*AETHERIUS*
After the tremendous show my father and Trevor's friend, Celia, put on, I returned to my training with Otto. The physical exercises were still in full swing as they had just begun.
"Remember, Therius, your exam is in two weeks, so the training will be more intense. Be prepared," Otto looked at me with a devilish smile as he announced the increase in training intensity.
Nervously, I smiled back, and I could see his mood skyrocket as his eyes sparkled.
All the exercises I normally did were doubled, making me tire more frequently and feel the weight and pain in my body. But I could see the results, albeit tiny. Abs were starting to show on my abdomen, my arms gained muscle, and so did my legs.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I thought, If I keep this up for a few more years, I'll have a perfectly refined body. I chuckled at myself as I struck a pose at the end of each set.
Tomorrow would be the same, as would the following two weeks, testing my resolve. My still childlike body couldn't handle the movements I'd like to make, as it did in my previous life. I stumbled time and again as I tried to perform the moves I executed with my spear in my past life.
Occasionally, I managed to replicate them but inadequately, so I dedicated my time to keep trying until I succeeded.
***
(1 day less until the exam)
The next day, after resting, my routine began again. During the training process, I meditated with Atheria when she wasn't busy with Elowen, and Sara took care of her.
"Now, keep letting your magic flow through your veins and intensify the amount of mana. When you feel your entire body filled with mana, force it to explode, and you'll like the result. You'll only be allowed to use it when necessary because it'll consume a lot of your mana and physical strength. That's why I asked Otto to train you," Atheria advised me and warned me about the cost of the skill she taught me.
I nodded and replied, "Understood. Only use it when absolutely necessary, or else I'll run out of mana and get fatigued," I repeated aloud for her, and she nodded.
***
(2 days less until the exam)
The next day, Otto told me we wouldn't be training for a couple of days as he had a mission, and it would take him a while to return. I agreed, "Don't worry, Otto, I already have the training regimen you gave me, so don't worry," I told him as I bid him farewell.
That didn't stop me from skipping training, as I would continue to train my meditation with Atheria and my private training.
*****
(4 days less until the exam)
With my eyes closed and mana circulating, I made it explode from my body, and several lightning bolts shot out, causing Sara to create an earth wall to prevent damage. "That's it, Therius. You just have to train the mana flow to keep that electricity in your body and not let it shoot out unless it's your intention," Atheria shouted as she returned to my side.
I wiped the sweat from my brow, and my body fell to the ground, tired and sweaty. I finally understood Atheria's warning about this ability. Sweating, I spoke, "I alrea...dy under..stood what you me..ant.," some of my words were cut off as I hurriedly took in air every second.
Atheria laughed at my weak state, "Hahaha, that's why we had you train your body, to avoid these kinds of results," she said as she adjusted her hair with her hand.
Feeling pressure on myself to achieve results quickly, I tried to calm down. After a few minutes of lying on the ground, I managed to do so.
*****
(7 days less until the exam)
With a week left until the exam, Otto returned yesterday, and we postponed training until today so he could rest a bit. "I'm back, kids, ready to continue," Otto smiled at me and slapped my back.
My siblings and Trevor's friends returned as well since they still had things to do at the academy before Layra returned to her duties, and Trevor would stay until the day after the exam to head to the Descendants' headquarters for further training.
And his friends decided to enter the path of the Adventurer. Only Celia seemed to decide to follow Trevor, knowing that their group would split up when it was all over. In the meantime, they had fun together and included Layra with them.
Every now and then, they snuck out with Elowen until Mom caught them, giving them all a scolding, even though they weren't her children.
*****
(10 days less until the exam)
The last 3 days I still felt pressured. Otto and I switched from physical strengthening training to combat. I couldn't say that Otto and I were evenly matched, but I tried to keep up with him, trying to consume fewer of my mana reserves that I had begun to create.
During those days, I rarely managed to land a blow, hurting my pride as a former Descendant and making me irritated, bringing out the worst in my former self.
A clash between our weapons snapped me out of those thoughts. One of his strikes was about to hit me when I reacted and used the staff of my weapon to block it, sending me flying backward.
That irritated me even more, damn it, I can't seem to hit him. I know our gap is huge, but, for God's sake, let me land a strong blow, I became more and more angry as I got up and struck repeatedly, these attacks being blocked by Otto.
The fight escalated, and he threw me into the air, making me retreat again, and I blocked a blow from his weapon. When I recovered, a roar escaped me as I positioned myself again.
Putting mana into my body as Atheria had taught me, when my body exploded with the mana circulating from me, I managed to keep that electricity in my body while tendrils of electricity shot out from me.
I let out a scream of rage, "Aaaahh!" I lunged at Otto with a speed capable of matching the speed with which I fought against the Wave. I appeared behind him with my scythe behind me, swung my weapon forward, and only the blade's whistle could be heard.
Otto seemed to expect that, as he turned around and placed his chakrams in the direction my blade was pointing. He blocked the attack, but it didn't prevent the lightning charged in my blade from hitting him in his side, making a loud noise too loud for me to hear.
Hitting the blow, Otto was thrown to the side with force. Even with my ears ringing, I stopped, my mana depleted, and my body only tired, but not exhausted as I normally am when using the ability.
