11 | Ethereal Arts

“Why didn’t you chase after her, Nito? It looked like you wanted to,” Rivana asked as they turned onto the street with the Explorer Guild. They had walked in silence since leaving the alleyway, and her curiosity was finally boiling over.

“Why I didn’t chase her… I’m not sure if I want to see her again, to be honest. I’ve known her since I was about seven. We were in Burning Lance together, and I thought of her as family. Last star-cycle, she betrayed the trust I had in her. She turned me in for my bounty just to get to this fantasy place we didn’t know was real. I didn’t think I’d see her again, so I was going to just forget, but now…” Nito answered with a heavy voice.

“Wow, to think both of you came from Throne and somehow crossed paths all the way out here. If that isn’t the work of the Parents, then I don’t know what is! You should definitely see her again,” Rivana said as they turned left between the Guild and armor shop.

“Why? I want to trust people, but because of Tari, I feel like I shouldn’t do that so easily now. Instead, I feel a gnawing sense of uncertainty when I meet new people. I was locked up for moon-cycles because of her. How could you do that to someone you care about? The only explanation is…” Nito’s words trailed off as if trying not to make his assumption real.

“Yeah, I know what you mean, but maybe it’s not that simple. And everyone deserves a second chance, right? That’s why I think you should meet her at the contest. When you see her again, it might help you decide how you feel. But first, we need to work hard so we can participate with Laharis,” she told him as they ascended the stairs to the lodging area.

As they entered the hall, they found Laharis leaning against the wall between the doorways of their rooms. He stood there with his arms crossed and eyes closed in some meditative state.

“What the hell took you guys so long? It’s already mid-day!” He barked when they got close.

“Ahh- we were…” Nito stumbled over his explanation.

“Sorry Laharis, there were so many vendors that I got a bit distracted. One of them had these gorgeous dresses that he said everyone should wear for the festival,” Rivana answered for him.

“Well, whatever. Let’s get started with the preparations, shall we? We’re gonna use your room, Rivana since it only has one bed and more space,” Laharis said before opening the door and freely walking inside.

“Alright, come on, Nito. Let’s just focus on this for now,” she followed him in.

“Okay, do you have the results from the dream reading?” Laharis asked expectantly.

He took the papers they handed him and sat down in a wooden chair by the window to read them over.

“Seems like you’ve got an affinity for casting, Rivana, and you might do well if we applied an element to that. And Nito has an affinity with conjuring, interesting. Yep, I can work with this,” He mumbled to himself.

“Wait, why exactly do these affinities matter?” Nito asked, his worries beginning to drown in curiosity.

“Oh, I can explain this one! Father taught me all about this,” Rivana piped up. “As you know, ethereal energy is what gets released after you ignite the etherea absorbed in your body. Basically, there are three ways in which you can release ethereal energy: casting, condensing, and conjuring,” she said.

“Right you are! As for what these are specifically, let me demonstrate,” Laharis interjected. “First, casting is simply expelling the ethereal energy outward in any fashion,” he stretched out his arm.

From his palm, a cloud of tiny ice crystals gently blew out. It floated towards Nito. He reached out to touch it, but it dissipated before he could.

“The next attribute is condensing, which involves gathering ethereal energy on the surface of something like your body or a weapon to reinforce it. It can also be done to objects you aren’t touching if you’re skilled enough,” his outstretched hand curled into a fist.

His fist began to glow with a whitish-blue light. After a moment, the light dimmed and vanished as he continued talking, “The last is conjuring. This is when you combine the previous two attributes. You condense casted ethereal energy to create objects out of it that can have either animate or inanimate properties,” Laharis flipped his hand face up.

In the space above his palm, the whitish light appeared and morphed into an icy looking feather. It drifted down until it touched his skin and shattered.

“Your affinity refers to which attribute you are naturally good at based on how you unconsciously think. After all, the mind is what you use to control ethereal energy. Of course, anyone can use all three well if they practice enough, but your affinity will always be the strongest for you. And don’t be mistaken, each attribute has its strengths and weaknesses. None is objectively superior, it's all about how you use them,” Laharis clarified.

“So then, that cube you used yesterday was conjuring?” Nito guessed.

“Well, yes, kind of. You see, I actually have a dual affinity with conjuring and casting, it’s sort of a family trait. This means my maximum potential for conjuring and casting is equal. However, neither attribute will be as strong on its own compared to someone who only has a casting affinity, for example. And that cube is really my ethereal art,” Laharis said with a proud smile.

“One of those thugs from last night mentioned that, right? Father never told me anything about it though,” Rivana looked at him with curiosity.

“Correct. It’s an advanced ethereal energy technique that most people never learn. Though, not because it’s hard per se. The general populace is mostly busy worrying about their job, putting food on the table, and trying to survive after all. So, only those like explorers and the wealthy can afford the time and proper training needed to develop this technique. But you all are lucky, you have me to teach you!” Laharis beamed at them.

He continued informing them, “An ethereal art is a specific ability that you must refine with your affinity as a basis. Specificity is key because the better you understand how it works, the more powerful and effective your art will be. And it’s easier to train if you explicitly decide what to hone rather than say ‘I want to cast better.’ Your art can be as simple as condensing energy around weapons to give them the property of fire, or it can be much more complex.”

“What’s your ethereal art then?” Nito asked.

“Hmm… Perhaps it is easier for me to explain how mine works. Well, we are teammates,” Laharis extended his arm again. “Okay, watch closely. Mirror Box.” With his words, the same reflective, metallic cube appeared before them.

