Kapitel 188: Chapter 187

[Cid's pov]

Akane was on the ground, gasping for air, trying to catch her breath. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and her katana lay in her hand as she struggled to push herself back up.

"Do you have to be so harsh with training? I can barely feel my arms, and I feel like I'm going to collapse any second now," she whined, her voice strained from exhaustion.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her constant complaints. "Man up, will you?"

"YOU MAN UP!" she retorted with a huff, her frustration clearly getting the better of her as her hair, now disheveled, covered most of her face.

"If you have the energy to yell, you have the energy to practice," I shot back, not letting her off the hook.

"You're no worse than those monsters," she muttered harshly, still trying to regain her composure.

"Now, come on. Criss-cross applesauce. When your magic is low, it's the best time to practice your control over it," I advised, drawing on my years of expertise with magic and teaching others.

After venting her frustration, Akane finally did as she was told, laying her katana in its sheath and placing it on her lap. She closed her eyes, her expression shifting to one of concentration as she began to move her mana inside her body, just as I had instructed.

Her magical aura began to seep out from her, but she quickly pulled it back in, realizing just how much mana she had been wasting with her previous magic usage. Watching her practice so diligently reminded me of my own journey with magic. I had stopped trying to make my mana stronger after creating my Black Heart Generator, thinking I had reached the pinnacle. Instead, I focused on mastering spells and wielding the elements I controlled: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Sound, Gravity, Lightning, Ice, Darkness, Light, and even Death and Life…

But now, as I watched her, I couldn't help but feel hypocritical. For someone who preached about surpassing the pinnacle, I had settled too easily.

"Zeta, keep an eye on her. When she's done, it'll be your turn to teach her," I instructed Zeta, who was softly practicing her movements nearby.

Zeta looked at me and gave a thumbs-up.

I stepped away from them, sitting down cross-legged, and entered a meditative trance to study my Black Heart. I watched as it pulsed with magic, softly beating out mana, ready for me to use at my disposal.

*Hold up… damn it, why didn't I think about this before?* I knew the answer to that—it was because of how Celeste was born… I missed her already, but I couldn't get sidetracked.

I had based my mana core off a concept from the novel *The Beginning After the End,* and it had worked just as intended, just like in the story. In the novel, after mana came a higher form of power: Aether.

I searched through my memory of the novel, recalling the part about Aether. Mana is like a liquid in a cup, changing to fit any shape, always in motion and flexible. In this metaphor, Aether is the cup itself, rigid, immutable, and without much strength. It is solid and will never change without some external force.

Three distinct branches of Aether were initially believed to exist: vivum (existence), aevum (time), and spatium (space).

I activated my dragon eyes, allowing me to see magic in its entirety with heightened clarity. I focused all my senses—my vision, my Observation Haki, and even my awareness of my own existence—on my Black Heart. Mana and Aether are so closely intertwined that distinguishing between them was a challenge.

When my mana core evolved from the White core stage and merged with my Black Heart, it didn't just become a generator for mana; it also started producing Aether. I realized that to wield Aether, I needed to turn it into runes, much like the God Runes described in the novel *The Beginning After the End.* But creating these runes would require more than just willpower; an external force was necessary. That's when it hit me—I could use Ruler's Authority to guide and shape the Aether.

To begin, I decided to focus on one branch of Aether, the one I believed to be the easiest to manipulate: Spatium, or Space.

For the next hour, I practiced, hearing the distant clashes of swords but ignoring them to maintain my concentration. I delved deep into the process, using my advanced Observation Haki to foresee and avoid any missteps that could ruin my efforts. After three hours of relentless focus, I finally achieved the result I was aiming for.

I used Ruler's Authority to gather the Spatium Aether, forming a protective mana shield in my hands. Inside the shield, small symbols began to take shape, forming runes. Crafting these runes was like creating magic circles—something I was already well-versed in. However, the process was time-consuming and energy-intensive, and I hoped it would become easier with practice.

With the protective barrier in my hands, I brought it close to my shoulder. As soon as it made contact with my skin, I felt a sensation akin to getting a tattoo. Black and purple lines began to form two triangles over my shoulders—one upright and the other upside down, both occupying the same space. As the lines melded into my skin, they disappeared, leaving behind a subtle, lingering connection.

I activated that connection, and the triangles reappeared, forming intricate patterns that spread down my arm. Extending my hand, I watched as the space around me began to distort slightly, a sign that the rune was working as intended.

I decided to name this particular God Rune: **Distortion**.

With Distortion, I could create a safe space around us where everything that happened inside wouldn't be visible from the outside, and nothing inside could affect the outside world. It was almost like having control over a miniature mirror dimension.

Satisfied with the results, I knew this was only the beginning. The more I practiced, the more God Runes I could create, each unlocking new possibilities. But for now, I had Distortion—my first step into mastering the true power of Aether.