🎙️ Special Broadcast: First Day in the Ether Tower 🎙️
[The studio lights up with holographic screens displaying exclusive footage of the participants inside the Ether Tower. Host Marcus Vey, immaculate in his electric blue suit, smiles as he settles into his armchair. Beside him, commentator Selene Rios, a former Ether Games champion, and magical analyst Dr. Orlan Voss, await with curiosity.]
🌅 Good Evening, Nexus!
MARCUS: What a start, dear viewers! The Ether Tower's cameras have brought us exclusive footage of how our 50 participants experienced their first day in absolute luxury... and the first tensions between teams.
[The main screen shows a rapid montage:]
* Team Solaris having breakfast at a table illuminated by artificial sunbeams. Zara laughing as she makes her orange juice float with a finger.
* Team Vanguard in the gym: Kael lifting pure ether weights as if they were plastic.
* Team Outcast... where Danny trips while passing near the liquid ether pool.
SELENE: Oh, by the Architects! Did you see that? He almost fell headfirst into the water! [She laughs, but not maliciously.]
DR. ORLAN: Interesting... Notice how the liquid ether slightly recoiled from contact with Danny. As if...
MARCUS: As if it knew our friend isn't used to so much magic! Let's continue!
[The cameras focus on Jake (Team Outcast) sweating as he runs on a treadmill that automatically adjusts resistance. Beside him, Lena practices precision movements with ether daggers.]
MARCUS: Look at those physiques! Jake, the ex-military, shows no mercy, while Lena demonstrates that agility is as important as strength.
[The main dining hall, where floating tables serve dishes that change flavor according to desire. Ethan (Team Outcast) smiles at the camera as he tastes a dessert that melts in colors.]
MARCUS: Even eating is a spectacle!
DR. ORLAN: Observe his posture. He eats quickly, as if he doesn't want to be seen. A reflection of someone not used to being the center of attention.
[A tour of the dormitories. Team Solaris has decorated theirs with golden lights; Team Outlaws has walls covered in strange symbols.]
MARCUS: And here, friends, the crown jewel! Rook's room, completely empty except for a single black mirror. What does that mean, Dr. Orlan?
DR. ORLAN: Disturbing. Black mirrors are tools of the Architects.
SELENE: Oh-ho-ho! Do you see Ethan's look? That kid wants to be leader, even if he doesn't say it.
MARCUS: And in Team Vanguard, Kael didn't even need a vote! Everyone knew he'd be in charge. [Cut to Kael splitting a steel table with a punch to prove his point.]
MARCUS: Tomorrow, the tutorials begin! What surprises are the Architects preparing? Who will stand out? And how long will it take Danny to fall again?
SELENE: I bet Lena will train him in secret!
[The broadcast cuts to commercials, showing sponsors and the hashtag #EtherGamesDay1.]
Ethan adjusted his shirt collar in front of the common bathroom mirror, studying every detail of his reflection under the artificial light. The gel in his brown hair was perfectly distributed, his eyebrows neatly combed, even the smile he practiced seemed genuine under the cold glare of the spotlights. Everything must be perfect, he thought, though he knew no cameras would be filming this private moment. Cell phones had been confiscated that morning, cutting his vital connection to those two million followers awaiting his updates.
A sigh escaped his lips.
"Today will be a good day," he murmured to himself, like a mantra.
The hallway to the training room was lit by streaks of blue light that swayed like waves beneath his feet. Ethan walked with the other competitors, his posture relaxed but impeccable, as if every step were choreographed for an invisible audience. Jake was at the front, shoulders tense, while Lena murmured equations under her breath. Danny, as always, lagged behind, as if trying to go unnoticed.
The service android stopped them in front of a reinforced door.
"Security Block Alpha," it announced in a neutral voice. "Here you will receive your ether bracelets and the final rules before beginning the tutorials."
The door opened with a hydraulic hiss.
Inside, the atmosphere was sterile, almost clinical. Touchscreens floated in the air, displaying basic magic diagrams, while a row of silver bracelets waited on a steel table.
Another android, taller, with eyes that glowed like gems, spoke to them:
"The magic you will use is controlled illusion," it explained, as a hologram of a human heart beat behind it. "It cannot physically harm you, but psychological pain or shame... that's up to you."
Ethan felt a chill hearing those words.
The android continued:
"The headbands you receive will monitor your brainwaves. If you attempt to force the ether beyond its limits, the system will disqualify you."
A murmur rippled through the group.
"What if someone does it anyway?" Jake asked, crossing his arms.
The android smiled, but its eyes did not change.
"Then you will experience what we call... a neural short circuit."
The silence that followed was so dense Ethan could hear the hum of the lights.
Ethan carefully took his bracelet, feeling the cold metal against his skin.
The training room door opened with a dramatic bang, and an imposing figure made her entrance. Samantha Jens, the Architect assigned to Team Outcast, was impossible to ignore. Her voluminous pink hair shimmered under the artificial light, and her bell-shaped red dress billowed with every step, as if suspended in an etheric aura. Her lips, painted an even more intense red, curved into a smile that didn't reach her cold, calculating eyes.
