By the time noon arrived, the main training hall no longer looked like the same place from the morning.
The metallic floor was covered in dents, cracks, and black marks from failed Aura control attempts.
One support pillar still leaned slightly from Kyle crashing into it earlier, though maintenance drones were already repairing it using streams of glowing nanometal.
The sixteen Superhumans themselves looked equally different.
More confident.
More aware.
More dangerous.
Yellow Aura flickered naturally around some of their bodies now even while standing still, like their systems had already begun adapting to Aether subconsciously.
The biggest difference however…
Was their control.
The chaotic explosions from earlier were mostly gone.
Now the squads could actually manipulate their Aura with intention.
Both squads stood lined up again across the giant training hall.
Squad Nova Reign looked especially competitive.
Adrian stood at the front with his arms folded confidently while yellow Aura flowed around his fists in controlled spirals.
Beside him, Drew casually concentrated Aura around his eyes, observing the room with enhanced focus.
Sasha leaned against the wall with one leg crossed, repeatedly shifting Aura between her arms and feet with impressive smoothness.
Silver still looked shy even while glowing with enough energy to punch through concrete.
Meanwhile Squad Eclipse looked calmer overall.
Ria maintained perfectly stable Aura around her entire body.
Sylvia focused heavily on precision rather than raw output.
Bobby kept testing different physical enhancements every few seconds like a child discovering superpowers for the first time.
Jack mostly copied Bobby.
Grace and Sandra had improved massively compared to the morning.
And Damien…
Damien stood silently near the center.
His Aura moved unnaturally smoothly.
Even compared to the others.
The yellow energy surrounding him no longer flickered at all.
It flowed.
Controlled almost instinctively.
And unfortunately…
People were beginning to notice.
Especially Adrian.
The giant training hall doors opened once again.
Dr.
Frost entered calmly.
Immediately all conversations stopped.
The silver-haired man walked toward the center of the room, hands behind his back as usual.
His sharp eyes slowly scanned both squads.
Then he nodded once.
“Good.”
That single word somehow carried approval and expectation at the same time.
“You have all successfully grasped the fundamentals of the First Stage.”
Adrian smirked proudly.
“Some of us mastered it stylishly too.”
Sasha sighed.
“You added dramatic poses to punching.”
“They increased morale.”
“They increased embarrassment.”
Dr.
Frost ignored them entirely.
“Demonstrate.”
The room instantly became serious again.
One by one, the squads began displaying their Aura Manipulation.
Drew enhanced his vision and hearing simultaneously while maintaining stable reinforcement around his body.
Sasha concentrated Aether heavily into her legs before crossing the hall at explosive speed.
Silver amplified her arms enough to dent reinforced training metal despite her nervousness.
Bobby enhanced his entire body for balanced combat movement surprisingly well.
Sylvia displayed extremely precise Aura distribution around multiple body parts at once.
Even Jack managed stable sensory enhancement now.
Finally—
Damien stepped forward.
Without speaking—
He concentrated Aura around his ears.
Then eyes.
Then legs.
Then throat.
The transitions happened instantly.
Smoothly.
Almost unnaturally smoothly.
Then he amplified his voice calmly.
“Is this enough?”
His words echoed through the massive training hall perfectly.
Silence followed briefly.
Then Dr.
Frost nodded once.
“Excellent.”
Adrian’s eye twitched slightly.
Very slightly.
But Damien noticed.
Dr.
Frost stepped toward the center again.
“This much,” he said calmly, “was expected from all of you.”
The holographic systems around the room activated once more.
“But now…”
The room darkened slightly.
“…we can proceed to the most important stage.”
Immediately the atmosphere changed. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Even Adrian straightened fully now.
Dr.
Frost raised one hand.
“The Second Stage of Aether.”
The yellow holographic human figure returned above the hall.
Only now…
The energy didn’t remain inside the body.
It extended outward.
Streams of glowing Aether floated beyond the figure’s arms like liquid light.
“The Second Stage,” Dr.
Frost explained, “contains countless applications.”
The energy shifted shapes repeatedly.
Weapons.
Blasts.
Floating constructs.
Sharp projectiles.
Shields.
“What you can achieve with it…”
His silver eyes narrowed slightly.
“…depends heavily on creativity.”
That sentence immediately grabbed everyone’s attention.
Because this no longer sounded like simple enhancement.
This sounded limitless.
Dr.
Frost continued walking slowly beneath the holograms.
“I will teach you only the fundamentals.”
The floating energy streams rotated around him.
“What you do afterward…”
The projections transformed into hundreds of different combat possibilities.
