Shadow Realm". Zephyr muttered under his breath, bewildered at the scene, out of the window of the train, the Realm was empty save for the blank sky and the eclipse sun the only thing present was the endless dusk-gold sand. As he gradually recovered from the scene, a memory resurfaced
Zephyr's awe was still lingering when a memory resurfaced.
It's not over after awakening.
Aether was life, but it was also chaos.
Every scion aboard the train and everyone who had access to Arts has awaken their Aether Hearth—an organ that acted like a spiritual furnace. But awakening was only the first step. From the moment a child was born, his body is constantly being filled with Aether, Enhancing him/her, that's why at seven months if a child is not walking and talking, that child is considered a late bloomer.
Aether entered the body through the pores, drawn in naturally. Yet this raw Aether was filled with multiple elemental affinities—fire, water, lightning, metal, wind, even rarer ones like shadow, ice, and light.
Unrefined Aether was dangerous. It wasn't about toxicity, but incompatibility.
That's why so many early Scions stagnated—or worse, suffered body rejection during art casting. If a clan like Demios, known for its black flame arts, had Aether mixed with water or frost affinity, their flame-based Art would be weakened, unstable, or outright fail. Even worse, conflicting affinities could corrode the casting channels in their limbs.
To prevent this, every Scion was expected to drain every last drop of the mixed Aether that now surged through them as soon as they awaken. This wasn't optional—it was mandatory cleansing.
The Aether Hearth processed incoming Aether in two stages— Filtration – The Hearth instinctively extracted and retained only the affinity Aether compatible with the user's body and lineage. Refinement – The remaining mismatched Aether, now considered 'foreign', was churned and broken down into pure Aether, a neutral energy. This pure Aether was the one that fortified the body, enhanced healing, and passively reinforced the bones, muscles, and senses. There was another way that didn't need the individual to purge all the Aether out of his body, the individual just had to stay in an environment filled with Aether compatible with him/her, then the Aether in the air will overwhelm the mixed Aether in his body and thus kickstart the individual hearth.
Affinity Aether was preserved in the Hearth itself, stored like a reservoir—only released when an Art was invoked. Meanwhile, the Pure Aether circulated freely, thus constantly strengthening the body, and improving it's resistance and recovery.
And now when Zephyr Awaken his Aether hearth, he didn't have time to purge the mixed Aether. As soon as he had awaken he was summoned and given the contract which he rejected, then he retreated to his room fearful of his clansmen looking for ways to deny him access to the Academy. So now when he passed that rift, his Aether hearth resonated with the space Aether, the space Aether then surged into his body, overwhelming the little mixed Aether in his body thus kick starting his Hearth.
Moreover because his body couldn't hold Aether, he was given an Aether canister, the canister naturally attracted Aether in the air then churn it into pure Aether, then when Zephyr condition kicks up, this canister will serve as an inhaler, so his body was clean when he had his Awakening, that was why when he used his art it wasn't hard nor did it outright fail.
'so that's how it is'. Zephyr couldn't even begin to show how thankful he was for having access to the memory of the previous Zephyr, he didn't have to go to the library and he wasn't entirely clueless about the outside world. He then turned his head, his breath fogging the window as he stared at the realm.
The Realm was no longer empty, the blank sky and the eclipse sun the wasn't the only thing present anymore. Pyramids and mountains started to appear, although the were upside down, flowing around it was dusk gold sand, the scene was oddly peaceful.
'This could be a very good vacation spot'. The realm was so quiet and not the type of hunting quite but a peaceful quiet.
'Now all that is left is to pass the entrance exam, I just hope it's not that hard'. Zephyr started to go over his plan. 'After getting to the Academy, I will have to lay low'. He was well aware of his reputation of wanting to perform nasty deeds on the third princess and he was sure he would be hunted by the royal family and all those boys eager to impress the princess. He didn't how how he fare in the Academy but he did know it wasn't going to be easy.