The Irregulars were a big deal.
Since the Primeval Times, the number of them has always been extremely low because the conditions for becoming one were incredibly harsh and unrealistic for anyone.
Maschenny remembered that Irregulars had the highest chances of breaking the limits of Mortality, and those who reached the zenith were almost all Irregulars. Those who were born into the established Lineages and Great Families had zero chance of becoming one.
That was the price for their advantages.
Many were satisfied with that, as most won't even be able to reach the stages above A-Rank. Only after several moments, when his Aura levels started rising again, she woke up with his thoughts.
"Wake up, you dolt! You will destroy the cave! Ardyn!!!!!"
As she shouted, the young man's eyes shot open, and his Aura levels stopped rising to the usual level for the lowest standards for the B-Rank Huntsmen as set by the Hunter Association.
Which was a rather staggering result.
Every person was born with a different amount of Aura, and that amount one was born with was often the deciding factor in future accomplishments because it was a reflection of one's innate talent.
The higher the amount of Aura one awakened during the Awakening, the easier it was then to progress on the pathway to power. During the awakening, the average person's Aura after the awakening should be between 100 - 300 Aura Units.
For the genius, it could be double that. If the person was descended from someone who had their Aura awakened, then this number would most probably be around 800 - 1,000 Aura Units.
For descendants of the Great Families, the Awakenings numbers lingered somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 at minimum, while geniuses with very strong Lineages, like Maschenny herself, could reach staggering 5,000.
5,000 Aura Units were already fulfilling one of the basic requirements of the Hunter Association to obtain the rank of D-Rank Huntsman.
'Straight after awakening, reaching the Aura reserves of more than 50,000... more than ten times that of my own... after he cultivates his Aura for some time, his Aura would be staggeringly powerful... it seems that my decision is indeed correct.'
Most of the B-Ranked Huntsmen had their Aura Reserves measured between 50,000 and 200,000 Units. When she was born, her Aura measurements were something over ten thousand Aura Units, which was one of the higher ends in modern history.
Yet, Ardyn, just after awakening, managed to reach the number of 50,000.
Which was something pretty shocking, even if one considered the history of the Remnant, as there were only a few cases where someone reached a higher amount of Aura after the awakening.
Of course, having such a huge amount of Aura wasn't the proof that one was equally powerful... it was just a numerical representation of how much Aura one possessed, as they could still be killed even by people who didn't have any Aura awakened at all.
"Meow, meooow!!!"
Suddenly, as the process ended, both Bastet and Maahes stared meowing like crazy because they sensed something.
"Grimm..."
Maschenny muttered with a certain level of distress because she wasn't really combat-ready right now. The main reason why she survived the encounter with Wyvern when the Grimm attacked their ariship was primarily that she exerted all of her Mana and Aura into one huge Lightning-type attack that blasted the Wyvern almost apart.
The downside was that she broke her Aura, Magic Exhaustion, and her internal organs were severely injured. Her Magic Core was a bit fractured and would need a long time to recover, or some serious medicine or Healing Magic.
So she wasn't really in the state to fight a large number of Grimm... especially now...
Obviously... it seemed that this commotion had attracted Grimm and most probably in rather large numbers. Both Gyrinxes were rather nervous because they were using their Magic to monitor the area, and they were pretty sensitive to the Magic signatures.
When Ardyn woke up from his meditation trance, he noticed that a weird energy was now enveloping his entire body and that he felt stronger than ever. The Aura was the building block of the superhumans in the Remnant, and it was what made the people truly extraordinary here.
When a person unlocked their Aura, their physical dimensions would undergo tremendous change, as their physique would be instantly elevated to a much higher level. Depending on the amount of their Aura, they would receive even greater benefits.
At the same time, those with Awakened Aura would get their senses enhanced to the point of obtaining Extrasensory Perception and also a passive healing rate, which would heal them from injuries.
Ardyn noticed that there were a lot of Grimm around them and realized that his Aura Awakening must have attracted them here. It was common knowledge that Aura attracted the Grimm; the more Aura one had, the more they became visible to the Grimm, and it was much easier for the Grimm to find such a person even from a long distance.
"Now that you have Aura can you go and reduce their numbers by a bit?"
Machenny knew very well that the Ward that Ardyn created was something that he looted, and it wasn't of the highest quality around. She knew that Ardyn's Aura Awakening created rather strong commotion and attracted a lot of Grimm...
The Wards that they were using were never designed to withstand the pressure of hundreds of Grimm attacking it nonstop. It would crumble sooner or later, so it would be best if he went to clean them out a beast...
She knew that his Noble Arte, which he showcased, wouldn't be a problem to stay safe while controlling those conjured weapons of pure Mana to kill the Grimm. She noted that the Noble Arte was weird, but it was pretty powerful as it killed a pack of Beowolves in a split second without any resistance.
