As Mark ventured deeper into the dense forest, he noticed that the air was thick with the essence of an unknown type of aether, which was disturbing his senses, he concluded that the aether should belong to that unique existence which he sensed, he could tell that he was getting close to the immense presence because of the increasing amount of unknown aether in his surroundings.
He tried spreading his senses to get a better read on the presence but all he could feel was the unique aether all around which he couldn't pry through even with his superior senses, the environment was in favor of his opponent.
Its home ground but instead of the situation bringing about a sense of apprehension in his heart, it only further excited him which brought about a major increase in his aether reserves by expanding his aetheric cells thereby reducing his consumption.
The pressure brought about by the unknown aether in his surroundings pressured his body which in turn kept on expanding his aether reserves and minimizing his consumption leading to a phenomenon in which the input and output of his aether achieved a certain balance.
Which brought him to a state in which his cells were filled with large amounts of aether but his consumption was minimal almost negligible, his body started exhibiting the properties of a closed system his energy only moving within his body and his loss of energy to his surroundings were at a minimum, the aether around him started resonating more and more with his existence as his will to fight burned intensely.
His figure kept moving through the forest at insane speeds, if anyone saw him now they'll think he was a meteorite as his whole body was resonating with aether blazing in his surroundings in a way that superseeded the third rank but was still far away from breaking the limits to the next rank.
"The fourth-rank really deserves it's title as the true stage of experts" he thought as he heaved a sigh of relief from his chest which faded away, blending with the surroundings.
His speed which had doubled caused a huge sonic boom that echoed throughout the [zone] before his figure faded away, his blade [Lumina Caeli] pulsed with excitement within it's sheath leaving behind only it's faint hum and the starlight-type aether.
Meanwhile at another corner of laxarria, at the Llambrad family academy.
A teacher could be seen giving a lecture on the subject of world history, the man stood at about six feet tall, his hair was a lively shade of red which seemed to highlight his crimson colored eyes, his figure was well endowed with well crafted muscles that outlined his frame highlighting his masculinity a western mustache adorned his face, the teacher was well known as Lloyd llambrad the demonic brawler, his voice was calm and pleasing to the ears, as his gaze flitted by his students observing all of them before pausing for a few seconds.
"Before the world of laxarria came to being.
There was only the void, a vast infinite expanse filled with nothing but emptiness and in which a few entities of abstract existence dwelled, those being held dominion over the abstract, concepts and rules, and amongst them existed a being named eternis he lived in the deepest recesses of the void, and for as long as he could remember he had been in existence before even the formation of the void, he has watched the demise of void entities after him and the rise and prosperity of them, in the depths of the void he was alone as no one could approach him and so could he not approach others, during his time spent in the void he committed himself to a project the creation of an interlinked dimension that'll exist within the void and would breed life in the depths of the void" his eyebrows furrowed as he called out each word from a notebook lying on his palm.
"This is how the 9000 dimensions was formed according to the texts found and not much is known about eternis "
"After the formation of the dimensions s unique entity was created, an administrator made for the sole purpose of growth and balance, inside the dimensions there existed a unique energy known as aether the same type of energy that was intwined in the void and the locals of each dimension learnt to utilize aether in unique and different forms , but there are only three major paths in which the other paths branched form which were the [Awakened], the [Outliers] and the [Synchrons ].
The [Awakened] were those who the system helped to establish a certain connection between them and the [Aspects] of aether, that matched their dormant inner traits and through their connection with the system they had a unique ability only limited to [Awakened] known as the [Status page] which allowed them to keep track of their progress easier.
"While the [Outliers] were beings outside of the system influence and followed a certain [path] that is refined by their unique experiences and traits while developing their [Intent] an ability similar to the [aspects] used by the [awakened] but not all aether users could devolop their [Aspects] or [Intent]" he paused while allowing the words to sink in before continuing.
.
"But the most special among them were the [Synchrons] all those who followed this path had the unique characteristics of wielding both [intent ]and [aspects] meaning there were both [Awakened] and [Outliers] which made them the most unique, they had a slower growth rate because of their duality nature, but not much else is known except that when they've completely harmonized both abilities they'll awaken a new ability related to the [system] the [Xenox Aurora], the only known [Synchrons] is said to be a part of the Sovereign Dominion Of Aetheris"he said with a glint in his eyes.
