Professor Don exhaled his cigarette smoke and asked me a question, “Before I start explaining things, kid, how much do you know about Ether?”

I thought about his question for a moment and then spoke. “I know it's inside the bodies of mages, and that people have specific elements. From today's classes, I learned about certain martial techniques that help you evolve and become stronger with your natural affinity.”

“Right. What you say is not wrong, but it's only one piece of the pie.” He put his cigarette out on his desk's ashtray and began, “Assuming you've just told me everything you know, you don't know about the hierarchy of the stages of Ether. From the moment you awaken, Ether is running rampant throughout your body. Even if I'm not aware of it, there was some point in time where you were able to use Ether out of nowhere, right? Something unnatural happened around you.”

I nodded as I got flashbacks from trying to escape the dump guards in Rusthaven.

“As you are now, Ether is running rampant in you, and you have nowhere to pull power from. This is where the Ether core comes in. When you awaken, you are supposed to meditate and form this core.”

"It's a process of tasking the ether in your body and condensing it into your solar plexus. Once you do this, you'll find that you're finally able to use ether more efficiently."

"And this is where the hierarchy of ether cores comes in. As you meditate, learn new martial techniques, and become stronger, you will begin to purge more and more impurities from your core, making it stronger and your power more potent. Throughout the entire universe, there are seven stages of the ether core, with many substages in between them. Those being Awakened, Adept, Intermediate, Master, Archmage, and Etherial Ascendant."

"As one tries to achieve each rank, the thresholds only become larger. To put it into perspective, the Human race has eleven Etherial Ascendants, and they are of the twelve families that founded the Golactic Coalation."

I took in his information with caution as I stayed quiet, not wanting to miss one detail. There were tens of millions of people in the Golactic Coalation. It was the forefront of the human race, but only twelve ascended.

But his words did pose me a question.

"Okay, so how does one discern based on someone's core what stage of mastery they are at? Or how strong a person is?"

"By your ether attunement percentage. By my estimation, you're no doubt at one percent." He pointed to my uniform sleeve, and I looked to where he was gesturing. There was a small blue gem embedded on the sleeve. I tapped it, and a percentage came up, "1%."

"Just as I thought," Professor Don said, "Once you form your core, it should instantly boost to 5%, but after that, it will go up slowly depending on how much you train and practice ether arts. And to tell how strong a person is, you simply have to feel it and look at the badges on their uniform. In the Golactic Coalation, you're judged by your martial and etheric strength." He pointed at his chest that possessed two emblems: one read "MM" with two stars, and the other read "ME" with one star. "These mean Master Martial, Rank two stars, and Master Etheric, Rank one star. So I'm rather balanced in combat."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"How do you earn these stars? And what do they mean?" I asked.

"Showing attunement progress. My attunement with Ether is around 40%, making me a weakling in the grand scheme of things, but it's strong for the human race. This is only with etheric mastery, though, for martial mastery, you have to be attuned manually and show your strength. Basically, what they mean is that each rank I mentioned before has a sub-rank. For example, to go from an Awakened to Adept, you must achieve Awakened, one star, two stars, and three stars. And then after that, you will become an Adept. Do you understand?"

I nodded my head.

"Now, here is the harsh reality. Every martial technique, training program, holographic simulation, and Etherial spell within the Galactic Coalition’s system comes at a cost. Your journey won't be an easy one. You'll need to earn Etherium by proving your worth, showcasing your potential through missions, and gaining recognition from individuals of higher rank. A significant opportunity to achieve this is through the First-Years Mission, provided you're strong enough to make the cut."

“First-Years Mission?” I inquired.

“It's an exclusive mission where a selected few first-years have the chance to travel to another planet. The objective is to explore the intricacies of an alien race, understand their dynamics, and engage in an overall cultural exchange. It serves as an enriching experience for the youth of humanity to interact with the youth of another race. This mission becomes a platform for you to showcase your capabilities to the Galactic Coalition. In case you weren't aware, enrolling in the GC academy doesn't limit you to Hendu. If you possess the required skills, they might station you on other planets as you learn about alien cultures and carry out missions. The potential spans across millions of students participating in such endeavors.”

Taking his words into account, I nodded. Personally, I had never encountered another species besides humans. The prospect of interacting with alien races excited me, and the student lifestyle he spoke of seemed like something I could definitely get behind.

Professor Don then went to the hologram on his own uniform, and an entire home page popped up. "The technology in the uniform gives you access to a lot of things like spells, martial arts, and all of the above. In the Golactic Coalation system, you can send your Etherium here and buy everything you need."

I copied what he did and followed his movements. There was an entire catalog of information in the system for hundreds of thousands of spell martial techniques and training holographics.

"What's your affinity, kid?"

"Space," I responded.

He seemed to chuckle a bit. "Meditation techniques are free in the system and these are mandatory. Since space is a sub-affinity to dark and light ether, I suggest you pick one of those."

I typed in "Meditation Techniques" into the search bar, and seven options showed up. Flame meditation, Water meditation, Wind meditation, Earth meditation, Light meditation, and Dark meditation. I turned to Professor Don, "Well, which one do you use?"

"I wield the dark affinity, so naturally I chose dark."

I looked at my options, and it seemed like it really didn't matter that much, so I chose what Professor Don used, as it seemed to work for him.

Acquiring the dark meditation technique, which was effectively free, I felt a smile creep up on my face.

"Good choice," he said. "There is one more thing I suggest you get, though, which isn't free but it's rather cheap. Search 'Ether Enhancement Training.' It's only twenty-five Etherium, but it will get you strong and get you used to ether until you're able to buy any martial art or spell with your affinity."

I looked at the top right corner of the holographic display which said "0 Etherium."

"I don't have any money in the system, though," I said.

"There are multiple locations where you can convert it. And from now on, only take Etherium through the system. It's much safer that way."

Nodding my head, I decided I would have to put it off for now.

"Now that you're not ignorant anymore, you know what you have to do," Professor Don said as he began to light another cigarette.

I stood up and bowed, "Thank you, Professor Don."

"When we are alone, just call me Don, kid. The professor crap is starting to annoy me. If you need any more advice, just ask some other time. I need to eat my lunch."

"Yes, sir," I said as I made my way out of the lecture hall.