-Elara POV-
"Fuck..."
I kick a rock and let the word spill out with a long, shaky sigh.
Turning back, the village of Calneth sits only a few miles behind me, its shadow crawling over my thoughts. Frustration knots in my chest, confusion gnaws at me. How has it gotten this bad?
The one who left that overwhelming trace of Aether in the forest… was just a child. And the Baron—damn the rumors, he's worse than them. Much worse.
Even walking through the village, I felt it—eyes. Dozens of them. Watching. Weighing. Waiting for me to step out of line. Baston himself is a puffed-up parasite, but the woman beside him… she's dangerous. One misstep, and I'll be cut to pieces.
I bury my face in my hands, dragging my fingers down until I can see the dirt through the gaps. This is a mess. I don't even have the authority anymore to strike at Calneth. If I go in and end them, I'll be prosecuted—or worse, my entire family will fall with me. And if I report them? They'll laugh, deny everything, and demand proof I can't provide.
There's no winning here.
And that child… There's something in him, something wrong. I could see it in his trembling hands, his hollow stare. He might not live much longer.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" I snarl up at the open sky. I probably look insane, standing out here cursing like a drunkard. No one would believe I'm the daughter of a duke.
"haaaaaah..."
What is the scale of their operation? How does a mere Baron like Baston Hog command so much power?
Something has to happen. I have to do something.
******
-Kaiser POV-
I open my eyes and again see the same four walls and the simple wooden door that has gaps in it, leaving me with no sense of privacy.
Baston and Nella left me a few hours ago. They brought me to my "home," they call it. It's just a room that's been dug into the side of a cave underground. There's no fresh air, only the sound of people hammering further into the cave, crying and yelling.
There's no peace here...
...This is my life now.
I close my eyes again, for maybe the hundredth time, in hopes that this is merely a dream.
Here, in the darkness that is my mind, I feel calm. Nothing can touch me in here, and I can think of anything, do anything in here.
I've been thinking about a lot of things, imagining things...
...And somehow, they've been appearing.
I open my eyes and look at the tiny bed in the corner of the room.
I made that somehow, just by imagining a bed. It felt like my organs were being ripped apart. As purple light enveloped the room, I saw purple motes of energy cascading towards the corner of the room and forming, coalescing into the tiny bed that I see now.
I touched it and even tried lying on it. It's real, I'm not crazy or anything... I figured something out just an hour ago.
I can use Aether to create stuff, like I've always been doing. I only thought I could create small items, like knives or metal rods, but I don't think there's a limit. The only limiting factor is what I think is my core. The amount of Aether I have.
Ever since I woke up by the river, surrounded by the ravens, my sternum has felt... Full? Like it could burst any moment, it hurts a lot, but whenever I use my powers, it subsides a little before overflowing quickly again.
That woman, Nella, used to say that Aether is quite rare and much more potent than Mana. It's in the air just like Mana, but not many people actually need it. Only some need Aether and Mana to live... But I feel like I have no Mana in my body.
I can't even trust what she's said in the past. She always said she was a nurse, but... a nurse wouldn't do that, a nurse wouldn't kill someone. Maybe she was lying all along?
'It's going to be alright, Kai.'
I jolt up and look around the room in a panic...
...before sitting back down.
That voice again. A woman's voice, almost motherly with how she says my name...
Could it be my mom?
B-but who is my mom? Where is she?
...
I close my eyes and try to think of anything, anyone... but nothing. Whenever I hear that voice, I feel a strange sensation bubbling up.
Hope.
I feel like I could actually escape if I used my powers. I just have to think of something, and be clever.
'Come on, think!'
...
—!
That man in the forest... Gawin, he said if you're ready to steal from people, then you'd better be ready to spill blood, and face the consequences when you get caught.
...
I look down. My hands are shaking again, just the thought of doing that again... killing. I clench my hands into fists before taking a shaky breath.
I want to live.
I imagine a small sword in my hand. The handle is made out of wood, while the blade is made out of... meteorite? I saw that in a book, and Nella talked about it once.
