"What do you mean, you don't know?" Vivi asked.

"My previous wielder was a bit of a genius at this," Lucius said. "I don't really know how this channeling thing works. I'm a spirit—I just need to shape ether. My wielder just always figured things out."

"So you're supposed to be my mentor, but you don't even know what we're supposed to be learning?"

"Of course I know what we're learning," Lucius said. "I wasn't just sleeping while my wielder practiced. I also watched him a little bit. I can steal his training techniques."

Vivi wanted to roll her eyes. This was sounding fantastic already. "Tell me how to proceed, then."

Lucius thought about his words. "We should start by understanding what we're trying to achieve. This won't be useful if you don't know what the goal of channeling is."

"We're trying to evolve our core to the first elevation?"

"It goes deeper than that," Lucius said. "Channeling ether and elevating the core are both just fancy terms. In reality, our goal is to utilize the powers of each wisp of ether to the maximum. Only so many wisps can fit into your small body at once. The wisps that we can use must be used to their maximum effect.

"As of now, we've been using wisps ineffectively. I've shaped ether into your body for you to channel. But as you haven't been channeling anything, the wisps just flow through your body and quickly dim out or escape. Not only does our endurance suffer as wisps escape, the upper limit of our strength is also lower."

"So my goal is to squeeze more power out of the wisps we wield?" Vivi asked.

"Yes," Lucius said. "The process gets more complicated the more we learn. For now, simply channeling ether at all is our goal. We can consider ourselves first elevation hunters after you're proficient enough to channel and control every single wisp that flows through your body.

"I'm a spirit, so I can't tell you how exactly channeling is supposed to happen. I can tell you if you're succeeding or failing, but I've never channeled ether myself. I don't know how you're supposed to do things. You'll have to figure out the small details."

"I see," Vivi said. "How will we start, then?"

"New hunters usually start with an exercise called clinging," Lucius said. "I will give you a single wisp of ether. Your goal is to keep that wisp active, clinging to the wisp, for as long as you can. A first elevation hunter can keep a single wisp active for at least half an hour while also using the wisp to empower their body. A second elevation hunter can keep it active for an hour."

Lucius flew back to Vivi's core. "Now, close your eyes and focus."

Vivi's eyes shuttered. Rain tapped against the hood of her coat. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to focus on, and stayed ready for whatever Lucius was about to do.

She felt a tiny amount of ether entering her body.

"I just added a single wisp into your body," Lucius said. "For a start, can you feel it?"

I can feel a very slight amount of ether, Vivi thought. Strengthening my core muscles.

"Describe the feeling," Lucius said. "What does the wisp look like to you in your sixth sense?"

It doesn't look like anything. I can't see the wisp. It feels like a blob of energy. Or like a water bubble. It's like I can feel a tendril strengthening my muscles.

Lucius appeared thoughtful. "Well, that's not good."

What do you mean?

"I mean that your sixth sense is lacking," Lucius said. "Some people have an innate talent to distinguish wisps right away. Others will have to work harder to improve their senses. It looks like you don't have that talent."

Well, we already knew I was ordinary, Vivi thought. The wisp of ether was still moving within her, though Vivi felt its powers already dimming. It hadn't been active for a minute. Lucius said she was supposed to keep it active for thirty?

I'm not a genius at runesmithing either, Vivi thought. I just worked hard and had a good mentor. The only thing we can do is keep working. Tell me what I need to improve on.

"For a start, you're supposed to see the wisp properly," Lucius said. "Ether is not like water. Individual wisps can always be counted. For you to channel anything, you need to see the ether you're supposed to be handling. I'll give you another wisp. I'll hide it somewhere within your body. Locate it and focus on seeing the wisp."

For the next few hours, Vivi sat underneath a tree with her eyes closed, focusing entirely on her ethereal sense. The first fifty or so attempts were all unsuccessful. Lucius hid wisps at random around her body. Each time he did, Vivi could identify where her body was being strengthened. She could feel ether within her muscles. But she struggled to see the wisps in a way that she could count them. To her, the wisps felt very much like a liquid. She knew there was ether, but she couldn't count a specific number of wisps.

Stolen novel; please report.

Lucius was growing annoyed after the attempts with no progress. "Maybe we need a different approach. I'll push a certain number of wisps to your body. Try telling me how many you feel."

He pushed more ether to her body. Vivi felt a blob of energy concentrating around and inside her core muscles. I think it's around twenty wisps?

"It was precisely thirteen concentrated into one spot," Lucius said. "The concentration has already scattered. The wisps are flowing freely. They'll escape your body soon."

Yes, I can feel them spreading.

"They spread because you have no control over them. Ether moves when it's pressured, just like any other object. If a lot of ether is concentrated in one spot, wisps will escape to where there is less pressure."

And the goal of channeling is to keep that ether contained?

"Eventually, yes," Lucius said. "Ether doesn't have mass like physical objects. A lot of wisps can be concentrated into one spot if you fight back against the pressure. That's how truly powerful fighters manipulate the ether in their bodies."

