Leto had learned how to use his Soul Aether in various ways since coming to the forest, for example, he could channel it to wounded areas of his body, then concentrate on having it circulate around the wound, and within a few minutes- or hours depending on how lethal the wound was - the wound would close up, sometimes leaving a scar and other times not a trace it was ever there.
Of course this didn't mean he was immortal and could recover from anything, the power had limits, and Leto hoped he would never find out what those limits were.
He also discovered that he could turn his Aether into a weapon, not in the same way he would channel it then turn it into ice, this was a much more insidious and deadly method. It took a lot of concentration to pull off, but could deal lethal damage to the target.
He would circulate his Aether in his arms and hands, once it was moving fast enough and there was a surplus running through his hands, he could turn it into a nearly invisible weapon. It could be used a string, a weapon, a net, or anything else he needed. In order to effectively use it however, he needed to keep his Aether circulating and also force some of it out into the thread to keep it manifested, it too much was supplied it would explode and course severe damage, if too little was supplied, it would dissipate and drain most of the Aether coursing through his hands along with it.
So, Leto mainly used the Aether Manifestation to either set traps or to practice maintaining it. When practicing, he used oblong shapes, hoping to create a glove like carapace around his hands, increasing the points where he could release Aether into the manifestation. Leto hoped that if he could feed Aether into the manifestation, it would severely reduce the strain on his mind.
Nearly every night for almost 2 years, Leto has been attempting to perfect the Aether Manifestation, and he felt he was finally close to being able to perfect the gauntlets. He just needed to master making small tethers all throughout the flexible points to move the Aether with less strain. Perhaps if he had a larger Soul Aether pool, he could make more tethers to connect throughout the covering.
Nonetheless, he was capable of sustaining the Aether Manifestation and could use it in battles with weak enemies, just not the gauntlets yet, he would form a layer around his weapon. When he did so, he infused more Aether into it to withstand the movement which made the Aether made it seem as if he could cut through reality itself, often leaving a ripple where his sword traveled. The first time he saw the ripple, he honestly thought he'd cut a hole in the world, which was nearly a year ago.
By now, he was mostly used to seeing the fissures and would study them from time to time, there was also an experiment Leto wanted to conduct with the fissure, which was touching it, obviously he wouldn't be touching it, a stick or dead monster would.
In the mean time…
'Guess I'll do some hunting, maybe I'll find something interesting too.'
There were a few beasts Leto either avoided hunting or hadn't seen in a while and wanted to find them. He was first going to look for the Corpse Goblins, the first beast he fought in the forest, to celebrate 4 years of survival in this damned place. He hadn't killed one of those abhorrent creatures in over 2 years due to how deep in the forest he was.
After venturing for an hour he finally stumbled upon a cave where he found some Corpse Goblins, 7 of them in fact.
"Hey guys! It's been a while, can you believe it's already my birthday again! That means… I get to kill some of yall agai!"
The corpses were startled as they were alerted to the intruder's presence. They quickly picked up their crude weapons and dashed at the young man. They managed to cover nearly 15 feet in a second, but they still were too slow to pose a threat to Leto. He swung his hand, there were dimly glowing tethers attached to Leto's hands. As he did, a black fissure appeared in the air behind where his fist traveled, he was careful to take awkward and wide swings in order to avoid touching the fissures, which was an uncomfortable feeling.
He fist easily exploded the nearest corpses head, sending pieces of decaying flesh and cracked bone everywhere. He then used his other hand, which had a dagger colder than ice surrounded with a beautiful white aura created by the Aether Manifestation. The dagger flashed forward and severed the head of two, another's head was battered with the pommel, sending bone chunks flying.
'Four down… Three to go.'
His hand which previously had Aether surrounding it now wielded a sword that was about two feet long and had the same beautiful white aura. Leto slashed forward and cut a corpse in half as it was jumping, its body catching fire before it hit the ground. He stepped back as one goblin closed the space during his swing and nearly reached him. He changed his grip on the dagger, facing the blade towards himself rather than the goblins, and brought it down on its head, shattering it once again.
Leto had plans for the last little guy so he didn't kill him, he just cut off its legs, ensuring it can't run. He then crafted a claymore of ice and focused as a bright white glow appeared around his fearsome blade. He brought it above his head and swung down with all his might.
A menacing, thick, and dark fissure was left in its wake. Leto picked up one of the severed legs and held it near the fissure as it was pulsing black. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, he hopes it was just due to the nature of Soul Aether and now anything serious.
'Here goes nothing, I guess…'