Silver Star City was draped in a strange stillness, where even the hiss of the steam conduits seemed largely absorbed by the Aetheric Shield. Elara Thorne entered the main tower's Amphitheater Lecture Hall, the air filled with the scent of aged parchment and a kind of purifying incense that involuntarily instilled solemnity. This was the first lecture on Aetheric System Fundamentals, the starting point for all freshmen officially stepping into the world governed by the power of the Stellar Core.
On the dais, Professor Bohr—an elderly man, hunched but with eyes as sharp as a hawk's—was already in position. He carried no books, merely tapping the obsidian dais with his fingertip, creating a sharp sound that instantly quelled all murmurs.
"Before you touch the stars, you must first recognize the Abyss beneath your feet," Professor Bohr's opening was cold and direct, devoid of pleasantries. "The power of the Stellar Core is the foundation upon which The Iron Anvil Kingdom survives, but it is also a perilous path that suspends the soul over a steel wire. Today, you will learn about the two primary routes on this treacherous path—the Vigil's Way and the Weaver's Path. Remember, they are not separate ends, but a vital, co-dependent twin bloodline that must endure together."
The Path of Steel: The Vigils
The Professor first directed his gaze toward the students with upright posture and sharp eyes.
"The Vigils are the Kingdom's shield, and also its spear against the enemy. Their power is rooted in the flesh and erupts in an instant."
He described the lowest tier, the Perceptives, as newly sharpened weapons: their senses are drastically amplified, allowing them to catch details ordinary people miss. But the world becomes dangerously loud—a bell chime can be deafening, a bright flash blinding. Their first task is to learn 'Dampening', or they will be drowned by the flood of sensory information.
Upon promotion to Guardian, they begin to guide the surging power within, actively rousing the Rage. Professor Bohr traced a scorching arc in the air with his pointer, simulating the state of Rage: "It is the combustion of flesh and will, the ultimate sublimation of power and speed. A punch can split rock, a leap can become a gale." But his tone immediately grew stern. "However, Rage is drinking poison to quench thirst. Every time you ignite it, you wrestle with the beast within. Overuse, at best, leads to Aetheric depletion and muscular damage; at worst, it means falling into the abyss of Blood Rage, turning them into slaughterers more terrifying than the Twisted Blight creatures." The Vigil's Way is about using reason to constrain instinct, walking perpetually on the edge of destruction.
As for the higher tiers, the Strikers and the legendary Paladins, the Professor did not elaborate on their might. Instead, he emphasized the risk of loss of control that accompanies great power. "The stronger the power, the clearer the Abyss's whisper. An uncontrolled high-tier Vigil possesses destructive power no less than a small-scale Blight outbreak."
The Path of Mien: The Weavers
Next, Professor Bohr turned to the students of a quieter, more introspective demeanor. Elara focused all her attention at this point.
"The Weavers wield the threads of the mind, weaving the net of the battlefield. Their power is formless, yet sufficient to turn the tide of battle, and equally capable of eroding the mind."
The lowest tier, the Empaths, are like small skiffs cast into a sea of emotion, passively feeling the joys and sorrows of surrounding beings. This talent is both a blessing and a curse; without a solid Psychic Barrier, they are easily contaminated by external negative emotions, risking mental collapse.
Only upon becoming Soothers can they actively manipulate this power, weaving the Tranquil Filaments to soothe the fear and pain of comrades, or establishing rudimentary mental links for communication. Elara listened to every detail; this was her forged identity, which she must perfectly mimic. "But Soothers are far from harmless healers," the Professor warned. "Their Aether-Filaments are just as fragile and prone to snapping when faced with strong hatred, despair, and especially the whispers of the Abyss. More dangerously, through prolonged immersion in the emotions of others, the Weaver himself can be subtly corrupted, developing emotional dependencies, or suffering fatal Psychic Backlash."
The Heart-speakers and Sages can perform deeper mental interference, ranging from influencing thought to directly attacking consciousness, or stabilizing morale across a wide radius. But Professor Bohr once again pivoted to the danger: "Those who gaze into the heart of man will eventually be consumed by it. The Weaver's battleground is the deep consciousness, where the madness and darkness lurking can sometimes be far more terrifying than any physical monster."
The Symbiotic Chain and the Lawless
"Now you see the steepness of both paths," Professor Bohr's voice pulled everyone's thoughts back together. "But a solitary Vigil is a powder keg bound to explode sooner or later; a solitary Weaver is a lost soul easily swallowed by the darkness. Only through synergy can balance be maintained."
He articulated the iron law: Vigils need the Weaver's Aether-Filaments to diffuse their Rage and stabilize their minds; Weavers need the Vigil's steel body as a shield, protecting their vulnerability while channeling Aether. This symbiotic relationship is the core of Silver Star Academy's training and the guarantee of survival on the front lines.
"However," the Professor's tone shifted, tinged with cold derision, "not everyone is willing to embrace this 'perfect' system. There are always those who, whether from fear or ambition, try to escape the Academy's instruction and the Association's 'care'—they are the Wild Aether-Adepts."
He described them as 'Lawless' hunted by the Inquisition, acquiring their power through black markets, ruins, or self-discovery, their Aetheric signatures unlogged by The Association. "The Brotherhood Below often serves as their sanctuary. But the Wild Path means resource scarcity, incomplete knowledge, and the constant threat of destruction by their own unstable power or their pursuers. More importantly…" He paused, his gaze sweeping the room, "lacking proper guidance and the counterbalance of a partner, their risk of falling to the Abyss is ten times that of the Academy-trained."
The Shadow of the Abyss
Finally, Professor Bohr turned the topic to the ultimate threat.
"All your training, all your tiers, all your cooperation, ultimately point to one goal—countering the Abyss." He did not describe specific monsters but rather an omnipresent erosion. "Blight energy is not merely physical distortion. It directly attacks the Aether-Adept's Stellar Core, amplifying inner fears and obsessions. The Vigil's Rage becomes uncontrollable through the whispers; the Weaver's Aether-Filaments become contaminated by malice. And the Wild Aether-Adepts, due to their unstable powers, are the Abyss's favorite prey."
He concluded, his voice sinking as if from underground: "Remember, when you gaze into the Stellar Core, the Abyss gazes also into you. What you will face is not only clawed and fanged monstrosities, but darkness stemming from the depths of your own soul. This system is the relatively safe path paved with the blood of our predecessors. Deviate from it, and you may gain brief freedom, but more likely… utter ruin."
The lecture ended in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. Elara followed the silent flow of students out of the hall, Professor Bohr's words echoing in her mind. She saw the chasm and the bridge between Vigils and Weavers more clearly and understood why the official system so strongly emphasized cooperation and control. The Wild Aether-Adepts' path was full of peril, a danger partially stemming from the Abyss's insidious corruption and temptation.
For her, the 'relatively safe' path had been closed from the start. She was a reject of the Stellar Core, an anomaly who must hide in the shadows. The tighter the official system, the more suffocated she felt. But the Professor's lecture also made her realize that the Witch's Path was perhaps even more forbidden and dangerous than the Wild Aether-Adepts'—because she must fight not only The Association's pursuit, but also the deeper, soul-directed whispers of the Abyss.
She touched the hard cover of the disguised notebook in her tunic, feeling the cool presence of The Rotting Earth Codex. The road ahead was thorny, but knowing the rules was essential for breaking them, or… finding her own way of survival in the cracks of the system.