Chapter 11 Aether And Nether

"It was just a joke! No need to get worked so worked up son~"

Veins visibly bulged on Arvell's face, but realizing that he was fighting an uphill battle by falling to Lykos's provocations, Arvell decided to just ignore him instead. He looked down at the rest of his details.

[Status Information]

Name: Arvell Relas Vispia

Species: Nephilim

Age: 13 years old

HP: 90

STA: 60

DEF: 46

SPD: 52

PHYS ATK: 54

POWER STAGE: 0TH CIRCLE 0TH STAGE

BODY REFINING: 0TH REFINEMENT 0TH STAGE

AETHER: 40/40

NETHER: 40/40

Titles: 3rd Prince of Vispia (Exiled), Inheritor of the Nephilim's Legacy, Forever Alone?

Skills: Incomplete Royal Swordsmanship (C+), Diplomacy (B-), Future sight (SS), Inventory (S), Temporal Manipulation (SSS), Warp (SSS), Rejuvenation (S), Undead Summon (S), Vitality Drain (SS).

He noticed that the previous question marks and black boxes were removed, allowing him to see new information.

'What is body refining? I never heard of this before. But judging by its name it might make my physical body stronger?' Arvell thought to himself.

'Ah! there's Aether and Nether displayed here. I guess this must be my supplement for mana. According to Lykos, Nether allows for the manipulation of life and death, but what does Aether do?'

Lykos hearing Arvell's thoughts decided to throw him a bone and answer his questions.

'Aether allows for manipulation of time and space. Aether wielders can open gates that connect 2 different spaces, create their pocket dimensions, influence time in a certain area, see a few seconds into the future… the list goes on.' Lykos explained.

'Wait so I can manipulate time and space? Isn't that a little too strong?' Arvell wondered.

He felt a rush of adrenaline thinking about the new power that he possessed. Using his newfound power no one would be able to dictate his life, he could even get revenge on those who wronged him.

Recently a certain bratty duke's daughter earned the full extent of Arvell's unbridled rage. Arvell doesn't know why she did it but she decided to place tracking magic on his engagement ring.

If it wasn't for Lykos saving him, he would have died for real during the assassination. While he felt immense gratitude to Lykos (even though he never got to, since Lykos kept teasing and provoking him for his amusement), his hatred for Ethelline only grew.

Originally he didn't like her due to her stuck-up and spoiled personality, preferring Lily's loving and caring nature, but he still was able to tolerate her to an extent.

Nevertheless, her actions in disparaging him in the palace, as well as her possible collusion with his assassin made his blood boil.

Arvell naturally won't forgive her for either of those, and he also knew that with her personality she knew about the spell on the ring. Most likely she was the one who sold out his location or at least had some part to play in it.

Feeling Arvell's burning hatred as well as his resolve for revenge, Lykos had a wry smile. It was the same smile a father had when seeing his son follow in his footsteps.

'Let's take things slow,' Lykos suddenly declared, 'right now you are nowhere near strong enough to fight the dukedom on your own. Your main concern is to first get stronger.

Lykos continued, 'right now your main concern is to upgrade your power circle, body refinement, and your aptitude in Aether and Nether wielding'.

Hearing Lykos mention body refinement, Arvell remembered that he knew nothing about it, other than its name and his current refinement stage.

'Let me guess it makes my body stronger right?' Arvell asked.

'Well the name is pretty self-descriptive,' Lykos admitted, 'but calling it simply 'making your body stronger' is a little too plain and generalized. Body refinement is so much more than just making your body stronger.'

'What else does it do then?' Arvell asked.

'It allows you to gain a Nether Body, and manipulate the power of Nether. It functions like a Magic Core itself, but instead of containing the power in a core, it enhances your body's power. The power of life will allow you to heal yourself and others, while the power of death will be able to deal greater damage to your enemies. Furthermore, you can also summon undead warriors to fight for you.'

Magic Cores are formed by mages when they complete their transition to the 1st stage of the 0th circle from the 0th stage. Mages gather the residual mana particles in their body and compress them into a core that exists within their bodies.

The core is located in the center of the upper chest area, but it doesn't have a physical structure and is independent of the physical body. Thus, stabbing someone in the chest with a normal metal sword won't cripple them and destroy their Magic Core.

However, there are still ways to break a Magic Core. One such method was using a cursed weapon.

'So if my body refinement shows how strong my Nether manipulation is, does the power stage show me the strength of my Aether manipulation?' Arvell inquired.

'That's exactly it. Your power stage shows you the strength of your Aether Core,' Lykos acknowledged, 'The stronger your Aether Core, the stronger your Aether abilities are.'

A Nether Body and an Aether Core. Comparing these to a simple mana Core was like comparing heaven and earth. Just a chance to obtain even one of these would have sparked an all-out global war, much less two of them.

Arvell struck it rich.

'Oh by the way Arvell,' Lykos started, 'you might be wondering why you were not at the bottom of the river.'

Arvell looked at Lykos with confusion, before realizing his words made sense. He was sure that the assassins would have burned his corpse or thrown him in the river to remove the evidence.

Since the people after him were professionals, they would not make such a rookie mistake and leave the corpse somewhere it can be found.

'Did you do something?' Arvell questioned.

'As much as I would like to take credit, this one wasn't me. Some kids pulled you out. A boy and his sister, both of which were about slightly younger than your age.'

Arvell looked around and saw no one near them

'Did they just fish me out of the lake and just leave? Normally you would help someone in these kinds of scenarios' Arvell thought.

'They ran away after seeing your body!'

Lykos Snickered as if remembering an extremely comedic scene.

Hearing Lykos's tone, Arvell felt beads of sweat slowly drip down his neck.

'Lykos… what happened?' Arvell nervously asked.

'Let's just say that when your body was converting from a human to a Nephilim, your body structure got somewhat mangled. Your flesh was melted together, while your bones were protruding through your skin. It was quite unpleasant to watch if I am, to be honest.'

'When the kids pulled out your mangled body it was still wriggling due to the transformation, and they both pissed their pants, running away while screaming "MONSTER! HELP!". It was quite comedic if you asked me.' Lykos smiled sadistically.

Arvell offered a silent apology to the siblings. Not only did they help him out, but he terrified them to the point where they wet their pants in fear.

The poor souls even became a source of amusement for Arvell's sadistic amulet spirit...