Mythshaper

Everything seemed to fall into normalcy once night fell. Father returned within a couple of hours after scouting the area. He found no corpse flies or signs of a rift breaking nearby. Of course, he hadn’t ventured deeper into the mountains, but from what he observed, there were only a few dead animals fed upon by the corpse flies and nothing else, but the number of them so low that it didn't look like the numbers of the corpse flies were any more than those the ones Rosalyn dispatched.

There was no sign of a swarm coming. Those insatiable creatures would likely swarm the valley if there was a swarm. That would be a disaster no one wanted to see, as I had already witnessed how troublesome those blighted things could be. Although small, they were terribly swift, with the added advantage of flight.

Six whole squadrons of sentries had been deployed for the night instead of the usual two stationed at the foot of the mountain, at their base. While the night guards have been doubled to march around the town as well. All heralded by the Magistratus, who only stopped to check on his son before arranging everything with the local guild.

As the sun peeked over the tallest peaks of the Candor Mountains, I woke up and went through my daily rituals as usual. Rosalyn didn’t skip her practice either, even if she was on holiday, but when I asked her to teach me Lightning Shaping, she refused, saying I was too weak.

After bickering with her for a while, I learned that Lightning Shaping was far more volatile than Fire or Wind. Anything could go wrong when casting a lightning spell. It could easily harm the caster. She was adamant that I should only attempt the elementary form of Lightning casting once I advanced to Noble Class.

As if that was going to happen anytime soon. At the rate I was going, it would probably take two whole years for me to advance.

“You’ll get there,” my aunt said. “Common Class is the slowest... It used to take me more than a season to form an Aether root, but now I can do the same within a month.”

I’d heard the same from Mum. Supposedly, the more essence you had under your control, the easier it became to accumulate more. Essentially, an awakened pulled essence from the spirit realm, and the more Aether Root one had, the more one could pull to form another.

Finally moving on to my sword practice, I found Eren already in the courtyard, swinging his cane with single-minded focus. I joined him, practising alongside while Father meditated in the open.

Half an hour later, Father stood up and cast his gaze towards us. “I think it’s about time I teach you two the fourth form.”

Both Eren and I froze mid-strike.