Three more weeks had come and gone. The group met up once a week. The plan was that when they had more free time, they'd meet up more often and work on various training.

The Professor had not given them a lot of free time. The first book had been confusing, but with Tempest and Titan's help, Trillia realized that it dealt mostly with how energy flows in the Aetherian realms.

Limitations on their mana had to deal with that very principle. The Aether would actively pull mana from your body and soul. Even if you were immune to mana-sickness and various forms of mana-drain.

It didn't matter.

The Aether was the source of all mana, and all mana returns to it. Those defenses may offer some resistance, but nothing was immune. Not even deities. Trillia found that odd since most of a deity's presence and existence resided in the Aetherian realms. The limitations were to educate people on how to let out just enough mana to utilize skills and spells but not enough that the Aether - or the things that lurked within - sought the expenditure of mana as a problem that needed fixing.

There was much talk about the primary enemy as well. The book referred to them by several names. Eldritch, Nightmares, Shards, Terrors. None of the names were particularly welcoming.

Trillia let her head fall into the open book at the table. Tempest offered her a snicker. "You're hopeless. I hope I can get enough training from you before you shuffle off to the hereafter."

Trillia didn't raise her head. Instead, she raised a hand and offered the woman a rude gesture.

Titan's voice rumbled out from his seat. "I've looked into the Aether before, but it was near my father, who tends to safeguard against a lot of this, I guess. I never realized how terrifying the eldritch truly are."

"You two have actually heard of them before?" Blossom perked up a bit as she spoke, glancing between the two deities.

"Any deity that is no longer native to a realm has. Once a deity has grown powerful enough that they are not tied directly to a realm core, they must brave the Aether, at least to some extent. Oftentimes, we have a mentor that guides us to a safe place, and we sort of orbit them." Tempest set her own book down as she took to explaining. "Titan and I have our very powerful parents. From what we've been told, Eldritch feed off of mana that isn't pure. But they especially love divine mana."

Trillia raised her head with a curious expression. "The paragraph I just read said that they are terrified of living deities. Wouldn't a deity seem like a meal to them?"

As Titan scratched at his chin, trying to find an answer. Tempest pulled out a small pouch that had what looked like sand in it. She poured a tiny amount out and painstakingly separated a single grain from it. "Imagine this grain of dust is your entire realm of Alirast." The deity glanced between the two mortals, waiting for a nod.

"Good. My father is considered the most passive and least powerful of the three Darktone brothers. The space his...energy?" Looking over at Titan for help.

"To clarify, deities do not have a solid form, as you know it. We project energy and bend mana to create matter. This lets us have bodies in realms we visit. Our actual cores and the energy that surrounds them are varied and come in billions of shapes and sizes. This is what Tempest means when she says energy. There isn't a word for it that mortals can understand. It's more of a concept."

Tempest thought on that a moment. Determining the answer was sufficient, she pushed on. "Anyway, this grain is all of Alirast. If you were to put this grain on a beach in your home realm, would you be able to find it reliably?" As both girls shook their heads, she continued. "If we pretend that this grain is Alirast. Putting it next to Alirast would be the size difference between my father's core and energy. Now, if we imagine, this grain is my father's core and energy. Put it next to an Alirast a thousand times larger, and that is the space an [Axle] takes up."

Trillia squinted at the grain. She tried to imagine the size but was incapable of doing so. "That's...how is that possible?"

Titan chuckled as both of the mortals looked perplexed. "This may come as a surprise to you, but the universe is a rather large place. So large that all magic that lets you traverse realms uses a network of...veins? There's not a word for that either. Just imagine a bunch of tunnels powered by deities. The way realm travel works is that you enter a vein and travel through it...damn, I can't really explain the concept of speed to either of you."

Blossom raised a hand, her other pressed against her temple. "We get it. Something fast."

Titan smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Right. Eldritch are mostly mindless. They are little more than clever beasts. Do you think a dog would try and steal food from a dragon? Of course not. The dragon's passive existence would terrify a small, lesser creature. Stealing from it or attacking it would be suicide. That's what the Eldritch see when they look at many of the guardian deities. A great and terrifying beast that will tear them apart. Deities will hunt eldritch in their spare time, but the universe is so large it's difficult to pinpoint the creatures."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Trillia flipped back through her book. "So. It says that Eldritch feed off energy from the Aether. But it also says they feed off of energy from the mortal realms. Do they exist in both spaces?"

Tempest grabbed the book from her and flipped to nearly the end, holding a slender finger at a starting point to read. "Out loud, for Blossom's sake."

Trillia didn't complain about Tempest being rude. It was sort of just who the woman was.

