Chapter 34

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"Is this really necessary?"

"Prince Noah, the internet can be very misleading. While I support your interest in learning, I don't want it to tarnish your mind with unnecessary information. I think we should start with language and manners. Can you please tell me who taught you those words?"

"Umm, Edgar? He is a mercenary I met earlier. Anyway, can you do something about this?"

After a long discussion with Wilhelmina, Noah was able to have a laptop of his own which allowed him to browse verified sites.

The chunky laptop in front of him was a military-grade laptop with thick protection. Trackers and content blockers were additionally installed under the supervision of Wilhelmina.

Technology developed in EtherWorld in a similar fashion in comparison to his old world. There were phones, laptops, cars and even planes but it was not developed to the extent of their potential that was realised in his previous world.

While phones that relied on electrochemical batteries were being developed, mages developed telecommunication magic circles.

While automobiles powered by fossil fuel were developed, beast tamers developed ways to tame strong and powerful beasts for travel.

The world realised mana-based sources as a clean form of energy. There was no need to construct dams nor was there any need to burn fossil fuels. This led to a significant decline in development.

While there were still scientists that argued mana could cause more harm than help, they weren't able to prove it.

Noah knew things were about to change soon. When Noah logged into EtherWorld in the 890s, they discovered aether particles which were essentially the residue left behind after utilising mana/ether.

As scientists were still investigating the harm that it could cause, Noah left it as a precursor to the next arc at that time.

After going through a stack of papers on anatomy, Noah was able to identify an organ that started from the lungs and heart and spread towards other organs like tree branches but thinner.

Though they were similar to capillaries, they were larger and carried mana rather than blood to various parts of the body.

The humans in EtherWorld were a mutation in comparison to humans in his previous world, mutated to adapt to a world that was surrounded by mana.

'Were humans exposed to this new form of energy and mutated to become what we are now?'

'What is mana even? This world.. the EtherWorld, is it supposed to be Aether?'

'I remember reading about Ether or Aether back when I was in the orphanage in my previous life. Was it a theory by Aristotle? Plato? Einstein? Ah, I shouldn't have dismissed it as pseudoscience.'

"Young Prince, Prince Icarus and Princess Astrea have arrived."

Interrupting Noah's train of thought, Wilhelmina entered the room.

"Yes, Ms Walker. Can you help me with getting these books?"

As Noah gave the long list of books on anatomy and mana, Wilhelmina gave a questioning look.

"Prince Noah, while I understand your enthusiasm, these books may be a little out of your scope."

"The wall of the blood capillaries of skeletal muscles and myocardium consists of three consecutive layers or tunics: the endothelium, the pericytes, and the adventitia."

"What-"

"Research Paper 25679 by Dr Rupert and Dr Cassandra. Second page, first paragraph. They talk about how it is present in different animals. You can ask me from any of the papers I have read so far."

".."

"I have a good memory. But there are a lot of things and concepts I still don't understand. I know it may be a long shot for me to study all of this and come up with a way for a cure. But, I want to give it a try."

Sigh.

Looking at Noah's determined eyes, Wilhelmina couldn't help but sigh. As she accompanied and took care of Emilia and Maeve, she was quite often faced with the same determined expression. Knowing there was no use even in suggesting otherwise, Wilhelmina gave in.

"Alright, I understand. I'll prepare them, young Prince. Shall we head to the dining hall now?"

"Yes. Thank you, Ms Walker."

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Opening the doors to the drawing room, Noah was able to see Icarus and Astrea waiting for him. The personal knights of the two stood a few steps behind, towards the back of the room.

Dressed in luxurious clothes, the twins looked extremely regal.

Noah on the other hand was dressed in a white half sleeve shirt and black trousers without adorning anything that could be considered valuable.

It was expected from nobles and people of power to keep appearances even in difficult situations as it was believed that 'clothes and manners maketh man.'

While it could be argued that Noah was still just 10 years old, he was still a prince.

"Prince Noah, you look weak. Were the doctors from IMI not able to help you?"

Icarus commanded the room. Born and raised to be the future king, it was second nature to view anyone outside of his family as lesser.

Seeing Icarus's arrogant expression, Noah sheepishly shifted his gaze to Astrea, ignoring him.

"I heard you wanted to meet with me. You may leave if there -"

"How dare you ignore Prince Icarus!" The personal knight stationed behind Prince Icarus gripped his sword.

It was too late for the knight to think and consider that the person on the other side was of equal status to his lord.

As everyone in the room turned their attention towards the voice, they could see the knight lying motionlessly on the floor covering his arm.

Within a split second, the knight's hand that held the sword was cut cleanly off, after which he was knocked out cold, not even allowing him to scream from pain. Standing beside the knight was Wilhelmina cleaning her rapier with a handkerchief.

"Princess Astrea, Prince Icarus, the Wyte house will take the hand of this knight as an apology for his mistake."

====

A/N:

Hi guys,

I am adding a few links here for the few curious minds out there.

Over the course of time, the word Ether or Aether meant different ideas to different people at different times. Personally, I like to think of it as something that represents our questions about the unknown. Unlike the fiction in comics and novels, our world might seem less magical. But the invention and evolution of technology itself are proof of what efforts accumulated over the course of time can achieve.

Just like how we got here today, I hope we can discover and invent something new tomorrow.

Happy Reading,

Kamui

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element)

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Extras/Einstein_ether/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/feb/12/research.science