Chapter 30: Goal

*AETHERIUS*

Two days after reconciling with Viola, letters arrived from Layra and Trevor from the capital, saying that they had read the letter that Atheria and my father had sent to them. The letters contained dozens of questions from both sides. "Wow! This letter is more full of questions than greetings and talking about themselves," my father said while scratching his head, and my mother just laughed.

"At least they're worried," Elowen said, and we just laughed. "Anyway, just tell them we're fine, that I'll finish healing, and I'll continue with my training," I told my parents. "Well, I'm going to bed now. Good night," I said goodbye to my parents. "I want to sleep with you tonight, Ther," Elowen stopped me, looking at Elowen, and I just told her it was okay. Everyone went to wash up before going to bed.

"Therius, brother," Elowen spoke to me as she turned to hug me. "It's late to say this, but thank you very much for saving me and keeping me safe, and thank you for coming back alive from the fight against the Wave," she said as she buried her face in my chest, and I felt her tears. "You don't have to thank me, Elowen. You're my sister and my responsibility, so you don't have to thank me for anything. I should thank you for being safe and sound," I told her as I hugged her tightly. "Let's go to sleep already. I have a feeling that something will happen tomorrow."

The next morning, I woke up with Elowen, we washed our faces, and I went to the kitchen. After breakfast, my father spoke to me, "Aetherius, it's time. So I want you to show me what you did that day against the Wave," he said seriously as he grabbed my shoulder and looked me directly in the eyes.

I thought about giving him some excuse not to do it, but since he was my father, I knew he wouldn't allow me to lie to him, so I had to accept. My mother looked at me with concern, but also with curiosity, as I could see that the order my father gave me awakened that curiosity in her.

It was okay to do it because I knew that at some point, this was going to happen. "Okay, father," as we headed to the place where we trained, I could see a little way off that Viola and her parents were approaching. "Gola Dorian, I can see you're going to have a training session," Dominic said as my father returned his greeting. "So I see we arrived just in time," Sonia said as she raised her hand to greet my mother. "Yes, you arrived just in time. Dorian has been curious to know what Therius did in the fight against the Wave," my mother said as she returned Sonia's greeting.

"Anyone would be curious to know how a 12-year-old who just entered the light orange stage did," Dominic expressed. I knew they would suspect my abilities since indeed, I had just entered the light orange stage and was already mastering the lightning element.

Without further ado, my father and I found ourselves in the center of the field and distanced ourselves a few meters. "Are you ready, Therius? This time we'll use our real weapons," my father asked me as he confirmed how our fight would be.

"Of course," I replied as I summoned my weapon and positioned myself. My father did the same, taking out his weapon and getting into position, while my mother acted as the referee. "Very well, in 3, 2, 1, now!" she shouted.

Spinning my scythe, I launched myself at my father, who was waiting for me while still in a fighting stance. Infusing mana into my body, I made a slash aimed at his right leg, and he managed to dodge it with a backward jump.

I could see a smile on his face as he was still falling, so I continued my attack, spinning the blade around my left arm to make another cut, and he blocked it. I could feel that he also infused mana into his body, so I knew he was taking me seriously, and I kept attacking.

He stepped back to reposition himself, and I moved to the left with mana, wanting to reach him from his right. I spun my blade around my waist once again, delivering four consecutive strikes. My father managed to dodge two attacks and block the other two.

I could see my mother, Elowen, and the others surprised by my movements. I could even see, but not hear, what Dominic was saying to my mother because I was focused on my father.

Now he was coming for me, backing up and positioning himself before charging towards me. I spun my blade a few times while watching my father approach; his sword was wrapped in some kind of visible wind casing.

So with mana, well, I have to try it too, I told myself as I dodged his wind blade aiming for my right shoulder. Thanks to him coming close, I used the staff of my weapon to hit him on the left side, which hit him this time, making him step back once again, which excited me.

Let's fight on par for a while, I thought to myself as I invoked a little electricity in my hand and threw it at him. I could see that he was waiting for my attack because his face didn't seem puzzled or surprised.

Blocking my attack, I quickly spun my blade while infusing lightning magic into it, causing a loud thunder to shoot towards him. A dreadful roar was heard when I launched it, making my hand tremble from the amount of mana I unconsciously placed, making me dizzy myself. "Dad, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"But what...?" I heard Dominic as I turned my head in their direction. My mother covered her ears, and my sister and Viola's family did the same, "Hugh," I heard a sound from my father's side, and he was unharmed as he looked at his body wrapped in visible wind that almost seemed like some garment, and his blade was also wrapped in wind, "that was dangerous, even at the level I am," he said as the wind around his body disappeared, and he stretched.

I felt relieved for two reasons, one that apparently it wasn't a large amount of mana that I put, and the second was that my father was strong enough for that not to harm him.

"Dorian, are you okay?" I heard my mother, "I'm fine, just let me get over the dizziness," he said as he covered his nose and exhaled through it, trying to unclog his ears, "very well, Therius, let's start again, this time with no restrictions," my father said seriously, making me swallow nervously.

"Very well," I replied. My father began to put wind on his body in the same way again, so I could see that he was assimilating with his element. I wanted to do the same because when I fought the Wave, I received help from the shadow to increase my power, so I wasn't sure if I could do it without its help.

