“I wonder what dad would think of us right now,” Evan pondered as he gazed out the car window.

“I don’t think he would question our decision,” Marvain said, keeping her eyes on the road as she drove. “Especially not after what we’ve been through.”

Evan remembered his father’s disdain and skepticism of Domrik when they first met in the hospital. It helped that Hector had known Domrik for several years, though he was uneasy with trusting someone he knew his own father distrusted. It was a betrayal of sorts. Was that fair to Domrik, though? Nothing he did seemed suspicious to Evan. Rationally, there was no reason for hesitation, yet something deeply engrained within him still resisted.

He knew his father as the stringent scientist, always testing things, always needing graphs and equations. Domrik simply had an air of flexibility about him. Evan learned from his father by learning the equations and principles that governed the Aether. He could already tell Domrik would be different. It was just a matter of how different. How demonstrable would his teachings be? Would he be making wild claims that Evan would have to take on faith? He wasn’t very good at faith. Brandon had raised him that way.

They arrived shortly at the address Domrik had given Marvain. It was in a secluded area that had taken them along a windy single-lane road through wild plains. They passed a few old houses spread apart from each other. There were a few shops and even a crystal station. Evan checked the dashboard screen of the car. About half the charge was drained from the power module. They wouldn’t be needing a swap for a couple more weeks.

Domrik’s studio was an unassuming building with a sign reading “Kenshlin Arts.” It sat at the base of a hill covered with sparse woods. As Marvain pulled into the parking lot, Evan spotted Domrik standing out front waiting for them. He wore a basic gray sleeveless combat uniform, and he was barefoot. Marvain parked the car.

“Good morning!” Domrik said with a smile as they got out of the car. “Have you been to this corner of the world before?”

“This is our first time,” Marvain said, scanning their surroundings. “Certainly my first time, not too many properties to appraise here.”

“Yes, this place never got an official name. Some people call this place the Failed Village,” he said as he led them to the front doors. He stopped and looked at them. “I like it this way. Doesn’t draw too much attention. Nothing happens and it’s nice and quiet.”

Marvain drew her gaze across the front of the building. “Do you own this place?”

“I do,” he confirmed as he held the door open for them. “It used to be a restaurant, but they ran out of business and had to close down. I won the bid by offering the entire payment upfront. My parents left me plenty of shards to spare.”

The interior was as basic as the exterior. They went through the waiting room and past the front desk. Most of the floor was covered in soft padding. A group of punching bags stood in the corner. Each was blackened with scorch marks. The sight intensified Evan’s unease slightly.

“What did your parents do?” Marvain asked.

“They were Trellendekian refugees,” Domrik replied. “They were rewarded handsomely for their insider knowledge.”

That caught Evan’s attention. “Did you escape with them?”

“Oh, no. I was born after they escaped. Only child. They never shook the indoctrination of the Old Regiments. Only one offspring is allowed in Trellendek.”

Evan relaxed slightly. They had something in common.

Marvain put her purse against the wall. “How are you going to train us? I took a basic self-defense class in high school, but only a portion of it was about using the Aether.”

“I need to see where you both are skill-wise. We’ll skip physical technique for now. Today will be about Aether bending,” Domrik said, fishing Aetherite out of his pocket. He tossed a small crystal to each of them. He gestured to the giant metal target on the wall. It, too, was blackened through extensive abuse, as well as some of the wall around it. “Why don’t you show me?”

Evan held the crystal in his fist, feeling its subtle warmth. He wondered, could he estimate its current charge by touch alone? He put the thought aside. He could test that later. Now, what did he know about wielding the Aether directly? Nothing came to him immediately. He had never discussed it with his mother. He had opted out of self-defense training in high school, and was now regretting it. He was a beginner in the purest sense.

“Isn’t it dangerous to use Aether indoors?” he asked. “We could easily start fires.”

“Aether is always dangerous when used in this way,” Domrik replied. “I knew that when I bought this place, so I redid all the walls and everything else to make it as non-flammable as possible. See those wood doors to library? That’s not wood. I had them custom-carve metal to look like wood, and then I hired a painter. After all those precautions, however, I do get fires about once a month, which is why I installed an extensive sprinkler system in the ceiling.”

Evan looked up and saw rows upon rows of circular modules embedded in the ceiling.

