Veil of Aether

Plop.

Mia’s opponent collapsed onto the stage, eyes rolled back, clutching his stomach. He was out cold—unresponsive, unmoving—as Mia stood tall, arm still extended from the finishing strike.

“Wow… could that even be considered a fair fight? She just… bullied him,” someone from the crowd muttered in disbelief, echoing the stunned silence that followed.

Gasps rippled through the audience. They had just witnessed a little girl knock out a guy nearly three times her size—with what looked like zero effort.

From the Indian team’s side, his teammates could only lower their heads in shame. Their defeated comrade, Kishna, had been utterly dismantled. Their Crown Prince, sitting among them, struggled to maintain composure. He quietly invoked his force, a serene shimmer cloaking him as he tried to calm his turbulent mind.

“Kishna did his best. There’s no shame in battling a stronger opponent,” the Crown Prince said, voice calm and composed.

“…Even if that opponent looked like she just stopped teething?” one of his teammates replied dryly.

The rest of the team burst into laughter, clearly enjoying themselves at their prince’s expense, challenging his enlightened resolve like it was a game.

“Namo Amitābhāya,” he muttered under his breath, the sacred chant of Amitābha echoing faintly as he closed his eyes. Being around them, he reminded himself, was a form of training. A daily test to temper his spirit, a relentless assault on his path to enlightenment. Truly, these teammates were his karmic tribulation.

And yet, before he could reclaim a moment of inner peace, another blow struck—this one verbal.

From the arena floor, Mia’s small voice rang out, loud enough for the crowd to hear:

“That guy was really annoying! All those illusions and mind tricks—ugh, he made me mad!” she huffed, stomping back toward her team, her little boots slapping against the stone with exaggerated frustration.

The audience tried (and failed) to stifle their amusement. Some covered their mouths. Others snorted.

As for Kishna—he was lucky he didn’t hear any of it.

Unconscious and still curled around his stomach, he remained blissfully unaware of Mia’s post-fight commentary. His hand still clutched at the spot where her palm had struck, a spot now caved inward with such force that it had left a tiny handprint pressed deep into his armor. The dent had nearly punctured through—another inch, and the armor itself might’ve stabbed him.

It was a mercy that he had passed out before realizing just how thoroughly he’d been humbled.

[System Notice: Match Concluded.]

[Victor: Mia of Amunar Kingdom.]

Mia ran back and jumped straight into Kei M’s arms. He laughed, catching her with ease, and gently rubbed her head, pride swelling in his chest. This small girl was the same fragile child he had once stumbled upon back when he was still the Crown Prince.

Back when he stood at the pinnacle of royalty—arrogant, proud, his status earned through power and accolades—he had chanced upon her. A pitiful, frail girl barely able to stand, let alone walk. At the time, he’d been wandering the streets in silent superiority, hardly paying attention to his surroundings. The world felt beneath him, unworthy of his notice.

That’s why he didn’t notice the girl at first.

She had softly, weakly whispered, “Excuse me,” trying to get past him.

He hadn’t heard it.

It wasn’t until he turned around—and saw her there, dirty, smelly, clearly starving—that he noticed her lips moving. But even then, no sound reached his ears.

That, more than anything, stunned him.

He was the God Spark of Sound Force, born with the ability to sense the slightest vibration, to hear sounds others never could. And yet… he hadn’t heard her.

A part of him wanted to scoff. To sneer. He’d felt insulted—offended that someone like her, someone so lowly dared to speak to him. Dared to stand in his way.

“Who do you think you are to speak to me like this?” he had asked, his voice calm but layered with biting anger. The air around them had shifted, the ground itself vibrating under the weight of his force as soundwaves bent to his will.

He stared her down, expecting a response.

But she didn’t speak again. Didn’t say a word.

She just stood there, quiet, head bowed.

“…Walk around me. And next time, know your place,” he’d said coldly, voice sharp enough to cut bone, his force crackling in the air like a warning.

Still receiving no response, Kei M scoffed and turned away. He couldn’t be bothered to waste another second on the girl. Just as he began walking past her, he heard a soft thud behind him.

She had collapsed—suddenly, without warning—as if her legs had given out beneath her.

Instinct overrode thought.

Without even realizing, Kei M moved to catch her, his hand shooting out in time to break her fall. “What’s wrong with you—” he started to say, but the moment her fragile body landed in his arms—

CRACK!

