Elian wasn’t a prodigy, be it in Aethersensing or anything else. Twice he peeled a banana and threw away the banana instead of the peel. Granted, he was stressed with deadlines at that time, but that was two bananas wasted. Still, he was sure he’d Aethersense soon enough because he had an advantage not even Jadewell from an Aether Magic family had—his experience from the future.

He had used a combination of Aether and Energy Magic in the past and was very much aware of what Aether felt like. It was like not forgetting how to ride a bike or swim no matter how long.

He also learned a few things about Aether Magic because he made sure to become close to King Idum-Ani in his previous life. For this second run, Elian planned to reach the Sarhat Kingdoms early and befriend the Sarhat King again before the Giants opened another front of the war in that part of the continent. Not sure if that was still on the table now that his plans had gone awry, but his learnings remained with him. There were also many principles of Energy Magic applicable to Aether Magic given that the former derived from the latter.

Floating in the condensed Aether, Elian relaxed his body and closed his eyes.

He breathed rapidly in small bursts, slowly filling his lungs with Aether. When he couldn’t inhale anymore, he held his breath as long as he could, feeling the warmth spread from his chest as if he drank hot cocoa. Then he exhaled, dragging it out as slowly as possible. His lungs protested because he hadn’t yet trained for such breathing exercises. It was hard for an average person to slow down their breathing this much.

Let the Aether permeate his body. Savor it. It didn’t taste much like anything, rather it was a sensation that affected each of his senses. He recalled the feeling of casting Aether Magic, using it to augment his barriers.

It’s all coming back.

Seconds… minutes… maybe an hour later, Elian couldn’t tell how long, his breathing settled into a relaxed rhythm of around three or four cycles a minute. Aether freely flowed through him. He sunk into a meditative state to become one with the building blocks of creation.

He no longer felt his chest expand as he inhaled, nor the viscous condensed Aether going in and out of his nose and mouth. He didn’t need the potion from Lyra to meditate—he could shut off his senses on his own and increase his concentration. The slimy caress of the chemicals inside the vat that captured Aether, the sound of his beating heart, the ticking of a large clock in the silent hall, the itchiness caused by the cheap fabric of his clothes… All of those became distant as if he were looking from afar, observing his own body experience them.

There it was. In the stillness of his mind.

Moving. Tangible.

Moldable.

He reached out for the Aether in his mind’s eye. The dense Aether in the vat began to swirl. He could feel it. The trance was breaking.

Not yet. He had successfully sensed Aether, but he pushed himself further. He clamped on his consciousness surfacing and let himself get swept back into meditation.

Only feel the Aether. Direct its flow toward his palm. He couldn’t control all the Aether in the vat. Only a very small fraction of it bowed to his will—but those that did, he fiercely held on to. He willed the flow to go faster and stronger. The small streams of Aether pulled others around it.

He compacted them all in his hand. His mind pushed the Aether he controlled from all sides.

A small bump the size of a pea. The object was in his hand. He closed his fist tight to make sure there really was something there. A tiny object that disintegrated soon enough.

Elian opened his eyes.

I did it. I did more than ‘it’. He awakened his Aethersense and formed his first Aether construct.

Through the almost liquid-like Aether and the foggy glass, he spotted the large clock on the wall. Three and a half hours had passed since they entered the vats. Thorren and Jadewell were still inside.

This vat is amazing, Elian thought.

If he was outside, he wouldn’t be able to make even a rice grain-sized construct. Take advantage of this opportunity and continue improving his Aethersense. But limit himself to meditation. He wouldn’t try to make a construct again and risk getting discovered he had already awakened his Aethersense.

It wasn’t just to avoid getting kicked out of the vat. He wanted Jadewell to have the honor of being the first to Aethersense. She might not have the talent the rest of her family had, but she certainly possessed the resolve to become something they’d be proud of. If she didn’t have the resolve, she would’ve run away instead of burdening herself with the Tribulation. Elian was on a quest to save humanity, not ruin someone’s moment.

And so, he descended into meditation again and continued his breathing exercises.

More hours passed, unnoticed in the world of Aether.

