TBATE | A Traitor

CHAPTER 9: Training

Grey

Meditating I pushed aether through my aether veins. They were too skinny and too complex for aether to smoothly pass through them. Because of this Dreg told me to cycle aether from and to my core in order to expand them.

This went on for weeks.

The reason I could stay so long in training was due to the dimension Dreg brought me to. This was a spacium realm where time runs slower, just like the aether orb.

On top of expanding my aether channels Dreg thought me about how aether works and just how different or sometimes similar aether and mana are.

The analogy Lady Myre gave me was only half the truth. Mana being the water while aether was the cup was correct, however overly simplified.

There was no better analogy because the author was to stupid to think of one.
(I'm talking about myself for those that don't understand)

So I just went with aether was the higher level, the more powerful version of mana. Aether was stronger with better offense and defense. While mana was more versatile yet weaker.

The djinn only having aether and the asuras only having mana with extremely limited knowledge of aether severely limited the power that both races could reach.

Me...I no longer had such a limitation. As long as I conquered aether and in return strengthened my mana, not even Kezzes would pose a threat to me, and it wouldn't even be close.

With aether I could rewrite reality it self, it was only a matter of learning how. Then these "gods" would see what I was really capable of.

**

After a few more days I noticed a change in my aetheric mana core. The purple shell now was darker and my aether channels became wider and also emitted a purple hue. I had done it, I smiled. Now I can reinforce my body with aether.

Wether this was a big deal or a slight change, I was about to find out.

Sending aether to my legs I prepared to jump. Getting into a slight squat I pushed of from the ground. The results were breath taking. I got sent up at least 50 feet in the air. To think this is only the beginning.

Next I wanted to try an aethericly mana charged jump. Imbuing my legs in both aether and mana I shot upwards. I reached about 40 feet this time.

Strange...

I put both mana and aether into my arm. Paying attention to how the mana and aether interacted.

Slowly the mana started to disappear.

It was getting eaten by the aether...

I wanted to see what would happen if I fed the aether a bunch of mana, so sending a sliver of aether to my arm and then bombarding it with lightning mana...I waited.

Slowly the mana got eaten as the aether grew. The more mana it consumed the more the raging flurry of aether wanted more.

Wanting to see the results I conjured a huge wall of ice infront of me. Then I through the ball of aether.

White light shimmered inside the wall and then it was gone, as if it never existed.

I was stunned. To think I made such a break through on my own...just how much could Dreg teach me.

Before I could grin at the power I learned, a blazing pain shot up from my lower back. It burned, it felt like it was eating me apart from the inside out. I flickered in and out of consciousness. Until I could fight the pain no longer.

**

"-ey"

"Grey"

Lifting my head up from the aetheric floor I looked at my master.

"Grey how did you do that!" He asked impatiently.

"You mean the disintegration technique?"

"The what? No you unlocked a godrune."

"The what?"

Sigh

A godrune is an aetheric crest that appears on a person when they learn extensive knowledge about a certain edict of aether. And you just got one after only a few weeks.

It took me years to get my first one.

So what does mine do? I asked now curious.

Bending down as if to read it his face paled.

"I have never seen something like this. There isn't a set edict to this rune."

"What do you mean?"

"Normally a godrune has an edict like spacium or avium. Yours doesn't have that..."

Without a second thought I activated my godrune. White electricity crackled around my hand. It was awe inspiring. The way it danced around my arm, it's fearful natured parred with its distinguished beauty was fascinating.

Again I conjured a wall of ice. Sending my new spell towards it, the lightning engulfed the wall instantly, as if it teleported onto the wall, and then the wall shattered.

Was this attack even possible to dodge, I pondered. Sending more attacks at different spells the result was always the same. It seemed like the attack instantly jumped onto the target.

Cool...

So it was like my aether + lighting spell I thought.
Whenever I make a new spell with aether a godrune would appear I thought...but why did it not have an edict. Aether needed mana and mana needed aether. It would not make sense that simply imbuing mana into the spell would completely change its structure. What if mixing the two powers however made a new form of power I thought. If both mana and aether worked together to sustain life...there has to be something above them.

My brain couldn't process more thinking so I gave up for now.

It seemed that my master was too shocked for conversation as well...

Going back into mediation I decided to work on my mana core now, especially after my huge breakthrough with aether. Only later would I experiment mixing mana and aether again.

But when I looked into my core I noticed it was strangely pale, almost crystal like with cracks all around it.

Wait...could this be...

Crack