Practice continued. Vivi was still uncertain on what she should be doing. It felt like the tools she had available—her sixth sense and her consciousness within—just weren't fit for doing what Lucius asked. No matter how hard she concentrated, Vivi struggled to get any closer to counting the wisps.

She tried zooming in on the wisps, just like she always did when activating Shadow Swipe. The same idea didn't work as well with regular active wisps. The active wisps were erratic; they moved too fast for her to make sense of.

I can see the skill wisp just fine… Vivi thought to herself. I can see its branches. Why can't I feel regular ether?

"Skill wisps are a lot larger," Lucius said. "And skill wisps don't move. They're locked in place. But I still don't understand what you mean by branches."

Vivi stopped focusing for a moment to gather her thoughts. This wasn't working. She needed a different approach.

Lucius, what if you push an inactive wisp into my body? Vivi asked. I think those would be easier to spot.

"Inactive wisps could cause problems," Lucius said. "Active wisps eventually run out and escape out of your body, back to me. Inactive wisps will just sit where they are. It might get stuck. I'll struggle to reignite it."

We're in Paradise, are we not? Vivi thought. We can mess around here. And one inactive wisp shouldn't hurt.

"Fine, but you'll have to deal with an inactive wisp floating around your consciousness for the rest of the session," Lucius said. "You might not even feel it. I placed it above your heart."

Lucius was right. When the wisp was inactive, Vivi couldn't feel it at all. She felt no change in her body. She zoomed in above her heart, trying to find the wisp. There was nothing at all.

"Well, there it is now, stuck above your heart," Lucius said. "I can maybe push it out of your body with pressure."

Vivi kept searching. Something tiny was above her heart. The inactive wisp was far smaller than the wisps they collected from monsters. Vivi felt as if she was trying to look at germs with a magnifying glass.

Focus, she told herself. She concentrated on that one spot, ignoring everything else around her, and zoomed in, as if adjusting the lens of a microscope.

There it was. A full wisp of ether.

I can see it! Vivi thought. The branches, the runes. It's all here. The wisp looks exactly like I drew it.

"What?" Lucius asked. "What do you mean it looks like you drew it?"

I can see all of the runes. Even a nix rune is there. It's a full wisp of ether.

Lucius's emotions were confused. "Are you sure you're not imagining it?"

I'm looking at the wisp, am I not? What else could this be?

Lucius almost looked creeped out by what Vivi was describing. "My old wielder could see wisps as individual tendrils. He described them like small fish swimming in a river. He never said anything about runes."

Well, he wasn't a runesmith, Vivi thought. Maybe I can draw a rune in my consciousness for the wisp to shape through?

"It doesn't work like that," Lucius said. "You can't create runes in the ethereal consciousness. But still… You are looking at the wisp. You can see it. I guess that's a good start?"

I wonder what an active wisp looks like, Vivi thought. Runesmiths have already figured out what inactive balanced wisps look like. But I don't think anyone has drawn an active wisp. Can we somehow trap an active wisp in place?

"That's our goal, yes," Lucius said. "That's why we're channeling ether."

A wave of new excitement flowed within Vivi. Grandpa had once told her, "Runesmithing is ether, Vivi. Without ether, runes wouldn't exist."

Vivi knew his statement was true, but right now, it seemed more true than ever. Could runes and channeling ether be related?

Vivi focused on her sixth sense with new determination. She had to somehow see the structure of an active wisp.

Just as she focused inside her body, however, something sparked into life outside. Vivi felt a strong ethereal presence, as if a monster had arrived.

She opened her eyes to see a tall woman who'd just spawned in Paradise next to her. The woman had wavy hair and a skin-tight silk dress. A thick white fur scarf was wrapped around her shoulders. Her lips were unnaturally red. She dressed like an older woman, though her skin was as smooth as glass. Her cheeks were pink with makeup.

"Aaah!" the woman called with a disgusted expression on her face when she saw Vivi. "A goblin!"

Vivi sat still, somehow hoping that she wouldn't have to engage. She was just getting into practice—she really didn't want to deal with any ether hunters right now.

More ether hunters in similarly extravagant outfits spawned out of nowhere around her. It looked like a whole guild had chosen this as their meeting point. There were men and women, all with their hair prettily done with fresh clothes fit for a ball or a party.

"Geh," Lucius said. "It's the Sylva Bloods hunting group. I think this is their main team. That hag is Ellinoir Sylva. She was a third elevation hunter the last time I saw her."

Ellinoir Sylva continued staring at Vivi as if she was some disgusting anomaly of reality. "No, that's not a goblin. It's the Cursed Runesmith!"

"What is she up to around here?" a man asked. "Channeling ether?"

Lucius, take us out of here, Vivi thought. We made good progress today. Let's wake up early and continue training later.

"Ugh, she's even more disgusting in person," Ellinoir Sylva said. A bright white staff appeared in her hands. She pointed the staff at Vivi. Ether concentrated inside an orb in the staff's tip.

Before Lucius could sever Vivi's connection out of Paradise, Ellinoir blasted Vivi with a discharge of ether. The spell from her staff burned her skin, devouring her bones before Vivi disintegrated into ether.

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