There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
× × × × ×
Lucius Zogratis POV
Arthur and I studied how the aetheric essence connected with the chimera's corpse. Even though the chimera couldn't control or manipulate the aether, there was no leakage of essence.
Using my unique perception of the aether around me, I also observed a series of experiments that Arthur conducted on the corpse.
Since the chimera had been killed, the aether did not actively attempt to regenerate the broken parts of its corpse. Instead, it seemed to support the bones and flesh in an almost suspended state.
The wounds he had inflicted on her before her death did not regenerate, and although aetheric essence was slowly leaking out, there was no further leakage.
I wasn't going to sit back and rely on the system; I had to understand for myself how the aether worked. The words in the book weren't enough; I had to see and feel it for myself.
I already knew that I couldn't actively manipulate the aether inside myself until I received the aether core. But I had several theories thanks to my knowledge of the original plot.
First, I deliberately injured myself, and thanks to the system, there was no pain, only a slight itch where I had injured myself, in order to study how the ether behaved and interacted inside my body, paying close attention to my thoughts. I didn't have Arthur's experience in manipulating mana or ki, so my process was a bit slow at first, but in less than ten minutes, I understood something.
It took several dozen times of hurting myself to finally understand how intention affects the movement of the aetheric essence inside me. It wasn't as immediate as I initially thought, but if I thought that the regeneration of a certain part of my body took priority over another part, the aether responded to my desire.
Aether, like mana, was a distant topic for me, but sitting here in this sanctuary, I quickly began to understand how to concentrate my thoughts and intentions so that the aether would move where I wanted it to. Maybe it was because of my strong soul, or because of the intelligence I had gained, or because of my special body, or because of [Eleventh Rank Fighter Talent], or because of all of the above, but it became unexpectedly easy.
Once I understood enough, I stood up, handed Arthur a third rank chimera bone aether arrow, and moved a short distance away, squinting my eyes as I watched him begin to quickly absorb the aetheric essence from the corpse of the fused chimera.
Even after his body was saturated with aether essence and a purple aura began to emanate from his skin, he continued to absorb aether much faster than it could be depleted from his body. Watching the aether in his body, I realized that he now resembled a swollen milk carton that could explode at any moment.
And literally as soon as that thought crossed my mind, Arthur began to sweat blood, and, seemingly unable to bear the pain any longer, he broke away from the chimera's corpse and sat down.
His chest rose and fell spontaneously as he tried to catch his breath. Clutching the arrow tightly in his hand, he looked at Regis and, receiving a nod, pressed the arrow against his side, just below his ribs.
No words were needed; they knew what had to be done.
With that nod, he thrust the arrow deep into his sternum, into the small space between his liver and stomach, where, as I could see, the mana core was located.
And to be sure, he twisted the arrow.
"Even now he did it, the damn masochist, maybe he really likes pain?" I thought distractedly, watching the ether swirl in his body.
Pulling the arrow, which no longer contained any aether, out of his body, he clamped his hands over the wound while Regis flew inside Arthur.
Just as the aether was about to reach his mana core, attracted by the double black wandering light and the fatal wound, he barked at it to leave. The black shadow flew out of Arthur almost instantly, and all the aether that had gathered nearby condensed to heal the wound.
Arthur's figure froze as Regis flew up to me and we watched together as the aether in Arthur's body began to merge with his mana core. I was completely mesmerized by how the aether moved in his body. I fell into a trance, staring blankly at Arthur, and was only interrupted when all the ether finally merged into a single point in his core. Arthur's body suddenly burst into purple flames, and he staggered and fell unconscious.
Regis voice sounded in my right ear, full of boredom and irritation: "Oh, you finally came out of your trance? You stood there all day like a zombie staring at Arthur. It's creepy. Are you gay, by any chance?"
His face twisted into a crooked smile as he ostentatiously flew a couple of inches away from me.
"I'm not," I said simply. "I like women 150 percent."
