Aether, unlike the others, didn’t even use magic. Instead, he simply acted fast… much faster than his opponents could react.
“Increase Agility by 2”
!~Ding~!
[+2 Agility]
[Agility: 22↑]
[Remaining AP: 25325]
With his enhanced speed, Aether evaded the first mage’s spell, darting to the side just as a sword slashed through the space where he had been standing. He closed the distance between himself and his nearest opponent in a heartbeat, his hand a blur as he struck with pinpoint accuracy. The hooded figure crumpled to the ground, unconscious before he hit the floor.
“He is fas–” One of the hooded figures with a sword tried to shout a warning, but Aether was already upon him. A swift chop to the neck silenced him, and he too collapsed into a heap.
‘Thud’
The remaining opponents were momentarily paralyzed with shock, their eyes wide as they struggled to comprehend Aether’s incredible speed and precision.
Aether didn’t give them time to recover. He moved like a shadow, weaving between them, each movement deliberate and efficient.
Another hooded figure attempted to jump on Aether to hinder his movements, but just as it was about to sneak up on him, a white whip lashed out from Aether’s pocket, striking the figure’s head. The force of the blow sent the assailant crashing to the ground with tremendous force.
“BAM!”
“Nice, Snow,” Aether nodded appreciatively.
“Hiss~”
Snowflake’s tail wagged like a dog!
Within a few minutes, Aether had knocked down six people and turned to look at the leader, who was horrifyingly observing the massacre Lia and Selene had caused.
Aether walked closer and stared at him with blank eyes, “What’s your name, bud?” he asked in a cold, almost detached voice.
The leader trembled in fear, and before he could react, Aether caught his neck and lifted him up effortlessly.
“I am being nice, you know~” Aether said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Looking at Aether with blank and…. pitiful eyes?
‘W-Why he is looking at me pitifully?’ The Leader asked himself with furious eyes as he struggled to escape from Aether’s grasp.
Aether always pitied those who crossed his path. He didn’t know why; he just did… That’s All!.
That’s why, when Log said if the Ethereal domain gained more power than the other domain, Aether would even forgive his nemesis…. He believed those domains were his true nature.
With a swift motion of anger, the leader conjured a water spear in his palm and thrust it towards Aether’s neck. They weren’t supposed to kill anyone; they just needed to kidnap Selene. But the situation had gotten out of hand, and now the leader had no option but to kill Aether and escape.
“Slcckkk”
Though Aether was surprised by the sudden attack, he calmly increased his agility.
‘Increase Agility’
!~Ding~!
[+1 Agility]
[Agility: 23↑]
[Remaining AP: 24325]
Aether caught the spear with his other hand, blood flowing as the water sent a freezing sensation through his veins.
However, that wasn’t the end of it…
Aether always wondered if every spell fueled up Arcane energy then what would happen if there was no Arcane energy in the spell.
What if he absorbed it?…. He truly wondered.
He focused on the water spear on his hand, trying to pull the energy from it…. but initially felt nothing. read-first-at-MVLeMpYr
Then,
‘Ba-Dump’
His heart skipped a beat all of a sudden.
Suddenly, his eyes shone for a second, and his vision turned into a grayscale image as if he had colour deficiency. However, in that grayscale vision, the water spear appeared in vibrant colours.
“What is this?” he mumbled. When he focused on the water spear, the vibrant colours disappeared in an instant, and,
‘Splash’
The spear instantly deformed into shapeless water.
The leader, who was struggling, had a horrified look on his face. He couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. He saw Aether staring at his spear, and the next thing he knew, his energy was drained as if sucked out by a straw.
“Surprised?” Aether asked with a haughty tone, though he himself was surprised he did this without any prior knowledge…. He even thought it might be a common thing.
“Y-You M–‘Cough'” The leader coughed, “Monster…” before finally fainting, his lungs running out of air.
“Hehe…” Aether chuckled before pulling down the hood, revealing a brown-haired man.
“Have you finished?” Selene asked, her face a mix of surprise and admiration. She saw Aether take them down without getting hurt himself, ‘He is getting stronger… SUPER!!!’ she inwardly screamed like a fan. But then her eyes fell on Aether’s blood-dripping hand.
Her eyes turned blank. “A-Are you okay?” she asked, taking his hand with trembling fingers.
“I-It’s nothing, Sel, I am fin–”
“NO! You are not!” Selene shouted at Aether with an angry face. She took a handkerchief and wrapped it around his hand, saying, “I-I shouldn’t have left you alone…”
‘….Sigh,’ Aether sighed, seeing the trembling girl who was worrying over a small cut… just like his Ex in his previous life.
He patted her head and said, “I am really fine.”
