Jace Brontarion
It was early morning at the academy. I normally spent this time floating high above the clouds, watching the sun slowly creep over the horizon.
This was my place to get away from everyone and occasionally skip classes. Professor Flayne surprisingly never scolded me about it; it was honestly a shock compared to how Father would act back home.
But then again, the faculty have shown themselves to be more hands-off when it comes to student drama and were often more lenient with heirs of great families, especially since Head Master Naga has been away.
Speaking of back home, more of those weird clouds have found their way here to Xhatal, too.
I wonder if the academy notices the difference?
As I lay in my bed of clouds, a bolt of electricity broke through the layer of clouds and arced in the sky.
Sora has been too pushy lately.
Let me see what she wants.
I opened my communicator and clicked on her message from last night.
She wanted to make sure I showed up to class today, since my house will be in the astral realm.
I guess I'll indulge then. I doubt she'll leave me alone now.
I sank through the clouds, free-falling back to the academy. No matter how many times I did it, I never got used to the rush; it was like I had access to my own amusement park ride.
I knew the descent to the very second.
15 seconds.
But for some reason, it was taking longer to reach the academy.
Did the new clouds affect the cloud density, slowing me down a bit? No, that's not it. I made sure none of them were by me.
So why is it taking longer to get there?
But as I continued to fall, I noticed something.
The cosmic chains connecting all the isles seemed to be positioned differently. They were slightly slanted upwards, and the central isle seemed to be… sinking.
Does this normally happen?
Just as I was getting ready to command the clouds to spot my descent, I noticed transport vehicles on the surface next to the teleportation terminal.
Must be for our house. I'll just meet them there.
I commanded my cloud to hover above one of the transport vehicles as I looked at my schedule.
I had an extra hour to spare.
First time I'm gonna be early. Sora should be proud, at least.
But with that time to spare, I let myself drift off for a quick nap.
"Nice of you to join us, Prince Jace," a voice bellowed, as a strong breeze brushed past my nose.
My eyes slowly opened, and the sudden return of light blinded me for a short moment.
I looked down from my cloud, and the transport was no longer by the teleportation terminal; it was parked outside the geodesic tents constructed just a couple of hundred yards from a conquered rift portal.
"Hurry now, Jace. You're the last one to enter," the voice said.
I found Professor Flayne standing there with a wide grin.
He turned and walked over to the geodesic tents, gesturing for me to follow him.
Professor Flayne didn't say much. He never does. He just sits and observes constantly.
Must be a psychologist thing.
But I quickly astral projected and followed him into the astral realm.
On the other side, I found all of my classmates waiting, their faces twisted with annoyance. A lot of them hated that Professor Flayne treated me differently.
Some believed my parents had paid him off. Others thought he was simply trying to get on the Bronatrian family's good side so he could gain support for his research into psychology and astral forms.
They were all wrong. I had been able to perform the techniques in the curriculum since the first week. I learned better on my own terms, and I think the professor understood that. So he would often give me his research and assignments outside the curriculum to work on, to supplement my boredom.
"Before we jump into new material, can someone explain the purpose of our tether's and why concordants are important to a rift runner team?" Professor Flayne asked.
He looked at me.
I had no intention of answering the question; someone else could do it.
Then Kumura Araknos spoke up.
"Tethers are the cables that attach our astral bodies to our physical ones, and they allow us to draw on the cosmic energy stored in our celestial cores," Kumura said, adjusting his voice before continuing.
"Our job as concordants in the most simple form is to maintain the health and strength of cluster tethers while on missions."
"Well done, Kumura. And today we will be learning to manipulate our astral myelin.
This is something that every great concordant must master. Your tether will be at great risk of harm within a rift as behemoths search for strong sources of cosmic energy.
The astral myelin acts as a shield, an insulator, and a conductor for cosmic energy. So the more layers you can create for your cluster members, the faster they can access their cosmic energy and the less energy they lose when transferring it to the astral body."
"So, how do we perform this technique, Professor?" a kid named Nolan asked.
"Well, it's simple really; the same visualization you guys do to add more layers to your celestial core so that you can fortify them. You would do the same thing after you create the tethers, but instead, you are constantly running and hardening the cosmic energy on top of them. This is also why concordants need to have larger pools of cosmic energy and precise control of that."
Some of the students didn't seem enthused at the idea. I don't blame them. It's a difficult thing for most people.
"But I do have a little surprise for the class. We are going to play a little game. The first student to break the astral myelin on Jace's tether in fifteen minutes will get extra credit on the rift final exam."
Wait, why didn't he tell them about the other usage regarding the astral myelin?
Everyone looked at me with feral eyes.
You gotta be kidding me. Why did I even come to the class?
I locked eyes with my teacher, "Professor, I have a question to ask you that might interest you before we start."
He just shrugged his shoulders and smirked, "If you want a question answered, then you'd better not lose. This is what happens when you don't show up to class. Good luck. And everyone, the countdown starts now."
A couple of students were already jumping at me, reaching for my tether. But they phased through me.
Thanks to my storm drift ability, I didn't have to worry about them touching me, but I think Professor Flayne already understood that.
