"You can't feel it?"
Serein's tone was neutral, almost detached — like she was talking to a stranger.
Her calm eyes settled on him with the kind of look a top student might give the class slacker.
"Hehe, sorry. I'm just too stupid."
Ren stood in front of her, brows furrowed, trying his hardest to sense whatever it was she was talking about.
He felt embarrassed.
*No way. Am I really too dumb to understand aether?*
He couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. But he shook it off quickly. He still had his talent, at least.
Earlier, he'd successfully guided her into indirectly teaching him how to sense aether — saying he wanted to learn from her insights from the very beginning so he could awaken his attributes properly.
Serein let out a quiet sigh, like she was resigning herself to something, and stepped closer.
"You really... Alright, how about this instead."
The crease in Ren's forehead eased slightly. His eyes followed her, curious about whatever solution she'd thought of.
"Eh!"
Suddenly, she reached out and placed her hand on his wrist.
He froze.
He could feel the temperature of her skin through the point of contact — and that was part of why it caught him off guard.
Her palm was cool to the touch, but somehow also warm at the same time. It felt strangely comfortable, like being brushed by a gentle breeze. Refreshing and—
"Earlier, because you shielded me, I managed to enter a very special state of consciousness."
Her voice came softly, close to his ear, as she guided his hand slowly through the air.
"Learning comes first."
Hearing that, Ren steadied himself and focused.
"I'll show you how I do it. Up close."
Her hand stayed on his wrist, guiding it through a series of slow, deliberate movements — tracing mysterious patterns in the air. There was something almost hypnotic about the motion, like watching something move naturally, fluidly, without needing to think about it.
A strange flow of air passed through his fingers from where her hand touched his wrist. The air shifted, carving invisible pathways through the space around them, growing colder and colder until it finally reached his fingertips.
"Whoa!"
Ren's eyes widened.
A faint cold mist rose from his fingertips, like vapor from an opened freezer. It was cold — but not dangerously so. Nothing like what she'd done earlier.
"I... I can actually do it?"
He quickly shook his head.
No — he could feel it wasn't him controlling the cold air. It was still her.
"Can you feel it? The cold aether I'm manipulating — and how I'm converting it?"
Her voice turned serious. Her hand danced gracefully through the air, leaving pale, icy trails behind.
"If you still don't get it after this... then I honestly don't know how else to teach you."
There was something she didn't say.
*It would've been easier to do 'that.'*
But thinking about it, she shook her head. He wasn't her lover. So even if he brought it up, she wouldn't do it.
Hmm?
Suddenly, her expression changed — like she'd sensed something unexpected.
"What is this?"
Meanwhile, Ren was putting everything he had into focusing.
*I need to feel the flow of energy in my body through my mind.*
But no matter how hard he tried to sense it, he couldn't find the aether.
*Or... is it because I don't have the same body structure as them?*
The thought crossed his mind as he watched the misty air around his fingertips slowly fade away.
It disappeared because her hand was no longer on his wrist.
"Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?"
He glanced up and found Serein staring at him with an odd expression — like she was looking at some kind of strange creature.
"Ren. Be honest with me — are you the lowest in your class?"
She took a slow breath, her voice dropping slightly, as if trying to protect his pride.
"Why would you say that?"
He blinked, genuinely surprised.
"You have a large amount of strange aether in your body. Almost more than I do. But there's not a single hint of any attributes showing."
She pointed it out plainly. While guiding her aether through his arm, she'd unexpectedly found a strange, clear energy flowing through his body.
"Really!?"
Ren instantly realized it might be from his talent. He didn't have any other explanation for where it could've come from — unless maybe it came from the system.
"Yeah. It was strangely pure."
She paused, thinking.
"Like... clear water."
She'd only seen this kind of aether in young kids who hadn't been exposed to many techniques or methods yet.
Like herself, back when she'd just started school.