Which, on itself, wasn't really weird, because many could do it.
But someone in his circumstances doing it was...
Shocking.
"You sure that's a good idea...? Just on their meowing, I can see that there are many of them..."
Ardyn, for obvious purposes, wasn't that pleased to go into such a dangerous situation straight after, for several reasons. One of them was his personal safety, as out there should be several hundred of Grimm... another one was more pragmatic because he knew that she wanted to gather more information about his abilities.
Even though he admitted that she was pretty cunning, it was nothing in front of the centuries of experience that he had in his head. Still, he admitted that if the Grimm broke through the Wards, it would be pretty problematic, and with his Armirger, he did have a problem facing the creatures head-on.
Especially now that he had awakened his Aura and had a lot of it.
What was peculiar was the fact that now that he awakened his Aura, his connection to the Device: Rakshasa Blade grew even more powerful. The Rakshasa Blade was a Device; technically speaking, it was the materialization of a Blazer's soul; in essence, it is a crystallization of Mana and Soul.
The moment he awoke his Aura, the Rakshasa Blade stirred up, and it got...
More active?
"If I cannot handle them, I am escaping, and you are to help me, are we understood, blue hair?"
Ardyn asked as she frowned, but nodded nevertheless because she really wanted to see what he was capable of.
Especially now that he had his Aura unlocked, and it was such a staggering amount of it.
She also swore that she would give him a really good beating for the constant teasing and niceness that he was giving her, just to rile her up and get some motion from her. She knew that he was also fishing for the information like she was, albeit in a different way.
"Take this... it would record your kills and the type of Grimm you killed."
She presented him her Pocket as he grabbed the floating device with curiosity.
"What for? To make the information gathering process faster?"
He asked with a teasing tone of voice as he eyed her Pocket that started floating around him.
"Don't be paranoid... even if I wanted, it would be useless, as the entire Solitas Continent is monitored by the Satelites and surveillance Magic. The Pocket will help you record the number of Grimm that you killed. If you decide to remain within the Solitas, it would be pretty helpful."
She explained as Ardyn nodded because he understood that he was certainly powerful enough or in a position to evade surveillance even if he wanted. Obviously, she knew that if he even wanted to remain within the Solitas, though she didn't really consider it possible that he would not become a Citizen.
Empire of Mistral was essentially a failed nation that was falling apart, the Imperial Wei Clan had little to no authority beyond the capital, and the rest of the power was congregated in the hands of Grand Clans and Sects that ruled over the vast lands of the Mistrali continent.
Sultanate wasn't really much better, because of the successive generation of the weak Sultans, which resulted in the Imperial Viziers and Emirs gaining too much power, and now, with the Asturias Family stirring up the trouble...
Vale was the only stable kingdom in the Remnant, but it also had its own problems... especially the high degree of corruption between their so-called Aristocracy and rather brutal impending struggle within the Royal House that seemed to be all but inevitable.
From her point of view, Dominion was the best choice, even though the culture was extremely militaristic and strict here.
"How kind of helpful?"
Now... he was intrigued because any benefits were welcomed.
Especially if they came from the strongest and most advanced nation on the Remanant till this day.
"Within the Atlesian Dominion, you can obtain Citizenship either through service in the military or through killing Grimm. Also, through exceptional performance in the battle against Grimm, one can obtain the lowest Rank of the Junker Nobility, the Knighthood."
The Junkers were members of the landed nobility in Prussia as much as Ardyn could remember the history lessons of the Earth. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights.
These estates often lay in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after 1871, German military, political, and diplomatic leadership... especially in the Military.
Based on his own knowledge of Atlesian Dominion and what Maschenny told him, Atlas was militaristic to the core, and everything revolved either around being strong enough or serving in the armed forces of the Dominion.
"Hmm... that works well for me... then au revioire, my fair lady... for the time being."
Ardyn gave her flamboyant bow as he then strode to the entrance of the cave and noticed that the Wardstone that he had laid down some time ago, already had several cracks on it. All across the entire surface of the stone, which meant that Maschennny wasn't wrong.
It would be breached by the Grimm.
And pretty soon enough.
If he doesn't do anything about it.
Only Bastet came with him, as he left Maahes with Maschenny in case something happened because the two Gyrinxes could easily communicate with each other. If there was a problem or something happened, they could notify him, or he could use Maahes to communicate a message back to Maschenny through Bastet.
It didn't take him long to reach the opposite area of the cavern, which was protected by the crystalline magic barrier. Much to his dismay and worry, the entire area was being swarmed by the Grimm...
And there were hundreds of them.
"Meow..."
The female Gyrinx meowed in something that Ardyn translated as worried meow, and he found himself agreeing with the sentiment.
"I know it's a lot... can you help me a bit in this one?"
He asked as he looked at Bastet and waved off the Grimm.
