“I and Hephradet personally studied it, but found nothing. Here you go.”Kleya handed back the strange item back to Zeke.“There’s no Aether or any other foreign energy inside. We couldn’t determine its purpose.”“I see. Thank you anyway.”“Don’t worry about it. You should rest more or else I’ll never hear the end of it from Jenny.”Zeke wryly smiled and nodded. His mother kept nagging him day and night, telling him to rest and not continuously wander around the castle checking on everyone and making sure there were no issues.His body was already healthy and he felt no odd disturbances or unexpected awakenings. Everything is as normal as it could be.Just as Kleya left the room, Jennifer came in. Behind her was a red-faced Celestia, which made Zeke frown.“Mom?”Surprisingly, Jennifer grabbed his ear and pulled him to the couch.“Did I not tell you to overdo it?”“W-what? I haven’t done anything!”“That’s not what she told me!”Celestia stood a distance away, her head lowered in emba
The sun rays pierced through the worn-out window curtains, signaling the beginning of another monotonous day. A boy, seventeen years of age, groaned in annoyance and reluctantly got off the bed. Apart from the usual lack of sleep and absence of enthusiasm, the teenager felt frustrated over the fact that he had to go to school and, as always, be subjected to unwarranted bullying. Zeke absent-mindedly stared at the wall for a good minute or two before changing his clothes and going downstairs. His parents, as was their wont, were at work and his big sister was living in the school’s dormitory, thus he had to eat breakfast alone. The unwillingness to head to school was almost overwhelming, nevertheless, Zeke purged any thoughts of skipping due to how ludicrously expensive it was to get admitted in the first place. To begin with, only a selected few individuals were accepted into Erys, his school. All thanks to their ability to manipulate Aether. However, Zeke was one of a handful of s
Alas, this peculiar occurrence was abruptly interrupted by Julia, who waved her hand right in front of his eyes. As he snapped out of it, he realized that the light vanished and the sky returned to normal. “I asked you a question.” “What?” He stared at her with visible confusion, his mind still wondering about what he had just witnessed. He wasn’t crazy enough to see such a realistic hallucination, nor was he on drugs or any substances, therefore, he was certain that it wasn’t just a simple trick. “I said; Why don’t you grow a pair of balls?” “...” Still not understanding, Zeke contented with silence, which only irritated the girl. She pushed her long auburn hair to the back and leaned her face closer to his. “You’re a man, aren’t you? How can you let Azmer boss you around?” He swept his eyes across Julia and her four friends then calmly responded, “I don’t see how it is any different than what you are doing.” “What? You think I’m bullying you? You should be glad Azmer is an
“Thank you for helping me. Your name is Zeke, right? I’m Amelia from class B.”“...”Even after she introduced herself, Zeke was still confused about her slightly odd behavior. He was certain that she did not follow him just to express her gratitude. However, as a defect, he always felt disinclined to socialise with people as that could make life worse, for himself and his friends.It wasn’t that he preferred solitude, but that his circumstances led him to be alone. He was a Defect, a student incapable of manipulating Aether, therefore, it was better and safer to be alone rather than implicate other people.When he first enrolled into Erys, Zeke did try to talk to people and make a friend or two, but w
The fact that he, even for a moment, Zeke was able to manipulate Aether and even shoot a literal bolt of lightning should be a celebratory cause. However, as someone knowledgeable about Aether, Zeke knew that the dizziness he was experiencing was due to the lack of Aether within his body. Ever since arriving on this planet, the human bodies saw a dramatic change and an irreversible change. One generation after the other, the humans adapted to this different environment and their bodies necessitated Aether as much as oxygen, meaning that, without Aether, one’s body would cease to function. In essence, Aether has become a fundamental necessity for survival and though the majority of the humans living on The Aether Planet cannot wield this form of energy, they still have it lingering in their body. This self-sustain
As he anticipated, dumping PE into a main path was extremely beneficial and seemed to be right play, rather than unlocking multiple paths without focusing on just one. [You obtained the skill ‘Spark’] [You gained 3 Aether] [User: Zeke Orland] [Race: Human] [Level 2 (5/30 EXP)] [Strength: 26] [Agility: 25] [Aether: 13] [Paths: Martial Arts (1/12) inactive | Aether Voltage (4/22) active ] [Skills: Fists of Fury(Proficiency 100%) - Aether Control(Proficiency 2%) - Voltage Zap(Proficiency 20%) - Spark (Proficiency 0%)] [Available PE: 0] After activating the Aether Voltage Path, which was an easy
With no distractions and ample time, Zeke spent Saturday and Sunday either researching comprehensive and informative books about Aether, or completing the Daily Tasks and going a step further to increase his stats by surpassing his physical limits. Unfortunately, obtaining stats through sheer effort was easier said than done. Within two days, he only managed to increase his Strength and Agility by 2 points respectively, which was a welcome but less than satisfactory result. His physique was slowly but surely becoming better, though there had been close to no change in terms of appearance. Excluding the regular exercises, Zeke focused on his Aether, specifically ‘Aether Control’, ‘Voltage Zap’, and ‘Spark’. After a relatively long meditation session, following the emptying of his Life Aether through the use of two consecutive ‘Voltage Zap’, Zeke tried to see if ‘Aether Control’ could be used as a regenerative alternative instead of simple rest. Alas, his experimentation was uns
It took Zeke a lot of effort to return home as his body was beaten and battered. Previously, when he retaliated against Rodrick and helped Amelia, he felt slightly satisfied. However, those cheerful emotions were drowned out after Rodrick humiliated him.Never had Zeke felt so useless and angry, it was almost overwhelming.He looked at his reflection in the mirror: A bruised face filled with cuts from the violent slaps, stiff lips that had coagulated blood, and a still-bleeding nose.“Oh Rodrick… I will come for you first.”The teenager spoke to himself as he controlled his rising rage and walked away.With no one to tend to his wounds, and the adamance to seek his si