Athan's Fatigue

Mark gazed at the purplish skies before he responded with the words "that's a lesson for another day" as he laid on the sparse leaves on the floor while still keeping his gaze on the purplish skies.

Athan stomach rumbled, he was hungry but after Mark heard the sound, he said

"Oh I forgot that anyone who went through the glazed cells transformation, their bodies would be left in a state of hunger" Athan had a look of realization in his eyes, he attempted to stand up but couldn't as his body was still experiencing the effects from the advancement while, feeling a pang of hunger, Athan gritted his teeth as the hunger was unbearable, he then gazed at Mark with a pleading look in his eyes.

Mark gazed straight into Athan eyes before shrugging his shoulders, he stood up from his position on the [zone] sparse leaves, while taking relaxed steps into the [zone].

"I'll be back in a jiffy" his calm and confident voice could be heard as his figure gradually faded away.

A few seconds later, Mark could be seen dragging a corpse, the corpse was bear-like with it's only features, that had no semblance to them being the two extra eyes embedded in it's skull.

Athan could perceive the smell of blood in the air, "I just hope that it's Mark that's approaching" he thought while only being able to twitch his fingers as the rest of his body was motionless no matter the effort, his heart was beating in trepidation, before his nose picked up a scent that he was all too familiar with, he breathed out a sigh of relief, as all his anxiety was swept away.

Mark gazed at Athan, as he was walking out of the forest expanse, as they seemed to only be a few clearings without much trees and greenery.

As he came closer he could hear a faint sigh that'll be difficult to pickup, if not for his remarkable senses, as a smile could be seen on his face.

In a few short seconds, he stood above Athan while staring at his face.

"So can you still hold on" Athan tried to respond with a nod, but he couldn't lift his head, talk more of nodding, so he only gave a helpless smile in response as he was too exhausted to speak.

Mark just gave a helpless smile as it was his fault, as he forgot that Athan wasn't at the first-rank, and so the arts he taught to improve Athan combat prowess and awareness to Aether, served as the trigger to his advancement, and the start of his journey as an Aether user.

He then turned his attention to the corpse, before a small cutting knife appeared in his hand, courtesy to the ring on his finger, the item was well known by most as a spatial ring, it had a pocket space that could be used to store items and it was created and distributed by the crimson cartel, a very influential organization with similar level of influence and power when compared to the Llambrad dominion.

Mark swung the knife at the Corpse, his hand moving like a blur, he then stopped before going to a corner of the clearing a distance away from the trees to start a fire.

He first gathered some dry twigs and leaves, before starting a fire using the leaves, he then went to the corpse, and poked it lightly, the Corpse then broke into little pieces of meat that had a cube-like shape, as its intestines and blood was sprayed all over the floor, as only the pieces of meat were floating in the air.

Before a cylindrical bowl, that was made out of a metal that seemed to resemble stainless steel appeared in his hands, all the meat that was floating in the air were then put inside the bowl, as some stuff appeared in his hand which he then sprinkled on the meat, before he closed the bowl with a lid, he then placed it over the now raging flames, but not directly as he made use of some stones to keep the bowl above the flames a little.

What made him go through such a process when he could just conjure up flames using Aether, or maybe use aether to just complete the cooking process in an instant without the need for such procedures, as Aether can be used for anything, but that only applies to the unique Path that the individual is on.

And Mark is an [Outliers] whose Path involves the Stars and Fate. Mark just sat on the ground before closing his eyes.

Before long an aromatic scent could be perceived, as Mark opened his eyes, he stood up from his position, as the cylindrical bowl floated over to his front, he gazed at it.

Before he moved to the place that Athan was laying, Athan could be seen laying down, as he still couldn't muster any strength from his body, he could only use his senses to gather information as he couldn't even turn his head over, he heard footsteps approaching before a calm voice was heard in his ears.

"Am pretty sorry, for having you go through all this because of my ignorance" the voice seemed to hold a tiny bit of apology in it.

Mark just gazed at Athan before saying.

*I'm not sure you can chew but the effects of the advancement should start wearing off" after the words came out of his mouth, Athan eyes seemed to have lit up, but his stomach rumbled again which dulled the light in his eyes, before he gazed at Mark.

" And Yes, no other advancement as an Aether user will bring about such a weakness, the reason you are experiencing this is that your cells have been changed and upgraded to something more in tune with Aether."

"But breakthroughs are something that are very rare in higher ranks, and each breakthrough is a different realm from the next, You'll notice the difference between your previous body and the present one." Mark voice could be heard to have a certain tone of anticipation.

"Now try circulating Aether through your body, that should help to alleviate your exhaustion" to which Athan gave him a burning gaze in response, as Mark diverted his eyes away from Athan's gaze.

Athan then proceeded to try circulating the Aether in his cells, and he felt more energetic as his cells were like voracious whales that started absorbing the Aether in his surroundings, putting the area around his body in tumult.

The fatigue in his joints washed away, as his fingers could be seen moving, he tried to stand up but couldn't, he then released a sigh.