Regis guided us through the city into a large cavern filled with many people ending in a large golden-white portal. There were multiple clerks letting people inside the portal, and in front of them a large line.

The aether inside me reacting to my will, time stopped as I swiftly walked past the clerks and Alacryans.

Entering the portal, I saw a bright white flash and suddenly stood on the top of a hill overlooking a grassy island with lush forests and a large river flowing through them. On the left side was a sea with a bright yellow beach. There was a large medieval castle sitting on a peninsula of the exact same size only about 50 meters from the beach connected to the main island by a narrow path. In front of the castle stood a large number of tents and small shacks with people walking around.

Wait, people?

'Regis?'

'No idea'

With no other choice than to see for myself, I jumped down the cliff right in the middle of the makeshift village. 

The people looked disheveled, only a level above homeless. They didn't fail to react fast, however, as as soon as I landed I was bombarded with about a dozen attacks. 

"I'm not an enemy." I yelled as I took over the attacks, forcibly tearing them apart.

A man in expensive-looking armor, probably the leader, walked up to me, sword drawn. "Why should we trust you? How do we know you're not from the castle?"

The castle? There are seemingly people too.

"I just got into this zone, I have no idea what's happening." I answered honestly.

Scoffing, the leader snarled. "Yeah, sure, they all say that. Attack!"

As about twenty people dashed at me, I created a small gravitational field with Spatium, orbiting the people around it for a little bit.

As the leader landed on the ground with a thud, I let my power loose, and looking the leader straight in the eyes I said. "If I wanted to kill you, you would have long been dead. So either tell me what's happening here or I will find out myself, destructively."

The leader immediately got a terrified look in his eyes, standing up and stammering. "I-I'm Godfrey Kimball" - He took a few seconds to catch his breath. - "The people in the castle are criminals, and have a monopoly over the exit portal. They don't want anyone to get out because if the bloods that they wronged found out they live and have a family, they might torture them. They regularly send people to 'check up on us', that's why we have to be so vigilant. We apologize for attacking you."

I nodded. "Alright, understood. You had a perfectly good reason to attack me, it's fine."

I turned into the castle and leapt towards it.

I noticed a barrier of mana surrounding it, definitely created by the current residents as it was much weaker than the previous one. Behind it stood two guards, and one of them opened their mouth.

"Who are you?" The guard snapped.

"I just arrived, let me in."

"No, go play with the Neanderthals." The guard snickered.

With a sigh, the mana barrier surrounding the castle collapsed, and with it the two guards. 

The next obstacle was the gate itself, being fortified by aether. It seems a key was needed to pass. It was a very formidable barrier, but I still wanted to try something.

'Regis, get in my fist.'

Confused, Regis complied.

I began to channel mana, universe flames and aether into my fist with the help of Regis. After a few seconds of this, my fist began to hurt. 

'Alright, check this out.' I sent to Regis with a grin. 

I wound up, and swung at the barrier with all my might.

A thundering crash was heard as a shockwave erupted from my position. The bones in my arm broke, yet I stood firm. The barrier rippled, the shockwave coursing through it. I saw it slightly flicker, yet it wasn't down yet.

I was about to try again when a group of three people ran from the castle with their weapons drawn.

"What do you think you're doing!" One of them roared.

'It's fine, continue.' I told Regis.

I charged even more than before, my fist about to explode. I swung with my entire body, the shockwave being much more potent than before. This time, my feet didn't hold on, and I was knocked a few dozen meters away, but it was fine. The barrier finally collapsed, leaving only the weak wooden gate and a few decently powerful Alacryans. 

This little stunt drained almost all of my, and Regis' Aether and Mana, so I could barely move, but it was alright as no one could get through Sylvie.

The Alacryans immediately shot in my direction, but Sylv stepped in front of me, Dawn's ballad drawn. 

Wait, she aged? Instead of looking nine years old, she now looked a few years older. She was taller, and her voice got a bit deeper. Her horns also grew a little, and the amount of mana coalesced in them increased.

"Who do you think you are, attacking the castle!" The leader roared.

Sylv scoffed at him, saying only. "Move."

One of the men started laughing. "Pfffft! You hear that, Baldwin? This little girl is trying to threaten us!"

Sylv unleashed her power, with it an immense pressure.

'You got stronger.. And older.' I sent her in awe.

'The daily training with Kath paid off.' Sylv sent back with a satisfied grin.

The men took a fighting stance, and so did Sylv. 

When the fight started, I couldn't believe my eyes. Her movements were almost exactly the same as me, down to the stance, only lacking a little bit of precision.

'You managed to learn swordsmanship so well just from reading my thoughts?'

'She's pretty cool.' added Regis.

'Do I leave them alive?' Sylv asked.

Regis responded faster than me. 'Nah, I say kill them.' 

'I agree.'

Sylv shot two small blasts straight through the two flunkies chests and decapitated the leader almost instantly after I said so.

Sylv blasted off the wooden gate of the castle, and was met with the entire military force of the castle.

Her voice boomed in the air. "Stand down."

The people, however, stood firm, waiting for the command of their general.

"Attack! Protect this castle!" The general cried out.

"Tch," scoffed Sylvie.

...

'There has to be a relic somewhere.' I sent as I entered a the large throne room with two kneeling statues next to the throne.

The grand throne made of gold was filled with various runes. Looking around the room, my eyes constantly shifted to the throne, as if something was telling me it was relevant.

I slowly walked to the throne, inspecting the runes engraved on it. I could not sense anything out of the ordinary about it, yet my instincts were screaming at me.

'Try sitting on it.' said Regis

I did as he said, and the room quickly changed. I was now floating in a dark void, the only thing visible being the throne I sat on.

In front of me floated a large black mass with golden lines constantly shifting through it. It assembled the lines into various complicated shapes, from representations of higher-dimensional objects to fractals. It was constantly rippling, the lines undisturbed as it exuded a sense of calm even through all the chaos happening inside it.

It beckoned me towards it, almost like a magnet. Like I was always destined to find it. I reached for it, the tip of my finger barely grazing it, as I felt it establish an imprint on my soul, just like Night's ballad did.

I could feel it spreading across my body, the intoxicating feeling of warmth only increasing over time. A few seconds later, it stopped, and I could feel it residing inside, waiting to be called.

That would wait, as an ominous voice started playing in my head.

'So someone has finally found it.' - The voice chuckled - 'use it well.'

With this, I was back in the throne room, Regis and Sylvie looking at me with distressed faces.

"What happened?" Asked Sylvie.

With a grin, I answered. "This happened."

A black liquid enveloped my body, and immediately started to funnel aether out of the atmosphere and my runes. It felt as if it could turn into anything, its shape complying to my will.

After a few seconds of rippling, the armor formed according to my image. A brilliant obsidian colored armor up to my neck that perfectly fit around my body, so snugly that one could say I was born with it. The gaps between the differing plates of the armor were filled with purple and dark blue, mixing and swirling around constantly.

A white fur-lined cape with a hood appeared around my neck, perfectly contrasting the black of my armor. It not only acted as armor, but also as another set of aether channels, allowing me to now use aether through my body, my runes but also my armor. 

Looking at Sylv, I spread out my arms, a grin not leaving my face. "Sylv, hit me with all you have."

Author's note: Sorry for not uploading chaps that much anymore, I'm quite busy. I will do my best to upload one every two to three days. I hope you enjoyed it, love yall.