Domrik greeted Shara at the front desk of his martial arts studio. He had just returned from a long lunchtime walk to his favorite restaurant. It was essential for him to take a break after teaching the morning classes. The intermediate level classes were the toughest on him because of how long he had to use the Aether crystals for demonstrations. Now it was time for the Level 1 class.

He walked into the main sparring room, careful to walk around the mat as to not get any dirt or germs on it from the outside. He put his shoes in his sports bag and did some stretches while he waited for the beginner class to arrive. There were kids from elementary school all the way up to high school. Some parents thought it was unfair for the little ones to be paired with the high schoolers, but Domrik had seen that the early development of all types of kids was accelerated by the difference in ability and age. The mixing of ages was initially an experiment he ran for himself, and after he saw the massive improvement in learning speed, he made all his Level 1 junior sessions have a wide variety of ages.

The five students of his early afternoon class arrived on time and stood around him in a semicircle. Everyone was dressed in the traditional Kenshlin uniform, which included a sleeveless shirt, a belt, and loose pants without shoes.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Domrik said, bowing. They returned the bow. He eyed each of them with interest. “I hope you have been practicing what you learned last weekend. We will be building on that from this class forward.”

Some of them nodded but avoided eye contact. Adam raised his hand with gusto. “I have! I was able to summon a shield for a couple seconds.”

The other students looked at him, and Domrik could sense their jealousy. He smiled. “That’s great, Adam. Can we see a demonstration?” He motioned for Adam to step into the semicircle.

Adam stepped forward cautiously, but then shrank back a bit. “I’m… not sure I can do it right now.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Domrik said.

Adam’s eyes darted around the room, then he pursed his lips. “Actually, lemme try.”

Domrik nodded, stepping back to give him room. Adam took a charged crystal from one of his pockets and gripped it in a fist. He closed his eyes, and with a stern expression put the fist in front of his chest. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Adam’s face tightened with concentration, but Domrik could tell he was struggling. After half a minute of nothing happening, he went up to Adam and put a hand gently on his fist. “That’s a valiant effort, but you are trying too hard.”

Adam frowned at the crystal in his hand, his forehead glistening with droplets of sweat. As he stepped back to his original place, Domrik spoke to the group. “I do not expect any of you to have mastered what I showed you last time, though you will get out of it what you put into it. Can you show us the crystal you were using, Adam?”

Adam held up the crystal for all to see. Domrik looked to the others. “It’s glowing a bit more now that he had tried to use it. I’d say that’s fine progress, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” the others said. Adam relaxed a bit.

“Good,” Domrik said, “Does anyone else have an update for us before we get started?”

“I have a question, actually,” Adam said.

“Sure.”

“Do you feel the pain when you use Aether crystals?”

Domrik thought about his answer carefully. “When not aided by technology, yes, but the more you practice, the more you get used to it. It’s similar to the phenomenon in strength training where your mind will start to associate pleasure to the pain of your muscles burning under strain.”

Another student raised her hand. She looked to be a high school freshman and her dark hair was worn in a ponytail. Domrik called on her. “Yes, Kelsey?”

She lowered her hand. “When are we gonna get to sparring?”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” he said, smiling, “but Kenshlin is different from most other martial arts. It’s about fusing the best of both worlds, the physical plane and the Aetheric plane. You are already familiar with the physical plane, at least I hope you are.” The students got a laugh out of that.

He continued. “Kenshlin is about the movement of two energies and the syncing of them. You are already adept at moving physical energy around. You can walk, talk, run, jump. All that stuff. There are… related things you can do with the Aether as well, but unfortunately it’s not as intuitive to grasp as physical movement. That makes it a priority for you to learn how to channel it, and yes, all of you can channel it. All lifeforms can channel the Aether, and humanity has even learned how to make inanimate matter channel it. If you feel that you can’t, it’s because you are trying to use a muscle you never felt or knew existed. Once you develop some skill at drawing upon Aether crystals, you will then advance to level 2 of training, where combat techniques will be introduced. Until then, you will need to learn how to metaphorically walk with the Aether before we start advancing your physical skills.”

“How many levels are there?” Adam asked.

“Seven,” he said, holding up a finger, “but I won’t tell you what they are about. You will have to experience them for yourself.”

