It took me some time to adjust to life in this world. In more ways than one. I was excited to learn how to use the mysterious power that existed here, for such abilities could only be found in fiction and fantasy back in my world. Unfortunately, things didn’t go smoothly at first. For my body had yet to fully adjust to the differences between Avani and Earth. And it did not take kindly to using a power that had been completely foreign to it until recently.

  -Excerpt from “The First Champion’s Reminiscence: Volume One”

  As Galen greedily gulped down water from a water-skin, he mentally prepared for the extensive lesson that was coming. He wiped the sweat from his brow using a towel. After their sparring sessions, he was drenched in sweat. The ever persisting heat of Ignis was beginning to grate on his nerves.

  In the four months since he’d been in this world, he noticed that the heat hadn’t died down at all. He figured that by Earth’s standards, the temperature was around summer season right now. At least, where he’d lived in the USA. He worried that the seasons, and by extension, summer, lasted longer here than back in his original world. As the sweltering heat continued to beat down on him, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

  Summer absolutely sucks, Galen thought bitterly.

  Between fall, winter, spring, and summer, it was the worst. He much preferred the colder seasons and could tolerate spring. But summer? If there was one season he would annihilate from existence, it would, without hesitation, be summer.

  In Galen’s view, only masochistic maniacs enjoyed the hottest of the four seasons. The heat was simply too much to enjoy doing anything outside, and back on Earth, he could have sworn the sun’s rays grew in their ability to scorch the skin with each passing year.

  He’d heard many summer defenders cry out, “But what about the beach! Summer is the season to go to the pool and/or beach!”

  Those people can eat the sand on their precious beach, he thought.

  All he’d ever gotten out of the beach were sunburns and grating sand that got everywhere. He felt a certain chosen one wielding a blue lightsaber from a popular space opera would agree with the sand bit.

  His reasoning for why he preferred the colder seasons is that one could always throw on more layers and eat hot food to warm up. In summer though? No matter how many layers one threw off, even if stripped down to one’s birthday suit, it basically did nothing to alleviate the heat.

  With that mental rant out of the way, Galen began to stretch. He grunted with discomfort as his body ached from the sparring sessions with Aleksi. He had once more gotten trounced by the clearly more experienced man, but he wasn’t as bothered by it this time. It was growing increasingly clear that his tutor was a seasoned warrior, or at least had been one not too long ago.

  As he finished his stretches, the tutor in question walked up to him and asked, “Well, with your physical training out of the way, it’s time to hammer your brain next. You ready to learn about Ether, lad?”

  Galen nodded, and got up from the ground with a grunt of pain, “As ready as I’ll ever be. It’s about time I finally learn. Which reminds me, everyone I’ve asked about it before has always given me the run around. Even you. Why’s that?”

  Aleksi sighed, “I promise I’ll cover that as well. For now, however, let me start with the basics.”

  Galen sat at the nearby bench, which by now was thankfully under the shade, affording him protection from the sun’s malicious rays, “Hit me.”

  Aleksi raised a brow, “We just finished your sparring sessions, in which, let me remind you, I’ve hit you plenty already. You want to go another round before we start on the Ether lesson? That’s fine by me, but-”

  “What?! No! Hell no!” Galen panicked.

  His tutor laughed, “I’m just messing with you, lad.”

  Galen pouted. His tutor had a more mischievous streak than he let on.

  The man cleared his throat and began his lesson, “Now… Ether. It’s a substance. A power that is present throughout all of Avani. People who learn how to use it are called Ethereans. The use of Ether is how we Ethereans gain the ability to empower ourselves and cast Arts.”

  “Arts?”

  “We’ll get to that,” his tutor promised, “now, the power of Ether can be used by absorbing said substance that exists around us, which we then store within our bodies. Once stored, it can be freely used by the Etherean as they see fit. The power exists in three forms. The most common and natural form of Ether is in its gaseous state, and it is present in the air all around us.”