The sound rang out loud and sharp, like splintering wood. But to Kei M—who had just enhanced his hearing to try and catch her faint voice—it was deafening. The thunderous snap made him flinch on reflex, his hands trembling.

“What the…?” he whispered, wide-eyed. “I barely touched her—”

He stared at her in disbelief, shaken by the noise. Concern now eclipsed his pride, replacing arrogance with a flicker of fear. Gently, he tried lowering her to the ground, laying her flat so she could rest—only to hear more faint cracking sounds as her body shifted.

Crk… crk…

Each one struck his ears like a hammer, and a sick feeling welled up in his chest.

“What’s wrong with you…?” he muttered again, softer this time—no longer accusatory, but horrified. He looked down at her as if he’d just committed murder.

But she didn’t cry.

She didn’t scream.

All he heard was the faintest, muffled—

“…Hnnn…”

She was biting her lip. Holding it in. Trembling as her body tried to suppress the pain it clearly couldn’t endure.

He didn’t know it yet, but her body was so frail, her bones hadn’t fully hardened. Every step she took chipped away at her strength.

In all his life, no sound had ever struck him like that one.

He didn’t know what to do.

Kei M—the prodigy of Amunar. A genius in cultivation, battle, tactics, and command. A young kid, not even 13 years of age, whose every step was calculated, whose every move echoed power and brilliance—now stood frozen.

Because in his arms was a little girl he didn’t even know, breathing in shallow rasps, barely conscious, her body breaking from the slightest touch. She was trying to stifle her pain, to hide it with nothing but sheer will. And it was killing him to watch.

Panic seized him.

He hastily pulled a healing potion from his inventory, uncorking it and pouring it gently into her mouth. She struggled to swallow, her throat twitching with effort. Realizing how fragile she was—how easily her bones had cracked from even the softest pressure—he massaged her throat as delicately as he could manage, coaxing each drop down with trembling hands.

Once the potion went down, her complexion brightened slightly. The immediate danger had passed.

But it was clear this wasn’t just injury. No. Her body… it was starving. Her limbs were thin, her skin dull and stretched, her eyes sunken. She looked like she hadn’t eaten properly in weeks.

Kei M didn’t waste a second.

He dove back into his inventory and summoned what little food he had—a few soft breads, some fruit, dried meats. Nothing too heavy. He tore off tiny pieces, feeding them to her one by one, slow and careful, watching her body’s reaction with each swallow. Too much too fast, and she might collapse again.

She chewed sluggishly, but obediently.

And then, just after a few bites, she pushed herself up with trembling arms.

Kei M blinked. “What are you doing?!”

The girl struggled to her feet, legs shaking beneath her, her body clearly not ready to move—but she was forcing herself anyway.

“You have to rest! Heal! Eat more! Lie down this instant!” he snapped, his voice rising in frustration and worry. His tone shifted into the authoritative bark of royalty, as if commanding a soldier in battle.

But she didn’t listen.

She simply muttered, voice hoarse but slightly louder than before, “…I have to go to work. I can’t stay here.”

“…Work?” Kei M stared at her like she’d grown a second head.

How could someone like her—so young, so fragile, so near death—work?

The words didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.

And yet the way she said it… made it clear she wasn’t joking.

She meant it.

Even if it killed her.

"WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS? THEY SHOU—”

Kei M’s voice cracked with urgency, but before he could even finish the sentence, she quietly answered.

“Dead,” she said, not looking at him, her voice devoid of emotion.

She tried to walk away again.

Stolen novel; please report.

He moved to stop her, his concern flaring. He didn’t know why he cared—why this frail, dirty girl was making his chest tighten with unease—but something about her shook him. She was the very definition of weak… and yet, so innocent. So tragically untouched by protection.

“I SAID SIT,” he barked, his voice booming with force, echoing with command.

She froze.

Then slowly, she turned her head, looked at him—and smiled.

“Hehe… You’re so nice,” she said.

That smile—so wide her eyes closed—stunned him more than anything. It was pure. Honest. Heartbreakingly real.

“Other than my parents… no one’s ever been this nice to me, mister,” she said gently.

She turned again to leave.

But her knees gave out—and she collapsed.

Kei M didn’t even blink.

With a flick of his fingers, he activated his force—causing the air around her to vibrate and soften, forming an invisible cushion that caught her just before she hit the ground. She floated down gently, unconscious, resting in silence.

