Chapter 230: Selena’s Ether Art

Selena’s eyes widened beyond belief, her body trembled as she pointed at him, mumbling in a shaky voice, “Y-You are a N-Nebula?”

Rion shrugged his shoulders and answered evenly, “It appears so.”

Seeing his nonchalance, her legs gave way, she fell into her chair, and mumbled with a dazed look on her face, “A nebula…”

Before she had even held a sword for the first time, she already heard the countless stories of the Nebulas. Deep down, those stories were the reason why she had decided to become a knight.

Each person could train themself to the discipline required to master an ether art, but even then their strength would fall behind the ether beasts that were everywhere.

However, the superhumans who could punch through trees and cut through iron didn’t have that disadvantage… Instead, the sheer number of ether beasts that roamed the world could not be dealt with by them alone.

And that is why the Nebulas, who could crush the horde of ether beasts like they were insects, were considered the apex of human strength and power.

For everyone, they were the symbol of hope and absolute strength, and the young man before her, who looked no older than twenty-four, was claiming himself as one of them.

She couldn’t believe it, but remembering how easily he had appeared beside her she couldn’t completely deny his claim either.

Whenever I am with this man, I cannot think straight…’ she remarked in her head.

Sighing, she looked at him with a desperate expression and asked, “What should I do to become stronger?”

Rion smiled, walked over to her side, and mumbled, “Let’s go.”

She nodded, stood up from her chair, and said, “Okay.”

The two then made their way towards the training chamber.

As they walked past the servants and the guards, all of them halted and turned to look at him as they had never seen him enter the mansion.

Seeing their dumbfounded reaction, Rion’s lips lifted into a smirk, and he mumbled, “I should do this more…”

Selena, who was walking before him, shook her head and noted in her head, ’What a weird man… sometimes he acts like some wise man and the other as a child…’

They reached the training chamber, and Selena picked two of the wooden swords and handed one to Rion.

He studied the sword and mumbled, “Your swords are as worn out as the knights…”

She raised a brow. “What about it?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

He shifted his gaze away from the sword and looked at her. He lowered the sword and said, “Can you show me your ether arts?”

She tilted her head and muttered, “Sure…?”

“Thanks.” He stepped out of the training circle and gestured for her to do her thing.

She glanced at him with a puzzled expression before she steadied her stance, took a deep breath, and began to swing her sword.

She swung it in ways that looked nearly impossible, and the way she moved was like a dance… but it didn’t have the elegance of a noble lady; instead, it held the wrath of a woman that had trained all her life, that had given her youth, her prime to the sword.

Rion pressed his lips into a thin line and watched her swing her sword with a respectful gaze.

All of a sudden, he felt the atmosphere around her change… it was as if something that he couldn’t see had shifted.

The next moment, flames erupted around her sword, and she swung more widely as she instinctively tried to hide herself from the flames.

Rion narrowed his eyes and studied the flames with his Zone.

’These aren’t real…?’ The flames that were dancing with her sword were different from actual flames; they were the same in ability, but they lacked something significant that he was yet to understand.

Sweat drenched her body, her white poet shirt was glued to her like a second skin, and even then, she continued to swing.

The chamber’s temperature began to rise, and Rion finally understood the difference between these flames and the real flames.

’It’s a replica of an actual flame, it doesn’t need oxygen or any physical fuel… Its sole existence depends on ether,’ he noted in his head

He also noticed something else, ’It seems ether art isn’t just about repeating the same action… instead, once someone has evoked the phenomenon’s appearance, if they don’t change their breathing, they will continue to do it.’

Crossing his arms across his chest, he added inwardly, ’Of course, it must have some limitations, but it’s way better than what I had initially thought.’

Five minutes later, Selena lowered her sword and began to take rapid breaths.

“Huff…huff… how was it?” She asked while leaning on her sword.

Rion applauded and said, “Even though I am not a swordsman, I can feel how great you are.”

Selena’s lips lifted into a smile. Nodding, she asked, “Why did you make me do that?”

Rion stepped inside the training circle, checked his sword from both sides, and mumbled, “I wanted to see what an offensive ether art looks like.”

Selena blinked a few times and mumbled with a puzzled expression, “Are you saying that it was your first time seeing an ether art…?”

A thoughtful look appeared on his face as he remembered Dance of Yama, but as it was a combination of ether and aura, he said, “Yep, it’s my first time seeing an ether art.”

Selena fell silent at his words.

Rion closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ’I just have to do what she did…’

’I am a man who has given everything to the sword…’ he remarked in his head to enter the same state of mind as her.

Taking a step forward, he swung his sword.

The air split from the sheer strength behind the swing, and Selena instructed, “Use the strength of your legs, not your arms.”

He swung again, this time it was much weaker, and she mumbled in surprise, “That’s the right strength…”

’How did he achieve it so fast?’

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