7 Black Wings (2)

"Wait, hang on a second!" Erika's scream was once again a sight to behold as her expression turned into one of shock and wonder. "My mana increased!" She shouted, then her expression soured. "And this thing tastes awful." She added, coughing.

Aether couldn't help but laugh. He decided it would be wise not to tell her that the flowers usually tasted much better, but only if they were picked before dawn.

"They stimulate the mind and body. I think you'll find your mana capacity has increased as well." He wasn't used to speaking of mana like it was a numerical value, but that was what the people in the academy understood best.

"Ooh, let me check." Erika quickly touched her stat bracelet.

<Erika Thorn>

<Level 2>

<Mana: 450/450>

<Spells: Icicle>

<Rituals: Basic summoning>

<AP: 2>

"Oh my god!" She whispered. "Wait, are you an idiot? Why would you give this to me? Why didn't you use it?" She blurted out as she looked at Aether wide eyed.

The young man shrugged. "You looked like you were about to collapse from all the stress and panic." He chuckled. "It wouldn't be very gentlemanly if I kept this from you and took it for myself instead, would it?"

Seeing the class president speechless was another gem he wasn't about to forget any time soon. Taking advantage of that, he pointed at the grassy field where some students had started to convene already. "Shall we? I'd rather not be late." He didn't wait for an answer and immediately headed off.

Erika was about to follow the young man, but an alert from her stat bracelet made her pause for a moment.

<Congratulations: You are the first to increase your maximum mana.>

<Reward: 1 AP>

"You've got to be joking." Erika mumbled before shaking her head. Suddenly, she felt somewhat guilty. Had she robbed Aether from an opportunity like this? Her gut feeling seemed to think so. "I'll repay you," She promised in a whisper before following the young man.

"I don't need a dog following me around," Aether didn't seem phased at all by Iris' words. He ignored her as she brushed past him to join the crowd. Seth, followed her, seeming unaware of her words.

"Sure," Aether whispered once they were far enough away. The effect this proud and foolish girl had on his mood was rather annoying. He shook his head and pushed any thought about her out of his mind, then glanced back.

Erika seemed rather shocked at something. He smiled, then turned his attention on the crowd. The students were already discussing their ideas. What kinds of spells they wanted to discover, how they wanted to be famous for creating a new, powerful spell…

Yet, all that discussion came to sudden stop when Professor Cross arrived. Aether furrowed his brows. Were there no other teachers at this school? All of his classes seemed to be taught by this rather odd woman.

"Alright kids!" She raised her voice, drowning out all other sound. "It's time to do some experimentation. Two rules! No spells designed to kill, and nothing that intends to manipulate wildmagic." She grinned. "Aside from that, you're free to try whatever. Don't hesitate to ask for help, or to work together."

She looked around, at everyone, then clapped once. "Alright, begin!"

With those words, the students scattered in hurry. While there were a few groups forming, most preferred to work alone. Aether was one of those as well. He walked a few steps away from the nearest person, then set on the ground cross legged.

He rested his right hand on his knee, his palm facing the sky. Closing his eyes, he focused. It was easy to manipulate his own mana. It gathered in his palm with ease. Now, what remained the hard part, materialising that mana in a pure form.

Furrowing his brows, he focused more. So far, he hadn't had any success with something like this. As far as he knew, no one did. Mana was pure magical energy, a part of what created the force of life. Bringing it into the Material plane in its pure, unchanged, and untainted form was, as far as most scholars were concerned, utterly impossible.

Their opinion on this matter didn't stop, or concern Aether at all. He took a deep breath and forced his mana into a sphere. Next, he had to somehow bring it out from the Ethereal plane to the Material plane, without imbuing with an element. Any element.

"Whoa!" Someone whispered. Aether's eyes shot open. He glanced to his side to see Mara, the shy girl from before, watching his palm wide eyed. She was still holding a handkerchief, but she wasn2t covering her nose with it anymore. Not noticing his gaze, she stepped closer, sniffing the air.

What was she doing, just smelling the air like that? As far as he could tell, there was no smell aside from the scent of the few wildflowers. "Can I help you?" He asked.

Mara flinched. "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry!" She quickly stepped back. "I didn't mean to bother you." She was about to run off when Aether reached and caught her arm.

"You don't need to run off." He let go of her arm. "And I'm not bothered, so no worries there."

Mara seemed to calm down a little, though she was clearly still anxious. "I'm glad." She breathed out, then looked away. "Umm…" She mumbled, clearly wanting to say something. "Can… can I ask for your help?" She looked Aether in the eye.

Her purple eyes were practically begging for help. Aether immediately looked down at the ground. His hair fell in front of his silvery grey eyes, covering them. "Sure, how can I help you?"

Mara clapped and jumped up and down. "Yes! Thank you!" She also sat on the ground next to him and pointed at the sky. "I noticed the spell you cast the other day – the light spell. It gave off a cool, white light."

Aether nodded, though he wasn't paying much attention to her words right now. Had she noticed? Has she seen his eyes? No, his hair was blocking the view somewhat, and the Madam's spell wouldn't let anyone who wasn't searching for it actively to notice it.

"Can you teach it to me?" Mara blurted out. Her eyes followed his every move as Aether tilted his head.

"Uh, sure, I don't see why not." He mumbled, avoiding meeting her gaze. He raised his hand before her face, then slowly allowed his mana to gather in his palm. Not long after, an orb of light formed from seemingly nothingness.

Mara's eyes widened. She inspected the orb for a while. Aether watched her expression change from confusion to interest, then to sudden understanding and excitement in a matter of seconds.

"Like… this?" She mumbled suddenly, raising her hand next to his, close enough that their fingers nearly touched each other. "Light." Aether's eyes widened as a pale orb of light appeared in her palm.

"Did I do it?" She asked, meeting his gaze.