One month later, after training Joseph harshly, he began to see the colors of the ather—but he still couldn't see the orbs.
"Well, you must be happy. Now you can see ather, even if only halfway," I said.
"Happy? Happy about what? You spend all your time setting me on fire and beating me from morning to night," he replied.
"So what? And starting today, we're no longer training in your consciousness. We're going to the fifteenth floor of the underground cave," I said.
"When?" he asked.
"Now," I said, grabbing him in my arms and running. In five minutes, we arrived.
At the fifteenth floor:
"Joseph, from today onward, we'll train here non-stop for two months," I said.
"Like I have a choice—you literally dragged me here by force. But can you explain why I've had a splitting headache since we got here? It feels like my head's about to explode," he said, holding his head.
"That's because the ather here is pure—the purest on Earth. So, you'll have to get used to it. In two months, I'll make you reach rank two and activate the ather inside you," I said.
"Inside me? But I don't feel any ather," he replied.
"Exactly. That's why I said you'll activate it. But to do that, you need to see the ather as a whole. Also, all your sword techniques—within two months, you need to be able to use them with your real body," I said.
One month later, it only took him a month to learn everything. He's a monster.
And he's only going to get more monstrous.
"Ever since you activated the ather in you and learned how to absorb it, you're pulling off all these techniques. You can already turn your internal ather into aura—something even I can't do yet, and I'm rank four!"
"That's because you rely too much on your fire and your strength. If we were the same rank, you wouldn't win a single fight against me," he said.
Joseph told me that the orb inside his body was golden, but I'm not surprised—he always had great potential. He was just too shy to stand out. That's why I taught him. I knew he'd surpass me eventually.
I've been training too this month. I can now combine fire and lightning, and I've learned to stabilize and even suppress my power.
Thanks to Joseph's understanding, I now know I can create ather swords—visible only to those who can see ather. It varies depending on the cultivator's rank. A sword made by Joseph could never overpower mine because it's made from internal ather—and a rank four cultivator has far more ather than a rank one. With each rank, the amount of ather our orb can absorb increases.
One month later
"Finally, we're out of that damn cave. Two months down there—never again!" Joseph said.
"At least you reached rank two. You complain too much for my taste. Next time, it'll be a whole year," I said.
"Heh… calm down. If you want me dead, just kill me now, Mister 'I still can't turn my ather into aura'," he said with a mocking smile.
I looked at him with a smile, veins popping on my forehead.
A bow of fire and lightning appeared in my hands, and I aimed at Joseph.
Seeing that, he drew his sword and coated it in aura. I fired, and he launched his aura at me, now shaped like a golden panther. He'd even named the technique Golden Panther, which sends his aura from the sword to attack the opponent—an aura amplified by ather.
If you can't see ather, it looks like he's swinging at nothing—when in fact, he's launching a deadly strike.
Unsurprisingly, his attack couldn't withstand my fire arrow—it hit him.
"Are you crazy? That was a joke, bro! Learn to take a joke! If I hadn't dodged, I'd be roasting like a chicken right now!" he yelled, pointing at me.
"My bad—I got carried away with emotions," I said with a smile.
"Emotions, huh? You just like beating me up! You literally set me on fire in my own consciousness!" he said, shaking his hand to accuse me of lying.
"That was hilarious. But hey, at least you got stronger, right? Anyway, let's go—we're expected at the academy," I said with a smirk.
"The academy… if they knew the kind of freaks they're bringing in, it wouldn't surprise me if someone gets killed the first week. I feel bad for the poor soul who says 'yes' to him, not knowing they're opening the door to their own consciousness," he said, raising his hand and calling out, "Good luck to you!"
"What are you doing? Hurry up, or I'll carry you again," I said.
"No… no! I'm going, I swear! Just please—don't ever carry me again. You'd probably set me on fire!" he said, walking away from me.