His heart pounded. He couldn’t just leave her here.

“Help me take her back. She needs treatment—now,” Kei M ordered, his voice low but commanding.

To the onlookers, he was speaking to no one. But in the next instant, the space around him shimmered, and several figures appeared—powerful cultivators hidden in plain sight. His personal shadow guard, tasked with silently protecting the royal family from the shadows.

“Young master, what are you doing?” one of them asked, startled. “We can’t bring a… dirty commoner back to the palace. What if—”

“HELP. HER,” Kei M snapped, his voice thunderous with authority.

The air went still.

The guards froze.

"HELP HER THIS INSTANT!" Kei M roared, his voice cracking through the air like a whip.

The guards flinched, instinctively straightening. They could only obey, helpless under the weight of his command. It wasn’t that he was strong enough now to overpower them—he wasn’t. But they all knew what he would become. They had seen the sparks of it in training, in moments of wrath. And they knew that if anything happened to this strange, unknown girl under their watch, he would remember.

When the day came that his strength eclipsed theirs, the retribution would be unbearable.

So, with almost comical caution, they moved in to lift her—like she was made of spun glass. Every hand was careful, every step deliberate, their usual arrogance gone. Not because they feared the girl… but because they feared him.

One wrong move, and they wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.

"How did she manage to walk so close to the Crown Prince without us noticing her?" one of the guards muttered, the disbelief clear in his voice.

Mia was brought to the palace’s treatment wing—not just quickly, but with a level of gentleness that bordered on absurd. Every step was deliberate. Every movement, cautious. The guards carrying her treated her like a priceless relic that might shatter at the slightest bump.

By the time they arrived, the kingdom’s top medical experts—those with forces aligned to healing and restorative arts—were already assembled. None of them knew who Mia was, but the moment they laid eyes on her, any impulse to judge or dismiss her vanished. Not out of compassion—though her frail, battered appearance certainly invited it—but out of survival.

Before Mia had even crossed the palace threshold, the guards had made certain to warn them.

“This is an urgent request from the Crown Prince,” they had said, voices clipped with deadly seriousness. “Hurry. Or face his wrath.”

That alone had been enough to make several healers pale, their souls nearly leaping out of their bodies. But the guards hadn’t stopped there. No, they had gone into detail.

They described her fragility in vivid terms, sparing no unnecessary word. They explained how her bones felt like they might snap from a breeze. They recounted the sound of cracks when she was moved, the way her body seemed incapable of withstanding even a gentle touch. They went so far as to include irrelevant details—how her breath hitched when she shifted, how her small frame seemed to fold under its own weight—just to make absolutely certain the healers understood the stakes.

By the time they finished, the treatment team was trembling as they prepared, each one silently vowing that if they so much as bruised the girl, they’d flee the kingdom before facing the Crown Prince’s anger.

They worked with the precision of master craftsmen and the urgency of soldiers under siege, but in the end, even the kingdom’s finest healers had to admit defeat.

Mia’s injuries—the fractures, the bruising, the malnourishment—they could mend. But her bones… those were another matter entirely. The diagnosis came from the most experienced specialist present, voice steady, eyes calm as they delivered the truth.

Osteogenesis imperfecta.

No miracle salve. No aether-infused mending. No rapid regeneration could undo it—not here, not now.

Even as a child, Kei M understood what that meant. He had seen it before—on battlefields, in fractured zones, in skirmishes against beasts that didn’t belong to any sane world. There were wounds even healing force couldn’t touch. Aether wasn’t a wish-granting miracle; it was a tool that demanded mastery, and mastery took time. Treating something like this… might require more than anyone in the Mortal Realm could give.

“…I see.” Kei M’s voice was quiet but resolute. “Thank you for trying. I’ll remember this.”

He bowed his head—not in submission, but in genuine acknowledgment—thanking the healers, and even the guards, for helping her.

They carried Mia to a private chamber, settling her into a bed far softer than anything she’d likely known. She was still unconscious from the treatment, her breathing slow but steady. The room was warm, the air perfumed faintly with calming herbs.

Kei M stayed. He didn’t know why. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself. A casual stroll through the streets had somehow turned into this—him standing watch over a helpless little girl who had no reason to matter to him.

A voice spoke from beyond the doorway, cautious, as though afraid to break the quiet.

“Sir… it’s completed.”