But the students were smart and adjusted, no longer trying to pin me down, but aiming for the tether itself.
As soon as I felt the slightest touch on my tether, I forced my tether to shrink in circumference. Making it so thin that it was nearly invisible to the eye.
The students started yelling and complaining to the professor.
I see why he didn't say anything about this earlier. He was using me as the lesson to give them hands-on experience regarding this. The goal is to make tethers as small as possible while keeping them strong. Otherwise, it's a big target in the rift.
Even if they did get a hold of it, they would have to reverse the flow and break through my astral myelin that reinforced my tether, while I was doing the opposite.
"I knew I picked the right guy for the job." Professor Flayne said, laughing.
Professor Flayne really is sadistic.
10 minutes left. Yeah, I don't have the time for that.
I took a deep breath and let cosmic energy erupt from me, as the whole class circled me. A few kids stepped closer.
They were Kumura, Nolan, Abegail, and Gabreil.
Of course, it would be them.
Nolan and Abegail were the first to make a move. Their hair was split between white and black, and their eyes were heterochromatic as well– a sign they came from one of the Morzeth branch families.
They hated my guts because my cloud soaked their homework once…or twice, ok, a couple times.
Oops.
They did what they knew best: freeze the area.
They're smart, making my cloud freeze so that it sinks and forces me to move somewhere else.
But not smart enough to realize that I had seen them do this dozens of times.
I channeled lightning through my body and into the frozen cloud, causing it to fracture and explode beneath me. The burst of force launched me upward, sending me soaring into the lavender Astral Realm sky as shards of ice rained down around me.
From above, I channeled lightning through the falling shards, electrifying them as they flew past the surrounding students.
I found myself chuckling as I watched the students in the circle jump and scramble from the shocks running through the ice shards. Meanwhile, I lowered myself back to the surface on a newly formed cloud.
"Nolan, Abegail, don't rely on the same attacks. Keep your patterns unpredictable."
A shadow loomed over me; it was a giant web Kumura created to trap me.
I hate these things.
I channeled lightning into my brain, increasing my processing speed.
Kumura's astral form flickered rapidly.
Using multiple techniques is too much for him; his myelin is suffering for it too.
That's too bad.
My cloud shot out of the web's path, carrying me behind him before he had a chance to react. I placed my hand on his tether, and electricity surged from my palm into the connection, breaking down his myelin until nothing remained.
"Kumura, you are using too much cosmic energy at once. Try doing it with less output, so the quality of the techniques won't be uneven." I said before I zipped off to other students.
Now there was one kid left; his name was Gabriel. He was short, under five feet tall, with brown shaggy hair and fiery eyes. From what I knew, he was a member of a Pyrralis branch family.
I would sometimes use his head as an armrest.
"Gabriel, how about you stand down? I have business with the professor. I would hate to rain on your small parade."
"Did you say small?" he said, his astral form bubbling.
Got 'em.
He shot a sputtering fireball. It phased through me, and then I blitzed him. One hand patted his head, while the other destroyed the myelin on his tether.
"Gabriel, stay calm. Too much emotion can throw off your astral body."
Then I looked at the professor.
'How much time is left?"
He shook his head.
"Eight minutes."
"That might be a record. Can I ask that question now?"
Professor Flayne let out a small sigh.
"Sure. And everyone else, gather yourselves, meet up at the transport vehicles."
The professor and I waited until everyone left.
"What is it, Jace?"
"I wanted to know if it's normal for the school to lose altitude?'
"Oh, that's all you wanted to know? I thought it was something regarding the research I sent you. Which I noticed you used during this little bout. Good work, you are beginning to see how someone's psychological state can affect their flow of cosmic energy in their astral forms."
"Yeah, it's kind of hard to unsee when you decide to slow down and focus. But back to my question, is that normal?"
"Yes, Jace, it's normal. It happens whenever a generator is replaced. We normally don't dip much because the others are still in place. Most people never notice it; good eye, Jace." The professor said, patting me on the shoulder as we made our way to the portal.
"But Jace, why do you hide behind that?" Professor Flayne asked, stopping just before we crossed back over into the physical world.
My brow furrowed.
"Hide behind what?"
He studied me for a moment before answering.
"You spend a lot of time convincing people that you don't care."
I looked away.
"Maybe because I don't."
A small smile formed on his face.
"Is that why you spent the entire class helping your classmates improve their techniques?"
My expression tightened.
"I was just making sure they wouldn't slow me down."
"Is that really all it was?"
I didn't answer.
The warmth in my chest faded almost instantly, leaving behind the same cold clarity I had grown used to.
It was easier this way.
"I just wanted them to know I was better than them," I said. "That's all."
Professor Flayne gave me a knowing smile but didn't argue.
"You know, Jace… people who truly don't care rarely spend so much time proving that they don't."
Before I could respond, the portal opened fully, and we stepped through into the physical world.
Once we got back to the school, I was finally able to breathe and let the tension leave my shoulders.
Looks like the only thing I have to worry about is making sure we pass the rift exam.