"The known information about the individual states that his power is already on another level on its own".
In the same classroom, a young boy of age fifteen was sleeping during the class but no one bothered him or urged him to wake up they all pretended not to notice him as the teacher also paid him no need.
He had black hair, his facial features couldn't be seen clearly because of his hair that covered his face, all that could be seen on his body that was worth nothing was a symbol of an inverted pentagon under his left ear on his neck.
At another corner of the classroom there was a beautiful woman with blue hair waist length long that was tied into a ponytail, she wore a long skirt which made no efforts in hiding her perfect figure, striking blue eyes reminiscent of the blue skies with ring shaped pupils in the center, she wore glasses which perfectly rested on her nose and ears giving her an intellectual air, her palm held her face up as she gazed at the teacher with a lazy gaze.
There was a necklace on her neckthat held a pendant with the llambrad family insignia engraved on it.
She diverted her attention from the class before focusing it on the necklace on her neck, she took off the necklace while in her thoughts before opening the pendant and stroking the picture within it with a caring gaze on her face.
She closed the pendant before focusing on the class with the same dull and gaze, within the pendant there was an image of a young boy with a goofy grin on his face standing together with an older girl with blue hair that resembled the girl sitting on the table, the girl in the picture had a lively gaze in her eyes as her face was plastered with a huge smile.
In the [zone],
The little child was about done with his meal, all that was left in the cave that could serve as evidence to the existence of his prey was a skull that was lacking it's jawbones and an eye socket.
As the little child was indulging in the pleasure of eating his little ears picked up a huge sonic boom, he raised his head before walking out of his dim cave leaving behind his half finished meal so as to observe the cause, his curiosity boiling told him to come out and search for the source of the palpitating feeling.
A sound that he had nearly forgotten was echoing from his chest.
"Da-bum , Da-bum, Da-bum"
A long lost feeling was awakening, his dull eyes which held a certain calmness were starting to glitter in excitement and expectation.
The child didn't know when he started taking steps out of the cave, before you know he got into a sprint.
His unique aether wrapped around his whole body before converging on his legs as his speed increased, his calm heart started racing, as the aether in his cells and around his surroundings were in a state of unrest, he didn't know what he was feeling like this whether expectation, excitement or both mixed together, all he knew was he had to meet the being that could give him such a feeling, a sonic boom was heard and the entire aether in the forest buzzed in excitement as he was clad in his aether blitzing through the forest.
He started approaching the being that could give him that sense of excitement. The distance between them shortening as he approached that being with insane agility, as he was moving through the forest he started inspecting his surroundings with renewed vigor, taking in everything from the roars and cries of the monster he was killing as he bulldozed his way through the forest like a bullet, blood and intestines hung on his body but nothing could stop him or bring him to a halt, anything on his way was turned into meat paste as an ever growing grin appeared on his face, the aether in the whole forest started pulsating rapidly as his heart was beating in full force.
His memories of his time spent hunting and surviving in this forest started being repeated over and over on his mind. How he slaughtered monsters with a huge smile plastered on his face.
His story from ignorant to ignorant and powerful. As he approached a wide clearing located in the middle of the forest, his focus was pulled away from his memories to his present situation as he could now see a source of light in his line of sight moving in his direction, from the emotions conveyed by the aether around the being he could feel the excitement of the figure cloaked in light.
" it looked a little strange " the child gaze locked on the being as he approached.
As the child gazed at the aftermath left in the trail of the incoming figure he couldn't help but feel an unknown emotion overwhelming his excitement as he gazed at the forest.
As Mark approached the clearing, he couldn't help but feel excited as the monstrous presence was approaching at a rapid pace, his title [enigma edge ]was pulsating more than it ever had as he approached the clearing, he saw a humanoid shaped blur approaching him at sonic speed as they both approached the clearing, the violet sky and dark clouds started pulsating as the zone seemed to bend and expand.
The whole atmosphere was tense as both figures kept approaching the clearing with rapid speed, trees being uprooted just by the mere force of the wind brought by their speed, leaves rustling with only the violet skies acting as a witness to this battle.
As the two monumental presences were about to collide.