Ice Weaver Ballet

"Damn, I didn't expect so many people to attend this circus show," Zhen Hai commented as the group made their way through the stands full of people. While it would've been too much of a stretch to imply everyone in town showed up for this show, there were still a lot of people.

From the ringside seats all the way to the back, a multitude of people of all ages, from all walks of life, sat and conversed, waiting in anticipation for the upcoming show.

It took a bit of time and some minor shoving, but the group eventually managed to find a set of seats in the middle of the benches. Close enough to get a good view, but far enough that they didn't risk getting volunteered for a performance.

Zhen Liu was all set to just sorta zone out while watching the performers do their thing, until his magic brain voice decided to make a suggestion.

<Notice: Ho...User may gain insight into how to use their abilities better if they can successfully observe the flow of aether as the performers do their piece. More specifically, once the ice weavers enter the ring.>

'Oh? Will it involve more things getting shoved into my soul bits?'

<Not this time around, but maybe some time in the future. And before you ask, "How am I suppose to detect aether movement", just do what you do when you focus on your bond with the kaijin but direct that feeling towards your eyeballs. But hush now, the show is about to begin.>

On cue, the lights in the circus began to dim as the aether controlled sources of light were manipulated to focus on the center ring of the tent, where a man in a brilliant purple ringmaster suit and a silk hat, stood with an ornate cane.

A brilliant smile that could be seen even from afar was plastered on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, patrons of all makes and shapes, welcome. Welcome to the main event of the Maleobario Circus. Know that all of the wonders you have seen outside of our big top tent was nothing more than just a preview what's to come. So please, sit back, relax and get ready for the show of a life time."

With that said, the ringmaster tapped on the ground hard with his cane, and disappeared in a flash of light and smoke, leaving the ring empty.

The crowd was stunned by the ringmaster's disappearance and began to murmur, only to return to silence once they saw that the ring wasn't empty.

Standing amidst the fading smoke, stood a lithe figure dressed in garb that was a mixture of a ballerina's tutu and a dancing kimono, a white featureless mask on her face. With all eyes on the center dance, the sound of drums began to fill to the atmosphere.

'Huh...Kinda reminds me of Cir-'

<Oi, that's one of the ice weavers I was talking about. Stop the stray thoughts and focus your aether reading abilities. Inspiration is a fleeting bitch>

'Oh shit.'

Heeding the advice of the other voice in his head, Zhen Liu mimicked how he would connect with his kaijin, but directed that feeling into eyes. Evidently, he didn't expect a burning sensation to occur when he did so, but he suppressed his scream of pain as to not make a scene. On the plus side, the magic brain voice wasn't lying to him about being able to see the flow of aether.

'Huh...wonder if this is a normal thing other warriors can do...'

Fwoooo...

A cool breeze momentarily blew through the venue as the center dancer started to circulate her aether. Tiny snowflakes formed in the air for a moment, before moving to swirl around her like a snow globe. Surprisingly, the snowflakes and cold didn't extend very far from her person after their initial appearance.

"How beautiful!"

"How unusual!"

"How is she doing that? Is she an Aether Master?"

"Nah, only an Acolyte, although...it could be a side effect if her Formula?"

'Huh...'

From what Zhen Liu could "see", the dancer was releasing her aether like normal, but she was exercising a surprising amount of control over how it was released, to the point where her released aether looked a bit like a bubble surrounding her.

When aether is normally released, at least at Zhen Liu's current level and for others like him, it comes out a bit more...sporadic with some wasted aether being a byproduct. But in the case of this young woman, no aether was being wasted at all.

As the crowd watched on, the sound of stringed and woodwind instruments soon joined in with the percussions. That is when the dancer finally began her performance for real.

The ice weaver's dance reminded Zhen Liu of ballet, but there were a lot more forceful movements, and when the dancer moved a certain way, solid platforms of ice or a sudden blast of snow would follow, but they would always quickly melt away as soon as their purpose was served.

"Whoa."

"How beautiful...the snow moves with her like it's a cape!"

"Look at how solid that ice is! She must be burning up huge amounts of energy for this."

'Nah dude. She just has really good control,' Zhen Liu mentally answered back.

While to others it looked she was using one and done arts in order to make all of her fancy movements, in reality, she was just moving around the same bubble of aether she had produced at the very start of the dance.

When she needed a platform, she'd push the bubble towards her feet and condensed it for a moment before reabsorbing it. When she needed the snow blast, she pushed the bubble out her hands and pulled it back. In essence, while the dancer was using barely any of her internal aether to make these moves, she was exerting a lot of mental effort to make them happen. If she lost her concentration for even a moment, the gathered aether would simply dispere, and she'd probably pass out from how much she expended.

'Huh...I wonder...,' Zhen Liu mused on as the dance soon came to an end.

As soon as the performance was over, the ice weaver reabsorbed the aether bubble she had made and proceeded to the bow towards the crowd, who responded by producing an uproarious applause.

"Bravo!"

"Beautiful!"

"I wonder what's the next act is gonna be like?"

With her act now done, the dancer proceeded to stomp on the ground and producing a small flurry. Once that had died down, a strange black box was left center ring.

This suddenly appearing box elicited the same response from everyone in the crowd: "I wonder what's in it?"

But as soon as they asked themselves this, the box began to move.