The flames around Regis flickered as he took in my naked body. He seemed to deflate, then muttered, "This isn't fair! Why is your thing so big, but mine…" his gaze drifted, trying to take in his own non‑material form "…but I don't even have one."
I didn't know what to say, so I just ignored him. Though deep down, I had to admit he was right: my body had grown everywhere, and my thing had gotten bigger too. The kind I'd only seen on that black‑and‑yellow YouTube, ahem…
Pushing these thoughts aside, I turned my gaze to Arthur as he made himself an aether core. I didn't just hang around; I watched as the aether moved within his body, as Arthur's desire and his trauma pushed the aether where he wanted it to go. It was very informative.
"And now we just wait for him to wake up?" Regis asked, examining Arthur's body.
I shrugged. "I don't think we should disturb him. His body is adapting to the new core right now. And until we get out of these Relictombs, it's better not to rush and follow the plot, at least that's what I think."
Regis just swayed, which I took for a shrug, and flew into Arthur's body. I moved away a little and opened the system to look through the list of notifications. After scrolling through them all, I accepted the pain adaptation and intelligence but ignored everything else for the moment.
[Rank seventh aether core]
[Rank seventh aether core x10 or upgrade to rank eighth?]
After accepting the rank seventh aether core x10 and admiring it, I closed the system and tried to better understand my thoughts after accepting the intelligence perk.
The intelligence perk increased the speed of my thoughts and their quantity, and most importantly, it seemed to me that I was becoming a tracker, because as soon as I began to understand something in the ether or martial arts stances, after a while I began to peel away layer after layer of information, better revealing their essence.
It was a wonderful feeling, as if I were a supercomputer—not quite that powerful, of course, but I understood that after a while I would be able to become one. I still don't fully understand these numbers, but if Regis's fake soul was valued at just over 600, I think that number is quite high.
Since I didn't want to just sit there, I got up and started practicing all the stances that Arthur had shown me and that I had seen during the battle between Arthur Cadell and Nico, and it was refreshing. I had never fought very hard before, but now I could repeat the stances one after another for more than two hours without stopping. The strength, stamina, speed, and resilience of this body were simply abnormal , which was to be expected from a half-asuran body. I didn't feel hunger or thirst, and I didn't need to sleep or go to the bathroom. It was a huge leap from who I used to be.
I only stopped for a couple of minutes to think about the best next move, and then I repeated it, imagining that I was fighting someone. So I spent two days honing technique after technique while Arthur slept. The aether pulsed like a small sun in his body, trying to wake him up as quickly as possible.
Arthur Leywin POV
With difficulty, I opened my eyes and saw Regis smirking against the backdrop of the familiar marble walls of the sanctuary.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Regis chuckled.
"How did you sleep?" said Lucius, coming out from behind the familiar counter.
I pushed myself up from my back and sat up, looking at the two in front of me. "What happened?"
"You'd better see for yourself," said Lucius, pointing his snow-white finger at my chest.
My core!
After a moment, I concentrated, feeling the state of my body.
Lucius was right, I had done it. I had successfully forged a new core. The color seemed strange to me; it had a red tint, similar to magenta, but still retained the unearthly violet glow of aether.
I had done what even the asuras of the Indrath clan could not do. I had forged an aether core.
My eyes widened and the words that came out of my mouth were full of emotion: "Thank you for telling me what to do, Lucius, and thank you for your help, Regis."
My words seemed to have different effects.
Regis lit up brightly as his violet ether body floated next to me. "It was not difficult for someone as great as me! Just know that I need 20% of the aether from your core."
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "You could have done it yourself. No need to thank me. After all, I profit from your actions."
"Thanks anyway," I muttered, stroking the Sylvie stone.
He shrugged and smiled. "Come on, get up. It's time to move on to the next zone. I want to take the aether core from the system. My hands have been itching to take it for three days, but I barely managed to stop myself, knowing it was better to wait."
"What will happen in the next zone?" I asked, hoping that this zone would coincide with what he had read.