"Good morning, stars in the making," she said, her voice a hybrid of sweet and sharp, like candy with a razor's edge. "I am Samantha Jens, and I will be responsible for transforming this... motley group into a team worthy of the Ether Games."
Her heels echoed against the floor as she walked in front of them, evaluating each one with a gaze that seemed to see beyond their bodies, directly into their weaknesses.
She stopped in front of Jake, who maintained his military posture, arms crossed and chin held high.
"Leader, are we?" Samantha said, arching an eyebrow. "Well, Jake Torrin, let me tell you something: titles don't win games. And that arrogant smirk you're wearing as a shield will only make you stumble prematurely."
Jake clenched his jaw but didn't respond.
"Here, the responsibility is simple: if your team falls apart, it's your fault. If someone fails, it's because you didn't prepare them. So lower that head and start listening. Understood?"
A muscle in Jake's cheek trembled slightly before he nodded.
Then, she turned to Ethan, who automatically straightened his posture, his golden boy smile ready to dazzle.
"Ah, Ethan Voltaire. Six million followers, right?" Samantha said, surveying him from head to toe. "Too bad likes won't save you on the battlefield."
Ethan blinked, his smile fading for a fraction of a second.
"You put so much effort into your appearance that you forget this isn't a photoshoot. Magic isn't about looking good, it's about being good. And so far, I see no evidence of the latter."
Ethan felt heat rise in his neck but maintained his composure.
"Don't worry, Architect Jens. I'll show you I can be both."
She laughed, a sound like breaking glass.
"I hope so, influencer. For your own sake."
Finally, she stopped in front of Danny, who seemed to be mentally calculating how many ways there were to disappear at that instant.
"Danny Mercer," Samantha said, and this time her voice lost its mocking tone. It was direct, almost clinical. "Your mind is sharp, but your body is a liability. In these games, magic is only 50%. The other 50% is stamina, agility, and not collapsing at the first obstacle."
Danny swallowed.
"You need to learn to run. To dodge. Not to be out of breath in the first five minutes."
Her words were not an insult, but a fact. And that made them even sharper.
"If you don't improve your physical condition, you'll be your team's first casualty. And believe me, no one will cry for the equations kid when they're losing because of you."
The silence that followed was so dense that Danny could hear the hum of the lights, the beating of his own heart.
Samantha Jens stepped back, encompassing the team with a final look.
"The Ether Games are not just magic. They're strategy, endurance, and above all, unity. If one falls, everyone falls. And if you reach the finals with missing members, don't expect my help."
She paused, letting her words resonate.
"So here's the deal: work as a team, or prepare to fail live in front of the whole world."
Training began with a snap of Samantha Jens's fingers.
"Forget what you think you know about magic," she said, raising her own bracelet, which glowed with an intense red. "Ether isn't just energy; it's language. And today you will learn its alphabet."
With a fluid motion, her index finger traced a rune in the air. Not a scribble, but a precise geometric figure, whose lines briefly burned in space before solidifying into a perfect sphere of fire, suspended above her palm.
"The Ignis rune," she explained, as the ball slowly rotated. "It's not enough to just draw it. You must feel its form in your mind before your fingers reproduce it. Like signing an invisible painting."
Ethan raised his bracelet, concentrating. He'd seen participants from past seasons do this on television: elegant movements, controlled explosions. How hard could it be?
He drew the rune in the air. Or at least, he tried.
His golden line trembled, uneven, like a child learning to write. The bracelet emitted an error beep.
"It's not a scribble, Voltaire," Samantha commented from behind, making the others let out nervous laughs. "Precision. Not charisma."
Ethan clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath and tried again. This time, the rune formed completely, though crooked. The bracelet vibrated, and a golden flash erupted from his fingers...
...only to vanish into sparks a second later.
"Come on!" he protested, frustrated.
Beside him, Jake already had a stable fireball, brutally functional, like everything about him, while Lena adjusted hers with small wrist movements, as if calibrating an instrument.
Samantha paced among them, observing each attempt.
"Ether responds to certainty," she said, stopping next to Ethan. "It's not magic of lies. If you doubt even for an instant, the fire will spit in your face."
With a gesture, she made Ethan's ball reinflate, stable this time.
"It's not enough to want it. You must know the rune is correct. Like knowing the sun will rise tomorrow."
Ethan looked at the sphere in his hand, feeling its warmth for the first time without fear.
Ethan observed the room with a mixture of frustration and determination. Everyone was failing; Jake drew one after another, as if speed was everything. Lena was more practical; Sophia was scribbling...
And then there was Danny.
The chubby, sweaty kid everyone underestimated, including him until a few minutes ago.
Ethan watched him trace the rune in the air with meticulous movements, as if following an invisible blueprint. His fireball wasn't the biggest or brightest, but it was perfect in its form, stable and controlled.