  Galen took a moment to look around the courtyard.

  Aleksi chuckled at this, “Don’t bother looking for it, lad. It’s invisible to humans as well as most other races. However, some, like the elves, possess the ability to see it.”

  That wasn’t why he was looking around. After his tutor had explained that it was present in the air, he thought back to when he had first been summoned to this world. Even now, after four months of being here, he could still feel it as he breathed. The air in Avani felt heavier than it had back on Earth. It wasn’t harder to breathe per se, but it was definitely notable that he wasn’t breathing in just oxygen.

  “What is it, lad? You look like you’ve realized something.”

  Galen relayed his thoughts to his tutor, who frowned thoughtfully and rubbed his facial hair. “Interesting,” his tutor said, “I guess what the First Champion had chronicled is true then. Your world really doesn’t have any Ether.”

  “That’s right. As far as I know, there wasn’t any kind of special powers that people could use on Earth. At least, I’m pretty sure of that,” Galen leaned forward, “now, can you continue?”

  “Yes, of course,” Aleksi cleared his throat, “now, Ether’s gaseous state is the most common form, but it is not the only one. It also has a liquid state. While I’m unaware of how the process goes, I’m told it is very difficult to convert Ether from its gaseous state to a liquid. Using its liquid form is how potions and other such handy things are made. Naturally, drinking an Ether potion allows an Etherean to recover their stores of Ether far faster than breathing it in.”

  He paused, his eyes widening as if something just came to mind, “That reminds me, lad. When I say ‘breathing in Ether,’ I’m not simply talking about the normal breathing we all do.”

  “What do you mean?” Galen leaned back with confusion, “how’s breathing in Ether any different than simply breathing in air?”

  “The answer, lad, is intent. I’m not sure why or how it works this way, but it does. When you breathe normally, you’re taking in mostly oxygen, and with it, whatever Ether is present with that air. When you breathe in Ether, however, it’s the inverse. You attract and breathe in mostly Ether.”

  Galen nodded, fascinated.

  His tutor continued, “Less experienced Ethereans have to breathe in Ether consciously. But those with more experience, with a certain level of mastery and understanding, can learn to do this unconsciously and at all times. That is a rather advanced skill, however.”

  Aleksi’s tone then took on one of a warning, “Also keep in mind that an Etherean cannot simply breathe in Ether ad infinitum. Every user has a maximum capacity for how much Ether they can store in their bodies. Much like how a person can only eat, drink, or inhale so much before you burst. The result of taking in too much Ether and pushing far past your capacity… well… the results can be rather messy… and explosive.”

  Galen gulped nervously at the mental image. Aleksi noticed his discomfort and chuckled, “Don’t worry, lad. You’ll know when you’re at maximum capacity. And you’ll especially know when you’re exceeding it far before you reach that dangerous point of no return. Pushing the limits is necessary, however. With training, an Etherean can increase their Capacity. At the same time, as you train you’ll want to increase your Efficiency as well. That is to say, reduce the amount of Ether wasted either empowering yourself or invoking an Art.”

  “There’s that term again. ‘Art.’ What is that?”

  Aleksi brushed the question off, “That’s a more advanced skill. We’re focusing on the basics for now. I promise we’ll get to it. Eventually.”

  Galen sighed in annoyance, “Fine…”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Aleksi chuckled and nodded in acknowledgment.

  Truth be told, he was glad that his mentor had held off on explaining the more advanced stuff. The basics alone were a bit much to take in all at once.

  Aleksi seemed to realize this, and said, “It’s a lot to take in. Trust me, I know. We’ve only scratched the surface with that explanation. So I’ll let you take a little break to mentally recover. Then, we’ll move on to teaching you how to actually use Ether.”

  Galen’s heart raced with equal measures of excitement and nervousness, I wonder how this is going to go…

  ***

  After about fifteen minutes of idle banter and relaxation, Aleksi announced the break over. As Galen stood up from the bench, his mentor had pulled out a smooth and small, but sturdy looking rock.

