But leaving his previous life aside, Kael now had something more important to do.
«According to the book, ether can be sensed, absorbed, and manipulated, in that order» Kael thought.
«Now that I can sense it, all I need to learn is how to absorb and manipulate ether» Kael thought, somewhat euphoric.
«According to the book, this is the easiest. I just have to want to absorb it and channel it into my body» Kael thought.
Ether is present in the atmosphere. As long as you have become aware of it, you will always be able to see it.
Kael had discovered something about ether from his servants who used it from time to time. The discovery was that if someone uses ether, it moves around them, being absorbed by the body of those who use it.
It was very easy to tell when the servants did this; they just had to look at the ether around them, and if it was absorbed, it was because they were using it. So Kael was in trouble. If he absorbed the aether when a maid was watching him, it was quite possible they would notice. Since he didn't want to draw attention or arouse unwanted suspicion, the only thing left to do was use it when the maids weren't in the room or were distracted reading a book.
After all, how can a newborn absorb aether?
Thus, following his plan, he would absorb the aether when they weren't paying attention.
And so, he had completed two steps. He could sense the aether and absorb it, leaving only the last step: manipulating the aether.
Manipulating the aether wasn't very difficult either. To do so, he only had to condense the aether in the part of his body he wanted to strengthen, or in the entire body. But by distributing the aether to more parts of his body, the strengthening would be less severe.
He could condense all the aether accumulated in his body into a single point, making it impenetrable—or so the theory went. Now Kael knew the basics of ether, all he had to do was form a nucleus.
By forming a nucleus in his body, he would have a store of ether and thus avoid using the ether in the atmosphere. The problem with the ether absorber was that it could only absorb a certain rate.
That absorption rate could only be increased by constantly absorbing ether, which increases over time. The time it takes to increase the ether absorption rate depends on talent.
What's called "talent" in this world is the time it takes to increase the ether absorption rate.
«So, as long as I have enough time, I could have as many nuclei as I want, but the problem is the absorption rate» Kael thought, expectant and intrigued by his future.
To form a nucleus, you have to condense as much ether as possible within your body, and in the meantime, it has to constantly absorb ether from the atmosphere, until it condenses to the maximum point, forming a nucleus.
So, indeed, the only enemy you have when forming a nucleus is time. In short, anyone can be disgustingly strong, as long as they have enough time, of course.
Having an affinity with an element also increases combat ability, of course.
And so a year passed.
******************
Kael had already spent a year, two months, and one week in this world, locked in a room. The only sunlight he'd seen since arriving was the light from the window. If he had to guess which season it was, he'd say it was autumn, in December.
Although he'd already established a routine, and every day was a cycle, at least in this world he had a purpose... and a window, unlike his office.
He still hadn't formed a nucleus, and he also didn't know much about the outside world. At first, when he came to this world, he'd assumed there were nobles and knights, given the furniture and the lack of technology.
From his window, he could see a gate at least six meters high, but he couldn't see its actual height. Beyond the gate, he could see many trees, but he couldn't even see the floor.
For those same reasons, he thought he was in a mansion, not counting the decorated hallway he'd seen when he arrived and the fact that the maids always called Elara "Ma'am," so he assumed he belonged to a noble family.
Kael was in his cradle; a year had passed since he began to sense and absorb the ether.
«I'll probably form my first nucleus soon. Who would have thought? A baby a little over a year old with an already formed nucleus? That should be an advantage, even if he didn't receive a cheat system» Kael thought.
When he felt his vocal cords had developed enough for him to be able to pronounce words, the first thing he did was try to call the system, failing, of course.
Today, Kael would attempt his first interaction in a long time; he would try to go outside, or at least walk around his mansion.
—Grr, Grr— The baby grunted.
On the armchair was a maid who stood up and approached the shelf, andwaiting for the baby to point to a book, but Kael didn't want a book this time. The baby pointed to something else.
—O-outside— the baby said, in a completely immature tone, as he pointed to the door.
The maid, whose name was Mia, looked surprised for a moment.
—Do you want to go outside?— Mia said in a playful voice.
—Outside— the baby said, almost as if she had used all her energy to say it again.
Mia carefully grabbed the baby in both arms and walked slowly toward the door.
The first thing Kael saw when she walked out the door was the painting of the armored man. Then she looked to the right and then left. The hallway was just as she remembered it, decorated.
—Outside— the baby said, in a curious and immature voice, in a lively tone, as she pointed to the left.
Kael was good at pretending to be a curious child who knew nothing about the world, although he did feel some curiosity, and he didn't know much about it either.
He wanted to see more than just stare at the same room all day; he wanted to explore the world, see what it had to offer, and marvel at it.
He wanted to do everything he couldn't in his previous life, everything he missed out on because his entire life had been established before he was born, by a society that never cared about him.
Perhaps that was what they called destiny, something that can't be changed, not because it's unbreakable, but because there was nothing and no one there to break it.
In this life, I'll do whatever I want, I don't care about the consequences. I won't live in a loop» Kael thought, full of conviction.