Mark settled into his seat as the lecture hall dimmed, the ceiling shifting into a holographic display of Astra Sephir itself, its floating towers and sky bridges hanging in the air like a city caught in mid-fall. The display pulsed, lines of light tracing the structures before zooming outward to reveal the entire network of Sephirs, drifting far above the Expanse like islands in an endless void.
"Today, we will discuss the foundations of aerostatic suspension and sustainable elevation—what allows our world to exist above the chaos below."
Professor Rhenard, a wiry man with sharp features and an even sharper tongue, paced at the front of the hall, gesturing to the floating city above them.
The ceiling holograms shimmered, shifting into a detailed schematic of the Astra Sephir. The perspective rotated downward, focusing on the city’s foundations—where a massive ring, embedded with superconductors, pulsed faintly beneath the metropolis.
Professor Rhenard clasped his hands behind his back, his sharp eyes scanning the room.
"Every Sephir is held aloft by a system of electromagnetic levitation," he began, his voice calm and precise. "Massive superconducting rings interact with the planetary magnetic field, generating a repelling force that suspends the city. However, this alone is not enough to maintain balance."
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The hologram zoomed in further, revealing a glowing core at the heart of the city, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"This is where Ether Reactors come in. The levitation fields require constant adjustments, and the energy for those stabilizations comes from ether—our single most valuable resource."
Mark leaned back in his seat, watching the visual showing a reactor’s ether reserves depleting, then gradually refilling.
Professor Rhenard paused, then continued.
"Ether is unlike any other energy source. It does not burn, nor does it dissipate. Instead, when used, it returns to its origin—a dimension beyond our own, and the vessel needs time to recharge and reaccumulate ether."
A ripple of murmurs spread across the class. Mark frowned. It wasn’t new information, for him.
Then someone up front raised their hand.
"So is ether the same energy source as the mana that we use to power our abilities then?"
Silence.
For the first time, Professor Rhenard hesitated. It was barely noticeable, a flicker of uncertainty in his otherwise steady demeanor.
"Ether is a universal force," he finally said. "Mana is an individual trait."
He turned back toward the projection, tapping the lectern once moving to the next slide.
"That is the extent of what science can confirm. Moving on."
Mark didn’t move, his thoughts lingering on the brief pause. It was subtle—but he caught it, seeing it compared so directly to a human’s mana made something click in his mind.
Rhenard knew more than he was letting on.