“I’ll go first,” Marvain said, moving to stand in front of the target about five meters away. Evan watched her curiously. She took a few breaths and thrust her fist forward clumsily. Aether flared in front of her fist briefly before fizzling out. It never reached halfway to the target. She looked at the two of them sheepishly. “Oh.”

“Not bad for your first attempt,” Domrik said. “Give it another shot.”

She took more time on her second try. She closed her eyes, scowling. Evan saw her fist with the crystal trembling next to her side, her knuckles going white. Her eyes flew open, and growled through gritted teeth as she threw another punch. A red bolt streaked into the target, impacting it low and left of center.

Domrik clapped. “Good, good! It looks like you have the basics down, though we will need to work on that aim of yours.”

She was breathing hard and shaking her hand. “Tell me there’s a way to make it less painful.”

“If you refine your focus, you can use the energy more efficiently. That reduces the pain. But in the meantime, you will need to build up your pain tolerance. That happens naturally as you practice more. There’s really no way to make it completely painless.”

“Why does it hurt?” Evan asked.

“Good question,” Domrik said. “There are a handful of theories. Some say that the energy surge is rattling the nerves wherever it travels, others say it’s the heat transfer. I’m not convinced be either.”

“Do you have your own theory?” Marvain asked.

Domrik nodded. “It’s a hypothesis, really. I believe everyone has an Aetheric body that is the basis for the physical body. Extracting Aether from Aetherite creates disturbances in the Aetheric body that it doesn’t know how to handle. I haven’t found a way to test that, mostly because I have more important things to do. I’m not a scientist, and very few scientists these days are interested in questions like this.”

Now Evan was curious. “Let me try.”

Marvain moved aside for him. He frowned at the crystal in his palm, then at Domrik. “How does this work again?”

“You already know, of course, that physical contact with the crystal is required. Aetheric energy responds to intention, so you need to intend to focus the energy in a particular way. It often requires you to picture a certain shape in your mind, and then feel the energy taking shape. I can’t get more specific than that. The real experience can’t be encapsulated by concept alone. It will take practice.”

Evan stood in silence for a few moments. Did machines go through the same process in order to manipulate Aether? Did his father know this? He put those thoughts aside as well. All those questions could come later. Right now, he needed to learn to defend himself.

He closed his fingers around the crystal, then imagined a red ball forming in front of him. Nothing happened. He closed his eyes and made the image more detailed. His hand tingled. Then he willed the energy to take the form of the image in his mind. The tingling turned into an electrical buzzing. Red light flared behind his eyelids. He opened his eyes to see an Aetheric form, roughly spherical and ten centimeters in diameter, hold its structure briefly before fizzling out. It hadn’t been completely opaque, most likely because he wasn’t feeding it enough energy.

He tried again, but with his eyes open. It took a bit more effort than before, but once the sphere appeared, he managed to maintain it for several more seconds.

“That’s good,” Domrik said. “But if you throw it against the target, you’ll see it won’t do much damage.”

“How do I do that?”

“Imagine a release toward the target. The physical motion of pointing or punching helps as well.”

Evan conjured a sphere again, this time with slightly less effort. He punched out, and the sphere crashed against the target high of center. Rather than a miniature explosion, it popped like a soap bubble.

“Now before your next attempt, try charging the bolt with more energy. Will more current to flow from the crystal.”

Evan did as instructed, but found it much more difficult to maintain focus as he increased the intensity. The electrical feeling turned into a fiery burning as he made the sphere opaquer. His jaw clenched involuntarily. His eyes teared up. The pain was too much. He dropped the crystal like it was a hot coal, shaking his hand vigorously. The sphere remained for a few more seconds before unraveling and dissipating.

He cradled his hand close to his chest and looked helplessly at Domrik. “What the fuck? Does it really have to hurt that much?”

Domrik put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, remember what I said. It takes practice, and when your nervous system is more calibrated, the energy transfer will be more efficient. You can take a rest if you want. That was an impressive display for your first few tries. You’re a natural!”

Evan bent down and picked up the crystal from the mat. It was still warm from recent use. “No, I need to do this.”

“Great! Now, a strategy many mages use, including myself, is to instantly launch the projectile as soon as it’s created. It’s more energy efficient, and there’s less pain. Why don’t you give that a try?”

For the next half-hour, Domrik coached them on the finer details of Aether bending. Evan learned that there was almost no difference between Aetheric projectiles and Aetheric shields. It was all about shape and motion. If the energy was dense enough, it started to behave like solid matter.

