"Come on come one come on!" My entire willpower was focused onto a small area before me where a strange gloop was floating as my palms stood on its sides, constantly pouring in what little mana I had left from the previous expenditures of attempts.
Pzzzt!
The gloop collapsed on itself soon after as the mana, which I had barely managed to condensed into a mass, dispersed onto the atmosphere.
"Ugh... A.I record attempt please."
[Attempt number 223, recorded.]
I have been toiling away for almost 2 weeks and all I had managed to do was condensing the Aether mana into a semi-solid form. The next step, stabilizing the condensed mana and turning it into a complete solid seemed like miles away even though I was a mere step away from it.
I had already been able to perform the first step of the process which is converting a matter into Aether mana. I have been using anything I could get my hands on such as logs, stones, dirt and even certain leftover foods for practice.
The issue was the second step. The Aether, from my observations, seemed to have a natural tendency to want to transform into the energy tree element such as fire, light or wind in relative to the 'matters' such as water or earth. The issue was that, in order to convert the mana it had to be stabilized else the mana will collapse on itself during the conversion process.
[Suggestions to lessen the input of mana and put in more focus onto the stabilization of the mana.]
'I know, you've told me this over a dozen times. I'm just not proficient in it enough.'
I sat down dejectedly on a nearby piece of log as I thought.
'It doesn't make sense that the amount of mana I'm putting in is the issue. The issue is that I am not proficient enough in handling mana to handle my own personal, hyper dense and pure mana.'
'Wait...What if I divided the Aether mana after the first step into multiples and focusing on one?'
It would be a huge waste of mana to do so but as long as got accustomed to the sensation of stabilizing a piece of the Aether mana, I was sure I would be able to handle the other divided pieces before they dispersed into the air.
I stood up from the log as I held my hands against it and started to pour in my mana.
From the area closest to my hands, the log started to slowly disintegrate and turn into a grey mist.
As soon as the entire log turned into the grey mist, I willed the mist to condense onto a single point.
"Haaa!". With a shout, I watched the mist flow onto a single point before starting to form a strange semi-solid gloop as I quickly split them into 5 pieces.
I focused onto a single orb and let the four other pieces disperse and started to stabilize the mana.
Soon.
Sssss..
The small gloop smoothed onto an orb as it slowly stabilized.
"Yes!". I exclaimed out loud as I maintained the orb, getting used to the sensation I was currently going through.
[Congratulations doctor. Although the process is extremely inefficient, you have succeeded in solidifying a piece of the Aether element.]
"Time for the 2nd part... transformation!" I willed the mana to change into the properties of the light element within my memories and experience.
Soon.
The grey orb started to slowly let out a shine as a small marble made of blinding light was created. "...Wasn't that too easy?" I said out in slight confusion as I observed the blinding ball from the sides of my eyes.
[Procedure recorded. please attempt more elements. This will ensure I have enough data to fully simulate the conversion of the Aether element into any element.]
"I guess fire and light are fundamentally the same since they are both made of energy, just a different form of energy. Light burns away its own mana whilst fire burns something else and only burns its own mana when theres nothing else to burn..." I spoke my thoughts out loud.
"I need to first learn how to stabilize the other pieces of the Mana instead of wasting it before jumping onto other elements..." With those words, I walked into the tower to return to eat, clean and rest for the day. The sun had already been setting when I succeeded the creation step and now it had almost gone down.
-----
"It's true! I saw him complete the first step!"
"It was called 'Creation' right? Damn, I wish I had the Aether element."
"He's a genius for being able to master it this early, we can barely master the basic usage of our own elements in 2 weeks much less master a complex procedure that the Aether element has."
As I ate, I could hear the other magi and apprentices, even some players, stealing glances and whispering about me.
Though they weren't insults and closer to praises, it still didn't really feel great when being talked about. Especially because I was used to being alone...
Wait...
How did I know I was used to being alone?
Anyways.
I quickly completed my meal before heading out from the canteen to return to my room. A good rest was needed for my mana to recover so I could go through more experiments in the morning.
"Maybe he will be able to reach the realms of the legendary Magi of the past..."
"Hmm... I did hear about an ancient prophecy of the past hinting about 'The One' being an Aether element user..."
"There have been Aether Magi in the past who have been hailed as 'The One' in the past, but none of them truly were."
"These prophecies from ancient times are just simple lore, bedtime stories the nobles tell children. I have never heard of an actual prophecy coming true much less being made by anyone. There are no such things as 'Seers' who can see into the future."
"Well... There is another ancient data from the archaic period hinting that if one person masters all three of the origin element, they will ascend into a god-like being."
"Gods don't exist."
"Yeah... Not in this forsaken world..."
A silence followed the canteen.
-----
In a dimly lit room, twelve silhouettes sat around a table.
"Aries... I heard that an Aether Magi has appeared upon this plane..."
"Taurus, I wonder how you learned of that with your thick head."
"It's true. He is currently within the Central tower."
"Ugh, that's the territory of that silver dragon. I'm not going near that thing ever again."
"Cancer, just because you almost died and lost an arm doesn't mean we can simply let an Aether Magus to grow freely!"
"Silence" A booming voice appeared.
"Yes Leo." Eleven voices resonated out in unison.
"Just eye the boy for now, if you see the possibility of him becoming a threat... Then you may purseue him." The booming voice, 'Leo', spoke out. "Dismissed."
"As you will."
The eleven silhouettes dispersed into thin air as 'Leo' looked up towards the candle.
A pair of glowing yellow eyes could momentarily be seen, reflecting the light from the small candle before it died out, leaving behind a silent and dark room.