The Timberland Experience, Expert Zone.
Aelric had taken some time to recover after his encounter with the C-tier aether being. He was seated comfortably in the shade of a relatively humongous tree, its crown breaching through the clouds. He spent his downtime tending to his equipment, treating his injuries, and bantering with Natalie, his feisty companion and irreplaceable assistant.
Aelric had awakened about two and half years ago and the blessing bestowed upon him by the entity overseeing reincarnation during his transmigration was also triggered during the phenomenon. The blessing took the form of a sentient entity that merged with the nanobots in his body, giving him the exclusive ability to directly absorb the bloodline energies of opponents. The unfortunate boy had been abandoned by his newfound family, a family that Aelric had hoped would allow him to experience a life he couldn't live on Earth, in an unfamiliar world full of dangers.
In the initial stages, the relationship between Aelric and his system could only described as rocky at best. It all boiled down to their personalities not meshing well together, for the Aelric of back then was... misguided. He had developed a sort of victim mentality, blaming his past and the people in it for everything wrong, evading responsibility and taking accountability.
His mind was occupied by thoughts of revenge against the village and those who wronged him during his previous incarnation, even though he couldn't reach them. Aelric had experienced a level of human cruelty not many do over his two lives, and awakening a power that distinguished him from the masses corrupted him.
On the other hand, Natalie was an existence that had canonically existed for trillions of years and had witnessed many horrors throughout its years. So much so that despite its fundamental apathy and indifference drilled into its very nature, some things had managed to squeeze through and affect her down to her very essence. From Natalie's perspective, Aelric had seen nothing and his behavior and ambitions were aspects that she couldn't help but sneer at and criticize, causing friction.
However, regardless of the two's thoughts, thanks to the entity whose will even Natalie couldn't defy, they had entered an unwilling relationship fueled by mean comments and perpetual anger. They went through much together, and under perilous circumstances, their bond deepened. The two came to understand each other and displayed signs of maturing, for even an archaic sentient assistant wasn't exempt from bouts of immaturity and temper tantrums.
Aelric acknowledged the system and their bond as worthy of his respect and affection. In recognition of that fact, he granted his system, whom he had referred to with silly monikers until then, a name: Natalie. He granted such a name since, unlike Triton's system which communicated in an androgynous voice, Aelric's system leaned more on the feminine side and conversed as if it was a female. As such, he had bestowed upon her the name of the only person who hadn't piled on Aelric's misery during his previous life. Someone who he considered a source of light and warmth amidst perpetual chilling darkness, his sister.
Natalie, the system, understood the weight and sentiments that the name carried for Aelric and comprehended the reasoning behind him giving her this name. Natalie couldn't help but shed her indifferent and harsh facade and lay bare her emotional and vulnerable self. It was a very heartwarming and important moment in the novel where the bond between the host and the system was taken to another level.
"Alright, let's go!"
Aelric excitedly exclaimed and jumped to his feet, brandishing his now spotless grand golden spear as he stretched and prepared for combat.
"Why can't I just continue to do this to get stronger? Why does Master want me to attend that stupid academy?" Aelric's expression turned downcast as he recalled his hellish days as a student on Earth. "I have the money that she gave me, I'd rather just explore the world and get stronger by killing."
[You do understand that your goal isn't the Singularity Academy, right? It's just a means to an end since we can't directly enroll in the Solaris Academy despite that woman's connections and wealth.]
"That's even worse though! I hate all schools, especially those filled with snobbish noble kids!" Aelric harrumphed and took off randomly since there were no indications of aether beings nearby. "I understand it is the only way to get out of this star system, but still..."
Aelric's thoughts wandered. He had believed that he would be free from associating with his peers in a competitive social environment after he reincarnated, but how wrong he was. Aelric had reincarnated into a body that was part of an academy that presented a more brutal curriculum than what a child should ever have to undergo.
Not only did he suffer verbal abuse and receive contempt from his peers, parents, and professors, but he was even violently assaulted by everyone around him since the organization believed that extreme physical stimulus was a factor in triggering the awakening phenomenon. All in all, his experiences with educational institutions weren't the most wholesome, so he was a bit skeptical when his master presented her plans for him.
[Don't cry.]
"I am not crying, Natalie," Aelric muttered as he navigated through an overgrown patch of grass while swinging his spear. "I thought I was ready, but now that time has come, I am just a little nervous, you know?"
Natalie's voice, reminiscent of an angry female weightlifter reverberated in Aelric's brain. Instead of comfort overcoming his conciousness, the sensation he experienced was rather prickling.
[You have no reason to be nervous, Aelric. You're strong for your age and your current surroundings, I am sure you'll do well...]
"Wow... thanks. That makes me feel be—"
[...Since you have me after all. Alone you'd probably get bullied again.]
"Oh, come on!"
Aelric's expression darkened, and he took deep breaths to prevent himself from exploding. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't get used to Natalie's antics. It was as if she always had a hurtful line ready to trigger him, a repertoire of insults that always managed to get under Aelric's skin.
"Anyway~!" Aelric knew better than to have a verbal clash with an ancient omniscient entity with sadistic tendencies, so he redirected his attention to his current assignment. "Let's get this quest over with and get out of here."
Aelric retrieved a slim device from his storage artifact and operated it skillfully to display a novaline ticket from Lindel to Markhram.
"The novaline leaves in four hours, and the ticket mentions we must reach the station one hour prior to the departure time." He carefully scanned the ticket to confirm he didn't miss any details and stuffed the contraption into the necklace. "Let's pop this experience balloon and head over, we have to reach the station with at least three hours to spare."
[Why?]
Aelric's eyes glinted, and his expression turned into one exuding the deepest of seriousness.