Adam nodded.

When the students made it clear they had nothing else to say, he led them to a corner of the room where there were mats stacked against the wall. Other teachers used his studio as well, and he tried to always stay out of their way. He and his students took a mat and sat on it with legs crossed.

“Last week,” he began, “you were shown how to draw energy from Aether crystals at will. It’s a matter focusing on the crystal and maintaining that focus. There is nothing else to learn there except for practicing it and making that ability stronger. This session will be all about how to form different shapes with the Aether as well as where to form them.”

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a leather bracelet with a small Aether crystal mounted in it. He showed it to his students. “This is creatively called an Aether bracelet. Kenshlin artists, known as Kenshlinin, use these to keep both hands free. As you can see, there is a crystal mounted here and it’s visible from both sides of the mount. That’s by design. In order to channel the Aether from a crystal without the aid of technology, you need to be in physical contact with the crystal. This one simply snaps on your wrist like this, and if the crystal is mounted correctly part of it will be touching your wrist at all times. Remember, no contact, no magic.”

He held up a hand out in front, palm facing the students. “Now, the position of the crystal relative to where you want to channel it matters. If I just want a small screen shield in front of me then it works as I showed you last time.” A red shimmering screen appeared a couple inches in front of his palm. He put up his second hand like the first. “But if I want to use my other hand to add a second screen, the Aether has to travel from the crystal, down my arm, through my chest, up my other arm, and finally out my other hand.” A second screen appeared in front of his other hand.

“This is not optimal because, as you know, the Aether causes pain wherever it travels in the body. That’s because it is overstimulating the nerves and creates neurological damage if the channeling is sustained long-term. This is very dangerous especially when channeled through your chest. Your heart nerves can be damaged, so avoid doing this at all costs. In my case, there are two ways to avoid this. The first is this.” He moved his hands close enough so the thumbs touched. “You can’t tell by looking, but the Aether is now traveling through my thumbs instead of my arms and chest. But what do I do if I put my hands on either side of me like this? Glad you asked.”

He pulled out a second Aether bracelet and put it on his other wrist. “It’s best to wear two bracelets like this. That way you can avoid most situations where the Aether would need to be channeled through your torso. Although, in some special situations where your opponent is trying to fight dirty, you might need to do this…” The two red screens dissipated. Still sitting cross-legged, he put his hands on his knees, then scrunched his face and gritted his teeth. Both crystals on his wrists glowed, and a new screen appeared in front of his crotch. His students started giggling.

“Oh, but trust me!” he groaned, his voice strained for emphasis. “The pain is definitely worth it! Your future kids will thank you.”

The screen dissipated and he relaxed, laughing along with the students. Once they all calmed down, he continued, “Moving on, can anyone tell me what happens when an object hits an Aether shield?”

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The boy with brown hair spoke up. “They go right through it?”

“It seems like that would happen, but no. Don’t let the transparency of the shield fool you, Murresh. Regular matter won’t penetrate it unless it has very high kinetic energy. Aetheric energy has priority over physical matter, which is why it’s so effective. For example, traditional bullets would have pierced the shields I summoned moments ago, but not this one.” He held up a hand, and a nearly opaque red screen appeared in front of it. It made a slight sizzling sound. It disappeared after a few seconds. He shook the pain out of his hand afterward. “That one would have stopped any number of traditional projectiles, and maybe even a few explosives. Be careful, however, because high-energy shields drain Aether crystals at an exponentially higher rate than those of less intensity. The distance of the shield from you also matters. The farther away it is, the more energy it takes to maintain its strength. And, as you might have guessed, the bigger the hit, the more energy is drained and the weaker the shield becomes. If you can deflect attacks or projectiles rather than stopping them straight on, that will take less energy.

