The creature's whole body expanded, before exploding into mist.
The cause of its demise was falling through the mist, Athan fell on the ground causing a huge crater to form.
His body was filled with injuries, his cosmic bones fractured, as he laid in the crater.
His battered body was already healing, as the injuries that were bleeding were being clothed by his Aether.
His broken bones were healed in seconds, But Athan showed no signs of waking up, as it seemed that he was knocked unconscious after the battle.
Mark appeared next to the crater, he scanned Athan's body marvelling at his regeneration speed,
"Hmm, he did well" Mark thought while turning his back to Athan's unconscious body.
He gazed at the surroundings which were bathed in the deceased creature's blood while scoffing
"A Rumbler was killed that easily" he whispered while suppressing his laughter, his gaze covered every nook and cranny.
The blood, stained amethyst mystifir leaves, flowers were painted with the blood of the deceased Rumbler.
The ground within a range of miles was soaked in the Rumbler's blood.
Mark's eye were shining brilliantly,
"This is the reason, he had to go through such pain."
"For power, pure world altering power, power that can destroy and protect."
"Power that can change and decide fates" but he sighed as he contemplated a maniacal look in his eyes.
"Athan wouldn't understand, the reason I didn't tell him the consequences of his advancement, was because I wanted him to experience betrayal."
"But my plan didn't come to fruition, as although Athan experienced betrayal, the results were anything but appeasing."the look in Mark's eyes were complicated, a grunt that awoke him from his reverie was heard, he turned to it's source to see Athan standing up from the crater.
Athan's hands were crushing the soil between his hand, as he used all his effort to stand up.
He raised his head up and saw Mark standing close to him.
As Mark saw Athan's struggle, a smile was on his face
"I think I've developed a soft spot for the kid" Mark thought as he gazed at Athan, his gaze softening.
"Argh, my body feels so weak" Athan grunted while in thought, his body trembling as he used all efforts to stand up.
He stood on his two feet, his arms ontop of his knees for balance as he was breathing heavily, all his injuries were healed and his body was in top shape.
His body was in a state of fatigue, after using the mysterious energy.
His eyes had returned to their normal nature, one a swirling mass of chaos, while the other a grey ocean.
He gazed at Mark, a smile apparent in his face.
"You did a good job." Mark said before pausing.
"What do you want to know?" he said while looking into Athan's eyes.
"Everything" Athan responded while looking straight into Mark's eyes, his bent posture was straightened despite his fatigue, as his voice teemed with strength.
Mark nodded in response before sighing
"And I thought you were just a kid in a [zone], you really surprised me with everything you did, you remembered when I told you about the stages and ranks of an Aether user..."
"For starters, I'm in the third-rank while the creature you just fought, the rumbler was in the second rank" his voice filled with pride.
"My plan after our battle, was to first actually figure out your origins before moving forward, but I noticed that although you made use of a special form of Aether, you hadn't been baptized." Mark's eyes gazing at Athan were filled with satisfaction as he kept talking.
"Baptism, a process that even those with powerful bloodlines had to experience before being able to use Aether, that process of creating and destroying your glazed cells was your baptism, your body was first suffused with atmospheric Aether till the point we're your cells are crystallized."
Mark took a sitting position as he saw Athan who was in a state of heaving gradually recovering as his breaths were becoming more stable.
"Marvellous" Mark thought in his mind before continuing.
"So the formation of your glazed cells was actually you just stuffing yourself with atmospheric Aether to the brim, your body couldn't handle it any longer so that caused you to collapse."
"You'd have been fine, if I just allowed the Aether in your body to subside by fusing with your cells, but instead I made you while in that state to take in more Aether which caused a major reaction which in turn lead to the pain you experienced. Also known as a forceful baptism" Athan looked at Mark his gaze filled with rage but Mark still held a nonchalant attitude as he kept on speaking.
"Basically a baptism is the process wherein a body adapts to small amounts of Aether, as it was growing up which leads to most kids in 'laxarria', I'll tell you about it later,to be Aether users while at the ages of five, those with stronger bloodlines take less time."
"But your cells were barren they was no Aether in it except your unique aether, your situation was puzzling but as I remembered the properties of your unique aether, I came up with a hypothesis which I was sure was actually occurring, my thoughts were that your unique Aether devoured any other aether that wasn't yours, so I sealed your unique arther and made you go through all that rigorous training to become baptized." Mark stood up from his sitting position before walking over to Athan.
"Your pain was a necessary sacrifice for power." Mark thought while standing in front of Athan.
He stood towering above Athan, but Athan's gaze was still calm, Mark was the most dangerous being he had ever met, so he was in a state of vigilance he knew the reason he was still alive althoughtheir battle was that Mark wasn't taking him seriously. But this time he still can't win if they fought with everything but he can survive.
Athan looked at [Lumina caeli] before returning his gaze to Mark.
Mark just smirked, before poking Athan forehead with a finger.
"You did better than I expected, an unknown kid could actually defeat a rumbler a stage above." Mark smiled his finger still on Athan's forehead, Athan just kept on looking his mind calm as they both observed each other.
Mark withdrew his finger while saying " you broke all the expectations I had and even went beyond it, which warrants you the privilege to know more about the world around you."
"First, this jungle that you said you spent almost all your life in is known as a [zone] to we, the laxarrians." Mark gazed at Athan before he continued.
"Outside here is the world of laxarria, and I plan on bringing you there, laxarria is a large world with other dimensions interlinked to it, those dimensions are known as [zone] and we're in one."
"The [zone] serves as a major source of income for the laxarrians, but they are also riddled with life threatening danger."
"This forest where you spent your whole known life in is a B-ranked zone." Mark said while gazing at Athan who was shocked by the realization, but although the shock he experienced Athan's face betrayed nothing of that as his gaze was still calm.
"Zones are ranked by the amount of danger they posses, so this zone poses a huge threat to B stage individuals and below." Mark smirked as he started walking deep into the forest.
Athan watched as Mark was moving before deciding to follow him.
"The Aether, also known as the essence of reality, possesses abilities that allow those at higher realms to bend reality to their liking." Mark's voice could be heard through the forest as Athan just kept on following his silhouette.
"Destruction, creation, whatever you can think of, there exist nothing as impossibilities to aether users, thanks to the existence of Aether, but we aether users have a significant flaw." Mark kept on gazing at the trees as they walked at a normal pace both him and Athan.
"We can't be resurrected once we die, we can exist for an infinite amount of time, but once we are dead, they is no chance of coming back, no resurrection or reincarnation, we become dead." Mark's voice was solemn as he said this, he turned back to look at Athan before he continued
"Aether users harm each other for reasons you'll later know but apart from that, they're also alot of beings aside from Aether users that can harm us, so don't ever be complacent, they're different forms of Aether and every aether user is a special and unique entity." Mark gazed at Athan before stopping, around him were just trees but loud growling sounds could be heard.
Athan scanned the entire surroundings vigilantly, noticing some creatures hiding deep within the forest approaching their position.
"You'll learn more about this 'stuff' in the academy." Mark said, a maniacal smile on his face, as he looked around noticing the creatures approaching, his sheathed blade buzzing, as the Aether around him became turbulent imitating properties akin to a storm.
"We've got some company." he said while looking at Athan, who was also grinning as the Aether around them started pulsating.
They both had the same thought on mind.
"This is going to be exciting." both thought as they readied themselves for the impending confrontation.