\'ll receive fifty percent of the proceeds from the ruins. By the way, the old man is able to detect the approximate amount of resources left in each ruin, so try not to skimp. However, if there\'s an uneven number you\'re allowed to receive the offsetting majority," Apollo stated.

Xorgrah nodded in response, looking towards Fuhrer with even more apprehension. Although he possessed extensive knowledge regarding the ancient ruins, Xorgrah didn\'t expect Fuhrer\'s ability to estimate the materials.

Suddenly, Fuhrer clapped his hands. "If that\'s the case, follow me. I\'ll take you somewhere to receive your first set of pointers. If you all are going to awaken this power, then we\'ll need to expand your minds to go beyond the breadth of your Sin. Don\'t let your mind be limited because Aura is independent of Sin."

In the next moment, Fuhrer slashed his hand down, opening a portal linked to another desolate area. However, it wasn\'t the same one as earlier since there were zero signs of damage. Besides, Fuhrer wouldn\'t send the Lords there because the higher Apollo\'s Aura grew, the more difficult it was for Fuhrer to remove its remnants. In other words, approaching that place now would run the risk of exposing Apollo\'s Aura.

Granted, its ability would still be unknown, but the fact he possessed one already would transmit amongst the Lords.

While Fuhrer gathered the Xorgrah and the Lords, leading them inside the opened portal, Apollo first glanced at Valac before looking elsewhere. \'I should pay Furcas a visit. After all, I need to know how long it\'ll be before we set out on our first goal.\'

Apollo motioned for Valac to follow as he left Xonnomor to his devices within the forge room. Since Saehtyn was with Fuhrer, this meant Xonnomor could take a much needed break to digest what he learned in his past forging attempts.

…

Soon enough, Apollo arrived in a remote area of the Dakea Stronghold housing 3 large residences existed. Naturally, this was Xonnomor\'s and Gallmath\'s residences. However, two of them were usually vacant whereas Gallmath spent most of his time recuperating his long strength.

Meanwhile, Arleo\'s residence became Furcas\'s exclusive practice area to exercise his demonic inscriptions. As soon as Apollo appeared, he noticed two large circles with unusual writings etched along the exterior. Laid within the middle of the circles were two bodies.

On the left rested Asteroth\'s damaged body and on the right, the noticeably better Arleo. However, if there was something worth mentioning, it was that his body seemed to be at least twenty percent smaller than before.

Admittedly, removing a large portion of his Sin Energy and essence caused a significant decline in his physical prowess. Aside from that, he appeared healthy.

"Status update?" Apollo asked, looking towards Furcas. But, a pronounced frown appeared as soon as he asked.

"Although the recovery process has started recently, it appears that Asteroth\'s body is in worst shape than I previously estimated. His internals is coated in a dense layer of destructive energy; while it is dissipating at a steady rate until it disappears completely Asteroth\'s recovery will continue at a severely mitigated rate."

"How severe are we talking? How long before he is able to wield his strength once again?" Apollo questioned.

Before answering, Furcas scanned Asteroth\'s body before rubbing his chin in thought. "It\'s hard to ascertain. Could be days, could be weeks and it could even be months. Nevertheless, I do have some good news. The one besides you is due to wake up."