Domrik had them play a game he created called block-ball. They would hurl foam balls at each other, attempting to hit a limb or the torso. The objective was to block the incoming ball using an Aetheric shield. Evan was reluctant at first, but when he saw his mother smiling when she threw the ball as hard as she could, he began to enjoy the game. He started throwing two at once to confuse her, which she retaliated from by kicking them back. They chased each other around the studio, laughing for the first time in weeks.

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At some point, Domrik joined the game. When they complained that it wouldn’t be fair, he offered to play with his eyes closed. At first, Evan was insulted. Was Domrik really that arrogant? Evan wanted to make sure that he would regret the decision, but when he aimed a shot at Domrik’s face, Domrik blocked it with a swift flash from his arm.

Domrik then picked up a ball near him and drew his arm back as if to throw it at Marvain. She was already raising her crystal-hand in preparation. Then his hand dropped straight down. The ball shot up from behind his back and pelted Evan on the forehead.

Evan flinched backward in shock, raising his arm far too slowly. Marvain let out a burst of laughter. Evan gaped at Domrik. “How did you do that?”

Domrik smiled, eyes still closed. “First off, I knew you weren’t expecting it. Learn to maintain awareness of your surroundings, Evan. Second, it took years of practice.”

Evan scoffed. “But your eyes were closed! That doesn’t just take practice.”

“You’re right, it also requires an activated Vision Ember.”

“A what?”

Domrik opened his eyes. “Are you familiar with the Ember system?”

Evan looked at his mother, who returned his gaze with a shrug. “No.”

“The Ember system is inherent in all biological systems, and I believe it is what allows us to channel Aetheric energy. Your physical body has a physical backbone. Likewise, your Aetheric body has an Aetheric backbone, which has seven main energy centers that each serve their own unique purpose. The Ember system runs the Aetheric and physical bodies.”

“How do you know this?” Evan asked. “Why has science never discovered this ‘Aetheric’ body in all these years?”

“Because science always emerges from what you are able to sense, and most people don’t sense their Aetheric body. Their attention is focused too much in thought and not enough in the body. If nobody had a sense of sight, we wouldn’t even know light existed. We might infer its existence, but never experience it directly. But in the case of the Aetheric body, people have their eyes closed, so-to-speak.”

Evan narrowed his eyes. “If the Ember system really exists, then, how would I become aware of it? And how would I know I’m not just fooling myself?”

“Are you fooling yourself that you are perceiving this room?” Domrik asked, gesturing with a sweep to the room.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m perceiving the room.”

Domrik jabbed a finger at Evan. “Exactly! Vision is a sense in and of itself. You simply experience it. Same thing with the Aetheric body, although it is experienced as a feeling… something in between emotion and the sense of touch. You’ll know it when you experience it.”

“And when I do, I’ll have activated the Vision Ember?”

“Not necessarily, although you will be closer to activation. It really wouldn’t serve you at this moment. If it’s activated too soon, you will be in a world of pain.”

Marvain spoke. “Is that what happened to Brandon?”

Domrik nodded solemnly. “And I think that’s why he went missing.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

He shrugged. “It’s just an intuition.”

“Why would activating it too soon be a problem?” Evan asked.

“The Vision Ember,” Domrik said as he tapped the spot between his eyebrows. “Sees more than your physical eyes are capable. It’s why I was able to block your shot and return the favor, although I was actually aiming for your nose. The Vision Ember can perceive deeper aspects of the Aether, which can include other Aetheric bodies, but it depends on the level of activation. The Ember system also serves as the storage system of all your unprocessed emotions. At a certain level of activation, the light of the Vision Ember becomes so intense that there is nowhere for those emotions to hide anymore. You would experience all your unprocessed traumas all at once.”

Evan winced, absentmindedly massaging his lower abdomen. “That happened to my dad?”

“From what I could determine, not quite. He was close. A little too close. He was experiencing the beginnings of activation, but it was just enough to pierce the Zandith’s illusions.”

“He pierced them?”

“He saw through them,” Domrik clarified.

“So I would be able to see through them too?”

Domrik raised a finger. “If you do it correctly, yes. Anyone can.”

“And then I’ll be able to see him coming.”

“You could pierce any illusion.”

“How do I do it, then?”

“I normally recommend fifteen minutes of meditation in the morning. Use that time to become more familiar with your inner world, all your thoughts and emotions. If you commit to that, then I will inform you on the next steps.”