  “Now, lad, I’ll start with a visual demonstration of what Ether can do,” Aleksi clenched his fist around the rock and squeezed.

  Galen could tell the man was straining, squeezing with all his might. After a moment, his mentor relaxed and showed him the rock. It was completely undamaged.

  “That,” his tutor stated, “is without the power. Now let me show you what I can do WITH Ether.”

  Aleksi took a deep breath. As he inhaled, Galen noticed he was breathing in far longer than a normal person would be able to.

  He’s not breathing in air. He’s breathing in Ether, he realized.

  After Aleksi stopped inhaling, he said, “Now that there is Ether stored within me, I shall use some of it to strengthen myself.”

  His mentor paused for a moment, and then squeezed the rock in his hand once again.

  CRACK!!!

  Galen’s brows raised as he heard the audible cracks of the rock breaking in Aleksi’s palm. He had fully closed his hand into a fist, which he extended towards Galen.

  Thinking Aleksi was trying to hand him the remains of the rock, he’d been about to reach out to take it. However, his mentor had suddenly opened his palm, and bits of broken rock spilled out to the ground. Galen noticed parts of the rock had been crushed so intensely that some of it had nearly been reduced to powder.

  “That…” he began, “is definitely beyond what a normal human should be able to do…”

  “Quite,” Aleksi affirmed, “and it is what you will learn to do.”

  He pulled out another rock of equal size and smoothness and handed it to Galen.

  “Have you just been carrying these around all day?”

  Aleksi chuckled, then shrugged, “Don’t concern yourself with that. Focus.”

  “Okay… what do I focus on? How do I do this?”

  “Let’s start with learning how to breathe in Ether,” his mentor suggested, “take a few, deep, deliberate breaths.”

  Galen did so.

  After the third, Aleksi noted, “You said the air in Avani feels heavier than in your world, correct? That means you feel something in the air that makes the difference notable. That’s Ether. Focus on it. Focus on breathing that heaviness in. Remember, breathing in Ether is about intent.”

  Galen did his best to concentrate. He felt the heavier air going into his lungs. He tried to shift his perspective on the feeling.

  The air only feels heavier because it’s not just air. There’s Ether there too. Concentrate on it. That heaviness… breathe it in, like you would with normal air. But focus, he thought.

  Aleksi seemed to perk up, “That’s it! You’re doing it, lad! Nice and easy. Take it slow.”

  After a few more breaths, Galen began to feel a shift in his breathing. No… not his breathing. Rather, what he was breathing in. He could almost feel it within him now that he was focusing on it. Going to his lungs and then extending throughout the rest of the body. It almost felt like a refreshing coolness permeating throughout his being.

  “I think… I think I can feel it within me…” he said excitedly.

  He was hit with a strange sensation. There was almost a feeling of rightness with the power. As if it was always meant to be there, but not quite. There was also a feeling of foreignness. As though the energy was familiar, yet not quite right. An empty feeling inside him, one he hadn’t realized, had been partially satiated, as though the Ether were partly filling a hole, but not quite able to fully mend it.

  Weird.

  He was so focused on the sensation that he didn’t notice Aleksi’s look of concern, “Good… good… how are you feeling lad?”

  “Besides the new feeling of what I think is the Ether in my body? Nothing new, really…” Galen said as he tried to squeeze the rock in his palm.

  Nothing. Not a bit of damage done.

  “So it seems you can take in Ether into your body just fine…” Aleksi muttered, “that’s good. Now, you don’t feel any stronger because you’re not actively using the power to strengthen yourself.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “You need to burn it.”

  “Burn it?!” Galen asked with alarm.

  His mentor rolled his eyes, “I don’t mean literally, like with fire, lad! To use Ether, either to empower yourself or to invoke an Art, you need to burn it. Use it up.”

  “Like metabolize it?” Galen asked, “like how my body burns up calories from food and drink for energy?”

