Aethan sat silently in his room, his Aether bubbling in his core and thrumming through his Aether pathways.
There was a certain calm to his visage as if he wasn't suffering under the pressure of his brother's Totembeast at the moment.
As much as Merek cared for his brother, he didn't want him to slack off and become a weakling.
He could boldly beat his chest and say that the Narok family was made up of powerful geniuses and prodigies.
Aethan might have been the only one to have awakened the true power of the Narok bloodline, but that didn't mean the others didn't have a sliver of its power coursing through them
Ragnarok.
Carnage.
There wasn't anyone in the family who didn't understand those two words well. Even if they didn't, they had a subconscious need and urge to display it.
Even their mother, who wasn't a true Narok but was married into one, had developed their traits. Her Light Elemental Affinity did nothing to influence the Narok blood that had been seeded into her.
If she willed it though, she could purge herself of it —but at a huge cost— but… why would she do that in the first place?
The power she received from it was too much to be taken lightly. Her talent was already greater than most Mages her Circle, only for it to be boosted by the Narok bloodline.
Aethan could feel his muscles getting stronger in real time. The results might not be substantial when considering some factors, but it was relatively better than anyone else his Circle and age regardless.
The pressure of Merek's Totembeast was crushing. But Aethan, through the circulation of Aether, was able to negate it.
This helped him build a resistance to pressure, while also making him able to work under pressure —metaphorically and literally.
An hour went by before Aethan began to feel tired, the first beads of sweat rolling down his head.
Pushing through, still, he went on for another hour until he was stopped by Merek.
Aethan breathed out a steaming breath. The heat of his body was alarming, but he hadn't noticed this until Merek's intervention.
The heat wasn't deadly and all, but it would have made his system overheat and become unusable for a period of time.
Unusable in the sense that it would almost cause irreversible damage if he used it.
Aethan took a bath after the training, cooling his body and Aether pathways down. Then they all saw their father off.
Darion had delayed his return to the Bloodborne Syndicate to train Aethan and watch him grow, and now that he was in Merek's hands, he was rest assured that he would be safe until he got to the Eclipse Sect.
After that, Aethan's safety was left up to him.
Darion didn't pull out his Earthbound Dragon like Aethan wished him to. Aethan still wasn't able to believe that his father had a dragon as a Totembeast.
Whether it was a true dragon, or just a species with similar qualities and traits, he wanted to see it. Unfortunately, Darion was traveling alone, he would need all the mental power and energy he could get, lest he tired himself out before he got to the Guild.
He took off on a Nightmare Horse, looking ridiculous on it.
Darion's build was stocky and scary. His muscles overlapped over one another, so thick and tough he didn't need much armor on himself.
He truly and well embodied the sturdiness and defences of earth, making him one of a kind.
Adding his Earthbound Dragon, his physique was only tempered more and made more strong, rigid and large. So it was a funny sight to see him moving on a creature he almost matched in muscular size.
It was already dark when Darion left, so it didn't take long before he disappeared from Aethan's sight. Both because Aethan's sight wasn't as good as Merek's and their mother's, and also because Nightmare Horses were faster when night descended.
"Back to training?" Aethan asked, turning to Merek who still stared ahead.
The gallant Knight unfolded his arms and stared at Aethan. A small frown crept up his face, before he shook his head.
"No, you need to be at your peak by dawn," Merek replied in his deep voice.
He paused, looked at their mother, and his frown loosened. "I need you to clear a dungeon, so you would need as much strength as you can. Till then, rest your body… or cultivate, whichever you want."
Martha cleared her throat, attracting her boys' attention. "You would need to have a proper dinner too," she said from the side. "I prepared your favourite dishes."
The instant they heard these words, the eyes of the two boys glowed with a bright light, and they shot past Martha, weaving out of the way of several obstacles and sat at their seats in the dining room in record time.
They weren't surprised to see their mother already waiting for them there. This wasn't the first time she used her superior speed to catch them off guard. Besides, they were there for food, everything else at that moment was secondary.
Several dishes appeared on the table in no time, and they began digging in with wild, but controlled, etiquette.
Food sprayed around, but somehow didn't sully the dining. It either landed back on their plates, or into their mouth.
Martha only watched them from the side, a warm smile on her face.
It had been a while since she had seen her girls and other son. 'Perhaps I should pay them a visit when Merek and Aethan leave.'
---
The next morning was like a blur. Merek and Aethan didn't even know how long it took them, but they were ready for their journey.
Aethan was gifted a Space Ring forged from purified Blessed Steel by his mother. His father had wanted to personally give him his own gifts the day before, but he seemed to have forgotten… or so they thought.
Aethan received a pair of Short Swords —a gift from his father.
Both of them were lightweight, but had different features. One was dark blue and had a string of Runes etched on its sides, flickering with an electric-blue light from time to time.
It reminded Aethan of Lightning's destructiveness. It's wrath when challenged, and its malevolent descent when its pride was insulted.
Volt Edge… That was its name.
The other was a bit lighter than the other.
Or maybe 'a bit' was an understatement. It was light in a way that its ability to cut though the wind and change direction fluidly was insane.
And that's probably what the greyish Runes glowing on its side did. It made the sword less resistant to wind and became the wind itself. It naturally gathered wind Aether around it, making it almost invisible to the eyes and ears.
Silent Fang.