The sound of someone walking lightly on the wooden floor of one of the shelters, taking each step quietly.
They gently close the door and make for the mountains in the middle of the night.
Upon reaching the mountains they head to their left, running along the mountain's foot at an extremely quick pace.
On nearing the final wall that closes up the millitary's land, the person stops.
"Haaa, finally I'm in the clear…" Leo thought as he sat down on a patch of grass and crossed his legs over each other.
He put his fists together in his stomach region and meditated.
"I once read about this in a book in Marcus's collection about meditation.
And out of all the poses for meditation this works best for aether circulation." Leo thought.
Particles around him glowed blue.
"Others don't have the body I have…
I've been honing my gift recently, trying to understand it.
From what I've learnt it lets me store aether through channels in my body.
I can use aether at a fundamentally higher level than everyone else.
I don't even need halos to use aether…"
The particles swirled around him little by little.
"...but alas my biggest advantage seems useless in the long run.
By the time they get more halos, their physical abilities will improve, as will their mana capacity and manipulation.
I may have the other two but the former proves to be a challenge"
Now the particles were swirling even faster, and had increased in magnitudes.
Leo took a deep breath and they all flowed into his mouth.
"Anytime I do this it feels like my body is burning.
It hurts in ways I cannot explain" His trachea and lungs reddened and glowed.
Leo grit his teeth to bear the pain, he had began profusely sweating.
[Huff huff] His body went back to normal, but he was still sweating.
"I wish that were the end of the pain.
But what comes next is worse…"
He grabbed the grass tightly, to bear the pain.
The new circulatory system in his body started glowing red.
Pores started appearing in his bones and the aether circulatory system dug through his muscles and got into the holes.
The pain made his head feel like it was going to split open, he held the grasses tightly, twisting and even cutting them.
[Mmgh!] He groaned in pain and his teeth nearly cracked under the pressure he was putting them through.
[Huff huff] His eyes that had been red and teary finally seemed relieved.
"It never gets easier, the only good thing is the heightened regeneration heals up the holes by sunrise.
…
There is only one reason I go through this pain." Leo looked at his trembling hands
[Cough] With his cough came a splatter of black blood.
He bent his neck downward still breathing heavily with his breath calming gradually.
***
{I stumbled upon this by accident one afternoon when I decided to breathe in the aether in the camp.
My body hurt but it wasn't a plentiful amount so I could barely it, I had noticed something.
After the pain settled my body felt stronger; even if only very slightly I could feel it.
And now since then every night I've been coming here to recreate that, by gathering more amounts of aether.
It looks like my body can digest mana, and with that I 've been getting stronger in my own way.
Though day by day the effect seems to reduce.}
***
His breath had finally settled, his state of mind was nearly back to its norm.
He stood up and took a slow walk of pain towards the direction of the shelters.
"I thirst…
But nothing compared to the one from that time.
Even now I'm still curious as to what the story behind that place is…
The forgotten void…will I be able to go there again?
But by definition it looks nothing like a void..." Memories of the scape flashed through his head.
But then he remembered the voice, his spine tingled.
"You know what?
Maybe nevermind about that place" Leo shivered.
He looked at the new moon as he limped.
The clouds in the sky soon enough covered it up.
"Clouds in the night sky covering the moon.
Like that day…" Faces appeared in Leo's head.
Those of the ones he had lost, he took a deep breathe in.
"Instead of getting stuck on the events of the past I have to move forward.
[Sniff] I know this…I know yet it hurts.
It never gets easier, every day it only weighs more on me."
He kept his head straight and took a stride, it hurt so he stopped mid stride.
"Would you look at me.
In my aim of not forgetting the dead, I have nearly forgotten the living.
I have to find Marcus and Leah, we may not know each other that much, but the blood of my father flows through her.
I'll ask Ren for help." He kept on with his leaps.
-
As he leaped into his shelter some eyes bore little interest at him from somewhere hidden.
"He's such a strange person" She thought.
-
The sun bore it's light upon them, it was day.
"Hey wake up it's time to eat.
Why do you wake up late these days." Saul pinched Leo.
Paul was right beside him pinching Leo too.
"Do you think he might have gotten a girlfriend?
And they hang out in the night?" Paul said cheekily.
"Oh, that might be true" Saul agreed.
And they both began their giggling.
"Let him be.
You both always say the most stupid things" Caesar was the one who knocked them both.
"But I usually hear him leaving at night, totally sneaking." Paul rubbed his head.
"I don't want to hear of it, knowing you it'll become a full blown gossip around the camp.
So just keep whatever you have to yourself wether true or not." Caesar was shirtless.
He took a singlet from the pile of clothes and put it on.
"Just don't say anything unnecessary.
Let him sleep, he'll probably learn to wake up early once he goes hungry a couple of times." Caeser left the room.
"I guess so…" Paul shrugged.
-
The night came, he went to that place once more.
in the day he would spar with Ren while in the night he would reforge his bones.
Night after night, those nights became weeks, and eventually; a month had passed.