“Rise and shine!”

Urgent knocking on the glass prodded Elian out of his trance. Aether drained from the vat, lowering him to its base. He exited the vat feeling wet. Just a feeling. His skin and clothes were dry, but the sensation of floating in water stayed. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. Lyra was with Jadewell. Two Manifested Armor helped Thorren out of his vat.

“Wake up, you two,” Lyra said. “Congratulate Jadewell for awakening her Aethersense.”

Jadewell bowed her head and hid her face behind layers of her hair. She shifted her feet and tried to retreat as Elian and Thorren approached, but Lyra held her in place with floating gauntlets.

“How long was that?” Thorren glanced at the clock. “Seven hours? Amazing. Seriously amazing. As expected of someone from an Aether mage family.”

“It doesn’t matter which family she came from,” Elian said. “She did it on her own.” He thought Jade would appreciate that he spoke up for her, but she just gave him an odd look before shielding her eyes with her hair again.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Ah, true,” Thorren said. “My mistake there. I myself am not of any notable heritage. I just do my thing and work hard. I’m going to be the next to awaken Aethersense.”

“We shall see tomorrow,” said Lyra, “for this is enough for today.” She glanced at Elian; a few strands of white passed over her eyes. “Spending time inside Eyoneir Maghindr has benefitted you, Elian Ward. Go along now, all of you. I’m sure you’re hungry after so many hours. The school does not provide food, but there are charitable cookshops outside if you don’t have the coin.”

Elian hid a smile as their teacher left. Her Aethersight would’ve seen his Energy increase because of meditating and progressing his magic. But she wouldn’t know he already had Aethersense unless he used it.

Jadewell was quick to exit the building. Thorren walked with Elian until they reached the gates.

“On the morrow then, new friend.” Thorren patted Elian’s back. He must’ve put some force into it to show dominance because he seemed surprised it didn’t affect Elian. “Huh? Uh… I’ll have to get back to my cousins. They travel with me.”

“What an odd fellow,” Elian said, as Thorren jogged down the hill.

Elian made his way back to the Cauldron. When Elian returned to camp, he shared his experience with the Path of the Immaterial with Borlen and the other pilgrims.

Borlen made the circles and triangles sign of Penitent Tharguras. “I pray you achieve this… Aethersense, was it? Yes, you will obtain this soon, brother. I’m proud of you. Blessed be your journey.”

“Blessed be your journey,” echoed the rest of the group.

“Thank you,” said Elian. “I wouldn’t be on this path if it weren’t for you. Also, uh, thank you for the food and the company. I’ll hunt something early tomorrow to repay your kindness.”

“There is no such need to repay among family. We are one big family. Ask of us what you will, and we are happy to help you. We’ll also be glad to witness your Tribulation. Have you done your second one?’

“Yes… I have,” Elian replied, wondering if he should’ve lied and told them he was still preparing for it.

Best they cheered him on as a Penitent. Their group was staying at the Temples of Tribulations for a few weeks until Tharguras left; they were going their separate ways after. Elian appreciated their company. It reminded him of the caravans he had been on while traveling the world. Unfortunately, many of those caravans were fleeing the Giant invasion instead of a having relaxed trip with no fear of death.

Elian showed Borlen the proof on his chest that he progressed his Tribulation, making sure that the rest of his tattoos were hidden. How would Borlen react if he knew that Elian was Cursed by the Magistrate? Would Borlen believe Elian asked this of the Magistrate? Likely not. He’d think Elian did something blasphemous to get Cursed.

“Really sorry,” Elian said. “I’m not yet ready to show my Tribulation to others. I feel that I should keep it personal while starting. Also… I don’t want others to see me fail at it.”

“If you fail, wouldn’t it be better if there’s someone to help you?” said one of the pilgrims.

“That’s true,” another chimed in. “If you’re grievously injured, we will be there to aid you and perhaps keep your injuries from worsening. If you die—heaven forbid that happens to you, brother—we will lay you to rest. You wouldn’t want your body to be eaten by scavengers.”