Nevertheless, I tried. I infused an excess of mana into my immature body, attempting to perform the assimilation without having the necessary real level. "Take your time, son. Doing this is not an easy task, so don't worry," my father encouraged me, his tone of voice giving me strength.

I closed my eyes; darkness was all I could see. I felt my core, inching closer until I saw the light orange color. I pulled my mana and guided it through my bloodstream, taking it as channels or mana points to pass through my body.

I felt something, a sensation of warmth, but it turned into heat. The more I tried, the warmer it became, then hot, even scorching. I pushed my mana a little harder, pulling and pulling. I felt a different sensation, unlike any I had felt before, and something took hold of my shoulder. The light and mana vanished, and suddenly everything went dark.

*****

"You're killing yourself, kid. I don't know what you were trying to achieve, but you almost blew yourself up. After taking some of my power, your own power level decreased and destabilized any growth you had before doing it," I quickly moved my gaze to where I heard the voice. That voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. Still, my attention was drawn to a piece of torn black cloth. "Take your time to grow stronger if that's what you want," I looked in the direction of the cloth, and suddenly it clicked in my brain, and I remembered where I had heard the voice.

"I can see by your face that you've recognized me. But just like I've told you once before, in due time, you'll get to know me," I felt strange, but with time, I hope I can get used to it.

"Get used to using the power I gave you, then master it, and do as you please with it. So, take your time, and see you later," the voice faded away, along with the cloth it came from, and everything was illuminated.

I opened my eyes suddenly, and the sunlight hurt my eyes. "Hey Aetherius, are you okay?" I heard my mother beside me. "What happened? Why am I on the ground?" I asked, not remembering what had happened.

"You idiot kid, you almost blew yourself up," Sonia's voice scolded me. "Blew up?" I asked, confused. "I just infused mana into my body to try to assimilate," I said confidently.

"Exactly, Therius. By putting an excessive amount of mana, you almost blew yourself up. Besides, you're not at the level to do it. The last time I did it, you were able to, but I imagine after your attack in the capital, your own growth decayed, and the little power you had vanished, almost causing your limbs to explode. Do you remember?" I heard a long explanation from my father.

"It's your fault, Dorian. Even if he managed to do it once, it doesn't mean he can do it always or even after what happened to him," I heard Dominic scold my father. "Well, yes, but I thought maybe he could do it once again. Wasn't that what the fight was for? To see what he could do?" My father said, scratching his head.

"Thank Dominic that he realized and knocked you out before you exploded," my mother told me. "It's not necessary, Altea. I'm glad he's okay," he said, sighing.

"Anyway, thanks a lot for doing it, Uncle Dominic," I thanked him while my mother helped me up, but the next moment, I felt a strong blow to my head.

"You idiot brother, you almost killed yourself," Elowen, who I could see was angry, hit me, and Viola was behind her. I swear I saw fire in her eyes from how angry she was.

"I'm fine, Wen. I got carried away without realizing it, sorry," I said as I looked at her. "Poor you if you ever do that again, brother," Elowen threatened me, and I just laughed.

"Uff, my body feels heavy," I said as I squatted down. "It's normal since you exceeded your body to that extent," my mother told me. "Hahaha, sorry mom, it won't happen again, at least not so often," I said as I laughed nervously at her expression.

"I hope so," she said as my father carried me on his back, and we all headed inside my parents' house. Upon entering, my father took me to my room to take a bath and then to the kitchen to eat something.

After finishing washing, I went to the kitchen, and everyone was gathered there. I sat in between Viola and Elowen, and we started eating.

After a long day of rest for me, I sat on my bed and looked at my hands. "I don't know what the shadow means by meeting with him, but for now, I'll keep training and figuring out how to control the ability it gave me," I said aloud to keep it in mind and know that I said it and it wasn't just my imagination.

The next morning, I returned to the training field. I started stretching and running a bit before exercising my body and training with my weapon.

Alright, let's do it again, this time with moderation. I sat in the center of the field and started meditating. At the same time, I felt my magic and the shadow beside it, like a second core or rather like a blot of dirt.

I came out of my meditation state and summoned my weapon. As I made some movements with it, I started infusing mana into my weapon and began to move. Small lightning bolts were on my blade, and with each spin, a lightning bolt with less power and sound shot out.

I stopped, and just like the last time, I infused darkness into my blade, even with electricity, making it dark. I tried to launch both combined magics, but it was useless. Nothing shot out, unlike last time, which made me feel a little discouraged.

Feeling uneasy for the first time since I've been here, I asked myself, "What do I do now? I had a life and lived it to the fullest, but what now? This time I don't have a goal."

Feeling that existential void, I set myself the ridiculous goal of becoming strong again. "I want to know how powerful I can become in the future and what my purpose is in having a second life," I said to myself as I clenched my fist.

"So no matter how long it takes or what methods I have to use, if I manage to gain power, I'll know what I'm doing here and why me." Looking at the sky, I smiled strongly.

Lowering my head, I focused once again on my weapon and my magics. It was time to train again and focus on doing what I had to do.

I sat cross-legged and began to meditate.