The Aether God: Chapter 2 - The Great Valley

Bred to a harder thing than Triumph, turn away, and like a laughing string whereon mad fingers play amid a place of stone:

Be secret and exult, because of all things known, that is most difficult.

The Great Valley

Nestled in the heart of the Three Rivers Province lies a truly expansive territory of unparalleled beauty and mystique, known as Great Valley. The landscapes of the valley stretch as far as the eye can see in every direction, with lush emerald-green forests, majestic hills, and pristine rivers intertwining like strands of a mythological tapestry. The season of first warmth has arrived, and its air is now full of the sweet fragrance of blooming celestial flowers, their white petals glistening with the morning dew. Morning nether starlight dances upon the surface of many lakes, casting a peaceful glow that bathes the entire province in a golden light.

One gazing upon the Great Valley would not only see its natural beauty, but just over a hundred million humans training, studying, farming, trading, and going about their business. The Great Valley is home to thousands of sects and families, both strong and weak, each of which have carved out their own territories within the South Haven. Amongst the towering peaks of the Seven Great Mountains that surround the valley, one would see the sanctuaries of the Seven Legendary Sects, each a powerful, regal, and legendary existence to the sects and families below.

The sanctuaries of the Legendary Sects stand as monumental testaments to their power and achievements. Their grand marble structures demand attention and reverence. Each sect's territory is a sprawling complex of pavilions, yards, and gardens, each dotted with majestic wooden pagodas that seamlessly blend with the natural beauty of their respective mountains. Each building dons intricate designs that tell tales of familial wisdom and heritage. Stone pathways wind through well-tended gardens adorned with bonsai trees and vibrant flowers, creating a serene contrast to the dynamic energy that permeates the valley below.

If one ventures into the valley, they would encounter the various districts, each a cornerstone of the Great Valley’s vibrant culture. The Market District to the North bustles with activity, where merchants peddle food, clothing, and other items. It is the central hub of etherless goods.

The Trade District to the West houses only the most distinguished stores of the ethereal trades - Alchemy, Ethology, and Runeology. Elixirs, manuscripts, and artifacts are generally purchased in the Trade District. The air resonates with the rhythmic sounds of tradesmen honing their skills, passed down almost exclusively by lineage. The Legendary Sects have come to hold a great monopoly on the trades, sparsely sharing esoteric information with other families and guilds. Their history is rich and they have the wealth necessary to grow their practices. The streets are lined with many of their various workshop-pagodas, each displaying vibrant banners that flutter in the breeze, alluding to their legendary heritage. Ethologists stand outside, beckoning artists to purchase their techniques. The Grand Forge, the central hub of smithing, echoes with the clinking of hammers against metal. Nearby, a gentle hum can be heard of runeologists creating artifacts by weaving sanguine runes onto various items. The glow of elixirs lights up its pathways in the evening. Those looking to purchase ethereal goods visit this district.

The Training District to the East stands as the intellectual hub for residents who engage in martial and intellectual pursuits, refining their powers through duels that showcase their power, as well as delving into scrolls. The air is often charged with the clang of weapons, the clashing of Ether, and the occasional roar of approval from spectators. Those who practice disciplines - such as swordsmanship and archery - also find their home here. All of the Great Valley’s schools and libraries reside here, along with various other institutions.

Unlike the other densely clustered districts, the Native District to the South has many large forests, and displays a spacious layout: a deliberate choice by each family and sect to partition generous portions of their territory for agriculture and the cultivation of invaluable ethereal ingredients. Sects differ from families only in that their wealth is great enough to employ a great number of artists and tradesmen. They often aid in protecting their territories from raiding ethereal beasts. The South Haven, as locals call it, houses a great majority of the powers of the Great Valley. Similarly, The Legendary Sects utilize the enormous plateaus on their seven respective mountains to serve as fertile grounds for new growth, as they are rich with the Ambient Ether that emanates from the air, mountains, rivers, and the nether star above.

In the heart of the Great Valley lies the Central District. Here, ancient pagodas with gracefully curving roofs rise in harmony, towering above the other districts, paling only in comparison to the surrounding mountains and structures belonging to the Legendary Sects. Clusters of traditional wooden buildings dot the botanical estate, each displaying different laws of the Great Valley. At its center is the Great Valley City Hall, an imposing structure reflecting the power and influence that the Ruling Assembly holds here. The Ruling Assembly is composed of delegated elders from the most powerful sects in the Great Valley. However, within its history, it has merely become a disputing ground for the Legendary Sects. Whatever decision four or more of them come to, the rest of the city obeys. Most other sects simply abstain from decisions in fear of incurring ire from the valley’s most powerful institutions.

Within the upper region of the Training District, there are three ethereal schools, each of which train numerous disciples. The schools are self-sufficient, employing guards and tradesmen, growing food, and cultivating ingredients. The Zapthrax School houses around 1,000 of the Great Valley’s most powerful artists. Nearly all of its disciples and elders are from the Legendary Sects. Its disciples are given plentiful elixirs, manuscripts, and artifacts. The Phoenix School houses around 10,000 disciples which are generally considered second rate. Its disciple-body is primarily from the sects of the South Haven. The Caladrius School is large, housing nearly 40,000. However, it is by far the weakest of the three schools, composed of children from mostly weak families. Its disciples are looked down upon by the other schools, as well as the powerful sects within the Great Valley. To add insult to injury, its outer disciples are not provided any elixirs that aid cultivation.

