Through the eyes of a novice Aether user
Green Aether proliferates outward, forming itself into an oblate and bumpy sphere of energy. From an outside perspective, you would only see what looks like a dense ember of lime bubbles, vigorously dancing around the sphere, melding and splitting apart before fading into nothing. Held by the rough skin of Fluffy's palm, the sphere slowly grows more dense and unstable as a stream of Aether continues to flow from his core through his arm.
"This is still my limit. Any more and it will collapse again." The sphere deflates, bubbles fading into nothing as green light returns to its source. Fluffy shakes his palm loose, turning to meet Teacher. "That's not even a tenth of your capacity. You haven't been using this little the entire time, have you?" "It's easier to use internally, though not by much I suppose." Shaking her head, Teacher steps back and flares her own Aether. "You need to work on basic control. Your goal for this training will be to form an Aether cascade. Watch."
Violet Aether washes forth into a serene sphere of energy, devoid of blemish and perfectly steady. Even the most astute of eyes would only perceive a uniform volume of violet, the encompassed area tamed into absolute submission. Before Fluffy can even blink, half of Teacher's capacity has already streamed through her tail, above her head, and into the sphere, linked together by a fine thread.
A tilt of his eyebrows and a cock of his head as he grooms his anarchic scraggle. "Is this a cascade?" Her tail flicks away, the connecting thread of Aether snapping loose, and in the same moment a part of the world stops. No movement, no sound, no light, simply a volume of black nothing, surrounded by a gradating vignette of increasing light barely able to make it past the bubble frozen in time. "This is an Aether cascade. It's what happens when you gather a sizeable amount of Aether without instilling a will. It returns to its default state of stabilisation and reinforcement to the point of halting all motion." "And you expect me to do this?" "With your capacity, this is supposed to be trivial."
Swishing her tail, the sphere pools back into her, swiftly pulled in and returning the ability for light to pass through. "First of all, you need to learn how to actively pull Aether from the environment."
Through the eyes of a somewhat uncertain Mana user
"Ho'mah." "Why can't you call me that other name? The translation was way cooler." "Hinya Mur? I can call you that if you prefer, though would it not cause confusion with Hinya Mul?" "Nah, it's fine. I've been called weirder things." "You have?" "Don't ask." "..." "..." "What is the source of your strength?" "Power." "..." "..." "And... how does one source power?" "Genetic manipulation." "..." "..." "Which is?" "Well, I created this body from scratch to my own specifications, the dragon alters hers manually in real time like the eldritch abomination she is, and the elf is clearly just some kind of freak of nature. Don't really know about the demon, but she's able to manipulate her body in some way which is close enough for me. Either way, I'm the strongest and I did it, therefore it's clearly the best option." "Hoh! I thank you for the advice!"
I see my mistake. Gol Dhee steps away from the bright one with a bow, leaving her to cackle maniacally in the wake of her 'tremendous advice'. It is not that I must be the element, but rather I must become it! Change my state in stages, rather than a single action! Mind set on a goal, he wraps his body in a coat of essence, allowing the energy to nestle and rest between each fibre of fur. A golden glow patiently gradates to white, each follicle soaking with white light until... Fwoosh! His entire body is set ablaze, the tips of his fur singed black before he is able to pull the flames away. This needs practice...
Through the eyes of a solitary demon
Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to use some of this. A palm of crystal wraps gently around a vial of ethereal liquid, vibrantly shimmering together in a blinding kaleidoscope of light. Lightly twisting the cap, rays of light begin to spill out en mass from the seam, baking the world in a wide spectrum of visible radiation. Wow... This much light could feed a small family for a week... Or my family for less than a second. If even.
The vial tilts, a single drip of shimmering liquid squeezing out to land on an extended palm, the light reflecting and refracting throughout her entire body to produce a chaotic and intense glow from every surface. Now I focus... I've read at least five books on doing this and- Ow it's hot! As soon as the vial is placed on the ground, her palm fractures, lines of light drawing their way up Diala's arm to cover her shoulder, threatening to shatter at any moment. Crimson Aura rips through her body, demanding control over the building pressure in a fragile dance as each crystal in her body oscillates between the dire need to break apart under immense heat and pressure, and the overwhelming rejection of the outside influence.
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Through the eyes of an adept Aether user
A glob of turquoise goop oozes snugly within Fluffy's palm, too viscous to even release droplets yet still somehow making everything marginally more moist than anyone really wants it to be. Clung to the unpleasant gunge is colourless Aether, resting evenly throughout the gelatinous substance. Green Aether spreads out, seeping from his arm to his hand and wrapping around the clump in uneven strands. Once covered, Fluffy's mind focuses, cancelling all thoughts of the physical world to leave only perception and intent.
Tiny strands extrude from the bubble, piercing through the chunk to cover as much area as possible in a tight mesh, thinner than the eye can naturally perceive. Once settled, the world stills, nothing but the steady exertion of intent upon unattuned Aether. Piece by piece, the energy gains colour, the turquoise glob beginning to glowing lime as the Aether clinging to it gains will.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Finally opening his eyes, he pulls the energy from the goop and allows it to mingle with the rest of his pool of Aether, the small quantity extracted making no noticeable change when compared to the ocean already present. Even so, a satisfied nod from Teacher proves enough indication of his progress. "We just need to work on speed now. Should be a case of practice and muscle memory, but I might have a hard time getting more of that goo..." "Can we use literally anything else?" "Do you see anything else with this much Aether around here?"
