Chapter 17 - Ether

There was no grand moral standing in him—only an elevated presence of the self.

Sacrificing others for his own good was not a concern for him.

He advised Ren, "You need to shed the whiteness of your heart. The world will take advantage of your heart if they get a hold of it, leaving you drowning in a sea of regret."

He took a pause to hammer his point and continued, "Kindness and Mercy are only for the fortunate. We are not fortunate. We are merely scavengers. Whatever choices befall us, we will take them."

Ren's eyebrows furrowed, and she questioned, "What about us? What if the ritual had required the heart of a friend?"

Reve looked her straight in the eye, hiding no emotion as he replied, "Friends are different. You are different. You came back to save me. So, I will never let you die if it's within my power."

Ren's eyes wavered as she listened to him, struggling not to overthink. Before she knew it, her eyes reddened due to the large disturbance in her emotion. She quickly focused on calming her turbulent mind.

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The Next Day.

The three of them approached Tryphon only with their average-sized backpacks. They bought a few clothes along the way. The need for clothes was the last on their priority list.

There was a uniformed man stationed at the edge of the pier. He was inspecting the long queue of people all ready to board the ship.

Reve, Ren, and Calen joined the queue and waited an hour till it was their turn for inspections.

"Pull down your hoods," the man commanded as he pointed at the ray gun on his waist, indicating he was a New Order officer—most likely a low-level official.

In this remote location, however, he held the highest authority.

Reve guessed that the captain of Tryphon bought the officer's services since he didn't seem to have any sailing badge on his uniform.

Together, the three of them reluctantly revealed their faces.

The officers frowned as he gazed at Reve, bewildered by his cat-like ears.

"A mutant? My. my. It's not every day I see one of your kind. Your mother must have been so damaged upon seeing you," the officer said with a hint of disdain.

Reve mentioned, "We are just here to board Tryphon. We have tickets."

This wasn't the first time someone had shown him such blatant prejudice. Yet, he never bothered with them. They could talk all they wanted, but they would always be lower beings to him, stuck in their ignorance and naivety.

Ren dug into her pocket and revealed three tickets. She glared at the officers as she allowed him to check them.

If not for Reve holding her down, he reckoned she attacked the officer with words.

"Alright. Alright. Get going. You leave in three hours." The officer chided, stepping aside to allow them to cross the bridge leading to the ship.

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Finding a room with three beds was no easy task. Ren bought tickets for the only room of its kind, wasting a hundred sun coins out of the original ten thousand she had collected.

Occasionally, the remaining coins rattled in her bag.

"Whew, if stealing is what it takes to enjoy this kind of life, I'm a full-time thief now," Calen joked.

Ren rolled her eyes and set her bag in the closet. She quickly claimed the left bed and collapsed into it.

Meanwhile, Reve sat in one of the chairs and opened the ancient box, glancing through the scroll in a bid to find more information.

It quickly reached the second-hour mark, and the captain of the ship announced through the speakers.

"Attention. This is Captain Havoc of Tryphon. We will begin sailing in approximately forty minutes. We have the sailing schedule in the inner second hall if anyone wants to have a look, as well as a treat of desserts. Feel free to make yourself comfortable."

Calen grinned mischievously, "I know where I will be now."

Ignoring his scroll for a second, Reve warned him, "If you get yourself in trouble, I don't know about you. What's your name again?"

"Real funny." Calen mocked and left to explore the ship.

Once Calen was gone, Reve finally got time to himself.

He had a quirky thought which led him to levitate the ancient box with his telekinesis ability. The box steadily floated in the air, and when Reve willed it, it would shoot towards the door and stop before it could touch the exterior of the door.

This was practice to him, albeit a fun practice.

'I was right about the function of prima. It seems to be able to unlock latent powers as well as act as a catalyst for Ether's mutation potential.'

Just yesterday, Reve started to get weird sensations about his surroundings. He felt a strange sentient presence coiling around that he was ignorant about all this while.

This led him to understand this was the energy termed Ether, weaved into the bodies of every being that walked the earth. However, ether channeling required a deeper connection with the force, which was where primas came in.

'I can sense it, but I can't see it. Although, it took me days after the prima consumption.'

When he asked Ren, she said she could only sense it in special circumstances, like when she was in danger or when she was fully focused.

Reve theorized that it was different for everyone. At the same time, ether channeling could be generalized.

'I am a titan that evolved into my status as a nexus cat, a harbinger of raw power. I am connected to all forms of energy more than any other being that ever existed.'

He believed that in the next few days, even without practice, he would be able to interact with ether, and might even be able to see it with his eyes, something he knew wasn't possible for most humans.

'I think that's what Class-2 is all about. After the prima, you gain the ability of ether channeling. Some special people unlocked their latent potential. If the ability is continuously practiced, you deepen your connection with ether. And when this connection is tight enough, there is a qualitative enhancement in all aspects of the being.'