According to The Vow of Interstellar Supremacy, sensing aether energy was one of the major hurdles that prevented many awakeners from truly utilizing their powers and progressing on their path as an awakener. A considerable fraction of artificial and pre-awakeners, though having technically awakened and possessing the potential to wield otherworldly strength, fall short of having the capability to do so because they fail to sense the aether around them, the energy that acted as the backbone of the human power system and the reason humanity had survived and thrived among the predators of the universe.
Of course, natural awakeners were different for they were comparatively more attuned to aether energy in the atmosphere and found it relatively manageable to commence their journeys as awakeners, however, there were always exceptions.
There have been documented cases of natural awakeners failing to embark on their awakener journey because of their sheer lack of comprehension and will. Even with tons of resources, guidance, and assistance, they come up short of sensing the aether energy around them, disqualifying them from the path of a warrior. On the other hand, aberrants had an even easier time than even most natural awakeners when it came to sensing, for their bodies were naturally more harmonized with aether energy owing to their enlightenment circumstances.
Aether energy was omnipresent and omnipotent. It was the fundamental and foundational force that kept all matter in the universe in a state of balance. The potential it carried made aether energy one of the most dangerous weapons across all of the cosmos if mishandled. Alternatively, it could be the most nourishing and empowering energy for those who learn to utilize it.
Over the million years of intensive research, countless experiments, and detailed studies, humanity has made quite a lot of progress in understanding and deciphering this energy for what it was and what it could do. However, for an inhabitant of the universe to sense one of its integral forces and use it at their discretion surely presented a rather high magnitude of difficulty.
The sheer complexity and human compatibility of aether energy had perplexed humanity for a prolonged period and forced them to allocate significant resources to hopefully remedy the issue, however, even with strict protocols, advanced technology, and multiple guides detailing the process to sense and wield this energy, the actual breakthrough ratio still left something to be desired. If humanity were to improve and advance further, it simply couldn't rely solely on the presence of the minute and perpetually diminishing number of natural awakeners, they had to empower and boost the number of successful artificial and pre-awakeners.
The process of wielding aether energy and utilizing it for empowerment and combat was explained quite meticulously in the book. At a read, the instructions seemed rather simple to follow, but applying them in actuality made Triton nervous, for he was aware of the consequences if even a single thing during the sequence went wrong. He was afraid of the instances of mental dissonance and loss of ego that were mentioned in the book.
The first step in sensing aether energy was to calm one's brain, empty one's consciousness, and focus exclusively on one's subconscious.
Under these circumstances and a lot of pressure building up, it took quite a while for Triton to feel comfortable and his overactive brain to settle down, however, he was still quite a distance from completely conquering his idle consciousness. Clearing one's psyche of any and all thoughts was a prospect more difficult than one could imagine. It was far from a simple 'close eyes, feel wide,' for the human brain, by its very nature, is one that is easily excitable and refuses to relax, for if and when it does, all that remains is complete stillness, gloom, and utter desolation.
Triton was aware of the complexities he would face when artificially tranquilizing his consciousness, so he remained patient and calmed his nerves. He employed one of the tricks mentioned in the book. The strategy was to focus all of one's mind on one particular thing: an incident, a problem, or anything that could occupy your entire perception, and slowly phase it away as the consciousness sunk deeper and deeper. It took a few cycles for him to get used to the method, for his psyche instinctively refused to release that final thread of conscious thought.
However, once he repeated the method a few times and regulated his breathing as was suggested in the book, it didn't take long for him to fall into a trance. His posture was relaxed, his eyes closed, his expression eased, and the entirety of his awareness drowned in a sea of an abyss.
The second step was to create a mental avatar of oneself, to truly understand the body, its intricacies, and all of the finer details. It required not just an extremely refined will but also intense focus. One's body should also be polished to a certain extent to allow the mental avatar procedure, for if one isn't in tune with their body, then conjuring up a mental avatar would be as difficult as making a sculpture of something one has never laid their eyes upon.