"It is to our understanding that an Eldritch is a self-replicating entity, most closely related to a semi-sentient virus or plague. They eat and grow without regard to anything but predators. The only predators that exist for Eldritch are larger variants. Or Deities. It is thanks to the efforts of the Third Axle that we now know the first Eldritch were formed by deities that were abandoned by their people. The lack of faith and divinity flowing into them caused the Aether to devour too much of them and turn them insane." Trillia's voice trailed off at the end.

Tempest tapped the page. "Keep it together, Fairtrade."

Trillia took a deep breath and nodded. "At a certain point, without a guiding force or an influx of divinity to keep them whole, deities fall to a warping effect. They retain most of their power and abilities related to their portfolio but are seen as a hostile entity. As such, they cannot use the traversal networks, and the realm guardians also alert to their presence. The result of this is that whenever an Eldritch wanders too closely to a living realm, a deity will often scare it away. However, if for any reason a deity cannot touch down on the realm, or if it is simply too far away or abandoned, the eldritch will launch what are essentially corrupting tendrils through the Aether and into the realm."

Both of the mortals looked even more terrified now. Tempest's voice held none of the usual sarcasm. "It's why deities are so powerful. Our every moment is often a fight. We describe them as a single entity, but from what I've read in the book. It is safer to assume they are a swarm. The largest and most powerful Eldritch is a core, and it devours anything that is not of its own creation."

Blossom pulled her knees up to her chest as she listened to Tempest. "Most deities are trained for millennia so that they can help defend against small eldritch or tendrils from a larger one. Titan is nearing the point where he will be deployed to intercept some of these creatures. I have some time before I am."

Titan nodded. "There's a multitude of reasons we're here, but having a better understanding of how the Aether works is something every deity will learn eventually. It's just a question of when. Oftentimes, it is our mentors who train us in such things. However, because of their station and the respect they've earned. Our parents asked the Professor to teach us. Evidently, her methods are unmatched."

Trillia's stomach was in knots, and her eyes slowly scanned the pages of the newest book they were told to learn from. "I'm a mortal. What hope do I possibly have?"

Tempest spoke up in a voice entirely too chipper for the mood. "Probably none. But you're immune to mana-sickness. Which gives you a significant boost in defense. Most creatures who come in contact with the Aether die within minutes. They explode rather violently, from what I've been told."

Blossom nodded somberly. "That's what is happening on my realm. There's a tear to the Aether that is slowly growing. Our deity is not allowed to interfere for some reason, so it has fallen to us to fix it."

"It is a sad truth. There are a thousand realms to every deity. If not more. The rules in place are..."

"Shit. To be plain about it." Tempest finished for her cousin. "But they are significantly better than before. Immortals and mortals were not separated in times past. It meant that there were a lot less talented individuals coming into power. Uncle Kain helped usher in the change of those rules, using his own catastrophic rise to power as an example."

Another voice startled all of them. "Lord Darktone's rise to power saw a hundredfold increase in the amount of deities that ascended. It was Lady Gaia's know-how that brought us the network. It is the purpose of the Axles to safeguard the universe so that it does not collapse on itself or get devoured from within." The Professor's voice calmed them just as easily as it had startled them.

"I am happy to see the four of you getting along. To answer your question, Lady Fairtrade. It is the express purpose of this class to educate you in dealing with the Eldritch. While I am not nearly as terrifying to them as an axle, only smaller ones ever drift closely enough to be a danger to you. The same should be true of your home realm." The Professor walked over to her desk, leaning against it as she turned to the class. "In two weeks time. You will be exposed to your first Eldritch. It is the smallest shard possible from an eldritch that Lady Gaia has in captivity to study. Anything smaller wouldn't be able to travel on its own in the Aether. Prepare yourselves mentally. I hope you all make it, but some of you may die from the strain it puts on your minds. Consider this your last warning. If you are not sure of it. If your resolve is not such that you are willing to die for this knowledge. Leave."

One of the remaining students spoke up. "Is there anything specifically we can do to help our chances?"

The Professor shook her head. "No. The entire time you've been here, in my realm. I have been weaving enchantments into your souls. But they can only do so much. Everyone reacts differently. I will do my best to safeguard you, but there is risk involved. That risk will only increase as we continue."

Blossom was the next one to speak up. "I don't understand..." She motioned to the two deities at her table. "They say your methods are the best, but our chances of dying are so high?"

"By all means, Lady Blossom. Take the eight millennia needed to learn the slow and safe way. Does your realm have eight thousand years?"

Blossom's eyes teared up, and she went silent. "You are either here because someone wants you to have the best chances on the front line. Or because it is a last desperation attempt at some plan." The Professor looked directly at Trillia. "No one would send a person here to be trained unless there was significant danger threatening their realm. Or unless you are a deity who is soon to be sent to fight the Eldritch."