Kei M stepped out, where a guard presented him with a stack of files. These were the orders he had given on the way to the palace—find everything there was to know about her, especially the truth behind her parents’ deaths.

The guards had worked with the same urgency they’d shown in protecting her, summoning experts whose forces had even the faintest tie to the rarest of all—Time Force. Through those fragments of temporal resonance, they had pieced together what records and echoes remained.

Kei M opened the first file. Read. Turned a page. Read again.

Then—unexpectedly—he laughed. Low, disbelieving, almost incredulous at what the truth revealed.

During a mission assigned directly by his father—the King—Kei M had been ordered to secure a small, strategically located town. Its position was tied to an Ancient-ranked quest at the Commander of Realms tier, making it a matter of urgent and vital importance.

The order had been straightforward. Clear. No room for hesitation.

But the outcome had been anything but clean.

That town—Mia’s town—was reduced to ruin in the process. By the time the operation was over, the streets were soaked in blood, the houses burned to ash, and the population… gone. Whether through his tactical decisions, collateral damage, or simply the ruthless demands of the mission, the result was the same—Kei M’s actions had left only one survivor.

Her.

The little girl now sleeping in his bed was the last remnant of a town he had personally destroyed.

He stared at the report in his hands for a long time before a hollow, bitter laugh escaped him—one without warmth, without humor. The kind of laugh that came when you saw the cruel joke fate decided to play on you.

And then, as if the moment wasn’t heavy enough, that voice came.

The voice he despised.

“What do you think—”

“Leave.” His voice cut through hers like a blade, low and sharp, his eyes still fixed on the paper. There was no respect in his tone—only the kind of weary irritation that told her she wasn’t welcome.

“Child, I am your mother. You will respect me.” She stepped further in, a false air of authority in her voice. “And who do you think you are to bring this… thing… into our sacred grounds?”

Kei M’s expression didn’t change, but inside, his disdain burned cold and deep.

This was the Queen of Amunar—Zeus’s mother. The so-called airhead Auserre mocked in private. The woman Kei M had never once addressed with genuine reverence.

It wasn’t because she had ever wronged him directly—at least, not in a way he could prove—but because he knew the truth of her greatest crime. She had plotted against his mother, manipulated court politics, and in the end, succeeded in having her killed.

He had pleaded with his father to execute her for it, but of course the Queen denied everything with the practiced innocence of a seasoned liar. Still, he had seen the tiny flicker in her eyes when he confronted her—the brief flash of how did he figure it out? before she hid it away again.

The Queen had always been jealous of his mother.

Despite being the official Queen of Amunar, a woman of noble birth and high status, it was a concubine who gave birth to the Crown Prince. That fact alone was enough to twist her pride into something venomous.

She had a son too—Zeus. The elder brother. Exceptionally talented, incredibly strong, and beloved by many. But no matter how brightly Zeus shined, it was always Kei M who outshone him. Younger, weaker, and yet... undeniably a genius.

Even Auserre—treasured friend of King Pharaoh since childhood—recognized Kei M's potential when the two were alone. It was her words that ultimately pushed Pharaoh to make the declaration: at just five years old, Kei M was officially named the Crown Prince.

That moment shattered the Queen’s pride.

She was Queen of the Kingdom, yet a concubine’s child sat higher than her own. It drove her mad. She smiled on the outside, played the part of a royal, but inwardly, she plotted for years to see Zeus take what she believed was rightfully his.

And the tragic part?

No one really disagreed with her.

Zeus was qualified to be Crown Prince. By talent alone, he could’ve easily been chosen. It was just… unfortunate. Unfortunate that his younger brother existed. Unfortunate that Kei M's brilliance overshadowed everything.

But Zeus? He never cared.

He was a preteen when it all happened—barely old enough to understand politics, let alone care about them. He spent most of his days chasing girls, stuffing his face, and challenging other young nobles to sparring duels. The idea of political ambition never once crossed his mind.

For all his strength, Zeus was an airhead.

Yet despite that, he and Kei M got along extremely well.

They trained together constantly, pushing one another to their limits. They sparred, experimented with their forces, even figured out ways to make their powers synergize. When they fought together, they were a terrifying duo—raw power and genius working in harmony.

But the Queen knew she couldn’t touch Kei M directly. So she used her son’s innocence instead.

She gave Zeus a “special tonic”—something she claimed would help Kei M recover from fatigue. Zeus, trusting and clueless as ever, believed her. He brought the potion to Kei M himself. Smiling. Excited to help.