Aldred was an awakener, a pretty talented one at that given his information window, so Triton would be alright in the body department, it was the mind that was the problem. Triton hailed from a world that reveled in stimulus, a society that functioned on convenience and thrived on lazy innovations, and the last time Triton had focused intensely was after a night of drinks and expired oven pizza to prevent himself from blowing up the bathroom.
Triton took a deep breath and once again entered a trance, his consciousness falling into the depths of his mindscape, a realm of pure desolation and infinity. It was here that he had to create himself from the ground up. Triton concentrated on the body that he was now the proud owner of, his will shaping a hazy glowing figure in his mindscape.
The glowing figure started as a blob in the air, but as Triton concentrated on the contours of his body, every single nerve and bone that made up the human known as Zarion Vorlan-Blackcrest, the glowing figure in his mindscape began to take shape, transforming from a blob floating in the air to an almost human-like figure.
After about twenty or so minutes, Triton's breathing was labored, his body was covered in cold sweat, and his concentration waned, but the good news was that the progress was good. The glowing hazy figure in his mindscape now somewhat resembled Zarion in all of his handsome elegance, but even with all of Triton's focus and will, he just couldn't take that final step in making the avatar perfect.
'I have to do it. It's now or never.'
Triton had come too far for him to abandon his progress. If his will wavered for even an instant, the entire figure would crumble. Triton didn't know if he had it in him to do this again. His head was throbbing in pain, his body was trembling due to the stress, and the nerves on his face and neck were fully exposed and pulsating in a concerning manner.
'Alright, one last push!'
Triton concentrated on his body one last time, capturing the essence of Zarion's physique, and inhaled deeply, expanding his core.
'One, two, three...'
"Humph!"
Triton retracted all of his thoughts, concentration, and will. Since he failed to accomplish his goals through endurance and tenacity, he decided to brute force his way through. He couldn't use chisels and hammers, so he decided to swing an oversized axe. He focused all of his mental energy on the figure floating in his mindscape all at once, exhausting all of his mental strength, and pushed it to perfection in one fell swoop.
crack
A sound of glass breaking echoed throughout Triton's mindscape, but his consciousness was too exhausted to even process it. Aelric opened his eyes and fell backward, his back and hands landing on the soft and mellow carpet.
"Huff, aagh, aah~" He was covered in sweat, his body red, and his bowels had just barely managed to preserve his dignity. "That's the most exhausted I've ever been." However, that statement didn't carry much weight since the most exercise Triton had gotten in the past eight years was running from his gaming cabin to the kitchen to grab snacks.
It took Triton a while to get his breathing under control, but the pain and quivering only subsided thirty minutes later. He spent all of that time just sprawled on the exquisite carpet, enjoying the high life.
"Alright, time to see if I succeeded. Or will I spend my life as a profligate?" Triton mused as he pushed against the floor with his back and sat up. He crossed his legs and placed his hands on his thighs. He took a deep breath and returned to his mindscape. After doing it once, the subsequent times were pretty straightforward.
'I look so fucking awesome!' Triton squealed in his mindscape as observed the floating figure of Zarion in its entirety.
The final step of circulating aether energy was to merge with your mindscape avatar, perceive beyond the body, and draw the atmospheric aether energy into your body.
Triton finished gushing, directed his complete attention to the figure, and prepared to merge his consciousness with the avatar. After a couple of attempts, he was able to merge his consciousness with his avatar without much problem. Assimilating one's consciousness with their avatar provides a sort of sixth sense to the awakener, it increases their perception, grants a keener instinct towards danger, and allows one to peer the outside world with their eyes closed and see much more than they could with their eyes open.
'Woah~ I can see everything around me, even the back, just like it said in the book!'