"It is better to be early than to be late. You never know what could happen."
[Whatever... Just make sure to target a D-tier aether being. I don't wish to see your splattered corpse hinder the beauty of this forest.]
"G-got it."
Aelric's eyebrows twitched as he replied through gritted teeth.
Aether beings were just one of the hundreds of monikers bestowed upon these extraordinary creatures whose involuntary contributions to the rise of humanity couldn't be overstated.
Aether energy respected sentience. Only races possessing complex thought patterns and advanced cognitive capabilities could hope to control it. However, it was an energy at the end of the day, a resource that pervaded every inch of the universe, and no species could establish a monopoly on it. The only way leading races could prevent the myriad civilizations of the universe from discovering aether energy and progression was to control the dissemination of information and conceal the methods through which they indulged in this omnipotent resource.
Now, one would wonder what are aether beings, for they do not exhibit characteristics associated with a sharp intellect. To answer that question we have to ask a different question.
What would occur if a creature bearing the physical fortitude to host aether energy but lacking the cognitive abilities to regulate this all-powerful force interacted with said energy? There were a couple of proven theories to answer this question, but two in particular were prominent and were the result a majority of the time.
The first outcome was, of course, death. More often than not the creature would face an extremely violent demise. However, the other major aftermath intrigued the greatest of civilizations across the universe.
Aether energy could transform these creatures, and strengthen them beyond their genetic limit.
Certainly, it doesn't sound amazing when considering the number of races, including humanity, that similarly utilized the energy to empower themselves. However, the importance of intellect and cognition cannot be overstated when mentioning aether energy. These creatures, when mutated, exhibit various unbelievably interesting characteristics, and the margin and effects of amplifications vary as well. Most that survive the infusion of aether energy display minor physical enhancements, some manifest abilities related to their species, and some even develop sentience and achieve power beyond comprehension.
Such creatures have been documented to appear mostly in spaces inhabited by aether energy wielding species. The abundance of power in the surroundings leads to uninvolved lifeforms interacting with aether energy, and while most suffer the former fate of complete annihilation, the latter ones could pose problems for an unprepared individual.
These lifeforms, deemed aether beings by mankind, had helped humanity in a multitude of ways. Initially, they had presented a risk, for any creature capable of transforming into an aether being was far from something a fragile species like a human could handle. The unsupervised and unimpeded birth of these beings had led to many a conflict during the initial days of awakened humanity. These creatures had even been the cause of many major wars and the abandonment of multiple planets.
However, as the awakened community progressed and learned more about aether beings, humanity began defeating these creatures and exploiting them for advancement. Unprecedented experimentations across all of human territory followed, and with the technology they had developed through aether energy, it wasn't difficult to discover a million and one uses for these aether-mutated monstrosities.
Artifacts, delicacies, bloodline-bolstering products, general products, training, research, preservation, experimentation, and a lot more. These creatures and their constituents had bolstered many industries and furthered human innovation by millions of years, truly an unwilling but invaluable contribution.
These creatures were categorized by their sentience and, in turn, lethality to humans, from F-tier which was the lowest, to the highest tier recognized by the general public, and most low-tier awakeners, SSS-tier. Information of beings beyond the SSS-tier was strictly regulated, and only privy to beings who had truly stepped into the battlefield of the universe's overlords.
Aelric walked around for a dozen minutes without encountering a single beast, and the deadline creeping up on him was making him desperate. He switched from a casual stroll to a light jog, then to a run, and now he was sprinting with everything he had, well, at least the best he could with the countless obstacles and unfamiliar terrain. Aelric's blurry figure streaked across the neverending forest, a mirage to anyone lurking around.
"AAAAAH~! HELP!"
A feminine voice pierced through the dense forest and reached Aelric, it was such a beautiful voice that even when filled with despair and anguish, it played a subtle angelic harmony in Aelric's ears, piquing his interest. He immediately halted his sprint, leaned back, and dug his heels into the ground to help him decelerate. Aelric left a deep gash spanning eight meters in length in his wake, startling many small creatures around him. These small animals were bred by the facility and placed in the forest to fend for themselves so that the weaker aether beings wouldn't starve.
Aelric gazed in the direction of the scream and waved his legs to get rid of the dirt and moss sticking to his silver-colored boots. The delicately designed shoes were epic-rank artifacts produced by a famous company in a prominent star system. He had inherited this pair from his master when he left for the academy. Aelric had grown curious and checked their estimated price at the awakener embassy when he arrived in the city, and he almost defecated himself at the number.
Just as Aelric was digging the tip of his foot into the ground to give him an initial burst of speed so that he could reach the sweet-sounding voice as fast as he possibly could, a prickling sensation assaulted his brain.
[Aelric, no! Don't.]
"Why?"
[You remember what happened the last time you tried the whole knight in shining armor routine?]
Natalie's voice was strict and resounded with an underlying invioable authority. The depth and power gave her voice a certain charm.
"Eh, what's the problem!? The highest they have are C-tier here, and although I struggled with the previous one, with another person I can easily defeat one!"
[Aelric, that was an inferior C-tier, what if you run into something stronger?]
"I can take on a standard C-tier too! I have so many unused consumables here, you worry too much!"
[What if it's an elite? Or even a champion?]
Natalie's voice represented strictness and authority, but Aelric could sense the worry behind it.
"Alright, if it's anything over a standard C-tier, I'll take the woman who screamed and run away. I'll even take an agility-boosting potion, how about that?"
[...Okay.]
Under Aelric's tearful begging, Natalie couldn't help but relent.
[Do not engage recklessly! Am I understood?]
"Yes, Ma'am!"