“Firstly, I used a trigger phrase to activate my ethereal art. Using this phrase allows me to associate the ability’s activation with the said phrase and speed up the time it takes to conjure the box,” he looked at them to make sure they were paying attention.

”What I can then do is cast my ethereal energy into the box. Like a mirror reflecting light, my box scatters the energy in every direction within a ten-nanoleague radius. Once the energy has pervaded the area, I can manipulate it how I want from anywhere inside. Of course, I make the casted energy invisible so opponents can’t easily figure out how it works. This is how I froze those goons in place without directly casting ice-type energy at them,” Laharis motioned to the far wall where an ice crystal had formed.

“Wow! So, that’s also how you saw the sigils on the back of their legs too. You must have momentarily created a mirror behind them to see their movements,” Nito predicted with confidence.

“Ha! You definitely have a mind fit for conjuring,” Laharis praised him. “As you may have noticed, all my ethereal energy takes three forms aside from raw energy: ice, mirrors, and invisible. Initially, I was only able to cast and conjure things with ice properties. But over time you can increase the scope of your ability with practice.”

“This sounds amazing! When can we start developing our own ethereal arts?” Rivana asked, brimming with anticipation.

“You both have a long way to go before then. Though, it might not hurt to start thinking about what you want your ability to do. To begin, let’s just worry about learning to use ethereal energy at the most basic level. Hopefully, by the end of the moon-cycle you will have a rudimentary form of your ethereal art ready for the contest,” Laharis said.

“Now, don’t think you’ll get away with just listening to me,” he continued. “It’s time for some practical application of all this newfound knowledge. Nito, as far as I know, you haven’t done anything beyond circulating active etherea. We’ll have to start with generating ethereal energy,” Laharis paused and raised both his arms to either side.

After a breath of time, he lowered them and said, “Alright, I’ve put up a small barrier around us so the room won’t get damaged if something happens. Then, let’s begin with you both making light orbs. It’s the most basic form of conjuring that everyone can do regardless of affinity or skill level.”

“But how do I even make energy come out?” Nito asked, staring at his palm with knit eyebrows.

“Let’s see if you can do it without instruction first,” Laharis responded.

“You need to feel the etherea in you and redirect it outward, just as you willed it to circulate faster through you when we were traveling,” Rivana answered. A flame of orange light had already sprung from her fingertips.

Nito watched as the flickering tendrils swirled together, forming a blob of glowing orange energy in the air.

“Hmm, well, it’s somewhat spherical. It’s a bit dull and not very solid, though,” Laharis poked the orb, and it squished inward. “Conjuring certainly isn’t your strong suit.”

Nito closed his eyes and connected to his inner self. He felt the etherea he had absorbed several days ago gently flowing through him. Visualizing the surging river, he willed the flow to speed up and reach every toe and fingertip. Opening his eyes, he glared at the center of his palm, squinting and tensing his muscles. He squeezed with all his might, but nothing came.

“Dammit! It’s not working! I started circulating my energy and tried to push it out but-”

“No, no that’s not it,” Laharis said, shaking his head. “You haven’t even been circulating all this time? We’ve got a long road ahead… It might help to understand the whole process, so let me explain. Etherea is floating unseen all around us, and to use it, one must first absorb it through their ethereal gate. As it passes through the gate, it becomes activated and enters your bloodstream. The active etherea can then be circulated through you or ignited into ethereal energy. To release energy, simply will some of the circulating etherea to leak out like the flow is branching off from your body.

“Don’t try to force it out, just guide it Nito,” Rivana offered.

With their words in mind, Nito returned to the image of a rushing river in his head. Feeling the coursing energy in him, he created a tributary for the river leading outward. He felt warmth in his hand and opened his eyes to see a bubble of blue light rise from his hand. Concentrating on it slightly, he made the ripples quell, and the bubble smoothed into a more spherical shape.

“Ha! I did it! That was pretty easy,” Nito exclaimed in delight.

“Fantastic! Your conjurer nature makes your energy want to merge and form something when it’s released. Of course, it should be easy for you. But will it hold up?” Laharis poked the orb. As his finger came into contact with the surface, it instantly popped and scattered into specks of light that eventually faded.

“Wha… Damn, I thought I had it,” Nito looked to where the orb once was.

“Don’t worry Nito, that was amazing for your first try. In a few days, you should be able to hold one no problem,” Rivana assured.

“Undoubtedly, but we don’t have a few days to spend on only light orb conjuring. You’ll be able to hold one by this time tomorrow! And yours will be as solid as rock by then too,” Laharis told Rivana.

“Now, do it again!” He shouted. “I want it to withstand a punch, you hear? Once it can, we’ll get on with the real training,” a wry smile spread on his face.

____

Explorer Log:

Egris

Danger Level - [Gorgon] ★★★

Appearance - A four-legged bird-like creature; they grow to be about 5 nanoleagues tall and 6 nanoleagues in length with their wingspan being 8 nanoleagues; they have a muscular body covered mostly in silver fur with bunches of purple-grey feathers on the back of their legs and head; they have two yellow eyes and a large, grey-beaked mouth; they have four razor-sharp claws on each foot, and large wings sprout from their back from between their shoulders

Behavior - Carnivor; they typically live in pairs and in high altitude regions where the females lay eggs and protect them along with their mate; their eggs have a growth period of just over a star-cycle; the maturation period is undetermined but thought to be very long as the creatures have lifespans of a couple hundred star-cycles; their strong wings enable them to fly above the clouds for days at a time in search of food; their beaks and claws are capable of easily tearing through the flesh of their prey; they can emit loud shrieks that can be heard a league away; they have poor hearing but extremely sharp eyesight

Habitat - Frostmoor and Magra