Edge of Death

Amon looked around him, seeing he was surrounded by a dozen veiled figures, all wearing the typical attire of an assassin.

But this wasn't what made his eyes narrow. It was their aura.

'Mordred…'

[I fear your senses are right, father. Their auras are all at the H rank…]

As said, the first stages of mortality were called the Foundational tiers and were made up of the following: The Awakener Tier, The Acolyte Tier, The Initiate tier, and finally, The Adept tier, which represented the peak of the foundational tiers.

After that, one would have a massive breakthrough and enter the [H rank].

This meant that currently, Amon was being surrounded by dozens of entities that stood almost four stages above him and judging from their auras, they were all True Golden path practitioners.

The True Golden Path, not the Golden Path.

'They truly have gone all out…'

Obviously, Amon knew who had sent these assassins. If not one of the other royal seat holders, then who else?

'Cowardly to say the least.' He grinned. 'But I suppose such pressure will be enough to bring my aether manipulation to the peak in one go.'

His innate aether churned and flowed through him as thin fumes of emerald and amethyst began to waft off his body.

Around his fists, dark and thick death aether gathered as his stance was lowered and his spirit sense unfurled.

WHOOSH!

Chaos ensued.

***

What was aether?

To most, aether was simply the energy of the world—the universe.

According to some researchers, aether was a universal constant across all creation that required the maturation of a celestial object's core to manifest itself.

Though this may or may not be true, this still didn't answer the question. What was aether?

As Amon fully focused on sensing the underlying truths and secrets of aether, multiple thoughts flooded his mind.

At times, aether seemed to be an entirely different state of matter but at the same time, it seemed like something entirely separate from such categories.

From neutral aether, with the appropriate spell, any and all things could be created and altered, and via innate aether, one could access what seemed to be the very essence and kernel of their being.

Amon didn't wield any spatial aether and yet, by passively using his affinity to space as well as his neutral and innate aether, he could teleport without seemingly any limits—without any spells being casted.

BANG!

Amon punched forward and an aether-covered fist of his zipped by one of the assassin's faces, who'd narrowly dodged before countering with a vicious kick that sent him flying.

'Vessel…'

As Amon fell into a trance, a thought popped into his mind.

When all complexities were stripped away from the topic and the bare bones of aether's simplicity were laid for all to see, what was aether and where was the line between neutral, innate, and attributed aether?

This was when a spark had formed in his mind.

Fundamentally, wasn't aether just…a vessel? Didn't spells prove that?

Innate aether was a vessel of one's very existence and life as it reflected one's deepest and truest self.

Attributed aether was a vessel for existence's aspects. Fire aether was a vessel for the universal element of fire and spatial aether was a vessel for the very space and void of existence.

Neutral aether? It was a blank canvas. A vessel one could define using their very will.

Through spells, one could use runic languages to mold and alter the fundamental shape and function of neutral aether but was that really…necessary?

If he willed neutral aether to burn…what right did it have not to? Was it not supposed to be a vessel of the Will? Of desire? Of imagination?

This understanding of the three fundamental aether types hit Amon all at once and at that moment, he felt an explosion ring out within his mind.

BANG!

***

Delilah stood up from her seat in shock as she watched the changes that happened to Amon, via a projected screen.

'Did this brat just…form Intent? True Intent? As well as perfect aether mastery? For all the fundamental aether types?'

Her breaths were shaky and her mind in disarray. This was terrible news but at the same time, it was fantastic.

Terrible because if anyone else of her level discovered what'd just happened, Amon would die a gruesome death but fantastic because…

'I'll train him.'

***

Amon felt a hidden part of himself suddenly grow and extend, going from the ethereal to the real in an instant.

He didn't know what to call that part of himself but if he had to give it a name it'd be…

'Free will? Intent?'

It was like a part of his mind had split off from him, morphed, then fused back into him, granting him a new organ.

It was instinctual and yet it felt new and novel. He felt like the world was a blank page and his mind or rather—his will, was a pen he could use to shape it all.

It was so freeing he nearly lost himself in the feeling of it all.

[I'll explain what's happening later, for now, focus!]

Amon didn't even seem to register her words as with a step, he escaped a terrifying slice and with a simple wave of his hand, the aether of the world acted as his servant and formed a blade out of thin air that dug into one of the assassins, exploding a moment later to render his existence to gory bits and pieces of flesh.

Amon closed his eyes and fully sunk into his spirit sense, his other hand moving to manifest a gust of death aether that enveloped each of their bodies.

'But that's not all…there are ways to applicate aether…'

Amon twirled and waved another hand, yet another body exploding under his control of aether.

'Inner circulation and outer circulation…'

'Inner circulation would allow my body to embody and gain the characteristic of the aether—in a sense, I'd become the vessel's vessel.'

His entire body suddenly turned into a flaming figure of black fire.

'While outer circulation is…dominion over the world's aspects through aether. Just like what I've been doing.'

BANG!

With each movement, his mastery grew, his understanding deepened, and his power amplified. The assassins, though formidable, became mere stepping stones in his newfound journey.