Present day after Liam came back from school
The afternoon air outside was cool, whispering through the cracks of the dojo's open windows. Inside, Dreck stood in the center of the floor, arms crossed as Liam approached. There was no sound, no formal greeting—just a look.
"Today" Dreck said calmly, "you learn what it means to feel Aether."
Liam tilted his head. "I thought we were already doing that during combat drills."
"No," Dreck said, shaking his head. "Combat teaches you how to use your body. But tonight, I teach you how to use the world."to draw out what's in you.
He motioned for Liam to sit.
Liam dropped to his knees across from him on the mat. Dreck closed his eyes, his breathing slow and even. Liam followed.
"Listen," Dreck began, his voice low. "The world is not still. It breathes. Beneath the wind, the trees, the ground… there's a current. It moves through everything. That is Aether. Life's pulse."
Liam listened, trying to feel something, anything, but it was just air and silence.
"You won't sense it by force," Dreck said, without opening his eyes. "You have to surrender to it. Stop trying. Just breathe. Inhale with the world. Exhale with the world. Let your body vanish into the rhythm."
Liam slowed his breathing. He tried to clear his thoughts—of school, of Kaela, of his parents, of everything.
At first, there was nothing. Then—
A flicker.
Not a voice, but a sensation. Like static on his skin. A pulse.
It faded.
"Did you feel that?" Dreck asked, opening one eye.
Liam nodded slowly. "Barely. Like a breeze inside me."
"Good," Dreck said. "That's Aether brushing against your presence. Now, draw it in. Gently. Imagine you're breathing it into your limbs, your core. Let it flow."
Liam focused. With each inhale, he imagined the energy sinking into him, pooling into his stomach, spreading to his arms.
But suddenly—snap—his focus broke. The energy flared violently, and Liam winced. A sharp pain lanced through his shoulder.
"Too fast," Dreck said. "You forced it. You don't command Aether. You invite it."
Liam exhaled, frustrated. "This is hard."
Dreck smirked. "Good things usually are."
They repeated the exercise again. And again. For hours.
Sometimes Liam felt nothing. Other times, a pulse surged too strongly and vanished. Sweat clung to his skin. His patience thinned. But he kept going.
Then—on the seventh try—something clicked.
He inhaled. And this time… it stayed.
The energy moved like water through his body—calm, cool, precise.
Liam opened his eyes.
A soft aura shimmered faintly around his skin.
But something was off.
Dreck's smile faded. He stepped forward cautiously. "Liam," he said slowly. "How do you feel?"
Liam blinked. "Cold," he whispered. "But clear. Like my body's not mine anymore. Like I've let go of something heavy."
The energy around him deepened, darkened. Dreck's eyes narrowed. He wasn't just channeling Aether.
He was awakening something buried.
A low hum began to fill the air. Frost bloomed across the mat beneath Liam's feet.
Dreck muttered, "This… this is hatred. Focused. Controlled. But buried so deep, it's shaped his entire flow."
Liam looked up. "Is it bad?"
Dreck crouched beside him, looking serious. "It's not bad. But it's dangerous. Your Aether reacts to your truth. And your truth, Liam… is rage sealed in silence." with your goal it's something you need.
He paused, placing a hand on Liam's shoulder. "That power can protect you. Sharpen you. Even save you. But if you let it take the lead… it will consume you."
Liam's voice was quiet. "So what do I do?"
Dreck stood. "You learn to master it. I'll teach you how to command it, shape it, suppress it—control it. But tonight, we only begin."
Dreck knelt beside the wooden chest in the corner of the dojo and pulled out a small, darkened orb wrapped in cloth. Its surface shimmered faintly, almost like rippling glass, and tiny fractures pulsed with soft light beneath its shell.
"This," Dreck said, unwrapping it and handing it to Liam, "is a Resonance Orb. It reads the nature of your energy. Not just how much you have—but what it's made of."
Liam took it carefully, feeling a subtle warmth bleed into his fingers. "How does it work?"
"Pour a bit of your Aether into it. Don't force it. Just let it trickle in naturally. The orb will respond."
Liam nodded. Sitting cross-legged, he held the orb with both hands and closed his eyes. He breathed deep. Reached inward. Found the pulse within him… and let it flow.
At first, the orb flickered blue.
Then it darkened—shifting violently.
Black tendrils surged across its surface, veins of deep crimson pulsing underneath. Frost hissed softly into the air around it. The glow wasn't steady. It throbbed—like it was alive and trying to claw its way out.
Dreck's eyes narrowed, his voice barely above a whisper.
"…Hatred."
Liam opened his eyes. "What does that mean?"
Liam
"Do that again.one more time."
I gritted my teeth, sweat clinging to my forehead. I could feel my strength draining little by little—like something was pulling the heat and will from my body.
"You can stop," Dreck said calmly. I let go of the focus, and the sensation instantly faded.
He crossed his arms, nodding. "Hmm… I think your power weakens people at close range. That's rare. Very impressive."
Liam blinked, still catching his breath. "But that's not good enough for attack, is it?"
Dreck stepped forward. "Can you try channeling the energy you feel right now—into your hands?"
Liam nodded, closing his eyes. He reached inward, searching for that cold current flowing through me—the thing that was always there, just beneath the surface. I guided it to my palms.
"I can feel it," I whispered. A chill ran up my arm. "I gathered it in my hand… but it feels cold."
"Good," Dreck said. "Now try unleashing it. Like releasing—"
But before he could finish, I thrust my hand forward instinctively. The energy surged out in a flash—
—like a silent black wave, bursting forward with a shriek of wind and pressure.
It tore through the air and slammed into the far wall of the dojo, piercing clean through the reinforced wood and stone like it was paper. Dust exploded everywhere, and part of the structure caved in.
Dreck's eyes widened. "What the hell…"
I stared at my hand, heart pounding. "I… I didn't mean to do that."
"You did it," Dreck said, voice low and serious. "That wasn't just a strike. That was hate turned into force."
We stood there in silence, the wind whispering through the hole in the wall.
Then he looked at me, more serious than ever. "This power… it's a weapon born from your pain. Dangerous. Powerful. But if you learn to control it… it could change everything."
Dreck stared at the orb, the frost crawling down Liam's arms. "It means your core energy is formed from pain. From rage. It's cold, deep, and old. This isn't just power, Liam… it's a weapon that's been waiting."
He met Liam's gaze, dead serious.
"You'll need to learn to control it. Because if you don't—it will control you."
"From now on," Dreck continued, "we train your body and your mind equally. This power is your weapon. But the mind holding the blade must stay stronger than the edge itself."
Liam's eyes narrowed. "What do we call it?"
Dreck smirked. "You're too early for a name."
Liam smiled faintly. "Then I'll earn it."
Dreck's smile widened.
"Now that's the right mindset."
It was night already, as the moonlight filtered through the window, Liam sat alone, eyes closed, the stone in his palm. The cold within him stirred.