Aethersia

Archer did not know how long he was standing before the huge crystal pillar. Awed and inspired, he never expected that the description written in the book did not do justice to how the crystal pillar looked like. True to its name, it was made up of crystalline materials that extended up the sky, glittering like dazzling stars.

"Wow, Eric was not kidding when he told me that the crystal pillar was this breathtaking..." Archer muttered to himself, his eyes fixated on the pillar. His body felt as if it was bathed in a luxurious milky bath, like a total cleansing inside and out. Excited, he slowly stepped forward until he was only an arm away from it. "Dad said I should just touch the Pillar with my palm."

Archer took a deep breath before he slowly raised his right hand and let his palm be in contact with the pillar. As soon as it happened, he sensed the surging energy creeping into his body - from his right hand to his entire parts. Warm and cold - he felt as if he was subjected to and out of the cooling machine from time to time. He did not know how long it took but what mattered to him was the Orbitalization ritual that was happening right now. After that, his eyes dimmed and he became unconscious.

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"Ugh...my head..."

Archer felt that his head was throbbing in pain and he could not help but moan in agony. This took for a few minutes before the sensation subsided, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The sky was entirely made of white smoke and he could not see any mark that could mar the scene. Even the surroundings were entirely made of cloudy, white smoke - not even a speck of dirt could be seen. Silence - everything was peaceful and quiet.

Archer got up and slowly calmed his mind. "Where am I?" He was about to move forward when he heard whirring sounds behind him, making his heart beat faster again. He stood like a statue, scared at the possibility of being attack from behind. But after a few minutes, nothing happened. All he could hear was the gear-like sounds of machine reverberating across the area. He gathered his strength and turned around. What he saw made him gasp in amazement.

Five orbs were floating - aligned as if waiting for him - in a straight line. Then they transformed into figures which he was familiar with. The blue orb turned into a lion, the white orb changed into a lamp, the black one morphed into a dagger, the red orb transfigured into a weed, and the pink one became a pony. Even though they changed their forms, they were still hovering in the air.

Archer remembered what his father taught him in the past. Blue orbs were indicators of transformation - the power that allows Orb Masters to change some parts or all of his body into the Ankhs to which the orb symbolized and let him possessed its skills.

White orbs, on the other hand, were the masters of synthesis. Orb Masters who had these powers had forming powers, ranging from alchemy to forging, and to some extent, creating things out of nothing.

Black orbs were the renegades out of the types of Orb masters. It is the only powers that allowed Orb Masters to delve into the spiritual realm. People who had these could use their mental prowess to attack people, and to some extent, use aether to banish other Ankhs back to their basic form.

Red orbs are the true masters favored by most people because of their abilities to enhance Ankhs. The more powerful ones could even let other Orb masters possessed godly strength, reaching its pinnacle of strength.

Pink orbs were the masters of summoning, letting Ankhs becoming their companions - whether in battle or work. The best example of which he could come up with was Melek and his ice-type Orang.

"Is this a good thing?" Archer thought to himself when he remembered how Mark and his father reacted when they saw his result. Regardless, he had to choose among the five Ankhs to conclude the Orbitalization ritual. After his deep rumination, he decided to have the pony and become an Orb Conjurer just like Melek. After all, his father was his idol, and he wanted to follow his footsteps.

Archer gazed at the remaining four Ankhs before slowly heading to the pony. After a closer look, he could see that the young horse had a small horn protruding out of its forehead. This reminded him of the unicorns which were usually depicted in fantasy stories he read in the past. He was about to touch the Ankh when he noticed that something moved behind the orbs.

"What's that?" Archer went closer to the strange spot and frowned. "A transparent orb? How can this be possible?"

Indeed, what he was seeing was a transparent orb, which deviated from the information he had learned from his dad. Curious, he moved nearer to the anomaly until he was just an arm away. "Could I touch this orb as well?"

Slowly, he raised his hands and touched the orb. As soon as he made contact with the orb, it directly entered his body through his hand. "Ah!"

Archer stepped backward and fell on the floor, screaming in agony because of the pain he experienced inside his body, like that of burning coal. It was his first time to encounter such intense torture that he became unconscious after only a few seconds.

Unbeknownst to him, the remaining five orbs zoomed toward him and penetrated his chest - one at a time. Soon, the only one present inside the cloudy room was Archer.

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"Archer, wake up!" Oscar exclaimed as soon as he saw Archer's unconscious body on the floor. He turned around and noticed that the girls were crying. "What happened?!"

"I don't know. Just after I received my Ankh, I was teleported back here and saw both of them crying as they tried waking him up," Matthew shrugged his shoulders as he pointed at the girls. "Maybe they can tell you what happened..."

Michelle rubbed her eyes, her voice quivering, "I did not do anything! Just like you, I just appeared right here and I saw him lying on the ground."

Jenny fiddled with her thumb as she asked, "Is he dead?"

Oscar crouched down and moved his face closer to Archer's face. "Nope. He is still breathing. Did you contact any personnel from the Orbus office?"

"Yes. I instructed Jerry to call their attention." Matthew scratched his head, his eyes squinted, and continued, "Did you ever hear of someone fainting right after the Orbitalization ritual?"