  Aleksi frowned, seemingly confused at the comparison, but still seemed to get what he was asking, “Yes, I suppose. We all have our own ways of looking at these sorts of things. So if that helps, try it out. Remember, lad. Intent is the key.”

  Galen closed his eyes and tried it. He tried to visualize the Ether, the cooling sensation of it, being burned up for energy. He used all his mental energy and focus to try to burn the Ether.

  And he felt...

  Nothing.

  Galen sighed with frustration, “I’m getting nothing.”

  Aleksi chuckled and shook his head, “Of course not. This is the first time you’re using a power that’s completely foreign to you, lad. Even people born in this world need training to be able to use Ether. I’m surprised you were able to get the knack of breathing in the power as quick as you did. Don’t worry, there are still a lot of hours in the day.”

  Galen held back a groan and did his best not to look annoyed.

  Hopefully this won’t take too long to get.

  ***

  Galen and Aleksi had started today’s training and lessons in the morning. Now, it was currently evening, with the sun setting soon.

  To say he was growing frustrated at his repeated failures to burn Ether was an understatement. He was downright furious by now.

  Sensing this, Aleksi had forced Galen to take a break from the Ether training and vent some of his frustration with some more sparring sessions. That had helped clear his head considerably, so now they returned to trying to get him to burn Ether.

  When the sun had nearly set was when Galen felt something.

  He had kept up with his mental visualization of metabolizing the Ether within him, and he felt as though a spark had ignited within him. He felt a burst of energy, almost like a second wind, burst to life within him for a brief moment.

  Aleksi seemed to sense it, as he perked up and hollered excitedly, “That was it, lad!”

  Excited, Galen tried to crush the rock in his hand, but failed yet again. He wasn’t angry about this most recent failure. It had been overshadowed by the joy of finally making some sort of progress.

  His mentor explained, “You didn’t focus on strengthening yourself with the energy attained from burning the Ether. Do it again, but this time, focus on empowering the muscles in your body.”

  Galen did so, though he noticed it was getting a bit harder to breathe for some reason. He figured that was because he just wasted the energy he had gotten from the Ether.

  It took him a few attempts to repeat the spark within him, but he managed it. He focused with everything he had, and directed the energy to the muscles in his body, specifically the arm and hand holding the rock.

  He felt energy and strength he had never known in his entire life. Excited, before the feeling could fade, he clenched the rock in his hand and SQUEEZED.

  Crack!

  Though the rock didn’t break into pieces and powder like it had for Aleksi, it had been damaged to the point that several cracks formed on the piece of hardened earth.

  “I-I did it!” Galen wheezed out with a grin.

  Huh? Am I wheezing? Man, Aleksi didn’t mention that burning Ether would take that much out of me. It’s kinda hard to breathe now… And I feel hotter than normal.

  “Yes! That was it, lad! You finally did it!” Aleksi cheered.

  Galen knew something was wrong when his mentor took one look at him, and his joyful expression shifted into one of horror and concern.

  “Lad?! Are you alright? What’s wrong?!” Aleksi yelled.

  “What… what are you talking about?” Galen wheezed.

  Okay, it’s definitely getting harder to breathe. And I’m starting to feel itchy… REALLY itchy!

  In response to the itch, he began to scratch at his arms.

  “Lad, you’re breaking out in hives!” Aleksi yelled in alarm.

  Galen suddenly felt nauseous. He fell to his knees, and the next thing he knew, he was throwing up.

  “Galen! Get on your side! Stay with me, lad!” Aleksi yelled.

  His mentor’s voice sounded muffled. Galen’s vision began to fade in and out as his throat seemed to swell, cutting off his oxygen.

  He saw Aleksi take a deep breath, before he let out a bellow that was so loud that his ears began to ring. He was sure the man had empowered his vocal chords with Ether as he yelled, “MEDIC!!!”

  Moments after, as his throat continued to swell shut, he passed out.