“…depends entirely on your fighting style.”
Then he stopped.
“The Second Stage primarily allows external Aether manipulation.”
The holographic figure suddenly infused yellow energy into a metallic blade.
The blade glowed brightly.
Then instantly sliced through reinforced steel.
Several people stared openly.
“You may infuse objects with Aether.”
The weapon projection rotated slowly.
“This drastically strengthens them.”
Adrian immediately grinned.
“So Aether swords are real.”
“You are focusing on the wrong thing,” Sasha muttered.
“I disagree completely.”
Dr.
Frost continued.
“This application becomes especially useful when adapting Aether to weapons.”
The holograms shifted again.
Guns.
Blades.
Spears.
Even bullets glowing with Aether appeared briefly.
Damien silently realized how terrifying that could become.
“But…”
Dr.
Frost raised one finger.
“That is merely one application.”
The holographic weapon dissolved.
Then pure yellow energy appeared floating freely in the air.
“You may also expel Aether directly.”
Suddenly—
The floating energy transformed into a circular blast.
Then a spear-like spike.
Then sharp rotating discs.
Then countless abstract shapes.
“Aether can take virtually any form.”
The room watched silently.
“The only limitations…”
Dr.
Frost looked directly at them.
“…are output…”
The energy compressed violently.
“…and control.”
The word control echoed slightly through the hall.
Dr.
Frost folded his hands behind his back.
“Understand this carefully.”
The floating Aether constructs around him became increasingly complex.
“Raw output is not everything.”
The constructs suddenly condensed into tiny needle-thin structures.
“With advanced enough Aether control…”
The needles transformed into microscopic glowing particles.
“…you may manipulate Aether beyond what should logically be possible.”
Several people frowned trying to process that.
Then Dr.
Frost smiled faintly.
“Hm.”
“In theory…”
The room focused intensely.
“…with sufficient Aether control…”
The particles lifted higher.
“…one could even fly.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then Bobby immediately pointed dramatically.
“I KNEW IT.”
Jack looked equally excited.
“We can become superheroes.”
Sylvia sighed deeply.
“You two are impossible.”
Adrian however looked fully serious now.
“You’re saying flight is actually possible?”
“In theory,” Dr.
Frost replied calmly.
Then his expression shifted slightly.
“But the difficulty is absurd.”
The floating particles vanished.
“To achieve flight…”
He raised both hands.
“…you would need simultaneous application of the First and Second Stages.”
The room quieted again.
“Picture it like this.”
Dr.
Frost lifted both index fingers.
“Rotate your fingers in opposite directions simultaneously.”
Immediately several people tried it.
And somehow—
Most failed embarrassingly fast.
Bobby’s fingers completely synchronized accidentally.
Jack physically stopped concentrating halfway through.
Silver looked like her brain was short-circuiting.
Adrian stubbornly kept trying anyway.
“…I refuse to lose to finger physics.”
Drew burst out laughing beside him.
Dr.
Frost watched them calmly.
“Now imagine,” he said casually, “that it is one thousand times harder.”
Everyone immediately stopped trying.
“Well never mind then,” Bobby muttered.
Dr.
Frost nodded slightly.
“You should effectively forget techniques requiring simultaneous First and Second Stage application.”
That instantly killed several people’s excitement.
“At least for now.”
The room relaxed slightly again.
“You should instead focus entirely on improving Aether control.”
The holographic displays shifted into control metrics and synchronization systems.
“The greater your control…”
His gaze sharpened slightly.
“…the sooner you may begin combining stages.”
Damien silently absorbed every word carefully.
Because unlike most others…
He genuinely felt he might eventually achieve it.
Not now.
But someday.
And somehow…
That realization felt dangerous.
Finally Dr.
Frost stepped away from the center again.
“I expect all of you…”
The room focused fully.
“…to learn the Second Stage within one month.”
Several people visibly reacted.
“A MONTH?” Sasha repeated.
“That sounds impossible.”
“For ordinary humans,” Dr.
Frost replied.
“You are not ordinary humans.”
Nobody could really argue against that anymore.
Dr.
Frost continued calmly.
“For the next month, there will be no mandatory training sessions.”
Immediately several people looked relieved.
“However…”
And immediately the relief vanished.
“I strongly advise you to use your time wisely.”
The silver-haired man glanced across both squads carefully.
“Control,” he said quietly, “is the foundation of everything.”
Then without another word—
Dr.
Frost turned around.
The giant metallic doors opened once again.
And moments later—
He disappeared beyond them.
Leaving sixteen Superhumans alone with the impossible task of learning how to manipulate the energy of the universe itself.