Godly Grey Sky

The sun shined brightly in the morning, or as bright as it could with the grey sky overhead.

Aether woke up, yawning as he layed in his bed, not wanting to get up as it was very comfortable.

This was the first good sleep Aether had ever had, if you didn't count being passed out as sleep, so he understandably didn't want to get up.

I didn't know sleep could be so relaxing, but if I stay in here any longer, I'm afraid I'll fall asleep again.

Aether got up, went to his dresser and changed into a set of clothes, as he thought about his day.

Just then his stomach growled.

Shit, I haven't eaten since yesterday, wait? Who is in charge of breakfast? Maybe a maid or Terra, no I doubt Terra, she doesn't seem like the type to be good at cooking.

He looked at himself in the mirror, fixing his hair a little before walking to the dining room for breakfast.

When he walked in the dining hall he was greeted by a delicious, savory smell.

What in the Gods is that.

He walked over to the buffet style bar.

It had thin slices of meat in a rectangle shape, some fluffy looking bread in the shape of a circle, and some weird yellow stuff that looked like clouds.

Wow, I have no clue what this stuff is, but it smells amazing.

Aether grabbed a plate full of the rectangle meat and those bread circles and sat down.

He tasted the meat first, it was delicious, crunchy, and left a smoky taste in his mouth.

Damn this is amazing, I didn't know food like this existed, so much better than that synthetic fondant I had to eat.

Aether was savoring his food when Terra sat down across from him, with a plate of her own.

She smiled "Seems like you're enjoying the food".

"Oh Gods yes, it's wonderful, I can't even describe it" He said while still eating.

"Well I'm glad you like it, our chef Kara made it, her Position is Chef, she can make anything taste amazing" She said, eating her food.

"Oh really, it must be expensive to hire her" He said, still stuffing his face.

"It is, but I have a decent amount in savings, so we're good for a month at the least"

What family are you from, they must be loaded.

"What are you planning on doing today, Aeth?" Terra asked, curious.

"Well I think I found a workaround to my Rule, so I'm gonna train for a couple of days until I improve enough" He said, almost finishing his plate.

"Oh I see, well that's good news, glad you found a way to deal with it" 

"Yes, I am too, what are you doing today Terra" Aether asked, not sure what she does for work.

"Well I'm going to scout for new member, think of a name for the guild, a emblem, and write a contract for you"

A contract? I really misjudged you Terra, your not as naive as I thought.

"Nice, I hope you find some new members for our guild" He said full of enthusiasm.

Sighs "Yes, it has been difficult, anyways I have to go now, have fun training Aeth, see you later"

"Ok Terra, good luck" He saids, as Terra walked off.

Difficult? How so? You're strong and rich who wouldn't want to be a part of this guild?

Aether finished his plate, and put it on a pile of dirty plates and walked outside to the training grounds.

As he walked outside he thought about his training.

I've thought of a couple theories, maybe location matters when meditating, or stance too.

He sat on the ground and sat in a Burmese position and started meditation.

He found it was ever so slightly easier this time, be it because of the change in location, or experience in meditating had gone up.

This will only take me about an hour or two of meditating to get some Ethereal, then again, praying would still be a hundred times faster. 

He sat there meditating, until he felt a wave of exhaustion and the familiar voice in his head.

*Ethereal gained: 5*

One more than last time, seems location does matter when meditating, I'll keep this in mind.

I also feel as if I got closer to my soul, maybe this is the requirement for the meditation ability.

Aether's thoughts then wandered back to his Abilities.

I could likely ask Atlas for the trigger for [Windbound] instead of asking for the full information so I can use less Ethereal.

Aether was already thinking as a greedy businessman.

Atlas, what is the trigger for [Windbound].

*Answer, the trigger for [Windbound] is saying its name, then commanding it*

*Removing four Ethereal*

*Remaining, 1/10*

Damn that was expensive.

The wind's name, which one though? It has many different names.

"Lips"

"Meses"

"Boreas"

Aether thought for a moment.

"Notus" He shouted.

As he did the wind picked up, and shot forward at him, as if entering Aether's body.

*[Windbound] Description has been updated*

Really? That's all it took?