“Alright, I’ll commit to it,” Evan said, looking at him expectantly.

“Great!” Domrik replied.

“And so what are the next steps?”

“I can’t tell you until you actually start the practice.”

Evan thought for a moment. Had he fallen too deep into murky waters? Was he really willing to follow the advice of a guy who spouted so much unscientific nonsense? But earlier… he could think of no other explanation. Perhaps there was some truth to what Domrik said. The question was where the blurred line lay between truth and make-believe. He couldn’t afford to waste his time in a situation like this.

He knew what his father would think, but then Evan realized that was incorrect. He knew what his father would have thought a month ago. But now? It was unpredictable.

What about his mother? She obviously approved of his intention to be trained by Domrik. Meditation would be a part of that, right? How difficult could it be? He already said he’d commit to it.

“I’ll think about it,” Evan said to end the awkward silence.

“Understood,” Domrik said, “shall we continue on to the punching bags? If you’re willing of course.”

“I can go a bit more,” Marvain stated.

“Me too,” Evan added.

Domrik bowed his head. “Excellent, then why don’t we…”

He paused, his eyes fluttering closed. He took a big sigh through his nose. His jaw clenched.

“Why don’t we what?” Evan queried, unsettled by the sudden withdrawal.

Domrik rose a finger, silencing further comment. His head turned slowly to his right, toward the front of the studio. He held his palm toward the wall behind Evan and Marvain.

“Stay back,” he whispered. A chill ran down Evan’s spine. The jovial attitude was gone, replaced by as starkly contrasting concentration.

“What is it? What’s going on?” Marvain said as she migrated with Evan to the back wall. Evan stood in front of her, the crystal firmly in his hand. She grabbed his other wrist firmly. Her breath was ragged. “Is it Zandith?”

Domrik turned fully toward the front of the studio and took a few strides forward. He stood with his feet apart, fists by his sides. A red glint leaked from within each of them.

“Domrik, what are you doing?” Evan demanded, his heart beginning to race. “This isn’t funny!”

He didn’t respond. Evan glanced around the studio. Nothing looked out-of-place, but the only exit was the front of the studio. Should he risk it?

Domrik lowered his head slightly. “You have no business coming here.”

Evan exchanged wide-eyed glances with his mother. Was he talking about them? Then another thought disturbed him further: Was he talking to a ghost? Evan hadn’t believed in ghosts before, but now he wasn’t so sure what he believed.

“Leave now, and I will forget you ever came,” Domrik declared. Dread settled in Evan’s gut. Domrik continued, “If you do not comply, I will take drastic action.”

“Are you talking—” Evan started before his mother yanked on his arm with a, “shh!”

The moments crept by like the heartbeat of the dying. Evan’s palms were soaked in sweat. He mentally reviewed what he’d leaned in the past hour. Would he need to put his underdeveloped skills to use so soon? Would it be enough to protect his mother?

Suddenly, Domrik was a twirl of motion. Red streaks flashed in several directions. Some flew against the wall behind Evan. The light was so bright Evan had to shield his eyes. He listened for more action, but when none came, he dared to peek through his fingers. Shock resounded through his body as he comprehended the scene before him.

Three bodies in dark power armor lay twisted around Domrik, who was down on one knee with a hand to the floor. Smoke rose from the heads of the bodies.

Marvain pushed Evan aside and rushed to Domrik. “Oh my god, Domrik! Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he replied calmly. “Just give me a moment.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, backing up a few steps. Evan crept forward to stand behind her. His mouth opened but twitched with indecision. There were too many questions.

“Nope, too far gone already,” Domrik said, opening his eyes and gazing at the bodies. He looked at Evan and Marvain with a wry smile. “I assure you, this was not part of the lesson.”

“Who were these people?” Evan asked, venturing closer to the body nearest to him. “Were they working for Zandith?”

Domrik stood. “Not directly. Zandith doesn’t just throw away assets like this. He guards them with his life.”

“How did you kill them so quickly? How did you even see them?”

Domrik held up the two crystals. Each was almost completely drained. “Extremely high-density bolts. In addition to the cloaks, they had Aetheric shields. I couldn’t leave it to chance. As for the second question, you already know the answer.”

Evan nodded. “The Vision Ember. And I suppose you do meditation?”

