New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Back in the underground room, under the throne room of Bastion City, Astaroth was currently guiding Aether around Phoenix as she concentrated on her senses.

Up to now, the progress had been much slower than what the pair had expected, but comfortably within Aravelle's expectations. After all, not just any mage could sense Aether, let alone wield it.

If she had grasped it in a few hours, he would have thought her a prodigy. Already, he had doubts about Astaroth's talents, given his extremely low affinity to most elemental magics.

Finding another dubious mage, with capacities that went beyond their training, would have made him question the world's logic. After all, it was all predetermined by the world's will, at the birth of a person, whether they would be great mages or not.

Just as it had designated him as a Progenitor when he came to be.

Phoenix was getting exhausted, and was about to call it quits, when she felt a slight spark in her mind. This had happened at the same time that Astaroth decided to try something different, and passed some Aether through her body.

He could feel Phoenix's senses reaching out and retracting, without ever feeling the slightest change in the Aether's reactions. So he chose to try something different, in hopes of a change.

After all, only mad people tried the same thing repeatedly, hoping for a different result.

And by the furrowing of her brows, he knew something had changed.

"Do you feel the Aether?" he asked her, getting excited.

Even Aravelle looked at her, his eyes slightly widening.

"No… But I felt something go through me. Almost like a jolt of electricity. It was… strange."

Aravelle had seen what Astaroth attempted, and hearing her words, he almost gasped in shock.

'She's not ready yet. But her body is compatible with Aether… That's unlikely, though. Is it because of her previous method of purifying mana? Although she never made Aether, she got as close as mana can get from its source…'

He was tempted to let them continue to experiment, but he could sense her mental fatigue growing, so decided to stop them.

"Alright, that's enough. You've been here for hours without progress. Go rest."

"What?! But we just got progress, Aravelle. Let us stay for a few more hours," Astaroth complained.

Aravelle clicked his tongue at the young man.

"Are you so blinded by helping her get stronger that you can't see her exhaustion? Don't be more of a fool than you already are, young man. Go rest."

Looking at Phoenix, Astaroth noticed that Phoenix was drenched in sweat, and her hair was stuck to her face, almost like she had run a marathon. And that didn't begin to describe how she felt in her head.

Phoenix felt like she had spent twenty-four hours studying theoretical physics, and her mind was drained. She could barely line up more than two thoughts.

"He's right, Astaroth. Anyway, the day is almost over. We have to log out. You have a date with Clark later today, and Jack wants to speak to you as well. We can only postpone those things for so long."

Astaroth grimaced at the thought of his day. He could already hear Clark's rebukes and feel his muscles tensing up from the hell of training he would be put through.

And that was without accounting talking to Jack. He knew what the old man wanted to talk about, and his mood was already souring.

"Fine. But we can come back here tomorrow, right?" he asked, turning to Aravelle.

Aravelle shook his head.

"Not tomorrow. I will be using the room, and I can't be distracted. Come back in two days, if you want to keep training her. I'll even let you help her without supervision, as long as you promise to keep going slow like today."

Astaroth's face lit up.

"Alright! For sure, Aravelle. Thank you!"

Helping Phoenix up, Astaroth dragged her back upstairs, where they slowly headed to their room. She was right.

They had stuff to do, so logging out was the best thing to do for now.

They reached the room, where Phoenix almost crashed into the bed, her body feeling heavy.

"Man. I just sat there for hours, and yet, I felt like I was running the Boston Marathon. Do you feel like this when you train with Aether?"

Astaroth looked at her and chuckled.

"Only at first. It's been a while since I felt weakness from raising my control skills, and my mana lobe levels. Maybe you get used to it with time?"

Phoenix snorted.

"I hope so. Because if it stays this tough, I won't be doing this for long. There are other ways to get strong that don't need me to strain myself so much."

Astaroth agreed there were other ways, but somehow, deep inside, he had a feeling what he was doing was important as well.

Levelling was an easy way to get stronger, but somehow, he felt like all this menial training was important for later. He still remembered Kloud's words, how a solid foundation was crucial.

But he wouldn't force Phoenix if she didn't want to. It was her choice, after all.

"Up to you. But I think it's important that you at least reach the first level of sensing and manipulation of Aether. I have a feeling a lot of our later enemies will use Aether, and it's wise to be prepared, don't you think?"

Phoenix could hear the logic in his words. But she dreaded feeling like this every time she trained.

So it would highly depend on how it went. For now, she could put up with it for a bit.

"I guess you're right. In any case, let's call it a day. I can't wait to get out and take a hot shower. I can already tell that my body is going to be icky outside as well."

Astaroth laughed as he lay down next to her.

"Welcome to the club. Do you know how often I woke up in sweat in the beginning? I feel like if you aren't, then you aren't getting stronger."

Phoenix meekly punched his arm before they looked at the ceiling.

"Log out."