"Therius!" I heard Mom's shout as she ran towards me, followed by Dad, Elowen, Trevor, and Layra running behind her. I collapsed to the ground, while Atheria, who had been watching the encounter, rushed over to Otto, who had crashed into the wall, leaving a crater and dust fading away.
Mom reached me, grabbing my head as she inspected me. "What happened? We were coming to check on you when we heard an explosion inside the room," Dad spoke, sounding concerned.
"Cough, cough, cough. Don't worry, Dorian," Otto appeared with Atheria supporting him. "This was the plan I made with Atheria to progress in Aetherius's training when we didn't see any improvement in what she was teaching him," Otto explained.
Since he had no serious injuries, Mom let go of me and went to inspect him. She quickly began treating the wound on his side where I had hit him.
"What plan?" Trevor asked, standing by my side with Layra and Elowen behind me, even though I didn't have any injuries.
Atheria cleared her throat and explained, "When we saw that Therius wasn't making progress, we spoke with Otto since he was entrusted with his training. I tried to find a way for him to learn quickly, so I asked for help to pressure Therius, making him angry and thus controlling what I teach him," she finished, turning away to avoid Mom's glare.
Layra opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted. "And boy, did they succeed," I said with irritation. "Calm down, Ther. I'm sorry, but that ability I showed you always works by keeping calm and controlling it. But seeing that you weren't doing that, I opted for another option, which was making you angry, and it worked," she finished.
"Yeah, it did, but at the cost of hurting Otto," I said, annoyed, as I got up and headed for the exit. Dad tried to stop me, but Trevor held him back, letting me go.
I saw Valentina and Fredic arriving in a carriage as they had gone out on a mission. They didn't notice me since I was outside the guild and they were headed in.
Let's go somewhere for a while. I need to calm down, I said to myself before leaving, making sure I had the permit Atheria had given me allowing me to enter and leave the walls.
When I reached the gate, I showed the permit to the guard, who let me out. I walked towards a place with several trees covering a small pond.
I took off my shoes and shirt and jumped into the pond, thinking, "God, of all the ways to make me angry, they chose the worst." I took a deep breath and submerged. I managed to hold my breath for about 3 minutes before feeling a shadow approaching.
I slowly raised my head and looked around but didn't see anyone. However, I still felt the shadow behind one of the trees. "Who's there?" I yelled, but when I heard nothing, I shouted, "Come out now!"
I got out of the pond, put on my shirt and shoes, and walked towards where I sensed the shadow's presence. When I reached the tree, I quickly moved behind it, but there was nothing there.
Feeling the shadow move to the other side of the trees, I wondered, "Who the hell is it now?" I ran to the other side but found nothing there either.
Despite still being irritated, I closed my eyes and felt the shadow more clearly. Manipulating it, I summoned tendrils from the shadow to grab whoever or whatever was stalking me.
I quickly ran towards the figure, pulling out my weapon and pointing it at them. My eyes widened when I saw the person.
It was a girl about my age, with eyes of golden yellow, white hair like my dyed streak, pale skin, and a slender figure developed to a size that shouldn't be for her age. I looked into her eyes and saw tears in them as my shadow tendrils held her leg, waist, and arms.
"Please don't hurt me. I don't want to hurt you. I was just passing by, and when I heard you shouting, I hid out of fear. When you were getting close, I moved so you wouldn't see me," she explained rapidly, almost making her words incomprehensible.
Raising an eyebrow, I looked at her trembling. "What do you want here? I'm not in the mood for any unfunny jokes," I said, still irritated, especially by her trembling and squeaky voice, while I still had my blade pointed at her.
She looked at me, terrified, and started crying uncontrollably. "Wahhh, I don't want to hurt you. Please let me go. I swear I won't tell anyone about this. I swear, please let me go," she cried out.
I sighed deeply, trying to calm my irritation, and released the shadows that were attacking her. She fell to her knees, still sobbing.
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. "Get out of here," I said, sheathing my weapon and placing it back in the ring. After a few minutes, she stopped crying. After a few more minutes, she managed to calm down and stood up, though she hiccuped this time.
"Thank you for letting me live," she bowed deeply. "I swear I won't tell anyone about this. My name is..." I cut her off. "I don't want to know it. Just go," I waved my hand for her to leave, and seconds later, she slowly walked away and then ran. I closed my eyes and felt her shadow to make sure she had really left.
Feeling her disappear since the distance I could detect shadows was short, I didn't bother to follow her. First Otto, then this. If some people saw me, they'd think I was a bully or something. I pressed my temples.
I calmed down and stayed at the pond for a while longer, looking at the blue sky. When I realized it was already night, I cursed, "Damn it." I quickly got up and headed for the gates before they closed. I had been outside for too long.
I infused mana into my body and ran faster, managing to reach the gate. The guard stopped me, and I showed him the permit. After checking it, he let me in.
I quickly moved away from there and went to the guild. I didn't want to go in after what happened, but I knew they would be worried since I had been outside for so long. I heard a voice behind me, "Are you going in or not?" I turned around and saw Celia, Trevor's friend.
"Let's sit out here," I followed her, and we sat down. "I heard what happened. Mr. Otto is okay; the blow wasn't fatal, and your mother managed to help him," she reassured me as she touched my shoulder. She stood up and offered me her hand, which I took.
"Thanks, Celia," I said kindly, and we went into the guild.