Oscar stood up and shook his head. "Not that I know of. Father said that it's safe, and in no way can this make anyone faint like him."

"I thought he was dead...he was not breathing a while ago..." Michelle said in an almost whispery voice, "I was afraid..."

Jenny nodded and rubbed her chest. "Yeah, I also thought that way. Luckily, our guess was wrong." She was about to continue talking when she heard footsteps from the door and saw five men in robes rushing together with Jerry into the room.

"Clear the path, kids," The man in a red robe said as he made his way to where Archer was and stoop down. After a few seconds, he sighed in relief and looked behind, saying, "Derek, the kid's experiencing aethersia. We need to carry him into the clinic."

"Okay. Let me handle him." Derek snapped his fingers and a pink orb appeared right before him, which then transformed into a big box. It zoomed just above Archer's body and emitted a beam of light, absorbing his body. The box floated back to Derek and became an orb again. "Here is his contact card, Bree. Please call his guardian."

Bree received the card and went outside the room to do what he had to do while the remaining two followed Derek to the clinic. The man in red robe remained with the kids.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Oscar asked the man.

"Yes. He's just suffering from aethersia. All he needs is a proper rest inside the Aether capsule and he'll be good to go." The man looked at them with a concerned look and said, "Please follow me so we can finally settle your forms and get your certificates."

The kids nodded and followed behind the man as they exited the room.

Oscar was still unconvinced with what he had heard because as far as he knew, such cases like fainting never happened after Orbitalization ritual. After all, his father was a famous Orb Alchemist, and he had all the access to the books about Orbitalization. He nudged his elbow on Matthew's body and asked, "Do you believe what he said?"

Matthew raised his brows, asking back, "About what?"

"That Archer's fine."

"I don't even know what aethersia means, so I can't tell if he's okay or not."

Oscar looked at him intently before explaining, "Aethersia is a condition wherein an Orb master is suffering from a lack of aether inside his body after some strenuous aether consumption using Ankhs, especially in battle. Now, do you understand why I am confused?"

Matthew widened his eyes and nodded. "So, is it possible that he battled right after he finished the ritual?"

Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows..."

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Inside the Lounge Area, Melek was busily eating his lunch at an empty table when he felt his phone vibrated. He set the unfinished burger on his plate and took out the phone from his pocket, looked at the screen, and frowned because it was an unregistered number who was calling him. Even then, he pressed the call icon and greeted, "Hello."

"Hello, is this Melek Argos?" a feminine voice asked him.

"Yes. May I know who's this?"

"This is Officer Bree of Orbus office. I'd like to inform you that your son, Archer Argos, is currently right with us inside the clinic and I hope you can come here immediately."

As soon as Melek heard this, he felt his body became cold and trembled. "What...what happened to my son? Is he alright?"

"Yes. He fainted right after the Orbitalization ritual and we don't know what to make of it. I hope you can assist us in our investigation."

"Sure."

"Do you know where's the clinic?"

"Yes. I'll be there right away." Melek ended the call and stood up without finishing his lunch. He ran toward the exit and past the Orbus terminal, and turned left as soon as he reached the dead end. Soon enough, he reached the clinic and rushed inside. As soon as he arrived at the information counter, he asked the receptionist, "I need to know where Archer Argos is right now!"

"Sure. Please wait for a moment." The lady opened her record and after a few seconds of searching, she answered "He is inside the aether capsule right now. Please proceed to the Recovery Room."

"Thank you." Melek ran toward the recovery room, only to find several doctors in lab gowns and an Orbus officer surrounding one of the capsules. He rushed toward them and asked, "Do you know where my son Archer is right now?"

"Are you Melek Argos?" the Orbus officer asked.

Melek nodded. "Is he okay?! Can I see him?"

"Don't worry for he is recovering right now - "

"Recovering from what?!" Melek shouted in grief, and became flustered when he realized what he had done and said, "Sorry. I am just anxious about my son. Can you please tell me what happened to him?"

"I understand. I'm Officer Derek, by the way." Derek called the doctor behind him and asked about something, and the doctor reacted by pulling out a record inside his inner pocket. The officer received the record and went back to Melek, saying, "This is the record. I hope that you can help us with our investigation. Your input is highly appreciated."

Melek slowly read what was written on the record and became all the more nervous when he realized that the situation was more complicated than he expected. He returned the record and massaged his temple, "So, do you think that my son suffering from aethersia is connected with the things you have detected back then?"

Officer Derek nodded. "Yes. Our Aether sensor detected a massive surge of energy at the time when your son and the other five kids warped into the Crystal Pillar's area. Since your son is the only one who fainted, then it is right to assume that he might know something about this..."

"So are you saying that my son is the culprit?!"

"Please don't misunderstand us, Melek," Officer Derek explained as he raised his hands, "we are just saying that your son's case might give us a clue as to what is happening a while ago. You're an orb master as well. You know that fainting after Orbitalization is impossible. I hope you can cooperate with us."

Melek was silent for a long time before he spoke, "Then how do you want me to help you?"