Morning light slipped through the silk curtains of the Aetherwyn estate, casting a soft glow over the room Aaron had grown to call his own. He stirred under the covers, groaning quietly as he sat up and ran a hand through his silver-blond hair.
Another day, another mild training session.
"Right," he muttered, swinging his legs off the bed. "Let's keep it simple today. Maybe ten push-ups… twenty if I'm feeling crazy."
The truth was, Aaron had no clue what sort of exercises a "normal mage" should be doing, but ever since he started his self-imposed training, things had… escalated. At first, it was harmless. A few stretches, a jog around the estate. But lately, every movement seemed to trigger something. Trees had cracked. Stones had split. Yesterday, he tried to swat a fly and vaporized the top half of a garden statue.
Naturally, he assumed he was just a bit clumsy.
Still in his nightshirt, he wandered to the training courtyard behind the estate. The staff had long since learned to keep a wide berth when Aaron was "warming up." One of the maids had even started leaving tea behind a tree for him, as if to say, Good luck, try not to destroy the hedges again.
Aaron took a deep breath, arms stretching upward. "Alright. Start small. Limber up the shoulders…"
He twisted his arms in wide circles. Instantly, a powerful gust of wind blasted through the courtyard, ripping leaves from trees and sending birds shrieking into the sky.
Aaron frowned, blinking at the sudden commotion. "…That was probably just… mountain wind?"
He nodded to himself and continued. Push-ups were next. He dropped down and pushed once.
The ground cracked beneath his palms.
"Nope, that's… probably a weak spot in the tile. Yeah."
He tried again, this time bracing carefully and counting aloud. "One… two… three—"
A pulse of celestial energy rippled out from his core, invisible to him, but felt by every magical creature in a fifty-mile radius. Deep within the forest, beasts stirred. Magical flowers recoiled. A sleeping dragon several mountains away rolled over in his cave and muttered something about "divine heartbeats."
Aaron stood, satisfied. He felt slightly winded, which he took as a good sign. "See? Totally normal progress. Not bad for an average guy."
With the basics done, he wandered into the family's forest estate grounds. It was quiet this morning, the mist clinging to the trees and curling around his boots. He raised his hand, trying to conjure what he thought was a "step-assist" spell—just a boost for climbing hills faster.
Instead, he vanished in a blink of silver light.
He reappeared fifty meters ahead, crashing through two tree branches before landing neatly on his feet. The surrounding foliage was scorched with arcane symbols, glowing for a heartbeat before fading. A crater marked where he had vanished from.
Aaron blinked.
"…Okay, that one was weird."
He looked down at his hands, then around the forest. "I think I tripped?"
Shrugging, he decided to try again, assuming he had just… overexerted his foot. He jumped.
This time, he appeared above the treetops, hovered for a second, then gently descended in a sparkling column of starlight. An owl sitting on a nearby tree fainted from the sheer magical pressure.
Meanwhile, hidden behind the rocks to the east, a pair of amber eyes watched wide with disbelief.
Riala, scout of the Beastkin Alliance, stood frozen in her cloak, barely daring to breathe. She had been sent here by her elders to observe the rising talents of the human continent. A few rumors about the "Aetherwyn heir training in solitude" had reached her ears, and she expected to find some spoiled noble casting fireballs.
Instead, she had witnessed a celestial rift tear open the sky.
That man just blinked through space.
Without a chant.
Without a medium.
And then descended in starlight.
Her fox ears twitched in terror. Her tail was puffed up like a frightened cat's.
This wasn't training.
This was a divine being testing how gently he could annihilate the world.
She turned and fled, leaping through the trees with silent paws. She had to report back. Immediately.
Aaron, for his part, saw a blur of movement in the trees. He tilted his head.
"…Was that a farmer?"
He waved casually at the fleeing figure. "Sorry for the noise! Bit of a misstep!"
Then he turned back to his training log—an actual piece of bark he scribbled on with charcoal.
Training Log, Day 17:
– Stretching went well (minor gust, maybe weather)
– Push-ups slightly overpowered, adjust stance
– Step-assist spell unstable. Possibly fatigue? Reattempt later.
– Goal: remain average.
With a deep sigh of satisfaction, he patted the bark and wandered back toward the estate.
---
Back at the Aetherwyn mansion, chaos had erupted.
Duke Lucien Aetherwyn sat in his war room, furrowed brows beneath his silver crown of office. He held a report trembling in his hands.
"Unexplained tremors. A crater in the eastern grove. Trees uprooted. The head gardener swears he saw the stars fall."
"Do we know the source?" his aide asked nervously.
Lucien paused.
"Aaron was training again this morning."
Silence.
"…Should I prepare the emergency evacuations, my lord?"
Lucien stood, pacing. "No. No… he's only just begun his journey. But it's clear his power is awakening at an absurd rate."
"He still thinks he's weak."
Lucien's jaw tightened. "Good. He must not know. He must never know."
"But… why?"
"Because if he knew," Lucien said grimly, "he might start holding back."
---
That evening, Aaron returned to the estate courtyard, sipping tea someone had left on a stump (bless them). His limbs were sore, his robes lightly singed, and a pinecone was somehow stuck in his hair.
He sighed.
"Mediocre progress again today. I really thought I'd at least get the hang of blink-dashes."
He looked up at the stars above, twinkling like soft lanterns in a vast tapestry. "I wonder if the academy will still want me. I'm really not anything special…"
---
Far to the north, in the sacred grove of the Beastkin Alliance, Riala knelt before her council.
"I saw it with my own eyes. A celestial warlord has awakened among the humans. He toyed with the laws of magic. He burned space and bent light with a sigh."
The elder foxkin stroked his long beard. "Did he see you?"
"He waved," Riala said hollowly. "He… smiled. As if I were nothing."
There was a long pause.
"War is coming," the elder said. "And the humans… may already be prepared to erase us all."
---
End of Chapter 11