The black flame roared across the clearing, carving a jagged path through the training dummies. Zephyr stood frozen beneath the arching trees, hidden by a crooked pillar of stone, watching Serena with wide eyes.
The flame she conjured didn't flicker like a simple flame. It pulsed. It breathed.
Destructive Pin—Death Thrust. That was what she called it. Her body had been like a drawn bow—her stance, elegant and rigid—before that terrifying blast surged from the point of contact of her sword.
As he regained clarity he was astonished by the level of power displayed by her, he briskly walked towards her, his heart pounding his body trembling, although he had faced the fact that this was reality, seeing something supernatural for the first time was astonishing.
"Young Master," she said. "Did I startle you?"
Zephyr waved that off. "Startle? Nah. Just mildly terrified. That move—Death Thrust—was insane. What else you got?".
Just now he saw briefly as the back of her palm lit up, he couldn't recognize the symbol but he could swear it looked similar to the one alucard had in Hellsing anime. 'why didn't I see it before'. He then looked through his memories, then he saw that he had seen before, but not on her hands but on the hands of the crownkin and his cousins. It was strange he clearly saw it but he paid it no mind, it was as if the previous zephyr recognized the symbol and his brain also saw the symbol but his brain was conflicted due to the familiar and unfamiliar symbol so it decided to ignore it.
She tilted her head. "You wish to see another Aether Art?"
"Duh. That one made the air tremble. I want to know what the next one does."
Serena hesitated for a moment. "Am sorry to disappoint my lord but I am untalented enough to gain access to the sacred bloodline second Art. But I can interest you with a Hollow Art".
'What does she mean untalented enough, she did awaken the flame at a young age, no'. Zephyr was genuinely confused, how can someone who awaken the clan bloodline at a young age not be talented enough. And as a matter of fact she was not of the main family but of the branch family and non of her parents were in anyway related to the main family, she only got the bloodline due to the many yes of staying in the presence of the overwhelming Aether of the main family.
"I don't understand, can you please elaborate". Zephyr asked out of curiosity. 'At five years I was cast into the pit, that would serve as a shield for my lack of knowledge'. He didn't know how he quickly thought of this as an excuse, but he rationalize that it was due to the previous zephyr intelligence, he was smart, but definitely not quick enough to figure out an excuse.
The maid body trembled for a moment before she begun to speak.
"As you know I was born unto the branch family without an iota of the clan bloodline in my veins, but after generations of staying under the main family our Aether has adapted and I was the cumulation of my family adaption, I awaken the clan bloodline and became a Zeta but that was how far my talent could take me." She paused to take a deep breath before continuing.
"My Aether hearth wasn't strong enough to withhold the Art bestowed by Demios bloodline, as of now I only have access to the first Art of Demios Line. But the clan still has high expectations for me so there gave me an hollow Art to practice".
'so that's how it is'. As Serena was talking his memory was jugged and he recalled a lot of things.
Everyone has access to Aether, but not everyone is able to form a Aether hearth and without an Aether hearth they will not have access to their birthmark and without their birthmark they will not have access to Arts.
In this world, Arts are not mere techniques — they are personalized manifestations of a person's soul interacting with Aether, shaped by deep-rooted emotion, memory, trauma, or desire.
They are named, evolving expressions of a person's essence — almost like poetry or curses woven into form.
The Birthmark / Aether Sigil— When someone awakens their Aether, the Aether surge to the heart and when the person heart is able to hold it the heart transforms to an Aether hearth, then a unique mark appears on the back of their dominant hand. This is known as the Aether Sigil or Birthmark — a circular brand-like glyph that evolves in accordance of the said person ascending to higher tier of power. The birthmark produces an Art tied to their deepest desires.
Each Art adds a new inscription — a cursed title — to the ring around the sigil. These aren't just labels; they are living, binding truths.
When Aether is first awakened and Aether hearth formed the soul defines its core desire or trauma.
This becomes the First Art — the anchor.
This word defines how the world — and the Aether — now sees that soul.
(A/n: imagine the symbol behind the palm of alucard in Hellsing).
Then the hollow Arts, the hollow Arts are arts created by humanity in pursuit of recreating the arts bestowed by the world, they are arts made for those who could not form a Aether hearth and have no access to their birthmark and as such no arts. The reason it was called hollow Arts is because, the world will didn't agree with the arts and as such didn't give it's blessings, so after practicing this arts it takes for more Aether to activate then regular Arts.
Imagine Aether as the fuel of an armoured tank, then the Aether heart as the body of the tank, then the birthmark as the cannon, then the arts as the projectiles shot.
Now Serena has access to Aether and her Aether hearth but her hearth isn't strong enough to hold the power of Demios Line so she couldn't advance in the pathway of Demios Line, so she instead practiced hollow Arts made for Demios Line as a substitute.
He looked up and gazed at the symbol enacted on the sky. 'so that's the world own birthmark, I truly am a trash'. The symbol enacted on the purple sky was the birthmark of the world. He realized he has been quiet for a while, then he turned to her and said with frustration evident on in his voice. "I would love to see the hollow Art".
With a quick nod she took a stance again, her hands forming an intricate sign. The temperature increased sharply.
"Destructive Pin—Grieving Halo."
Black flames spiraled around her, forming a wide circle like a deadly ring of thorns. Unlike the last technique, this one wasn't a direct attack—it distorted the ground, making it brittle, turning nearby leaves to ash before they even touched it.
Zephyr's lips parted. "That's… beautiful. In a horrifying, world-ending kind of way."
Seren let the flames die out gently. "Grieving Halo suppresses Aether within a range. It's a technique suited to shutting down enemy casters before they can act."
He scratched his chin. "So that's your second technique. Must mean you're… Epsilon?".
She looked at him curiously. "you think highly of me my lord, I am at rank Zeta". He looked at her in shock.
"I thought you could only have access to one Art at each rank". He was genuinely confused.
"Yes but hollow Arts are different, the pressure they beat on your Nexus is mild compared to that of the regular Arts. Although it defers as a Zeta my Nexus(mind scape) can hold up to two hollow Arts, although it is not encouraged to practice numerous arts, at some time it is counter productive". She cleared out his misunderstanding.
"Right". With that he went into a deep thought.
The afterimage of Grieving Halo still lingered in Zephyr's mind, dancing like ghostly black petals in his vision. The air was thick with scorched ozone, the faint scent of burnt foliage clinging to the edge of every breath.
Zephyr took a step forward, gaze fixed on Serena. "How did you do that?" he asked.
She didn't gloat or grin. "You will it," she said plainly.
He blinked. "You will it? That's it?"
She gave a nod.
He scoffed. "Fine. Watch this." He clenched his fists, narrowed his eyes, and focused with all his soul.
Nothing.
He gritted his teeth and tried again—veins popping in his neck, jaw clenched like he was trying to force the universe to listen. Still, nothing.
Serena tilted her head, watching in silence.
Finally, Zephyr exhaled, frustration boiling. "It's not working."
Her expression didn't change, but her eyes softened. "You don't have Aether," she said gently.
That struck deeper than it should have. His shoulders slumped. Right. No Aether. No flame. No strength. 'this bastard body don't have access to Aether, why do I always forget that simple fact'.
He turned away slightly, eyes darkening. "So… I really am a failure."
A quiet moment passed.
Then Serena stepped forward. "Would you like to experience it?".