What is Aether

Rather than start from the beginning, Myre asked, “Can you tell me what you know about aether?”

I proceeded to explain what little I knew about aether and the times I had experienced the phenomena that aether produced: the instances where I was able to freeze time using the first phase of Sylvia’s will and how I had trained using the aether orb.

“Aether is fundamentally different from mana; this much is clear to anyone. While both entities make up the world that we live in, aether works very differently than mana. To what degree, no one has a solid answer. Some have speculated that aether is the building block that the world is made of, while mana is what fills it with life and sustenance. More simply put, aether would be the cup, while mana is the water that fills it.” Myre held up a glass cup, filled halfway, for me to see.

“It is quite easy to manipulate the water inside without mana, but much more difficult to change the shape of the cup without breaking it. Quite a crude analogy, I know,” the asura smiled as she began slowly shaking the cup, stirring the water inside.

Shaking my head, I responded, “No, it helps a lot.”

“Good. Well, despite the many speculations and theories, even the Indrath Clan, hailed for being the most adept in utilizing aether, has no solid theory that can justify what they are able to do. What they did have that no one else did, was the ability to physically detect aether through the use of the Realmheart Physique.” Holding the glass close to her face, Myre dipped a finger in the water. “Those in the physical realm cannot sense aether. Everyone alike knows that there are laws that hold our world together, just like this glass that holds the water. However, it is impossible for them to fathom the boundaries that exist to keep order in the world.”

“Then the purple particles I saw when I used Realmheart…” I said, trailing off at the end.

“Yes, My Dear. That was aether.” Myre smiled. “Through the use of Realmheart, you are able to see the glass cup from within, the boundaries of this world.”

“Now, I can go on to explain the history of how aether came to be slowly studied, but I doubt that will be of any use to you. You just have to know that you possess a skill that even asuras would kill for. However, I suspect that there will be certain limits because your body is not of the dragon race. But the true power of Realmheart lies in the ability to gain insight while in the form.”

“I noticed that while I use Realmheart, I become a lot stronger. At first, I thought it was some sort of power boost that the form gives, but it’s more of a big improvement in control,” I confirmed with Myre, who nodded in reply.

“Yes, especially for you, who has the strange composition of being quadra-elemental,there is a vast difference in mana manipulation using Realmheart. But let’s set aside the aspect of mana for now. Not to sound biased, but control over mana is much more linear than aether. For mana, the greater your core is, the more water you can manipulate,” she continued, still using the glass-of-water analogy. “Your insight and mental aptitude is how many ways you can manipulate the water inside. However, through the manipulation of aether, we can control the cup itself. Do you understand?”

“How would you manipulate the world itself?” I pressed.

“It’s become habit to say ‘manipulate,’ but in actuality, it is more important to think of it as influencing aether. And you’ve already had a taste of this quite a few times, My Dear. Windsom had mentioned you being able to stop time for a brief moment.” Myre set the cup down and distanced herself from where I was.

“Yes! That was actually the first ability I was able to use with Sylvia’s will!” I exclaimed.

“The control over time, aevum; the authority over space, spatium; and the influence over all living components, vivum…” Myre recited. “These are the three components that make up aether.”

This was knowledge that I might perhaps never come across again, so I hungrily absorbed every word the asura was saying.

“No matter how powerful, how insightful, and how lucky a practitioner may be, he will only be able to master one path. Ancestors of the Indrath Clan have lived all their lives trying to gain insight on one of the three paths, only to realize that they don’t have the capability of mastering it. However, over time, we’ve realized a way for some asuras to know where their aptitude lies,” the asura confessed.