[Detecting Grimm.]
[Species Detection Initiation.]
[Ice Beowolves detected. Ice Ursas detected. Ice Sabyrs detected.]
[Overall number of Grimm reaches more than five hundred.]
Hearing the number of the Grimm and everything made Ardyn look at the Grimm that were congregating around the barrier and attacking it with everything that they had. They were also pretty ferocious when attacking, because it seemed that the huge Aura signature that they felt spooked them too much.
Ursas resembled the Beowoves, with black fur and bony spikes on their backs and arms, as well as white, bone-like masks with red detailing, but are much larger and stockier. They were slower, but they were far more durable and physically superior.
Sabyrs were large predatory cats resembling saber-toothed cats, Smilodon. Their namesake were the large canines with which they can deliver a powerful bite. They had small bone plates on their shoulders and hips, ribs along their sides, and spines along their backs. Their black skin appeared to be somewhat frozen and had white patches, most likely due to the fact that they inhabit the cold tundras of Solitas, and they also possessed bony tails.
Ardyn just listened to the Pocket that was conducting some kind of analysis, as he didn't make much of it and instead focused on the Armiger. Now that he had awakened his Aura, he noticed that the flow of Mana within his body was much smoother and faster.
This was one of the effects of having the Aura awakened, as it seemed that it was also benefiting him as a Mage. Ardyn focused on the Armiger as he materialized several weapons conjured from the crystalline Mana, and with a wave of his hand, they shot towards their targets.
In a mere moment, the initial wave of the Grimm Beowovles that was attacking the barrier was slaughtered almost instantly as the Royal Arms went through the Grimm as if they were never there.
The swords, axes, glaves, and spears all flew at lightning speed from one Grimm creature to another, and one hit was all that they needed to kill them. Ardyn looked at the power displayed by the Armiger Arsenal with a certain fascination as he brandished the Rakshasa Blade, which radiated a rather ominous crimson aura.
He looked at the Device with interest, because it seemed that the Rakshasa Blade sensed the slaughter happening here and wanted to taste the blood. Even if the said blood belonged to the Creatures of Grimm.
For the blade, it was enough.
"I am going among them..."
Ardyn said to his familiar Bastet, who licked her right paw in approval, as she nodded while he Warped away. Instantly appeared before one of the larger Ursas, and with one swing of the Rakshasa Blade, he slit the creature's throat, killing it instantly.
Even though he had tons of memories using the Warp, it was still some kind of new old, old new sensation that was running through his body. In that moment, Ardyn actually savoured the feeling of killing that Grimm, because this was the first time he had killed something with his own hands.
In this life...
At least.
At the same time, almost all of the Grimm turned their sight to him the moment he slayed the Ursa, as they froze in their tracks for several seconds before they moved to attack once more...
This time, it was directly targeted at him.
Ardyn Warped almost instinctively because it was like a second nature to him, while he appeared next to another Ursa, with his blade stabbed into the creature's skull. At the same time as he was personally slaughtering the Grimm, the Royal Arms were floating around him like his protective shield and killing any Grimm that dared to approach.
The more he fought, the better he actually became, especially when it came to using the Armiger Arsenal and Warp. Unbeknownst to him, the more he used these abilities of the Lucis Royals, the faster his remaining memories from the Template assimilated and merged.
With assimilating the last remaining memories from the Template, his skills and experiences with using the Armiger and Warp. The memories of the Lucian Eternal Arms Mastership that was combining fighting with all weapons that were used by the Lucian Kings were being assimilated by him at a staggering pace.
Within the ten minutes, Ardyn didn't even know how many creatures of Grimm he had killed, as his entire form was covered in the black blood from the creatures of the Darkness, as he just cut forward or controlled Armiger to slaughter the Grimm en masse.
With his current Mana output, he was able to conjure more than fifteen Royal Arms when he wished, and the Grimm didn't really have the means of defending against the flying weapons that were targeting them and killing in one hit.
Interestingly enough, he felt that killing the Grimm benefited him in some way, even though he wasn't really sure.
With the constant Warping around the battlefield, his Aura was still full because none of the Grimm managed to land a hit on him. Instead, the little bits of Aura expenditure belonged to his own experiment when he tried to coat his Device with Aura.
And it succeeded.
With his Aura now coating the Rakshasa Blade, his killing speed of the Grimm increased as he was on the constant Warp. The Mana needed for the Warping was minuscule because it was Bloodline Power of his own, meaning the consumption was minimal.
And the same thing could be said about the Mana needed for the Armiger.
Yet, Ardyn also noted that every time he killed one of the creatures, a certain part of his Magic Reserves was refilled. He didn't really ponder over it for the time being, as he focused on the task in front of him.
Killing more.
Ardyn grinned as he Warped towards the group of the Grimm, with his intention being more than clear.