Aether

|Gary|

Fascinated, I stared at the swirling amalgamation of purple particles before me. Aether, the energy that shaped the world, was a fascinating force, and mastering it could mean surpassing my previous life's peak.

I pondered over the woman's strange gift that allowed me to access this power, but only through my primary core. Was it because it was at the silver stage? And did my other skills also draw from aether, but subconsciously?

To experiment, I activated my Eyes of Chronos, but instead of slowing down time, I focused on manipulating the aether particles and the branch of aevum that governed time. The purple particles swirled around me before eventually entering my eyes, and the world around me seemed to move slower.

Sweat trickled down my neck as I deactivated the power. 'Not good enough,' I thought, realizing that I wasn't fully experiencing the power of aether and mana.

As a quadra-elemental with two cores, I wondered if activating both cores would make a difference. I summoned the four base elements, manipulating them as I bent aether to my will. The atmosphere around me cracked as the mana and aether warped to my command.

'Monarch's Indifference!' I thought as I activated my skill. My emotions were doused with cold water as I bent the entire world around me to my will.

'What am I missing?' I thought, 'Why isn't it working properly?'

Then it clicked on me. My physique. It was lacking.

Aether was guided by one's intent. It wasn't being manipulated like mana, but rather being influenced to move.

But it could be used through such influence. The ancient mages used spatium to create teleportation portals and spatial rings. For this, aether must have been guided by their intent, otherwise, it would have been impossible.

This meant that it could be influenced to an extreme degree.

As I struggled to cycle the aether inside my body, I realized that my two mana cores were not enough to sustain it. I tried to exert my will on the ambient aether using my quadra-elemental powers, but it was not sustainable.

I needed to create an aether core, but the question was where to fit it in with my existing mana cores. Should I sacrifice one of my mana cores to make room for the aether core? It was a possibility, but I hesitated to give up any of my power.

Just as I was contemplating my options, the purple blob injected into my cores by the mysterious woman began to spin and condense into a star-like mass. It was too much for my body to handle, and I felt like I was going to explode with the rampaging purple energy coursing through me.

In desperation, I guided the blob of aether towards my yellow secondary core, hoping to make room for the aetheric mass. But the blob swallowed the core and expelled it in pieces, causing excruciating pain and leaving me with a broken mana core.

With my primary silver core and the aetheric mass, I began the difficult task of rebuilding my mana core. Every slight movement or intent leak could cause the condensed orb of aetheric essence to break down my mana core, so I had to concentrate with all my might.

After what felt like an eternity, I succeeded in restoring my mana core and encasing the condensed aetheric mass within it. My world erupted into a sea of purple, and I passed out.

When I came to, I found that I had successfully forged a new core - a purplish-red aether core that revolved around my silver mana core. The new core hummed with power, and I knew I had to test it out.

Focusing on my new core and the ambient mana and aether surrounding me, I slowed my breathing and concentrated. With a deep breath, I released a bit of aether and directed it towards my hand. The aether flowed through my mana channels and encased my right hand, responding to my intent.

I had done it. I had forged an aether core.

|Lancelot|

I recognized Arthur, the white fox-like creature on his head giving him away. But there was something different about him, and as I looked closer, goosebumps appeared on my skin, the same ones I had felt when I saw Gary.

Could it be? Had Arthur closed the gap in his abilities in just three years? A smirk appeared on my face as I thought to myself, "Interesting."

Rachel shot me a curious look as the carriage came to a stop. The guards opened the door, allowing us to exit.

"Greetings, my name is Rachel Glidesburn," Rachel introduced herself.

"Greetings, I am Lancelot Orbel," I introduced myself as well.

Vincent greeted us warmly, his eyes lighting up as he shook our hands. "So, how was your journey to Xyrus City?" he asked.

"It was quite comfortable, thank you for asking," I replied with a practiced smile.

Rachel and Lilia quickly became engrossed in conversation, while I turned my attention back to Arthur. "You have gotten much stronger," I said, impressed.

Arthur flinched slightly before replying confidently, "So have you, Lancelot."

I could sense that Arthur's core was only at the light orange stage, two stages below mine. Yet, there was something about him that made me hesitate. I almost wanted to challenge him to a fight, but something told me he wouldn't go all out against me here.

It was then that Vincent announced that there was another guest joining us, someone who had only recently asked to come. I could tell from Vincent's tone that this person was likely of high status.

The doors opened, and I couldn't believe my eyes when Gary Whiteborn walked in. His aura was even more powerful than before, and I could feel my head throbbing as I tried to sense his core.

Gary's purple eyes met mine, and he smirked, his mana bending to his will in a way that was almost unnerving. As he turned to Arthur, their eyes widened in recognition.

'What are the two of them thinking?' I wondered, feeling more and more out of the loop.

|Arthur|

As soon as my gaze met Gary's, I was able to tell.

'He knows about aether as well.'

My guard instantly went up, however, I quickly remembered that Gary was also there with the woman after the two of us passed the illusion test.

Deciding to test my theory, I activated Sylvia's beast will alongside my control over aether. Without using Realmheart, this control could be considered as being lacking at best, but with the first phase of my beast will it was enough.

[Static Void]

Time froze for everyone as I walked towards Gary. His lips curved upwards to a smile, showing me how aevum did not affect him.

He began to walk towards me as well, and the two of us stopped with just a few metres between us.

"So, you also know about aether." he said with an amused expression on his face.

I nodded, activating Realmheart. My auburn hair was dyed wheat-blonde in colour, my iris turned golden and the runes of various branches of aether appeared on my skin.

The runes were different from when I used Sylvia's Realmheart. Rather than there being just one type of rune, there were three types of them to depict all three branches of the aether.

However, they were dimmer in comparison, likely because of my inferior influence over aether compared to Sylvia.

His eyes widened as he asked me, "What are those runes?"

"You don't have Realmheart?" I asked in a confused voice. Realmheart was a requirement to learn aether, or so I believed before meeting Gary.

He shook his head and activated his aether. It was different from mine. No runes illuminated his pale skin, but rather, he seemed to be cycling aether inside of him as one does with mana.

'Two different ways to use aether,' I realised as I looked at him. My runes used the ambient aether, while he used the aether from inside his body.

"You are also a quadra-elemental I presume?" Gary asked me after his eyes stopped scrutinising my runes.

I nodded as I raised my hands, conjuring the four basic elements of mana. He smiled and did the same with his hands.

Sweat dripped down my neck from the prolonged use of Static Void. Just when it was about to break, he said, "Let me take over."

His aevum connected the loosening bonds of mine, freezing time once again. I marvelled at how he used aether in a different yet nonetheless effective manner.

"So in Realmheart, you feel the ambient mana huh," he muttered as he looked at me.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Trying to replicate Realmheart with my aether," Gary replied as he activated his core with more power.

The entire space around me seemed to be breaking from his power. My eyes widened in shock as runes appeared on his skin as well.

But they were different.

Rather than being golden like mine, they were purple. They were different in design as well, and more detailed.

Excited, I activated more aether as well. Feeling the rumbling power of Sylvia's dragon will, I tapped into her influence, making it mine.

My runes became brighter, and my aura matched Gary's.

"Incredible," Gary breathed out.

I nodded my head and replied, "Your way of using aether is also incredible."

After we were done, we both returned to our original positions and deactivated our aetheric powers, unfreezing time.