Selene blinked for a second before jumping into his embrace. Not only that, but she didn’t forget to kick the leader, who rolled a few times before hitting the wall.
“Arrhhh!!” Finally, he completely fainted.
Aether’s cheeks turned slightly red when Selene suddenly hugged him. He wanted to push her away, but feeling her trembling shoulders… Aether sighed again and wrapped one arm around her.
“!!” Selene blinked for a second before grinning while sniffing him silently.
“Ahem!” Lia coughed, but Selene ignored her and clearly did not want to ruin the moment. That couldn’t be said for Aether, so he gently pushed her away. Selene was really dissatisfied as she glared at Lia.
“What?” Lia asked.
“… tsk, Nothing” Selene clicked her tongue.
Lia shook her head and looked at Aether, who was staring at the massacre they had caused. He couldn’t help but mutter, “You really cut their limbs and bore a hole… ah.”
Hearing that, both Selene and Lia blushed in embarrassment. They had been really angry since their happy time(Lia), their date (Sel), was interrupted by some people.
Though Aether hesitated to approach those bodies, he wasn’t too disgusted by the sight.
‘I am starting to adapt…’ Aether mumbled as his hands trembled a little. Even though he had killed a few people, looking at the limbless bodies, he couldn’t help but feel a little nauseated.
Seeing this, Selene held his hand softly, saying, “I am here…”
While Lia hesitated for a second before holding his other hand, she gave him friendly advice, “Kill or be killed, Aether… Don’t forget.”
Aether stared at the bodies before nodding and saying, “Thank you.”
Then Aether grouped the knocked-out people and asked, “What should we do with them? Should we investigate who was behind them?”
Lia shook her head, saying, “They are dead.”
“What?” Aether had a surprised expression. Even Selene was surprised to hear that.
Aether checked their necks for pulses, but to his surprise, there were none. He even checked the leader’s neck, but he was also dead.
Aether realized they had killed themselves, but how?
“They must have had some kind of spell that bound themselves in case they fainted, causing their hearts to stop functioning or something like that,” Lia said with profound knowledge.
Selene nodded in understanding, “Yeah, I heard there were spells that could bind the internal organs under certain conditions.”
‘Hmm… interesting… I’d like to learn that,’ Aether thought.
“Since they are dead, it’s better to leave now… otherwise, we’ll have to deal with a lot of pain in the butt,” Lia said with a serious face.
“Well…” Aether shrugged, seeing this as the better option, and decided to leave the place.
As Aether and the others decided to escape from the situation, they quickly ran away, their footsteps echoing in the empty street.
“Haha… It’s fun… haha,” chuckled Lia between breaths, her laughter filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
“Hahaha… It feels like we did something wrong… haha,” added Selene, her voice tinged with a hint of guilt.
“Don’t laugh, you idiots,” Aether shouted at the two girls, his tone a mixture of annoyance and concern.
Aether shook his head, a wistful smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over him as he realized he was experiencing the thrill of youth once again, albeit it was girls rather than boys.
“I suppose I’m glad I didn’t run away,” Aether mumbled to himself, his thoughts drifting to what might have been if he had chosen a different path.
If he had run, and if Delphine hadn’t caught him that day, who knows what he might have been doing now?
Perhaps he would have become a powerful rogue, much like the characters in the novels he used to read. But then again, there was also the chilling possibility that he might have already met his dead…
‘… D-Did I just raise a red flag?’ Aether thought but his thoughts were interrupted when,
!~Ding~!
[~??~I~can~see~your~cute~little~Elephant~??~??~I~really~love~it~to~have~inside~me~????]
“WHAT THE…!” Aether’s voice trailed off into a startled exclamation as he stumbled and fell to the ground, his heart racing with a mixture of shock and disbelief.
‘Thud’
Hearing the dull thud, both Lia and Selene came to an abrupt halt and turned to him, concern etched on their faces.
“What happened?”
“Did you get hurt?”
Immediately, Aether’s heart raced as he instinctively covered his pants, fearing his zipper might be open or something. “N-No, I-It’s f—” Before he could finish his words,
‘SSSHHHHHHHHH!!’
‘SSHHHHHHHHH!!’
Two sharp bullets grazed both Lia’s and Selene’s cheeks, narrowly missing their faces by mere inches. If not for their quick reaction in tilting their heads, half their faces might have been punctured by the projectiles.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The trio stood frozen, their minds struggling to comprehend what had just occurred.
The bullets that missed their targets sailed through the air, striking poles and walls before erupting into deafening blasts:
“BOOM!!”
“BOOM!!”
Chaos erupted as the bustling street was engulfed in panic, with people fleeing in terror.