(Arthur's pov).
The darkness of the upcoming death vanished. Instead, my vision was tinged with a shade of lavender, as purple aether motes gathered, as if to celebrate my success, my ascension. I felt it in my very bones, skin, heart, and soul. I had succeeded, even if by less than ideal means.
I remembered Regi's words, him telling me what my next legacy relic was, most likely locked behind the universal law of death. As I ran, I tried everything I could; I definitely didn't want to resort to that option. But alas, my options ran out, especially with the creature finally catching me. And in the final moments of my life, I banked on aether itself. The energy of divine beings, to realize what I needed it to do, without me ordering it. And surprisingly the desperate act worked. I stared at the creatures, the things that had frightened me not even a few minutes ago, feeling weak. And so, an aetheric blade manifested in my hands, djinn armor morphing around me. Apparently connected to this achievement.
Soon two horns grew out of the sides of my head, just like the ones Grey had. The feeling of them growing, not painful nor pleasant, was just.
Soon I rose up, aether gathering around me. A creature lunged, barring its wicked fangs. In the same second, it was headless, the head obliterated by the raw force.
The kthers backed off, apparently intelligent enough to realize when they were facing a threat. I glared at the once ferocious beasts, now mere cowardly dogs.
One turned to run, the others following its lead. I didn't let them, six lances forming behind my head, shooting through each creature.
Soon the dust settled, revealing six small craters, the bodies disinterested. I merely sighed, willing the aether to return to the very nature I took it from.
And so as I looked around, seeing no other options, I started walking, no destination in mind, just the burning need to leave this place.
(3rd person pov)
[A/N: Sorry to put this here, but I have a question.
Which pov should I focus on? I can write either one.]
Arthur walked across the ever-shaping wasteland, no creature insight, no nature either, it was only him and the very world he was in, trapped with no one knowing how to escape. And so he just traveled, from place to place, training with his aether every time he rested. Each time he tried to replicate his abilities with lure aether. A challenge far greater without anything to channel the energy through.
On the 5th day of Arthur traveling in this new world, he felt it, a gaze. A gaze so profoundly powerful yet warm, a gaze he knew very well. Arthur's head shot upwards, meeting eye to eye with the invisible presence. Arthur knew the presence, it was Grey, or at least a fragment of him. Yet the gaze did not say anything, even as Arthur shouted for help. Soon the gaze vanished entirely, seemingly bored or perhaps having made sure Arthur was still alive.
Arthur let out an annoyed huff, his already bad mood even worse.
"Of course, he didn't help!" He shouted out through clenched teeth.
Yet Arthur didn't say anything else, just continued walking in a straight line. His feet passed over lava that turned to ice, the very void that turned to solid air and solid rocks. It was an interesting feeling, pleasing on the feet after hours of walking. And as the days bled into the second week of his being here, Arthur started to figure out things.
He somewhat started to understand the space around him, aether collecting the information. It was a domain of one's will, a separate place created from the reality of the user's soul. Which meant Grey had placed him here, for whatever reason. Or perhaps Arthur was never meant to be here?
Arthur could only ponder such questions. Arthur also came to the conclusion that his hypothesis about the place around was correct. It was Grey who made the beasts, most likely to push him to use aether. This only created more questions for Arthur.
***
Arthur now sat on the ground, meditating. He was trying to enter his soul sea, which was difficult without the spell's help. Soon he succeeded, his first time being in his soul sea since the encounter with the vile things.
And when he looked up—
"What the fuck?!"
Arthur shouted out, his distress reasonable, after all there was a fourth core hanging in the sky. A core that Arthur knew he had lost. Yet after observing the core more, Arthur realized that this was not his usual destruction core, no, it was something far greater. The core itself was a brighter shade of violet than the other cores, it moving around lazily, purple motes entering and exciting it occasionally.
Arthur realized that this was the famed aether core Grey had. Although he didn't know which layer it was, it didn't quite matter; the boon was far greater than he ever imagined. No wonder aether felt so different, so much more refined under his control.
After a few moments of deliberating and staring at the core with awe, Arthur left his soul sea.
He did not move from his position, this time focusing on the aether itself. Arthur had gained a plan to escape this place. Which was to form his own domain inside Grey's, if this was even what Arthur thought this was.
However, there was a big problem: Arthur knew how strong Grey was; there was no question about it. And their wills would clash without a doubt. And Arthur was merely an ascended, trying to will the place to obey him, inside of a being that was perhaps divine.
And so he focused, willing aether to create a dime around him. Soon enough, the task was completed, the aether swirling all around his sweat-soaked body.
Then he tried to shape the very fundamentals of the space trapped inside the sphere, trying to change it. Only for his eyes to widen, as the ground stopped moving.
It had worked, yet not the technique he wanted.
This was a technique he already knew quite well, Static void. Arthur saw this as a huge benefit; in his mind, the feat proved that he could at least manipulate the area around him.
[A/N: Had written this yesterday just forgot to post it, my bad. Chapters will slow down, work is increasing again, so yeah.]
Thanks for reading and support!
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