I feel my core practically vomiting out Aether into my hand. My body feels warm, extremely warm, as Aether passes through my body, from my core down my arms and into my hands.
C-COUGH—!
I cough out and feel my hand stained in warm, wet blood. I feel it dripping down onto my legs.
COUGH—!
I feel my core empty itself completely—!?
It's still going.
COUGH—! COUGH—! COUGH—!
My body gives up, and I fall to my side, coughing up blood, wheezing and choking on it. I can't breathe, all I can smell is blood.
I open my eyes in a panic, my body trembling violently.
The sword isn't even done, the blade is barely halfway there.
And I remember something.
Nella said that meteorite is the rarest material that can be found anywhere. It's the most expensive as well, and even using it to make weapons and armor takes thousands of hours for even the most experienced blacksmiths in the world.
And as I feel my core completely dry out, it starts sucking in Aether from the air like a vacuum as my body seizes violently. I feel regret wash over me... but not for long, as pain takes place instead.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
I see and feel the air around me compress as my core greedily sucks in the surrounding Aether to make this sword.
I feel my world blur, my consciousness fading, but I force myself to watch.
I-I have to fight, I have to live.
I can't be a little child.
I-I need to take care of myself...
...Because nobody will.
"AAAAAAAAARGH!"
I feel blood leaking from every orifice on my face, my vision turning red while the room turns a blinding purple.
I can't even see the sword, it's covered in blinding purple Aether particles.
RRRUUUUMBLEEEE—!
Even as I feel my mind fading, my body convulsing, I feel the earth around me shaking. An earthquake?
It feels like the world is ending... While I'm dying in this tiny, suffocating room.
...
After what feels like hours, I feel my core slowing down, the bright light dulling.
I barely manage to keep my eyes open, and there I see it. In front of me, on the stone floor. A beautiful but simple short sword.
The handle is made out of dark wood, but what catches the eye is the deep, dark black blade. As black as the void itself, it feels like you can see the cosmos itself within the reflection of the blade.
I can feel the pressure the material emanates. Like a vacuum, the blade sucks in Mana and Aether from the air into it.
I try to reach for it, but I can't move an inch of my body. It's locked up, fully seized. My vision is completely red from the blood. All I can smell is blood. I don't even feel the stone beneath me; all I feel is the pool of blood around me.
'H-how am I alive? I-is it the Aether?'
It doesn't matter... I look at the blade and feel a sense of accomplishment.
'I did it.'
N-now... I j-just need... to rest. J-just a... little.
******
-Elara POV-
RRRUUUUMBLEEEE—!
The earth beneath me shudders violently as an enormous surge of Aether is drawn from the air, converging beneath the east side of the village. My eyes glow as I channel some of my own Aether and Mana, tracing the flowing particles beneath the surface.
Without thinking, I launch myself into the sky, slicing through the air like a rocket. I bend soundwaves around me, minimizing resistance, and feel the wind howl past in a torrent of motion.
"Armor of Fulmen," I murmur, the incantation rolling off my tongue like a storm.
A surge of purple-blue energy courses through me. My Aether spirals outward, weaving lightning into it, forming a luminous cocoon around my body. Sparks arc across my skin as strands of violet and electric blue coil, crackle, and braid together, forming a thin sheet of pure lightning and Aether.
I feel the armor's power seep into me. It hums in tune with my heartbeat, a perfect extension of my body. I am faster, sharper, alive with energy, and ready.
I feel dozens of attacks shoot at me from the shadows, surrounding me on all sides.
With a single sweep of my hand—
C-CRACKLEEEE—!
Lightning erupts outward like a violent storm unleashed, striking every shadowed figure in an instant. Sparks leap and dance through the air, chaining from one hidden attacker to the next. The sound is deafening—a sharp, electric roar that thunders out around us and shakes the very earth beneath our feet.
I barely register the screams of pain and the gurgling of death. All I feel is the raw, crackling energy surging through my veins, my power pulsing in perfect sync with my heartbeat.
This ends here. Now.