“Speaking of projectiles, they work similarly to physical projectiles. The faster you throw them, or the more energy you charge them with, the more powerful they are. At a certain threshold, they can become explosive on impact, but below that threshold they hit with some force and fizzle out.” He stood and pointed at a metal target mounted on the wall nearby. The students looked at it with interest. A red glow emanated from his hand, then a small bolt shot from his fingertip and hit the target in the center. He smiled as the students marveled at his accuracy. “Once you get used to creating Aether bolts, the accuracy comes naturally. This, however, should be used as a last resort. Your goal should always be to avoid the fight, and if you get into a fight, to escape it as quickly as possible. With that said, sometimes the best defense is offense, which is why you will practice Aetheric attacks eventually. Aether punches and kicks aren’t much stronger than the normal variations, but they are a big help against Aetheric shields. You do not want to make physical contact with them. It would be like punching a wall of lava. Coating your fist or leg with a layer of Aether protects you from that, and ultimately there is no difference between Aether shields and Aether attacks. One is moving, and one is not.”

He paced slowly in front of his students. “Aetheric projectiles work a bit differently than static shields. You need to charge them enough, or they will dissipate before flying any significant distance. In the more advanced training, you will learn how to create different kinds of projectiles that do different things. For now, all you need to know are the basics. Master the basics, and the complexities are mastered as well, because the complexities are made out of the basics. Focus is one of them. Learn to maintain your focus, and you are halfway there. The main difference between a beginning mage and a skilled mage is the ability to focus. The more coherent your focus is, the more efficiently you can channel Aether.”

He put his palms together in front of his chest and took a deep breath. “I think that’s enough theory for today. Time for practice. First, a warmup. Twenty laps around the perimeter, let’s go! Those who can catch me get advanced to level 2 of training automatically!”

Domrik took off at a good pace, the students scrambling to their feet behind him. They pushed each other playfully as they tried to get in front of each other. He shouted the lap count so they didn’t lose track. He never let them get close, though he enjoyed seeing them try. The feedback he got about his whole training program in general was that the intermediate levels were the most fun. He made sure to allude to those levels in level 1 classes so students had more of a reason to commit to learning. He never knew how much learning how to advertise would change his business.

With everyone out of breath, he began the first exercise immediately. He put each student in front of a punching bag and had them attempt to hit it with an Aether punch. They were mostly unsuccessful, though he would see the occasional red flicker from Adam. It seemed his confidence was already growing since the beginning of the session.

He had them do kicks for a while to rest their arms. Though he was tempted many times, he refused to give technical advice. That would only be a distraction, as they would then have to focus on two things at once. They weren’t ready for that kind of instruction yet.

Next, he had them play a game of block-ball. Each player got a foam ball the size of a fist. It was a free-for-all game where the objective was to hit the others with the ball as many times as possible while blocking incoming shots. If a ball made contact with the head or torso, the thrower got a point and the one who got hit lost a point. Blocking was only possible with forearms and shins. If they blocked successfully, nobody gained or lost points. If they blocked with an Aether shield, the defender gained a point and the thrower lost a point. They were allowed to run around the area, but when they saw a ball coming toward them, they had to try to block it. Dodging would cost them half a point.

Refereeing this game was a nightmare for Domrik. The students were always trying to pretend that they hadn’t dodged and the thrower had just missed. Sometimes they tried to lie about their score, but he saw right through that. By the end of the game, it was clear that Ben had won by a landslide. He wasn’t very accurate, but he had amazing reflexes. Kelsey was thoroughly frustrated because several times she had multiple shots thrown at her at once. Adam was the main culprit there, always watching for when someone else was throwing at her so he could score an easy point.

The final drill was the most intense. They lined up in front of a punching bag. The student at the front of the line would get three tries to hit it with an Aether punch. Everyone else would be watching, and if the one being watched managed to summon an Aether punch, the others had to do one set of an exercise of his choice. They would cycle through the line until each student went through three sets of three. The goal was to put as much pressure on them as possible, and it was put at the end of the hour-long class so that they were already tired when the drill began.

Murresh was first up. His three tries barely budged the punching bag, and Domrik could tell he wasn’t even trying to channel the Aether. That was expected. Sometimes students weren’t motivated by the reward of watching others suffer. Those students were typically eager to go to the higher levels of training.

Ben and Kasey gave more of an effort than Murresh but still came up with normal punches. Adam was second to last before Kelsey. His first punch had the nervous energy he had shown at the beginning of class. He took a bit more time for his second punch. Domrik could see a faint glow in his fist, but no Aether. Before the third punch, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he brought his fist back, a subtle red field pulsed around it. His fist smashed into the punching bag and nearly toppled it over. He winced, shaking the pain from his hand, then beamed. “Yes!”

