Aether Beasts

"I don't think this is a good idea."

I sighed. "Sandra you've been saying that for the past hour. If you're not going to jump then let's head back to the others."

"No, I—" She paused. "I can do it."

I held back another sigh as a strong wind blew against the mountain top we were on. Clouds partially covered a dim sky that had just moments ago been bright. The weather seemed to be far more erratic, which must have been due to our proximity to the great scar. I glanced around at the wet rock and spare tree still dripping with dew from the rainfall that had occurred a few hours ago. From cold and rainy, to bright and sunny, and now to this depressing tone.

"Sandra you've been practicing this for weeks," I assured. "You can do this, and even if you panic it's not like you'll get hurt."

Sandra's use of gravity had evolved quite a bit during the month of travel to the edges of the border cities, and simple techniques like floating and simple movement of objects had changed into the limited flight, and control of repulsive and attractive forces. Along with the jumps in her bloodline and dark techniques, she was far more powerful and versatile than she had ever been.

There was only one thing that was holding her back. I had found it immensely funny when she had told me and the others of her fear of heights. It was she had and was still working on, though it hadn't completely gone. Although she had tested her flight before, it hadn't really been in the air, just a few feet off the ground so I'd come up with the idea to scale one of the nearby mountains.

The land closer to the great scar was far rockier and perilous, with fewer flatlands and forests and more mountains and valleys, not to say there weren't any, just that the majority of the land was extremely difficult for non-arcanists and low-level arcanists to traverse if they weren't using the main roads and paths.

For us, it only took minimal effort.

Before I could assure her once again, she took a step of the edge, and her scream split the air before fading as she fell.

I casually walked and peered over to see how she was doing. A normal person might have thought me heartless but falls didn't matter to Sandra anymore when she could manipulate gravity.

In this case, she had stopped halfway and was rising back up.

"There we go," I said mentally, knowing that she probably wouldn't hear my voice over the wind and distance. "Now try and move about."

She stabilized, and then began slowly moving through the air. I knew she could go much faster, but it was better for her to take it slow. Her form of flight was different than what a wind arcanist would be using. She flew by changing her personal gravity and the gravity around her. Zirani had taught her much and I'd picked up a few tidbits here and there. One such tidbit was that Sandra had multiple ways of flight via gravity, most of which she could use in tandem for increasing speed and maneuverability in the air.

"Why don't you try and use another technique??"

I could feel her nervousness through our bond, but also her resolve to succeed. She focused and then shot up in a blur of motion. I didn't know what her exact techniques were, but she had a huge variety of different things she could do from decreasing and increasing gravity, gravitational pulling and pushing, attractive and repulsive forces, manipulating her own personal gravity, and more. I understood why people valued gravity cores so highly. They were perfect for everything from combat to utility. She still had a long way to go, but she was getting there, and the Sandra of a month ago wouldn't stand a chance against Sandra as she was now.

The same went for me and Misty who had also grown tremendously in the past month.

I watched Sandra fly around for a while longer before she landed next to me with a shaky smile. "I think I'm getting used to it.'

"You'll need to," I replied. "Imagine how much of a pain you'll be when you learn to control it."

"Speaking of pain," Sandra said. "How are the new weights?"

I shrugged. "Fine, and you?'

"They're annoying, but not too bad." She shook her head. "I can't wait until we can take them off though. It's only a few more days till we reach Evenord, right?"

I nodded. "It is, now let's get back. I got food to prepare, and I'm sure Misty's bored by now. There is only so much she can gain by hunting weak beasts."

"Weak, huh." Sandra had a wistful smile on her face. "It's not that they're weak, just that we're far too strong now, for them at least."

She wasn't wrong, and as we walked over to one of the trees, I thought about just how different things were. There was no more danger to be had in the plains, not from the beasts or the arcanists and we had run into a few bandits, surprisingly enough. They hadn't posed much of a threat, but it had been a shock. It turned out that many such groups lived in the valleys near the border cities, and would raid caravans as they passed. There was plenty of cover around and tight spaces so I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised.

Once we were at the tree, I wrapped an arm around Sandra and gave her a kiss as I pulled some mutated nature aether from our core, and began to form a pattern. It was much like the original except with changes to allow for others to be brought along. I also had other versions, but this one was for group travel.

"Stop it." Sandra smacked me playfully.

I smiled and then together we vanished into the tree. The sensation was a lot less unpleasant than the circle Zirani had used back in Bullrock, and felt like accelerating at a rapid pace for a moment before stopping. One moment we were at the top of the moment and the next we were at the bottom, right next to the camp. When I had first learned the technique, I hadn't used markers so, in areas like this where the ground wasn't completely dirt, I often lost the original tree I'd teleported from so I had developed markers, sort of signals that I could focus on. There was a range limit to them, but it was a few miles, even though I could currently only travel a mile and a half at max, and the aether it cost was no small amount at all. The longer the distance the more aether needed.

"Finally." Misty looked worn out, and she dragged herself over to me. I simply bent my head and exposed my neck to her.

"I'm going to go see what Zirani's up to," Sandra said. She didn't care that Misty was a vampire anymore, but the sight of Misty feeding still unnerved her somewhat, though she was trying to get over it.

Misty fangs piercing my skin didn't muster any reaction from me. Compared to all the other pain I'd dealt with, this was nothing. A drop compared to the ocean of pain I'd endured in the tower.

"Thank you." Misty let out a breath. "I needed that. How did things go with Sandra, did she chicken out?"

"Nope," I replied, walking over to the camp and pulling my cooking equipment out. "She was nervous but she managed it. How about you, did you get your draining technique to work properly?"

She smiled, her fangs visible and a single drop of blood dripping down one of them. "It did, and it's better than I thought."

Misty use of life had shown me just how stupid I had been in thinking it could only be used for healing. Zirani had spoken much about it, from empowering oneself, to flesh shaping, and other darker and more brutal techniques. She spoke of one arcanist who had made organic explosives within living targets, and another who could shapeshift with ease, not to mention the animation aspect of it. Apparently, life was one of the most popular affinities due to its sheer versatility. It also played a major part in golem creation, and while none life arcanists could make golems, and constructs, it was far easier for those with a life affinity.

She had begun to teach us more about the lands beyond the great scar over the past month, and at this point, I could tell that Sandra and Misty were both very eager, not that I was any different. The plains had nothing left for us anymore, apart from my aunt who I would have taken with me if I could. Who knew, maybe when I returned I would take her with me. Westvale had more healers now so it wasnt like she needed to stay there.

"What are you making tonight?" Misty asked. "Please tell me it's not that pie again, what did you call it shepherd pie?"

"It wasn't that bad," I protested. "Sandra and Zirnai loved it, and no I'm not making it tonight. It's a southern common dish, it's called burritos, or at least that's what my aunt wrote in the book. Those merchants we helped into provided me with a ton more ingredients."

"Burritos?" Misty tested the words. "Odd name."

"And shepherds pie isn't?" I raised an eyebrow. "I mean what does it have to do with a shepherd?"

"No clue, but I hope I never have to eat it again."

"You won't be eating anything if you don't let me focus," I said, trailing my gaze over her half-naked body. Since we hadn't been running into many people, and no longer needed our weak armor, Sandra and Misty had taken to wearing more comfortable clothes, which also meant fewer clothes. Misty was in a pair of very short jeans, and an odd bra that was basically just a wide strip of cloth that wrapped around her chest. She had said it was called a sports bra, not that I cared about that.

She smirked at my look and then strutted off, swaying her hips purposefully in a way she knew drove me mad.

I shook my head and got to my cooking. I'd have time for fun later.