Prologue: The World of Ideals The world of Aetheris revolved around ideals. From the moment of birth, every human was born with an innate spark of an ideal—courage, justice, ambition, love, even chaos. These ideals shaped not only their personalities but the very energy they wielded. However, only a fraction of humanity could fully comprehend their ideals, becoming what they called the Awakened. The Awakened were beings who fully embraced their ideals and unlocked profound abilities. But with this awakening came a burden: the ideal consumed them, driving them to extremes. A hero of justice might become a tyrant enforcing their vision of order. A seeker of love might lose themselves in obsession. And then, there was Dain. Unlike the others, his ideal was Respect. He respected all things—light and shadow, good and evil, chaos and order. To him, all existence was equal, each playing its part in the universe. He was an anomaly, a person who did not seek to dominate or be dominated. He walked a path of neutrality, not to escape conflict, but to embrace the truth that all things, even opposing forces, were part of the same whole.