Atlas, open [Windbound] description.

*Of course Aether Torn*

————————-

[Windbound] The wind notices you.

Use Ethereal to manipulate the wind.

————————-

Wow, a manipulation type ability, these are a great ability for combat, though it definitely has some limitations.

For example, I can't create wind, so there has to be wind in the first place, I also can only control wind I can sense or feel, huh, maybe this will pair with [Six Sense] pretty well.

As he pondered on the nature of his ability, he summoned [Starborn] and [Shadow's Curse].

[Starborn] Fits very well in my hands, Zach is a very talented Forger, and [Shadow's Curse] fits well on my body, it's also very flexible.

Aether swung his sword at the air a couple of times, getting used to the weight.

He then straightened his stance, tightened his arms, then swung straight, imitating a swordsman he saw in the Marsh District a few years back.

His goal was to do this a thousand times, as it was good to familiarize himself with his new weapon.

Being a bit tired from using stamina to meditate, he took breaks in between sets of a hundred swings.

It was already 2:00pm by the time he had finished his swings.

So to take a break, he decided to go eat lunch in the dining hall. He was hungry from the training and didn't want Kara's delicious food to go to waste, as Terra was still out.

He unsummoned his Tools before grabbing a plate and looking at what Kara had made.

She had made some small, soft, yellow rectangular things, some strange green sticks, and something that Aether knew, some grilled chicken.

Well that's what people called it, in truth it was a type of Ordinary Grey, found near the outside of the black wall that separates the Inner and Outer World.

Anyhow, Aether munched down his food, enjoying every bite, savoring the yellow rectangles the most.

He sat alone in the dining hall, as Terra was out scouting and Kara was nowhere to be found.

Kind of depressing honestly, but hey, Terra will find new members soon, so it'll get pretty lively here soon.

Aether finished his food then went back to the training grounds, meditating again till he felt his stamina drop and heard Atlas's voice.

*Ethereal gain: 5*

*Total: 6/20*

Shit, that takes a lot out of me, at least now I can test out [Windbound].

Aether placed a small, rubbery ball on the ground.

"Notus" He said out loud.

Then he commanded the wind to move the ball in the air, moving it slow at first, then faster as he got more control of it.

Yes, this is very good, I could do a lot with this, like distraction, making my strikes deadlier and faster.

He let the wind dissipate and dropped the ball.

Damn that used one Ethereal already, I guess I'll have to use it sparingly.

Aether wanted to get used to [Windbound] first though.

Aether summoned [Starborn], said the name of the wind, then swung, controlling the wind to speed up his strike.

He practiced until his Ethereal gave out, returning him to zero.

Damn this is tiring

He sat down on the ground, breathing heavily as he rested.

It's 5:00pm, Terra should be back soon, I should take a bath before she gets back, then eat dinner with her. I wonder what Kara cooked.

Every time Aether ate her cooking, he looked more and more forward to it every meal.

Is this part of her Position as a Chef, or is she just damn good at it.

Aether walked into the guild house, grabbed a set of clothes, then headed to the men's bathhouse.

He changed, then soaked in the huge, warm, tub for a good twenty minutes before pulling on a clean set of clothes.

Then he headed to the dining room, where Terra was already seated.

Aether grabbed his plate which consisted of more yellow rectangles, some mushy, white, glob that looked a little too similar to synthetic fondant, and a seared Ordinary Grey steak, made from the same type of rabbit Aether had killed.

Aether sat down across the table.

"Hey Terra, find any members" He asked

"No sadly, no one really stood out from the people I saw today" Her disappointment was evident.

"Well there's no need to rush things, at least the way I see it, can't have just anyone in your guild" He said trying to lighten the mood.

She giggled, "You think too highly of me Aeth"

Maybe not enough, your family's rich, your abilities from what I've seen are incredible, and you're smart and capable.

"I'd say not enough,"Aether said, Trying to flatter her.

"Oh stop teasing me" She said, hitting his shoulder.

They continued talking about their day and ate before their food got cold.

At around 8:30pm Aether went to bed, putting on his nightwear, and falling asleep almost immediately.

This would continue for three more days.