…………………

Caladrius School East District: Court 12, Lecture Hall 34

“Since all of you are capable of interacting with Ether – the mysterious energy flowing through and emanating from all things – you are all Ethereal Cultivators, commonly referred to as Ethereal Artists, as most Ethereal Techniques are divided into multiple Ethereal Arts. Wahhhh Wahhhh! Why do we have to write ethereal before every term? Nobody says all that Wahhhh! Your elder gets paid to teach you proper terminology, not colloquialisms. After the exam tomorrow, it won’t matter, but until then you have to write ethereal because I told you so! Go complain to the headmaster!”

The focal point of attention in the extraordinarily humble lecture hall was an elderly man draped in robes of azure blue, adorned with golden patterns and the seal of the Caladrius School that shimmered with an air of authority. He was pouring a bottle of Welkinean Sand into a glass chalice on his desk. He had wrinkles on his face and a long white beard, but one could tell with a look that he was brimming with energy, and still had many years left. He was the well respected Dorian Roshi. Despite being a Master Artist and Alchemist, he publicly rejected fame, fortune, and offers to work for the Legendary Sects - though doing so made him somewhat of an infamous character. He truly loved teaching, so much so that he taught at the pitiful Caladrius School, considered to be a cesspool of talentless disciples and elders. It must have been also because he came from a poor family, and as such had an enormous heart for the weak and lowly. He saw in his little disciples truly magnificent potential. He believed that within every person was a capacity for infinite good, no matter their rank. This, however, had earned him much scorn, particularly from elitists of the Legendary Sects. Luckily, there was not much that could be done to oppress him. After all, he was just a menial elder at a substandard institution. He was grateful that, at least within his homeroom lecture hall, his disciples cared little for such things. They treated him as an ordinary professor, learning and living with joy. These were, at least, his own idealistic whims.

Elder Roshi continued,

“You each have an Ethereal Body similar to, and dimensionally overlapping, your physical body. This is because the universe is Physio-Ethereal, and you exist as both a physical and ethereal being. As such, you have an Ethereal Core where your heart is, Ethereal Nexuses where your organs are, and Ethereal Veins where… You get the point. As most of you should know by now, Ether exists both within and outside of living beings. Ether that exists outside is called Ambient Ether. Ether that exists within is called Subjugated Ether. Write that down.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Elder Roshiiii,'' A young female disciple, no more than twelve years old, raised her hand and yelled, clearly to complain about the shortcomings of a certain fellow disciple. This was a common occurrence in this lecture hall. Her name was Cashmere Darkwater, one of the two most beloved members of the Darkwater Family’s younger generation. The Darkwater family was extremely poor and weak. Furthermore, they were mostly etherless. As such, a twelve-year-old who had already become a two-star umbrous novice was their pride and joy. She loved the trades, especially Alchemy, and was soon to also become a Novice Alchemist. “Cerulean is sleeping during a lecture agaain!” Her tone was extraordinarily whiny.

“Correct, junior Darkwater, this elder has eyes! Thank you for noticing!” Elder Roshi grinned brightly as Cashmere took on a pouty face. “Please don’t whine about the birthday boy when he’s jumping for joy during the exam tomorrow! As I was saying…”

Elder Roshi continued on with the lesson

“All Ether can be categorized into six primary groups. Many scholars refer to these groups as the Ethereal Elements. Your ethereal body has many things that determine, among other things, the elemental variety of Ether you can subjugate. This is called your Ethereal Constitution. Elixirs, techniques, and artifacts also fall into a single elemental category, so they have what we call an… We learned this yesterday… Elemental Attribute. As such, they are named with a modifier. Elder Roshi, you’re wrong! Some descendants of the Legendary Sects have two attributes, and The Patriarch of the Blackwood Sect has three! Wahhhh!!" *Sigh* You are not descendants of the Legendary Sects. Furthermore, you are not Sectmaster Blackwood… nor is anybody else…Regardless, the elements and their attribute-modifiers are as follows. hint hint, write all of these down… they will be on your written exam… which is tomorrow!”

The particularly animated Elder Roshi turned and held up his finger, and a flame appeared at its tip. Afterward, as if praising himself, his face drew a large toothy grin. behind him was a large parchment canvas, he turned and began tracing letters in fire, imprinting charred glyphs on the parchment. On it he inscribed:

Earth: Terrestrial

Fire: Infernal

Air: Welkinean

Water: Azurean

Light: Lumenous

Dark: Umbrous

No Element: Attributeless

“I know that a few of you, one of which is currently sleeping during my lesson, may be saddened by this, as you have attributeless constitutions. This terribly limits your cultivation as you are unable to use elixirs, techniques, and artifacts, because they do not exist without attributes! Attributeless artists only possess the spark of Ether that they are born with… I truly wish you the best…”

Elder Roshi truly seemed to have a sorrowful expression on his face, despite pacing quickly side to side and not once looking at his disciples.

