Chapter 47: DECISION

Time stretched into a molasses slow. The Sol Gate pulsed with an otherworldly power, a crackle of energy that sent shivers down Aether's spine. It felt alien, a force unlike anything he'd encountered before. The urge to challenge the world domain, to understand its secrets, was a flicker, ignited before him like a raging fire. Reality blurred, everything happening in a heart-stopping rush. Aether found himself rooted to the spot, a fly caught in an invisible spiderweb.Panic, raw and primal, clawed at his throat. His instincts screamed, urging him to use his honed wind magic as propulsion, to propel himself as far away from the Sol Gate as possible. But before he could even twitch a muscle, Lumi's voice cut through the mental maelstrom: "[Open Sol Gate?]".Aether's voice, rough with terror, scraped against the cavern walls. "Open? What do you mean, open? NO!" His frantic rejection hung in the air, a desperate plea against an unyielding force. The world seemed to hold its breath for a moment. Then, as abruptly as it began, the blinding luminescence emanating from the ancient crucible sputtered and died. The raw, untamed energy that crackled in the air moments before vanished without a trace, leaving Aether gasping for breath in the sudden silence.He let out a shaky sigh, a wave of relief washing over him so intense it felt like his knees would buckle. Something important, a critical detail, had slipped his grasp. The Sol Gate, it seemed, required his permission to open, a safeguard that bought him precious time to prepare. Shaking off the stiffness that had gripped him, Aether took a deep breath and channelled his mana, performing the familiar ritual of mana circulation on his colossal companion. combining the mana and using Lumi to suppress the seal. A cold sweat slicked Aether's skin as he muttered, "That was a close call." The Sol Gate, once a mesmerizing enigma, had roared to life with power that sent shivers down his spine. It was a brutal realization – the fractal firmament assessed that he was capable of opening the gate.After completing the mana circulation and settling down, Aether clenched his fist, frustration twisting his gut into a knot. "Challenge the world domain..." he muttered, the words tasting like ashes on his tongue. The weight of the unknown pressed down, a suffocating cloak that choked the yearning for answers within him. He glanced at Zephyr, the slumbering dragon, but the colossal creature remained a silent monolith, offering no guidance in the face of this cosmic question.A sigh, heavy with the weight of responsibility, escaped Aether's lips. This power, this newfound burden, felt like a cruel twist of fate. He longed for the simpler times before he stumbled into this cavern, before the secrets whispered promises and threats in equal measure. Squeezing his eyes shut, he shoved the turmoil brewing inside him down, down, down. Now wasn't the time for self-pity. Now, he needed lucidity, and a sharp mind to navigate the uncertainty.An unexpected urge welled within him. "Aether," he spoke aloud, the name a foreign yet strangely familiar melody on his lips. A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That's my name, you know," he said, almost apologetic, as if acknowledging his own existence for the first time. "Sorry it took so long to introduce myself." The apology hung in the air, unanswered by the sleeping dragon.****A frigid light seeped into the cavern, finding Aether already awake. Sleep, a fickle friend, had offered him little solace. The events of the previous night played on a loop in his mind – the Sol Gate's menacing reaction, the chilling realization that he had the key to power.He focused, a marionette controlled by restless thoughts. His arm flowed through the air, a conductor guiding an invisible orchestra. Wind obeyed, swirling into a powerful vortex that ripped through the cavern with a banshee's wail. Frustration, a coiled serpent, tightened in his gut. Every thought, every fibre of his being, was consumed by the Sol Gate.Swatting at the sweat clinging to his brow, Aether stumbled towards the water pool. A splash of cool water sent a jolt through him, momentarily breaking the spell of his anxieties. He settled on the cold floor by the water's edge, eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to meditate, to feel the flow of mana.But the flow was drowned out by a cacophony of doubts. Before five minutes had passed, a frustrated scream tore from Aether's throat, echoing off the cavern walls. "Why am I still questioning myself?" he roared, the sound laced with a bitter memory of past failures - failures he'd vowed never to repeat.He pushed himself off the cold stone, a decision hardening in his eyes. "I need to hunt," he muttered, the words a mantra against the swirling self-doubt. The familiar thrill of the hunt, the pursuit of the elusive moonlight hornbristle, would clear his head, and allow him to think with a cool mind. He needed the rhythmic pattern of his feet against the cavern floor, the fresh air filling his lungs, the challenge of the chase. Only then, with the sweat of exertion drying on his skin and the calm of the cavern settling around him, could he truly confront his anxieties and chart a course forward.****An ethereal moonlight, unmoored from any celestial body, bathed the cavern in an eerie glow. Aether emerged from the inky depths, his arms laden with the spoils of the hunt – four plump moonlight hornbristles. The fresh air, and the thrill of the chase, had done their work. The tempestuous emotions roiling within him had settled into a quiet resolve.He navigated his way to the centre of the cavern, where the slumbering dragon, Zephyr, lay like a monument carved from the earth itself. Gently laying down his hard-earned bounty, Aether looked up. A fist clenched at his side, hesitant yet firm. He began to speak, his voice echoing in the vast chamber."Zephyr," he confessed, the word heavy with a newfound determination, "I've made a decision." A lifetime of solitude pressed down on him, a suffocating weight he yearned to shed. "Strength," he continued, his voice gaining strength with each word, "that's what I need. To break free from this loneliness that gnaws at me like a starving beast." He paused, a raw vulnerability flickering in his eyes. "I want to be useful, to be needed," he confessed, his voice dropping to a whisper.Aether closed his eyes, baring his soul to the silent dragon. "I want the confidence to stand tall, to declare that I deserve to live," he professed, his voice trembling with a newfound defiance. "I will return from whatever lies beyond the Sol Gate. I have to. Not just for myself, but because you're here, right by my side."