Lucius smiled faintly. "It's better if you see for yourself. Trust me, I'll show you a little later. Right now, you'd better understand how aether moves in your body now that you have a core."
A couple of minutes later
The purple-red core pulsed with life inside me, wanting to break free.
Taking a deep breath, I immersed myself in meditation. Focusing on my newly acquired core and the aether surrounding us, I slowed my breathing.
Habit led me to assume that the breathing technique I used to gather the surrounding mana could also be used to absorb the aether. This turned out not to be the case, but concentrating on my aether core, which felt like muscle tension, caused changes outside my body.
Almost immediately, the effect became apparent.
"What? What is it?" Regis asked impatiently.
I opened my eyes and looked at the wandering flame with a smirk. "I can gather the surrounding aether into my core."
Regis swayed excitedly, his bright eyes flashing. "Really?"
"Absorbing aether directly from these chimeras or this arrow is definitely faster and more efficient, but at least now I don't have to rely on constant encounters with aether-feeding beasts. Even if the monsters here are filled with aether, who knows if I'll be able to find anyone else outside this dungeon," I strained the core again, excited by the feeling of aether being drawn to it.
Regis nodded. "That's good. Now I don't have to worry about you dropping dead because you couldn't eat."
"Ooh, are you worried about your master?" I teased.
"Of course I'm worried about you. As far as we know, if you crumble to dust here, I'll disappear too. And, let's be honest, you don't always make the right decisions when it comes to your health."
"I'm so glad to know you care," I said, rolling my eyes.
Refocusing on the core, I released a small amount of aether and concentrated on my hand. As soon as the aether left my core, it spread aimlessly throughout my body.
Frowning, I tried again, visualizing the flow of aether through my mana channels.
"Damn," I muttered, realizing the problem. In desperation, I tried again, but the result was the same: the short, concentrated burst of aether I released from my newly acquired core spread evenly throughout my body.
"Why are you frowning?" Regis asked, watching me closely. "Something wrong?"
"He doesn't have the channels to direct the aether," said Lucius, standing nearby and watching us.
"That's right, I can't control the distribution of aether from my core," I felt the aether strengthening my body, but the amount that reached my hand, where I was directing it, was only a small fraction of what I had released.
Straightening up, I looked at my companions and smiled. "Just another mountain to climb. We'll have to find another way to direct the flow of aether. Although maybe Mr. Know-It-All will tell us something."
Lucius smiled mockingly and shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing we can do about it. If everything goes as planned, we'll enter the lava zone where we can bathe and create aether channels."
"Wait, lava and bathing in one sentence?" Regis interrupted, his figure swaying as Lucius smiled the most innocent smile. "And judging by everything, you're just as much of a masochist as Arthur."
"I'm not a masochist," I rebuked him, completely disagreeing with his words.
After all, I wasn't a masochist—it was a necessity. Right?
(Do we believe him?)
Lucius just stood there and smiled faintly.
"Yeah, yeah, and I'm not a powerful weapon made of aether," Regis replied in an irritated tone.
Smiling, I made some minor preparations. Tearing my pants from below the knees, I made an improvised belt to safely store the Sylvie stone and hung it over my shoulder. Then, from the remains of my leather vest, I made a rough wineskin. After making sure that it didn't leak, the three of us returned to the corridor.
"I'd like to ask for some underwear or something, but I think water is more important right now," Lucius muttered under his breath, but he knew that there wasn't enough fabric.
× × × × ×
Can you help me understand how to correctly spell "aether" in the text?
The translator always writes "ether" instead of "aether," so I often get confused when searching for errors. It's just that in my language, "aether" and "ether" are written and read as "ether," which is certainly inconvenient.
The question is: "aether core" or "aetheric core." "aetheric essence" or "aethe essence." "aetheric aura" or "aether aura."
Regis lit up brightly as his violet ether body floated.
or
Regis lit up brightly as his violet aether body floated.