A disciple interjected as Elder Roshi was pacing, “Elder Roshi, I believe that you forgot Sacred and Demonic Ether. The Legendary Sects have many sacred and demonic artifacts, and they are extremely powerful. Are you not aware of this?” The interjecting disciple was Archer Frostbane. He was a child of the Legendary Frostbane Sect, which was well-known for its powerful Azurean Artists. However, he was attributeless, and was thus sent to the Caladrius School. He was disallowed from attending family gatherings, and was furthermore forbidden from donning the Frostbane Seal. However he did not pity himself. He vehemently studied Runeology to prove himself. He planned to one day return to his sect as a Master Runeologist, amazing his entire family. His understanding of runes was unmatched by those of the Caladrius School, and he had earned himself a reputation akin to a scholar. He had recently created an R1 artifact, and was thus a Novice Runeologist.

“Very astute, disciple Frostbane! The sacred and demonic elements exist, but they only exist within those artifacts. However, nobody has been able to use them, nor do they know how to create them. They are quite a mysterious existence indeed… While I do commend your intellect, further discussion will only serve to confuse your peers.”

Archer’s lips curved into a self-serving smile. While his peers knew of his constitution, they were unaware that he was such a scorned figure in his family. As such, he maintained a bit of an aloof disposition towards his classmates by utilizing his family name and knowledge. Although he displayed somewhat prideful streaks in the lecture hall, he truly was a kind individual at heart. He felt though, that he was the only disciple there with a real desire to prove something to others.

“Back to the lesson! Now in order to subjugate Ambient Ether, you must first use Absorption Techniques and Condensation Techniques.” Also write these down! Absorption techniques circulate the Ether within your veins in a manner that resonates with Ambient Ether, thus… absorb-ing… it through your nexuses. This expands your core, so you can then use condensation techniques to… condense… it. Notice that it’s the exact same word - again! I’m sure all of you are going to get a perfect score on the exam tomorrow…”

Elder Roshi quickly turned and squinted at his disciples before resuming once again.

“These are not to be confused with compression techniques! Ever! Terrible… Anyways, once your core has been brought back to its natural size, we consider the Ether to be subjugated. This makes your core, and by extension the Ether flowing within, denser. We call this Ethereal Density. Any techniques related to these processes of absorbing, condensing, and refining, which we’ll learn about later, are called Cultivation Techniques. Techniques used for battle are Martial Techniques. Write. That. Down… Oh, I forgot to mention that you can pair absorption techniques with absorption elixirs. They contain potent Ether which can be subjugated. I’ll include that on the exam, so write it down!”

Elder Roshi clicked his tongue disapprovingly several times, feigning an exaggerated sense of sadness.

“It’s truly a pity that this institution doesn’t have absorption elixirs to share with you all… perhaps if everyone does well on the exam tomorrow, I’ll be feeling generous…”

After speaking, his figure immediately lightened back up. “So who knows why we care about ethereal density?”

A young boy raised his hand, “because it makes you stronger!” he yelled. This was Griffin Darkwater, Cashmere’s twin brother. He was much different than his sister – Far less conscientious, and thus drawn to pursuits that were spontaneous in nature. He hated Alchemy, Ethology, and Runeology, but loved Artistry. He was a three-star umbrous novice. He would joke that the only thing he hated more than the trades was his sister, who feigned superiority for her intellect and simply having been born a few moments earlier. But, he loved and cared for her.

Cashmere scoffed at his rudimentary interjection while Elder Roshi laughed.

“I guess you could say that! Stronger arts can only be used with denser Ether. Artists, as well as basically everything else, are given Ethereal Ranks based on density. They each have a name and abbreviation. We use the name for artists and tradesmen, and abbreviations for everything else. B-b-but Elder Roshi, Wahhhh! I thought you just said that artists, elixirs, techniques, and artifacts have attributes! Very astute disciples! But they also have a rank. They are…”

He once again turned to the board and began to inscribe:

First Rank/R1 - Novice

Second Rank/R2 - Apprentice

Third Rank/R3 - Venerable

Fourth Rank/R4 - Master

Fifth Rank/R5 - Lord

“Note… As in write down… that the ranks of cultivators are further divided into the one through seven star categories. The higher the star, the stronger. For example, once you become a Seven-Star Novice, you can refine your Ether and become a One-Star Apprentice. Remember, living beings have names, objects have numbers. Nobody would call an ingredient like R3 Scorch Bloom Venerable Scorch Bloom, unless you’re referring to someone from the Legendary Scorchbloom Sect hohoho! …I’m too funny… Oh! Speaking of Scorch Bloom, everybody open your alchemical textbooks.”

Elder Roshi turned and walked toward his desk to prepare the next portion of the lecture. The rustling of paper and satchels could be heard throughout the lecture hall. At the same time, in the furthest row of the lecture hall, a disciple with jet-black hair and brilliant blue eyes was groggily waking up.

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