TBATE: Art and Tess's Second Chance

Chapter 31: The Perfect Moment

Tessia Eralith's POV:

The first few weeks of school were eventful in their own ways. Regis formed his core with the help of Splint, whose mana abilities are turning out to be as versatile as mine. Art and I successfully led the Student Council and Disciplinary Committee to bring order to most first-year students, especially with the help of new members like Caera and Sevren. We've left the cult some lost causes so they could continue moving forward with their plan without getting suspicious, but they will be in for a rude awakening during the attack. Then Grandma Cynthia even made us teacher aids, which we both enjoyed, even if Art complained about it.

One thing that hasn't been eventful is my cultivation of aether arts. Currently, I only have the one Art taught me to trap the Alacryans and my creation rune. My creation rune is the only one I consider mine. I could only obtain it due to my effort and understanding of aether and the Vivum edict. My connection to mana, thanks to Cecil, could open the way to many aether arts that Art wouldn't have obtained with his insights.

'I've sat on these keystones long enough. With a Vivum Rune under my belt, the other two should be Spatium and Aveum Runes. I won't hold Art back ever again,' I declared as I pulled out the remaining keystones Art gave me a long while ago.

Using aether to probe the first keystone, my mind passed through the purple expanse, and I found myself in a familiar-looking setting for an elf such as myself: a forest. It looked eerily similar to the Elshire forest, or maybe it was. I could recognize many plants and lifeforms around me that were native to my homeland. As I turned my consciousness in the forest expanse, I noticed something incredible happening. The plant life all around began changing. No, not changing, growing.

As I looked to my left, the trees, vines, weeds, and grass reverted backward through their lifecycles from fully fledged plants to saplings and, eventually, seedlings. When I turned back to my right, they moved forward through their lifecycle. I closed my eyes and felt for what the aether and mana were doing to the plant life as I moved my mind back and forth. As I moved my head to the left, the aether pulled the deviant plant mana from the environment, and as I turned my head to the right, the aether funneled more plant mana into my surroundings.

'The aether here is changing the state of the environment using the mana that makes it up. It could even change the state of a spell if used correctly. I could cancel out a spell entirely like Art in Realmheart if I managed to reverse a spell's mana back to its natural state. I might even be able to extend the duration of my or other's spells!' My inner voice sounded giddy at the potential applications.

I looked straight forward and saw roughly the middle of all the plants' life cycles. I focused on one plant before me and used my aether to push deviant plant mana into it, moving the life cycle forward without looking to my right. Then, I attempted the opposite, pulling the deviant plant mana out of the flower. It wasn't as simple as pushing the mana into it. I had to build the very foundation of the plant to get the desired effect. I repeated this process on many different plants until I got used to the sensation of using aether this way. It wasn't until I felt a burning sensation on my lower back that I knew I had succeeded.

My mind was shoved from the keystone, and a rune burned brightly on my back. Luckily, my core was only drained by about ten percent since I was able to grasp the concept so fast. I was glad it was the weekend and quickly turned my attention to the next keystone. I was getting a firmer grasp on how this body could sense and use aether. Art used aether more like the dragons, but I am more like the Dijinn when it comes to using aether practically. I don't know if it was due to my lineage or my basilisk body, but it didn't matter. As long as my proficiency was improving, it was a worthy endeavor of my time and energy.