The other students moaned. Another workout was coming. Domrik smiled. “What are you going to have them do?”

Adam pointed his finger up and twirled it around. “Ten laps around the room!”

“You heard him,” Domrik said to the others. “Ten laps. I’ll be counting.”

Slouching their shoulders, they started jogging. Kelsey shot Adam a mean look, but he didn’t notice. As they were doing the laps, Domrik looked at Adam. “How did it feel?”

“It hurt,” he said, still massaging his hand. “And it was kinda scary.”

Domrik chuckled. “It scares most people when they do it for the first time. The energy catches them off-guard. You’ll get used to it.”

“The breathing technique works,” Adam said.

“Indeed it does,” Domrik replied. “Let’s see if the others pick up on what you did.”

After they finished their laps, Kelsey was next up. Her first try was a bit weak because she was still trying to catch her breath. Her second try was much more committed, and by her third her fist had started glowing. She was channeling, but not enough to summon and Aether fist.

She looked down at the crystal in her hand and swore. Domrik motioned her to the back of the line. Murresh stepped forward. Out of the corner of his eye, Domrik saw Adam smirk at Kelsey as she walked past him. Then he felt it. It was barely perceptible, just as when Adam had thrown the Aether punch, but it was Kelsey’s fist that had flared up.

Domrik was too slow to react. Adam could only watch in shock as Kelsey slammed her fist into his shoulder. Red light flashed. Adam collapsed to the mat, holding his shoulder in agony. Domrik grabbed Kelsey’s arm and pried the crystal from her hand. It was still hot from being used. She looked to be in shock herself.

He knelt next to Adam as the others gathered around. “Let me see it, Adam. I need to see how bad it is.”

Adam rolled onto his back, tears starting to roll down his face. He tenderly lifted his hand from his shoulder. The skin was gnarly and mangled as though he had been branded. It was fortunate Kelsey was new to Aether wielding. Her enhanced attack was of the weakest variation.

Domrik put his hand over the wound, obstructing it from sight. He waved to the font desk lady, signaling that he had everything under control. He turned his attention back to Adam. “Adam, look at me. I only need you to relax, can you do that?”

Adam’s breathing slowed somewhat, then he gave a small nod. Domrik looked at the others. They were keeping their distance from a dejected Kelsey.

“You shouldn’t act on your anger, Kelsey,” Domrik said. “Next time you feel the urge to attack your fellow classmates, let it pass with time. If this happens again, you won’t be allowed back to class. Understood?”

She gave a small nod. “Yes.”

He motioned to the punching bag. “At least now you know how to channel the Aether. Next time you want to punch something, just picture Adam here smirking. You will be unstoppable.”

The other three laughed, but then went silent when Domrik raised a finger. “We have seen a secret in action here, my friends. You weren’t meant to learn this until the intermediate classes, but now is an opportune moment. Strong emotion makes it easier to channel the Aether, but beware, if the emotion is uncontrollable the result will not be good, as you can see.”

He helped Adam up and removed his hand from his shoulder. The other students gaped in awe. Adam glared at them, confused. “What?”

Murresh pointed to his shoulder. Adam felt it. There was no trace of the wound left. He turned to Domrik with wide eyes. “You healed me!”

“Don’t mention it,” Domrik said, winking. “Consider it a preview of level 6 training.”

Adam raised his eyebrows. “Level 6? Master, healing needs to be taught in this class, level 1!”

Domrik glanced guiltily at the rest of them, then motioned towards himself. “Okay, fine. Huddle around.”

They gathered in a close circle. Even Kelsey was entranced. He leaned in and spoke in a soft voice. “You are about to learn top-secret information only a few in the world know. The number one key to healing is…”

Their gazes grew more intense. Domrik tried his hardest to keep from laughing as he spoke. “Patience.”

They glanced at each other as if trying to telepathically figure out what he meant. Adam’s expression went from excited to confused to frustrated within seconds. He opened his mouth to protest, but Domrik interrupted by clapping. “That’s all for now! We have to finish our drill, let’s go!”

All of Adam’s punches were Aether punches for the rest of the drill.