And Kei M drank it.

The result was catastrophic.

His body changed. His strength vanished. His aether flow clogged with impurities. Techniques he once mastered became impossible to perform. And worse than the physical ruin was the betrayal.

To Kei M, it was clear.

Zeus had poisoned him. Not out of ignorance, but out of ambition. Out of desire to claim the title of Crown Prince for himself.

So he vanished. Disappeared from the palace, from the court, from the world.

And Zeus… never understood why.

He just thought his little brother’s talents faded. That Kei M had been whisked away by the King for “special training.” He didn’t realize what he had done. To this day, he still doesn’t.

But Kei M remembers.

And he hates him for it.

Not because Zeus was his enemy—but because Zeus wasn't supposed to be.

That betrayal, even if unintentional, cut deeper than any blade.

But that was a future moment—her scheme to use Zeus to poison Kei M hadn’t happened yet.

Right now, Mia lay unconscious in the palace bed, her body weak and still recovering.

The Queen stood nearby, eyes filled with disdain as she scorned the girl’s presence. She had waited, expecting her “son” to acknowledge her—to respond with the respect she believed was her due.

But Kei M didn’t speak.

He only looked at her.

And that look—

It wasn’t the gaze of a boy.

It wasn’t even the gaze of a human.

It was the cold, silent glare of a beast. A dangerous creature barely tolerating her intrusion. His eyes didn’t flinch, didn’t blink—just stared, calm and deadly, as if daring her to step any closer.

The Queen faltered.

That expression… that presence… it shook her in a way she couldn’t explain.

Without another word, she turned and left them.

Over the next few days, he spent time in the room with her.

Where others saw Kei M as someone cold and intimidating, Mia saw someone kind. Because of that, he softened his demeanor around her—a change that shocked those who witnessed it.

As time passed, they grew closer and became friends—something Kei M never truly had growing up, aside from his brother.

Mia still tried to convince him to let her go back to work, insisting she needed the money. But Kei M quietly sent people to her place of employment to inform them she would no longer be returning. When Mia found out, she was startled—but Kei M simply reassured her that it would be fine.

During his time with her, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fix her fragile bones. But it never seemed to bother her—so eventually, he learned not to let it bother him either.

Still, in his eyes, she was always the same fragile girl: the one who struggled just to get out of bed, to walk, to even feed herself without risking further damage.

And now… she stood in a tournament where the brightest young geniuses from across the kingdoms came to challenge one another—

And she had just won all of her matches, in spectacular fashion.

That concluded the first phase of the battles.

The announcer’s voice rang through the arena, signaling the start of the second phase—a 2 vs. 2 format among the remaining participants. And leading this new round… once again, Amunar Kingdom versus the Greek Kingdom.

But this time, the air between them had changed. What was once a simple matchup had now become something far more personal.

A thunderous boom echoed across the arena floor as a large, muscular figure from the Greek side leapt in with a forceful stomp—Hercules. Stoic and powerful, he stood ready, his presence alone intimidating.

Across from him, a bolt of lightning crashed down—Zeus, appearing in a flash of electric fury. He stared Hercules down as the Greek warrior did the same.

And just behind Zeus, a masked Recruit Class stepped forward, entering the arena with quiet confidence—Kei M. Both brothers now stood together, side by side in the arena.

Well—one of them knew that.

Zeus, still unaware that this masked teammate was actually his own younger brother, remained focused on Hercules, not even sparing a glance.

This phase of the tournament did not restrict combatants based on their cultivation levels. Different cultivation realms were allowed to fight on the same field. Yet it was silently agreed—unofficial, but respected—that each fighter would target someone of similar standing.

So, when the Greek Kingdom’s Recruit Class members saw who stepped onto the stage, they collectively hesitated. None dared enter. The outcome was clear. Defeat was inevitable.

Seeing their fear, Kei M tilted his head, voice calm, “It’s fine. I don’t have to fight Recruit Class, Soldier? Specialist? Makes no difference to me.”

At his words, the arena rumbled once more. Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed forward as a second Greek fighter, a Soldier class, entered the arena, axes in hand.

The crowd stirred.

The air grew heavy.

And then—

[System Notice: Greek Kingdom – Hercules and Ares versus Amunar Kingdom – Zeus and Kei.]

[Match Begin.]