“If I didn’t…” Domrik gestured to the three corpses twisted in their death poses. “I’d be in their predicament.”

“Dead, or being an assassin?”

“Both,” Domrik said as he strode over to the front desk. He removed a wristpad from one of the drawers and started a call. “Speaking of assassins, you two might need to stay here for a while. The police will want witness accounts.”

The call picked up, and a voice answered on speaker. “Hector here.”

Domrik spoke to the wristpad as he walked back to the bodies. “We have a situation, Hector.”

“That’s Hector!?” Marvain shouted. “Hector! He was attacked but he killed all three of them. You should have seen it. It was crazy!”

“That’s enough, Marvain,” Domrik chided. “Hector, we need you at the studio now. We have three cases of attempted murder.”

“Ah, shit, he’s at it again, isn’t he?” Hector responded.

“I wouldn’t come to that conclusion yet, but it can’t be a coincidence.”

“Right, I know. You don’t believe in those.”

Domrik chuckled. “Unfortunately not, I lost my faith in them a long time ago.”

“I’ll grab my unit and we’ll be there within the hour. Stay put.”

“Copy that. Dom out.” The call ended.

While they were talking, Evan was examining one of the corpses closely. The armor looked like riding armor, the type used for hoverboard racing. He could tell by the thin form factor of the limbs and torso. The face was obstructed by the warped metal of the helmet. There was a five-centimeter-wide hole bored into the forehead area. Evan almost felt sick. Three quick, clean kills in less than a second, and against invisible, shielded opponents. How powerful was Domrik? Evan was suddenly grateful he was on Domrik’s side.

“I think I’ve had enough action for the day,” Domrik said as he searched around in a mini fridge near the front desk. He brought water bottles to Evan and Marvain, then drained one to halfway in the span of ten seconds. He sighed with relief as he sat on the mat and rested against the wall. “Sometimes intense Aetheric use really takes it out of you. Make sure you’re hydrated. It really helps. And don’t eat junk food. That holds a lot of my students back.”

“How can you be like this?” Marvain demanded, gesturing to him with both hands. “You almost died, and now you’re just going to move on to lecturing us about nutrition?”

He looked at her. “What am I supposed to do, Marvain? They entered covertly. I saw them. I warned them. They attacked. I defended myself. They died instantly with no pain. Now Hector’s on his way. What else is there to do?”

She stuttered, glancing worriedly at the bodies still in their original positions on the floor. Evan sipped on his water as he watched his mother try to reconcile the situation. He knew what she found wrong, but didn’t want to say anything. She found it strange that Domrik was hardly phased by the attempt on his life. He found it odd too, but with everything Domrik said earlier, it started to make sense.

Domrik was sticking straight to the facts and added minimal interpretation. Evan wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the same, but he wanted that level of objectivity. It was an inhuman level of objectivity, yet here he was conversing with the two like a typical human.

Evan concluded that Domrik was no typical human.

They ended up sitting against the wall next to him. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up. “This world is filled with every kind of person, and you will never know who you will encounter next. You cannot afford to make assumptions, positive or negative. If you must fight, then fight, but with a heavy bias toward peace. That’s why I do what I do. That’s why you asked me to teach you. You just had a glimpse of what can happen in the real world, and also what can happen if you prepare wisely. Even though I could sense their intent for violence, I gave them the option of peace first. Always make that your default.”

“I thought you said that was not part of the lesson,” Evan said.

“Anything can be made into a lesson, and this here was particularly ripe for one. Though, I would rather you have not seen that. It was a bit too much for beginners.”

“Will you still be able to teach us tomorrow?”

“Of course! Another morning session?”

“Nah, I’m working on my hoverboard in the morning. I can do the afternoon.”

“That works too. You’re working on a hoverboard?”

“Yeah, I’m commissioning the help of an engineer.”

“An engineer? Does he do metalwork?”

Evan looked at him curiously. “Yes… why?”

“I have a project I’ve been thinking about for a while. Recently I’ve decided I could use a hand.”

“I think he’ll be willing to take on the project,” Evan said. “He’s been a bit desperate for work actually.”

“I’d be happy to provide him with some work if you can share his contact.”

“Yes, I can do that. One sec.” Evan remembered his wristpad. It was chronically strapped to his wrist. Most of the time he forgot it was there. It was practically becoming another human organ.

He sent Strucka’s contact to Domrik. He was sure Strucka would appreciate it.