Triton exclaimed as he gazed at his surroundings through his avatar. However, it wasn't just his room that he perceived, for streams of violet energy were coursing around him, practically attached to his body as if he was the most attractive thing to the current. Aether energy appeared different to all awakeners, and their talents and nurturing decided how compatible would someone be with said energy. Considering that Triton was akin to an eye of the storm with a sea of violet energy surging around him, he would wager a guess that his compatibility wasn't low.
The violet energy was elegant, Triton was mesmerized as the energy encircled him and flowed with a subdued poise. The concentration of aether energy in the mansion was so high that the energy carried a certain viscosity as it drifted, resembling a wild yet breathtaking curtain of beauty.
'This made all of it possible, and it is as magnificent as I thought.'
Triton experienced an uncomfortable sensation as his mindscape avatar felt as if it was being pricked by needles as the energy floated toward him. According to the book, the sensation would subside once the awakener gets used to circulating the energy in their body.
'Now to channel it!'
Triton was extremely excited as this was the exact sensation described in the book every time Aelric cultivated. Now all he had to do was channel this energy in his body, let it circulate, get a feel for it as it flowed throughout his body, and expel it right after. Usually, one would utilize it in various ways with their will as the conduit, such as deploying skills or enhancing their physiques, but Triton decided to take it one step at a time. Aether was a very unstable and powerful force, so a single lapse in focus or even the smallest of errors while the energy flowed inside him, could cause his body to explode.
"Haa~"
Triton gathered all of his mental strength and focused on the charming violet energy surging around him. He willed for a single strand to break off from the collective and approach his right hand but failed miserably. In the book, the characters had simply 'used stronger will' to command the aether energy. However, no matter how much Triton focused or how intensely he believed he commanded, the energy continued to revolve around him without budging.
'God damn it.'
Triton couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration. It was mentioned in the book that sensing the aether energy and conjuring an avatar was the complicated part, and directing it to oneself was comparatively easier. The fact that Triton failed to make even one stand of energy move pissed him off.
'Come here.' Triton directed all his rage and aggravation toward the energy storm and screamed inside his mindscape. He was focusing so hard that he popped a vessel in his nose and a line of blood streamed down from his nostril. However, it worked.
Triton winced in pain and observed as a strand of energy parted from the river and floated towards his hand. However, assimilating the strand within his body wasn't exactly simple as the strand was being pulled back into the river by the collective, and Triton had to contest over the thread of energy with the vortex around him. Following a five-minute game of intense tug-of-war during which another blood vessel was eviscerated and he acquired a second stream of blood, Triton finally managed to lure the strand to his body.
Under Triton's control, the strand entered through his palm, and as soon as it did, Triton felt a comforting and cool sensation assail his senses, his mental avatar practically bending over backward in comfort. As the strand entered his body, his control of the energy instantly strengthened to an absurd degree. Triton led the energy through a tour of his entire body, leaving no corner untouched. Triton then proceeded to slowly direct the energy to his other palm and expelled it, completing one circulation and finally mastering the entire process.
'Hell yeah!' Triton cheered as he reveled in the sensation of aether energy circulation and all the enjoyment and comfort the process brought with it.
However, the happiness didn't last long as a searing pain assailed Triton's senses as soon as he opened his eyes.
"What the fuck—!" Triton screamed and wailed in pain as he fell on his back and rolled around the floor with his head held tightly in his hands. "My head feels like it's going to explode!"
[Ahem... Yeah, about that, please hold on for just a moment.]
In all of his anguish, a distant distorted voice resonated inside Triton's head, but he couldn't decipher the contents because of his excruciating agony.
"AAAH-!"
Triton flailed around, violently scratched his hair, smashed his head against the soft carpet, and dabbled in a myriad of violent actions but the pain just kept getting worse by the second.
[It should be better now.]
More distorted words rang in his head as the pain began to subside. Triton's face a few minutes ago was the pinnacle of masculine beauty, but now his face was covered in blood, snort, and tears.
"What in the fuck just happened?" Triton asked aloud in horror as his body shuddered, clearly not over his recent experience.
[Hello, Host.]