Awakening The Ether (4)

The world did not explode.

It did not shatter into a thousand brilliant fragments of energy like Nox had expected.

Instead, it simply shifted.

For a single, breathless moment, the air around him became weightless.

Like he was standing at the center of something vast and unfathomable.

The pressure that had once sought to crush him now flowed around him, no longer an opposing force, but something familiar—like an unseen river that had always been there, waiting for him to see it.

His body felt light, yet rooted.

His mind was clear, yet vast.

For the first time in his short life, he wasn't reaching out for power.

And yet, power had found him.

Evelyn stepped forward, the faintest smile tugging at her lips.

"Good,"

She said softly, but there was something else in her voice now—satisfaction, maybe even the slightest trace of pride.

"You've finally stopped resisting."

Nox blinked.

His small hands tingled with the aftershock of whatever had just happened, but he wasn't sure what to do with it.

"So… that's it?"

His voice was quiet, but steady.

"I just stop fighting, and suddenly Ether answers me?"

Evelyn let out a quiet chuckle, shaking her head.

"No, you misunderstand. Ether doesn't 'answer' you. It was never separate from you to begin with. That's the mistake every novice makes—they think of Ether as something external, something to be grasped, something to be harnessed. But Ether is not an object. It is not a tool."

Her gaze sharpened, her amethyst eyes gleaming in the dim morning light.

"Ether is existence itself. It is the foundation of all things. It flows through the air you breathe, the ground beneath your feet, the sky above your head. It is not something you reach for—it is something you have always been a part of. And the only thing that kept you from realizing that truth…"

She tapped a finger against his forehead.

"…Was your own damn mind."

Nox exhaled slowly, absorbing her words.

He felt different, that much was undeniable.

The energy thrumming beneath his skin was not the same as the raw, brute force he had once envisioned.

It wasn't a fire to be kindled, nor a sword to be wielded.

It was simply there.

Ever-present.

Infinite.

Waiting.

And for the first time—he understood.

Evelyn's expression turned serious.

"But just because you've felt it doesn't mean you understand how to use it. Awakening Ether isn't the end of your struggle, Nox. It's the beginning. Now that you've stopped resisting, now that you've let it in, you need to learn how to shape it—how to make it your own, how to turn it into something that obeys your will without you needing to force it."

Nox frowned.

"And how do I do that?"

Evelyn smirked.

"Through instinct."

"…"

At his unimpressed expression, she let out a quiet laugh.

"I know, I know. It sounds vague, but that's because Ether isn't something that follows rigid rules like a sword technique or a mathematical formula. Ether is alive. It responds to emotion, to intent. It is molded by your self, by your soul. Every wielder's Ether is different because it is a reflection of them—their nature, their personality, their desires."

Her voice dropped slightly, growing softer yet sharper, as if cutting through the very air itself.

"Tell me, Nox… what do you desire?"

The question struck deeper than he expected.

He had always known his answer, hadn't he?

Since the day he first learned what it meant to be weak, since the day he was forced to look up at those stronger than him and realize how insignificant he truly was.

He clenched his small fists.

"I want to become strong."

Evelyn shook her head.

"No. That's a goal, not a desire. I'm asking what drives you. What fuels you. What burns inside you so fiercely that even if the world itself turned against you, you would still stand tall, unyielding. You say you want to be strong? Then tell me—why?"

Nox's throat tightened.

He wanted to say it was because he had no choice.

Because the world was cruel, because power was the only thing that mattered, because those without it were nothing more than insects waiting to be crushed underfoot.

But somehow, he knew that wasn't the real answer.

The real answer was deeper.

The real answer was rage.

Not the wild, uncontrollable fury of a beast. Not the blind, senseless wrath of someone lashing out at the world.

No.

His rage was cold.

It was calculated.

It had been honed over five years of suffering, sharpened into something dangerous.

He didn't just want to be strong.

He wanted to be free.

He wanted to stand at the top, to no longer be at the mercy of anyone or anything.

He wanted to carve his own path, to dictate his own fate.

He wanted to ensure that never again would he be helpless.

He met Evelyn's gaze, his voice steady, unshaken.

"I want to forge my own destiny."

For the first time since they met, her expression shifted.

Her smirk faded, replaced by something almost… knowing.

"Then that is the key,"

She said.

"That is the foundation upon which your Ether will be built. Hold onto that feeling, that truth, because the moment you doubt it—the moment you let the world tell you who you should be instead of deciding for yourself—you will fall."

She took a step back, raising her hand.

"Now,"

She continued,

"Let's see what your Ether really looks like."

A sudden force erupted from her palm, an invisible pressure rushing toward him like a tidal wave.

The very air seemed to vibrate with power, the stone beneath their feet cracking from the sheer intensity.

But Nox did not flinch.

He did not back down.

Instead—

He breathed.

And as he exhaled—

The world answered.

A pulse, deep and resonant, rippled outward from within him.

Unlike before, it was not chaotic, not wild or unstable.

It was cold.

Sharp.

Controlled.

It did not explode outward in reckless fury—it cut through the air, precise and deadly.

Evelyn's eyes widened ever so slightly as the pressure she had released was severed, dissipating into nothingness before it could even reach him.

For a long moment, silence reigned between them.

Then—

She laughed.

Low and quiet at first, but then growing louder, richer, until it echoed through the training grounds like a song of triumph.

"Oh,"

She murmured, her gaze gleaming with something bordering on delight.

"Now this is interesting."

Nox didn't speak.

Because in that moment, as the power within him settled, as the realization of what he had just done sank in.