Through the eyes of a completely certain Mana user
I have done it. I have mastered the art of creating exact replicas of people with thread! Using this new power, I shall dominate the surface with the mountains of cash I will get from selling my high quality, hand crafted figurines of famous people! Now I just need to figure out who's famous. And I need a fence to sell them to. Ooh, mabye I can make figurines of that Au- "Ho'mah. I request your advice." Lyla pries all eight of her eyes from the surprisingly accurate plush toy of herself to meet those of the monkey's. Again? He's been asking for my advice a lot lately. "Where does essence come from?" Mana? Shit, I don't actually know. That's one of the great mysteries of this world that nobody really knows the answer to. Guess there's no helping it. "Uh... Inner strength." Bullshit deployed. "Hoh! I see!" What he sees I know not. Glad he bought it though.
With a polite nod the monkey steps away, returning to his training. Okay, now where was I? Right! Colour. Does this place have any blue dye?
Through the eyes of a probably okay demon
Tiny fragments of shattered crystal lay scattered across the floor, a thin layer built up around the faintly glowing figure in the middle. Uugh... This is way harder than the textbooks made it seem. I need a break... What are the others doing? Diala sits up, pieces of broken crystal clattering from her body as she rises. Peering over to Gol Dhee, she finds him encompassed by tempests, hurling rocks into the air at mach speeds. He seems busy, I'd best not bother him. Diverting her gaze, her eyes land on Aleph dumping a wad of turquoise slime on Fluffy. I don't want to know. Finally, she locks eyes with Lyla, clearly procrastinating and doing nothing of value besides playing with her thread. Works for me.
Lifting herself from the ground she takes a step forward, and Lyla takes a step backward. Another step forward, mirrored by another stepping back. Oh, I see how it is. Diala lowers to a runners start, her legs warping and compressing like strings while Lyla hastily stashes away her doll... somewhere? Hm, I missed that one. Snap! Diala launches, a smokescreen of dust and stones left in the wake of each step as she charges the arachnid. As she lunges for the capture, Lyla provides a well poised salute before bolting to the side, leaving behind a thread positioned to trip the incoming demon. Moments before reaching contact with the tripwire, Diala vanishes, appearing above the elusive arachnid ready to grab.
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Through the eyes of an impromptu judge
Aleph stands before Goldy, gaze held locked within a shroud of violet. A dome of wind surrounds the white coated monkey, forming an airtight barrier between him and the violet mist. Beads of sweat roll down his brow, periodically dripping in front of his lips, pressed tight in concentration. Aleph flicks a stone to the side with an outstretched claw, landing it squarely on Fluffy's forehead the moment he starts procrastinating from his own training, glob of icky goop in hand. Turning back to Goldy, she observes as his barrier begins to falter, violet leaking into the tempest and through the barrier to reach his skin.
The mist dissipates and Goldy's fur fades back to its natural golden lustre, shortening back to a thick fuzz. "Lyly, how long was that?" The spider in question turns around on her prison atop the demon's head, a half-made, elf shaped doll between her forelegs. "Uh, lemme check..." Her body slumps down, legs wrapping the circumference of Didi's head, and moments pass in near silence, only broken by the regular tap of Didi's sharpened hand against the roughly chiselled stone figure in her grip. "Well?" "Gimme a minute! This latency just gets worse every time..." A few more moments pass before motion returns, her limbs returning to their snug posture atop the totally unwilling prison. "Five hours, give or take. I couldn't find a working clock at first." "Clock?" "Don't worry about it."
"Well, I think that should be enough to reach the next two layers. I've been mapping a route while you guys trained. There's a funny looking slime thing two layers down which seems to be neutralising the acid somehow, so we only need to make it there." "Improving this much in five days... My advice is better than I thought. Maybe I should become a teacher?" Fluffy looks at the goop in his hand, back to Aleph, and back to the goop. "Tell me this isn't slime poop." Aleph gives him a disgruntled squint. "I have at least that much sense. It's just discarded slime, like what a snail leaves behind." "I feel like that doesn't really help..."
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Date: 35th day, 3rd rising quart, 12th cycle since the calamity. A coalition of 83 individuals congregated around nilasuun under the unified goal of reaching the base-most layer and seeking help from the Progenitor. It seems their primary concern was with the growing everstorm to the south. I suppose they are not content with Avilar's solution, though I cannot claim differently.
Having begun their dive at the third quartile between dusk and dawn, by the crux of dusk a mere thirteen had surfaced, having failed the expedition catastrophically. Two later died from exposure to a deadly neurotoxin, leaving six injured and five unharmed survivors. Reportedly, in spite of their extensive scouting and mapping of the upper 20 layers via Mana tapping, they only managed to reach as deep as the dense forests of the fourth floor before their numbers were reduced to half and a retreat was ordered. From my perspective, their preparations were frankly abysmal, lacking sufficient supplies and individual strength. I even counted 12 individuals who were suffering from the decline as part of the expedition.
It is a shame. I had high hopes of the Progenitor being able to provide a solution, but it seems we will have to wait for more powerful individuals to gather. I worry however that by the time anyone reaches the base, the decline will have claimed the rest of my kin. I have sufficient resistance to it to survive many thousands of cycles, though I worry precious few others do as well. Perhaps La would survive, though I have not seen them since breaching our firmament. Whether they still live now after so long I do not know.
The silence of the divine beasts worries me as well. They have never refused interference to such a degree. What knowledge do they possess that they would refuse answers to me, their elder?
- Personal notes of the eldest being on Ao