The private place Elisabeth had mentioned was a dimensional space she had created herself with her own hands. She and Solvane Kaen arrived in a sort of castle. It was truly luxurious, but not in the traditional sense of the term.
This castle did not have any of the usual features of a noble castle. It looked more like an ancient castle worn down by time, but which had not lost its original character.
The wood was preserved by some miracle or something else, although we could see some cobwebs here and there. The whole structure was clean, as if time had stood still.
Kaen and Solvane asked the question at the same time, "Where are we?" They looked into each other's eyes, and Solvane let out a beautiful smile.
Elisabeth looked at them and said, "Follow me, I'll tell you later."
He went through a door, and the atmosphere changed from that of a castle to that of a cave or underground passage.
She paused for a second.
"Watch where you're walking," she whispered, but the echoes carried her words to everyone present.
Kaen and Solvane looked at each other, so confused that you could practically see question marks above their heads.
Then they began to follow her hesitantly.
"We're here," said Elisabeth firmly.
"Big sister, there's nothing here. Have you gone senile?" said Solvane innocently but also teasingly.
Elisabeth snapped her fingers, and purple flames began to fill the entire room.
Kaen and Solvane began to scan their surroundings. It was a kind of Roman coliseum, but much larger, about four times the size of a football stadium and much darker.
Elisabeth clapped her hands together this time to get their attention.
Kaen and Solvane turned around, attentive to what was about to happen.
"Before we begin," she said in a serious, almost military tone, but with a hint of tenderness, "you need to know what you are now."
Her ruby eyes fixed on Kaen.
"What you have become."
Kaen held her gaze as if to tell her he was ready.
"There are many paths to power in this world." Elisabeth continued, beginning a slow circle around them. "The most common is cultivation channeling mana or aura through your body, forming a core, ascending through the ranks.
She looked at Kaen with a smirk. "You've awakened your trait, haven't you?"
Kaen felt his heart race and wondered what she knew about him, about his evolution, and even about his transmigration into this world.
"Yes," he finally replied after a few seconds of silence and reflection.
Two very different reactions ensued. Solvane was very shocked but looked at him with his usual gentle smile, while Elisabeth looked at him with a predatory smile.
As a dignified lady and the eldest member of the von Celestain family, Elisabeth quickly regained her composure. "So tell me, Kaen, what do you know about traits?"
"Not much," Kaen said, looking lost.
"Traits," she said, "are not techniques you learn or skills you master. They are fundamental aspects of your existence, woven into your being itself."
She raised one of her fingers.
There are only two ways to obtain them. The first is through blood. If you are descended from the gods, then your trait may well awaken during a breakthrough. For ducal families, it is different. Their blood is very pure, and their traits almost always awaken during their awakening.
The second is through faith. By becoming an apostle of a god, by binding yourself to its essence, you will be able to obtain a trait related to the domain over which the god reigns.
She lowered her hand.
For example, if someone becomes the apostle of a god of judgment, they could receive a train related to karma. A power that would weaken enemies based on their karma: the greater their crimes, the more their powers would be weakened.
Kaen's mind raced. Only two ways. Divine blood or apostleship.
But the System had given him "Nothingness."
He wasn't an apostle. And while his body apparently had divine blood, the trait hadn't come from that but from the System itself, from completing those trials.
"There are only two ways to obtain a trait," he asked, being careful not to arouse suspicion. "Divine blood and by becoming an apostle?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure, and remember that this knowledge is not known to non-noble families because of the rarity of these cases." Elisabeth replied seriously, as any teacher would, while studying him. Why do you know of another method?
Kaen hesitated over what to say. If he mentioned the system, she might ask questions he couldn't answer and discover that he wasn't her brother.
Shivers of fear ran through his body just thinking about how he would end up if it were discovered.
"No," he said categorically. I just wanted to know if there were other ways to obtain traits for educational purposes only. He looked at his older sister with such conviction and firmness in his eyes that no one could believe he was lying. He was like those nerds in class.
"Traits linked to divine blood awaken gradually. The stronger you become, the more your traits' power manifests."
She turned to Solvane.
Your sister is an example.
Solvane confirmed her sister's words with a careful nod of her head. A glimmer of pride was visible, but it was controlled and brief.
"Solvane's first trait is called Fabrications. Elisabeth continued to explain: "She can create weapons or objects that she can perfectly conceptualize from the ambient mana."
Kaen looked at his younger sister: "We have divine blood?"
Solvane nodded. "All the members of our family have divine blood, which is why we are high nobility. According to legend, our ancestors were even very close to the gods.
"Solvane is at the highest level of the awakened rank," Elisabeth continued. "She is very close to breaking through, and when she does, she will be able to improve her trait or gain a second one."
Her attention turned back to Kaen, judging him.
"You, little brother, awakened your core three days ago. You are at the very beginning of the awakened level, but sometings..."
She paused.
"Something has changed. Your aura is different."