“Let’s respect the decision of brother Elian,” Borlen said. “I understand the fear of being seen as a failure even if those around you wish you well. It’s a weakness of the human mind, one we all have. It defies explanation.” He placed his hand on Elian’s shoulder. “Just assure us, brother, that you can handle the Tribulations. When it becomes too dangerous, promise to come to us for help.”

“I can handle it for now,” Elian said. “And if I no longer can, I promise to tell you.”

The sun was starting to set but Elian’s day wasn’t over yet.

He didn’t join Borlen’s group for dinner, scarfing down a few pieces of bread with dried meat before venturing into the forest, though he didn’t stray too far from the camp. The lantern ball tied to his waist would help him return in the darkness if need be. With a waterskin filled with a tea of powdered melfroth leaves—he didn’t know if the leaves contained caffeine but they were used as a stimulant in this world—he was ready for an all-nighter on Aether training.

He headed for an ancient tree he found this morning, its thick roots exposed above the ground by the elements. There was a nice nook among its gnarled roots where he could slot himself in to be safe while meditating.

Danger could come from only one direction—in front of him. Predators seldom attacked their prey head-on, preferring to ambush or chase them. As an added precaution, he rubbed saegenta leaves all over his skin to mask his scent.

Would’ve been safer if he did this while inside the camp, but he didn’t want the pilgrims to know how fast he improved his Aether Magic. That’d raise some brows. Also, if they knew how strong he’d gotten, they’d be more eager to see him call a Tribulation. Better have some peace while meditating.

Beasts rarely wandered this close to camps anyway. In fact, he hadn’t seen any while exploring the forest other than tracks of what could be a faeboar yesterday.

He drank his melfroth tea—he didn’t trust himself not to fall asleep—before settling in a cross-legged meditative pose. He laid his hands on his lap, palms up, one hand over the other. One thing was on his mind—gather Aether on his palm. One by one, he closed his senses and withdrew into himself.

The long night, timeless in the realm of the mind, thus began.

Every few hours, Elian would get kicked out of the trance. He roughly knew the time by looking at the familiar constellations in the sky and noting the stars’ placements. His body wasn’t used to lengthy meditations, especially after his first session inside the vat.

The simple solution was to continue doing it until he’d get used to it.

“Sunlight?” It was the third or probably fourth time he exited his meditation when he found flecks of orange streaking the no-longer-dark sky. The chirping of crestlarks confirmed it was morning.

Elian’s clothes were drenched in sweat and the cool breeze blowing through them made him nauseous. The last drop of melfroth tea dropped from his waterskin, and his stomach grumpily demanded food. He had expended a lot of energy meditating the entire night.

What did he have to show for it?

Just some sparkles on his palm…

“This is fast!” Elian wanted to jump out of the nook and do cartwheels to celebrate, but his legs had fallen asleep from being in the same position for hours. And he also didn’t know how to cartwheel.

He resigned himself to observing the traces of compacted Aether gradually fade as he loosened his concentration.

Must be the experiences from his past life doing the heavy lifting. Even a prodigy wouldn’t progress this rapidly not even a day after awakening Aethersense. He’d spend more time in the vat later to boost his growth even more.

Since it was the start of a new day, Elian’s ritual should call down the Tribulation before going about the other things on his to-do list. But he saved up his Tribulation for us later. He refilled his waterskin back at the camp, took some fruits to snack on along the way, and returned to the forest, this time carrying his cleaver. He wasn’t going to cut anything with it, but he hoped something would cut itself on it… like a faeboar.

He searched the area where he last saw faeboar tracks. As if the heavens shone on him, there were fresh imprints on the soil from a cloven foot that was larger than his own foot. This could only be the resident faeboar of this area.

Unlike other pigs and boars which lived in groups, the faeboar were solitary creatures. The faeboar would roam its territory and suck in Aether from the air to grow bigger and bigger. Its thick hide could fend off fangs and claws, while its tusks could gore predators.

Elian’s newly awakened Aethersense helped him detect where Aether flowed strongest. He didn’t need to wander far for the faeboar found him first.

A furious grunt and angry stomping feet behind him announced an incoming charge.