The old man stayed silent, placing his palm on Isaac's back, and it wasn't long until Isaac felt like the temperature was rising.
'What the f*ck…'
Isaac yelled inwardly, barely able to piece together his thoughts.
In an instant, he felt a burn sensation run through his body. His muscles contracted, beads of sweat poured down his face and his insides felt like a furnace.
He could tell the old man was barely touching him, yet he felt immense pressure coming from his back.
All he could do was yell as the pressure increased and the force being driven into his body had reached every crevice.
It wasn't long until the pressure subsided, and the ability to move returned to Isaac.
On his hands and knees, he struggled to catch his breath and clear the fog in his mind, but despite that, it still wasn't enough to distract him from the new sensation he was feeling.
He felt…different.
He could feel something gushing out from every part of his body, flooding away like an open faucet.
Not only that, he could see it. The white aura surrounding him dissipated into the air and it floated further and further away from his body.
Additionally, he could feel this same energy lingering in the air, different from his flowing aura.
Instead, the aura in the air was rapid, unstopping and clashing with itself.
"How does it feel? I've just opened all the aura nodes in your body." The old man spoke, bringing Isaac back from his trance.
Isaac looked back, pausing slightly after staring at the old man's aura. His eyes widened at the difference between his aura and the man's.
The old man's aura wasn't leaking like Isaac's, but coating his body.
However, what surprised him was the similarity between the rapid and chaotic nature of the atmosphere and the old man's Nen.
He could only tell the difference when he looked at the aura surrounding the old man being frantic, however, if he closed his eyes and were to sense the aura around him, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.
The old man was hiding in plain sight.
Isaac looked at the old man's face, only to notice his similarly shocked face presented on the old man, as if he had just realised something, completely switching his demeanour from earlier.
The man had his mouth slightly open, as if he wasn't able to close them, his eyes widened and his hand unmoving from the same position since Isaac had awakened his aura.
"Your aura…it's normal. It's like your body is ignoring the negative effects of the Dark Continent. How are you doing that?"
The old man was dumbfounded. Something he'd thought to be near impossible, even for someone like him, was being done seamlessly before him.
"I'm not doing anything? What does this mean? Is there something wrong with me?" Isaac fell into a slight panic.
"Yes, there is. But it's a good thing. You'll be able to use Nen like normal, without the atmosphere interfering."
Isaac let out a satisfied smile as well as relieved demeanour.
"Cool. Doesn't that mean…hey, don't try and distract me from what just happened."
"You ought to warn someone before you pull a trick like that, you crazy old man!" Isaac yelled, seconds away from tearing the old man's long eyebrows off.
"I didn't think you'd say yes. How would you have felt if I told you this was an unethical practice that is highly frowned upon and extremely dangerous? Forcing one's aura nodes open is like ripping a premature child from the womb."
Isaac stood dumbfounded, only staring as his jaw laid open, completely forgetting about the man's aura upon hearing this.
"Don't look so shocked. It worked, didn't it? And to think, this was my first time doing it. I really am a natural, aren't I?" The old man laughed obnoxiously while Isaac cursed him inwardly.
'You…you've just earned yourself a spot beside that stupid Orion. You'll both be crushed beneath my feet.'
Isaac could only stare crazily at the old man while biting his lip.
"Also, if I were you, I'd get that Nen under control. If it keeps rushing from your body like that, you'll collapse due to fatigue." The old man mentioned.
Isaac scratched his head.
"How?"
"It's simple. Close your eyes." Isaac did as he was told.
"Visualise the Nen flowing through your body, like blood coursing through your veins."
"From your head to your shoulders, to your abdomen and down to your toes."
"Feel the aura swirl inside you, in a constant spiral." The old man said this, however, the Nen was still seeping from Isaac's body, and Isaac wore a face of discomfort.
"It's not working." He mumbled.
"You need to focus, boy." Said the old man.
"I'm trying…" The old man stared at Isaac with a neutral demeanour, soon sighing.
"Boy, relax. This technique is not easy to learn. It takes most months to master. You'd have to be a monster to accomplish it after a few simple instructions."
Hearing this, Isaac could only grit his teeth as his heart sank. He needed months so that he could even have a chance at surviving outside Aionthos.
"Well, are you?"
Isaac's ears perked.
"Are you a monster, or are you a boy in over his head, crawling in a desperate attempt to escape the monsters in the dark room."
Isaac said nothing, keeping his eyes closed but yelling internally.
'No…'
"I doubt you are anything more than a boy who only survived due to luck."
'That's wrong…'
"You were lucky you woke up in Aionthos. You were lucky you happened to find a bed of plants to keep you satiated. And you were lucky the Doctor told you of the only escape before you went mad in this labyrinth."
'I…No'
"You don't stand a chance in the Dark Continent!"
"You're wrong!" Isaac finally let out.
The old man paused.
"Then prove it. Prove me wrong."
Isaac wasn't angry at the harsh words of the man, or the fearful possibility that he wasn't going to survive his quest, but rather at the truth of them.
The truth was, he was lucky.
Everything he'd accomplished to this day was only because external circumstances allowed it.
'That's bullsh*t!'
Up to this day, Isaac had done nothing but struggle. From scavenging for a single penny to suffering under the cruel heel of the world, Isaac had been anything but lucky.
He didn't want it either.
Luck, optimism, hope.
These were all things Isaac came to despise.
Not because he didn't have any, but instead because they were the crutches for a weak p*ssy.
'Screw luck. I'll control my own destiny.'
Focusing on the aura in his body, it wasn't long until Isaac was engaged in a fierce battle.
Meanwhile, the old man sat silently.
'Attempting to forcefully control his aura with sheer will? How unorthodox, as well as foolish and dangerous.' He thought, soon smiling widely like a maniac.
'And bloody brilliant!'
Isaac felt like his muscles were tearing, like his flesh was coming undone and insides were being sent into a frenzy, but he didn't care.
He'd be damned if it took him months to control something as trivial as this.
Soon, the aura leaking from his body stopped, instead coating every inch of his body like invisible clothes.
"Well done…" The old man clapped.
"...Isaac."