Something about that burned him more than his own failure.
"Hey... you're doing that too well."
He approached with his golden boy smile, the one he used in interviews and meet-and-greets. Danny startled, almost dropping his fireball.
"Uh... thanks," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.
Ethan noticed how Danny's fingers tensed around the rune, as if expecting a taunt. And for the first time, he felt something akin to guilt.
"Seriously," he insisted, lowering his voice. "What's your trick? Because I only get sparks that look like dragon sneezes."
Danny blinked, surprised. Then, with a shyness that almost made him inaudible, he explained:
"I... I imagine the air as graph paper. The rune isn't a free drawing... it follows a path. Three straight lines, a 60-degree angle here, a gentle curve there..."
His hands recreated the stroke, slow, pedagogical.
Ethan imitated him, this time with genuine attention. And it worked.
The golden line from his bracelet flowed straight, precise, and the fireball that was born from it remained steady in his palm.
"Wow! I did it!" he exclaimed, laughing.
Danny smiled, barely a glimmer, but enough for Ethan to notice how rare it was to see him like this: confident, useful, in his element.
The silence that followed was awkward. Danny fidgeted with the edge of his sweatshirt, took a deep breath, and blurted out:
"Could you... help me with physical training?"
The words sounded forced, as if they had taken him hours of practice to say. Ethan looked at him, immediately understanding: Samantha Jens had humiliated him, and Danny, for the first time, was asking for help.
Ethan Voltaire, the influencer, the favorite, would have rejected the offer in another context.
But the Ethan who had just failed again and again until the "salsa kid" taught him the trick... that Ethan nodded.
"Sure. We start tomorrow at 5 AM. But be warned: I won't be gentle," he said, with a wink that softened the threat.
📢 The Internet Explodes! 💥
The first day of the Ether Games in the Ether Tower unleashed a wave of comments. Here's a glimpse of what was burning up the networks:
* Danny is the audience's "mood": "I'd trip in a place that fancy too 😂," @FanAverage tweeted, while videos of his falls flooded #DannyVsGravity.
* Kael showed his strength by smashing a table 💪, which ignited #KaelOrKillMe, with fans like @VanguardSimp begging for "more content like that 🥵."
* Ethan's glances at Danny did not go unnoticed 👀, generating the ship #DethanIsReal and conspiracy theories.
* The mysterious Rook remained silent, but his ability to make a glass of water explode with a gesture only fueled #RookTheSilent and suspicions that he's an Architect ✨.
* Zara and Kael began an epic rivalry, calling each other "brute" and "filler muscles," respectively, escalating #ZaraVsKael 🥊.
* Lena earned the nickname #LenaTheGenius 🧠 for spending hours in the library with untitled books, while Jake impressed with his high-intensity training in #JakeTheWall 🏃♂️.
* Clara amazed everyone with her speed in the gym, leaving an ether trail and creating #ClaraTheFlash ⚡.
* Tobias maintained his silence, but his single phrase "pass the salt" turned him into #TobiasTheGhost 👻.
* Sophia showed her agility with an unexpected parkour move in the common room, celebrated in #SophiaParkour 🤸♀️.
* The viral moment was the ship between Helios and Dorian from Solaris, when Helios helped Dorian with the Ignis rune, causing a golden explosion and a "That's not in the manual! 😱" from Zara, all under the hashtag #OsirisBLGate.
* Lyra (Sage) read Tycho's mind, who responded by drawing a perfect rune that spelled "Shut up 🤫," standing out in #SecondaryChaos.
* Rivalries were plentiful: Nova (Solaris) ended up in a closet after criticizing Mira's (Vanguard) "brute style," and Lux (Outlaws) tried to hack Juno's (Sage) rune book, who encrypted it in binary code, leaving him crying in a corner 😭.
* Rook demonstrated an unsettling control by making ether recoil from him 😬, while it was revealed that Kara (Outcast) has retractable claws under her gloves 😼.
* Fans went wild over Ethan getting soaked after Danny's failed Aqua spell 👕💦, and Selene's "nail therapy" for Rook, solidifying an unexpected ship #RookAndSelene 💕.
🔥 ETHERLINK TRENDING: SECRETS, SPARKS, AND FORBIDDEN SHIPS 🔍
Day 3 – The first magic lesson ignites tensions... and romance
📢 COMMENT THAT SUMMED IT ALL UP:
@EtherPhilosopher
"Team Solaris has chemistry (literally). Team Vanguard has testosterone. Team Sage has secrets. Team Outlaws has killer-lover vibes. And Team Outcast... well, they have Danny. 😅"
🔥 RISING HASHTAGS:
* #HandsOnFire 🔥 (Helios x Dorian edits)
* #SageSecrets 🤫 (3.1M posts)
* #DannyTheDisaster 🤦♂️ (1.9M posts)
(Updated every 5 seconds. EtherLink recommends group therapy after this chapter. 🛋️)