I went on to test the remaining five weapons and found them no less satisfactory than the fire aspected weapon. My only problem is wielding one at a time would drastically reduce my versatility while wielding all six at once would be difficult at my current age. As I began to think about how to overcome the problem, I wondered if they were approaching the problem the wrong way. I realized that because the weapons were specifically adapted to each element none of them were adapted to raw mana. I could not use any of these weapons properly for white mana on its own.

I’ve possessed aether in many past lives, so perhaps I could bring in an idea from one of them. There was a similar case where I was able to use a variety of what could be compared to elements and alignments, and I was able to use them all together by melding various aether “cores” onto a single weapon. That weapon required a significant amount of reinforcement to use properly, but it was possible. The problem here is that white mana and aether are so potent that they shatter virtually anything they are channeled into. I could solve the restrictive issue by combining these weapons, but what of the durability. Would it increase or decrease? What is white mana, exactly? Every other form of mana has a clearly defined type, but white mana does not. It can be used to fuel any element, like the alignment manas, but it’s not an alignment mana itself. I need to increase my understanding of white mana if I’m going to gain any meaningful ground advancing weapons technology for it.

With the idea of combining the existing weapons in mind, I began working on overcoming the problem by slowly enchanting manasteel with my own aether. This technique is no secret in this world, but it limits the tool to the person who enchanted the material. Since the issue was creating a weapon that could withstand white mana, I was okay with that restriction. I made many mistakes and completely shattered many manasteel ingots, but eventually I was able to enchant enough manasteel with significant enough amounts of white mana to move on to the aether step. After that I began enchanting ingots with white aether. I found that I could not enchant a manasteel ingot with white aether directly, but if I enchanted one with white mana first then over-enchanted it with white aether...

“It worked!!!” Kye jumped for joy with her ingot of aether enchanted manasteel in hand. The now twelve-year-old girl held up the ingot exuding white aether and admired her work. “I call it, aethersteel!”

“Aethersteel?” Layla said as she walked into the workshop Kye was using.

Kye was so excited that she didn’t realize she was saying “aether” in front of her mother. “Yes! I wasn’t able to enchant this manasteel ingot normally. The aether wouldn’t stick, so I tried enchanting it with aether after enchanting it with mana and it worked! It was very hard, but it worked!”

“Aether?”

At that moment Kye realized what she had said. “Oh, uh... Well, divine mana is kind of a mouthful and can get confusing, so I prefer to call it aether. It’s more than simply a more powerful type of mana, so I feel it should have a different name anyway.”

“I see...” I’ll have to discuss that with Allison and James as soon as possible. I expect it’s just a coincidence, but the mere mention of “aether” calls for a meeting. Nobody should know that term much less a twelve-year-old even if she is a prodigy.

Once I managed to create aethersteel, the best blacksmiths in all five worlds teamed up to finish the creation of this weapon. One was my grandfather Hiroto Akari, and the other was Nelkara Zelenov of Lord Apollyon’s council. It turns out that both were involved in the creation of the elemental weapons, so I was excited to work with them on creating a base to combine them. It took days of labor, but they managed to forge an aethersteel blade and embed the cores of the elemental weapons within it. I recorded the enchanting method for Alethea so that a second weapon could be forged for my fellow white mana user. The enchanting had to be done by the wielder, after all. I wanted to teach Alethea in person, but we were not allowed to meet.

Over the next few years, this method was refined and by the time I turned fifteen we had used aethersteel to make every component of the weapon, including cores for each alignment. The cores did nothing for the durability, but they did increase efficiency, drastically so for the cores made of aethersteel. This method was further used to forge weapons for others that were capable of wielding aether. Allison was the first to acquire one after myself and Alethea.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Alethea since the day we tested the elemental weapons. Wow, these past eight years passed so fast. I look forward to seeing how powerful he’s grown since then! He was such a cute, adorable boy. I bet he’s a handsome young man now.”

“Indeed, Princess. Even though you have physically matured greatly,” Liliana said as she eyed Kye’s breasts, “you still have not matured beyond your addiction to combat and I question this strange addiction to Alethea’s appearance.”

“What do you mean!” Kye’s voice rose several octaves by the end of that phrase. “I have no addictions whatsoever! Aside those that can be satisfied at the pastry shop here in Arslade. Such an addiction is perfectly becoming of a noble woman. I’ll have no disagreements! Besides, I’m not addicted to any one person’s appearance in particular! I would dote on anyone that cute, regardless of gender!”

Liliana and Aliana sighed, knowing they would never win the argument. The two exchanged glances and said together, “I really hope this doesn’t become a problem here...” They were standing before the academy waiting to meet with their parents before going inside.