Kaen felt his heart tremble with unease. Did you feel the three bodies? No, impossible. The system hides them.
Different how?
Elizabeth remained silent, placing her left hand on her chin to think about what was happening.
She began to stare at him even more intently, as if she were going to kill him with a single glance.
"Your aura..." Her hand trembled. "How is that possible?"
What?
The energy you used just now was neither pure mana nor pure aura; it was something else, as if you had managed to combine these two types of energy into one.
She sighed heavily.
"This is madness." Even the children of the great clans, trained from the age of 7, never manage to balance them and use only one: mana or aura.
"You already have traces of ether within you. It may not be a true ether core, but it is the foundation of ether."
She stepped toward him, took him by the shoulders, and asked.
"What happened in those forests?"
What could he say? That he had undergone a trial in his own mind, that a mysterious system that had appeared out of nowhere had given him three cores? That he had banged his head against the ground 118 times in an attempt to kill himself?
"I don't know," he lied. "Everything is blurry. I fought the boar, and that's all I remember."
Elizabeth began to look at him.
He knew he couldn't fool her, but he tried anyway.
Finally, she sighed.
"You're hiding something," she said, not in an accusatory tone, but just to state a fact.
"But I won't force you to talk if you don't want to. Everyone has their own secrets."
She crossed her arms, put her hand on her chin, and said, "You have to be careful. Ether is powerful, but at this stage of your evolution, it can destroy you."
"Huh? What do you mean by 'destroy you'?" Kaen asked, a little panicked.
"Ether is a fusion of mana and aura, so it's much more powerful, but also unstable for someone who hasn't even learned to control their aura and mana." Elisabeth continued, "But remember that most awakened ones didn't even use both paths of ascension at the same time, because it takes time and monstrous talent.
The price of misusing ether at your level is annihilation.
But the fact that you already have traces of ether within you proves your tremendous potential. At this stage, calling you a genius would be an insult.
"Very well, I will teach you the basics," said Elisabeth, "how to fight, how to use mana and aura, and how to use a weapon effectively."
She looked at Solvane.
"You will train together at first. Solvane needs to refine his control and breakthrough, and Kaen needs to learn everything from scratch."
Elisabeth began to smile with a sadistic grin.
"I guarantee that by the end of this week, you'll hate me. But I also guarantee that when this training is over, you'll be strong enough to survive in this world even without me."
Solvane and Kaen's eyes became more serious than ever.
Well, we have a week to turn Kaen into an elite and refine Solvane's prodigious talent.
She turned his gaze to Kaen and explained the situation to him.
"First-year students aren't here to play around; they are the future elite of their respective nations."
"You're behind, because most first-years already have five years of training behind them. You need to catch up with them, and fast."
"Or?" asked Kaen.
"Or the world will devour you, little brother. Stellaris Academy is not a school for the weak; it's a battlefield."
She clapped her hands to change the subject, resuming her instructor tone.
"But before you really start training, you must learn the basics of cultivation."
She raised one of her fingers.
The path to awakening is broken down into stages. Each stage fundamentally transforms your body and your existence, which explains why, in general, people of lower rank cannot fight against those of higher rank.
Awaken is the very first stage of cultivation. You form a core and begin to be able to manipulate energy (F-, F, F+).
"You are at the beginning of the awakening rank, while Solvane is at the end. The gap between your two ranks is not to be taken lightly, even if you are at the same rank."
She raised a second hand.
"After awakening comes initiation. Your core solidifies, you lay the foundations of your fighting style, and you have greater control over your elements."
She lowered her hand.
"As for the other cultivation ranks, you don't need to know about them. You will learn when the time comes."
"What matters now is not these ranks, but understanding what mana, aura, and ether really are."
She began again to launch into lengthy explanations.
Mana is an external energy. It exists everywhere in the environment: in the air, water, and earth. Magicians use it to manipulate their elements, even if, at first, it is very weak and slow.
Aura is an internal energy. It is used to strengthen your muscles and body and improve your overall physical abilities. It can also be used to sharpen a blade, increase the piercing power of a spear, etc.
Finally, there is ether, a fusion of the two, an internal and external energy whose origin we do not really know. It remains mysterious, even after all this time.
Elisabeth looked Kaen in the eyes.
"Ether users can also simply use aura or mana, even if they only have one core left. When aura and mana are fused, they become one, and that's also why it's dangerous."
She continued to stare at Kaen for a few seconds, even though there had been silence for a few moments.
"Lose control of mana, and your body will be burned; lose control of your aura, and your body will explode; lose control of ether, and you will cease to exist."
Kaen and Solvane felt goosebumps.
Kaen and Solvane felt goosebumps.
Élisabeth could now see the fire burning in their eyes.
"Okay, the theory is now over, let's move on to the practical part, which is torture, I mean training, begins.
The flames in Kaen and Solvane's eyes began to flicker.
They didn't know what they had gotten themselves into, but they already began to regret it.