From one spark, to two, to three. Ike didn’t react. Or rather, there was no Ike to react. Ike was gone. Instinct guided more sparks into his core. As the cold wind blew, more and more aether flowed into Ike’s core. Warmth grew in his core, and Ike’s awareness slowly returned.

As his consciousness returned, bit by bit, Ike paid close attention to how the aether flowed into him. Even without understanding it, instinctively, he could feel the flow of aether. It wasn’t that different from mana. And yet, it was completely different from aether. To say they were the same wasn’t wrong. But neither was it incorrect to say they were in no way alike. If mana was tamed, then aether was wild. If mana was a placid stream, aether was a raging river. It burned in his passages, but a good burn. The burn of getting stronger. Gaining power.

His core filled slowly. Sparks, then streams. Streams, then rivers. More and more aether poured into his core. He reached out his hand and felt the sting of aether over his skin. How could I not feel it? It’s everywhere. And loud! Obvious! Noisy! Compared to aether, mana is the energy that’s difficult to sense. Isn’t it strange that humans use mana?

Ike shook his head. He was looking at it wrong. Aether was noisy, but it was omnipresent. A background noise. A nonstop rush. It was like asking him to pinpoint the smell of air, or the color of light. There was no way to pick them out, because he couldn’t imagine life without them.

But down here, where he was surrounded with an overwhelming rush of nothing but aether, he could finally sense it.

Rather than pull the string and ask Wisp to pull him back up, Ike bathed in the aether. He let it permeate his whole being, filling his core with it. The warmth of the aether brought life back to his icy limbs. His body warmed, and his life processes sped back up to normal.

A fierce strength unlike that of mana filled his core. Ike drew in a deep breath and brought aether into his core. The last scraps of his core filled. He lifted his hand and gave the spider thread a firm tug. The thread rebounded, yanking Ike up with it. He flew directly out of the Abyss and landed beside the edge.

Wisp glanced up from a nearby tree. Her hands tucked behind her back, she reclined in absolute luxury. “Back already? You give up, or…?”

Ike extended his hand. He pushed out a wisp of aether. It swirled up from his palm, sparkling in the low light. “I did it.”

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Wisp whistled. She sat up, skootching to the edge of the branch, then jumped down. “Damn. I wasn’t sure you could do it, and here you are, beating my expectations. So? Try any of your skills yet?”

“Not yet. Will the skills be different?” Ike asked.

Wisp shrugged. “I dunno. I’ve never had mana. You tell me.”

Ike raised his brows. He snorted under his breath and shrugged to himself. Fair. Lifting his hand, he activated Lightning Grasp.

Aether surged to his hand. Lightning burst off his hand, crackling into the air around him. It burned off a second later as the skill failed. Startled, Ike jumped back.

“What are you jumping away from? Your own hand?” Wisp mocked him.

Ike rolled his eyes at her. “It just surprised me. It burns way quicker than mana. It’s… it’s like burning oil versus wood. It burns faster and cleaner, but in return, it’s more volatile.”

“Huh. Mana sounds boring.”

“I guess it would be, to you.” Ike tried Lightning Grasp again. As he activated the skill, he carefully watched the circulation of aether. It began to rush out. Before it could, he widened his passages, slowing the flow. It accumulated around his hand, then ignited into lightning. A huge burst of lightning cracked around his hand. Ike cut back at the amount of aether, and the lightning thinned. Slowly, he drew it back to the level of an ordinary Lightning Grasp.

That’s interesting, though. If I need to empower my skills, I just pour aether into them like I’d pour mana into a skill ordinarily, and they’ll blast out. Though…

He surged his aether. It rushed free of his hand, and the lightning followed, arcing out with the aether. A hand-shaped lightning construct clawed at the air ten feet in front of Ike.

“Whoa!” Wisp said, her eyes sparkling. She clapped. “Do it again!”

Ike laughed. “Sure!” He clawed his hand again and practiced the ranged Lightning Grasp a few times, while Wisp oohed and ahhed beside him.

That’s definitely going to become a new skill. It’s not stable enough yet, but with a few days’ practice, it will be. He clawed at the air again. It exploded in a blast of static electricity, crackling over the surrounding trees. I need that claw projection to stay intact for it to qualify as a real skill. I bet I could turn the explosion into a different skill.

Ha. I wonder if I can turn these skills into a new, singular, comprehensive skill like I did with Lightning Clad. They all came out of Lightning Grasp, after all.

Let’s master each one first. Then we can worry about making a comprehensive Lightning Grasp.

Ike tried replicating the explosion, but the skill refused to explode on command. He furrowed his brows and tried again. The claw burst on his hand. A blast of numbing electricity shivered over his arm.

Grimacing, Ike shook out his arm. Wisp fell over backward, grabbing her stomach and laughing uproariously.

“I’m glad one of us enjoyed it,” Ike muttered.

Wisp giggled, sitting upright. “I never get bored around you.”

He nodded at Wisp. “Should we go find Loup? Now that I’m done.”

“Done? Who said anything about done?” Wisp asked. She jumped to her feet and charged Ike. Her eyes glowed red. Her claws bared.

What the fuck? Ike raised his arms, startled. “Wisp, why?”