"You also cultivate Aetheris, don't you?" Asteralaxia asked, and Ryuk nodded his head.
"Technically, I'm capable of it... I think. But then, this world doesn't, so I don't really have a basic manual on how to."
"Heck, I don't even know the cultivation stages of Aetheris," Ryuk replied as Aster nodded her head.
"That makes some sense. I've seen many cultivators during my time wandering around here, but never a single Aetheris cultivator."
"I'm pretty sure you must be the only one, and since you are, you probably have no idea about it at all. Just that you can," Asteralaxia said, matching Ryuk's thoughts.
"I'm curious. What level have you been able to reach blindly? What Dimensions have you unlocked?" she asked, as Ryuk raised an eyebrow.
"Dimension?"
"Yes. Like skills?" she said, as his eyes flashed and he slowly stretched his hands toward hers.
Suddenly, it stopped just an inch before it could reach, and Aster watched with curious eyes as she noticed veins begin popping up on all of Ryuk's arm, revealing he was trying all he could to touch her hands, yet seemed to be halted by an inch.
Voluntarily, she moved her hand forward to meet Ryuk's, but then, her hand also didn't move an inch.
Even as she began exerting strength, but then...
CRAAACKKK
Cracks suddenly began appearing in the air as Aster's eyes flashed and they both withdrew their hands.
"You can solidify the space with your will?" Asteralaxia asked with an interested expression, and Ryuk nodded.
"Yes. But that's all I can do, though."
"Huh?" Aster showed an expression of disbelief from his words.
"I told you, I'm still new to Aetheris. Still haven't placed much focus on it..." he replied as Aster nodded.
"If so, you're still pretty far behind."
"Can you show me?" Ryuk suddenly asked.
"What?" Aster replied.
"Show me how far behind I am."
"I haven't really seen Aetheris in power before. I don't know what it can really do, except, well... solidify the air," Ryuk said, laughing with a bit of mockery, as Aster scoffed.
"It's you that can only solidify the air. A pretty basic use of Aetheris. I doubt there is something more basic than that."
"This instead..." Aster said as she rose up from her reclining position, a single bizarre blue ring appearing in her eyes, prompting Ryuk to straighten himself up in focus, as he watched Aster slowly stretch her hand to him and then—
"Is the true power of Aetheris..." she completed before she flicked her fingers together.
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The sensation Ryuk felt was the same as being lifted through a space wormhole.
Yet this time, it was different, as he felt himself still remaining on his feet, still standing on the structure, yet the world had become a painting.
A painting of blue with no end.
With shock in his eyes, he watched as the feeling of solidification beneath his feet disappeared, and he began sinking into the ground, soon soaring downward with speed, with eyes in absolute shock.
'What? What's happening!?' Ryuk wondered, watching himself sink through walls as if they ceased to exist.
But then, he watched as Asteralaxia magically appeared before him, her hand stretching toward his face and then—
FLIIIIICCCCKK
Her finger flicked once more and when Ryuk opened his eyes, he was in the clouds, soon freely falling downward, unable to control himself.
But his eyes flashed when he saw the ground on the floor soon lifting up, inching towards him.
He clenched his fists, trying to punch through, but then...
RIIIPPPPLLLEEE
It was the same feeling as punching through the air, as he watched the huge floor weave through his body.
He turned his body, watching the sight of the rock floating in the air, and sitting down leisurely was none other than Asteralaxia, whose blue eyes stared at him with a calm expression.
"What? What is this?"
"Where are we?" Ryuk asked in shock.
He could still see the structures, albeit in a strange copy of pale blue with blue particles floating around.
He could still see the cars that were weaving by with speed, albeit much slower to his gaze, all also covered in that same blue energy.
He watched as a bizarre blue butterfly flew past him and his hands reached out to touch it, yet weaved through his fingers like he didn't exist, before making its way to Asteralaxia and calmly resting on her finger.
"You? You're the only one with a physical form?"
"I seem to have lost that, and therefore lost physical touch with the world too?"
"It's like I'm ceasing to exist in the physical," Ryuk muttered, voicing his observation even as he soared downwards.
And he could barely notice—even though he had been soaring downward with speed—the floor beneath seemed to get farther and farther away, making him stuck in eternal falling.
And when he turned beside him, he found Aster with her gigantic platform floating by his head, falling at the same exact speed as he was.
"This is called a Dimension."
"Specifically, the Azhaar Dimension."
"The closest dimension to reality."
"A dimension where the concept of realness in physicality is but an illusion to anything that hasn't gained its favor."
"You will weave through anything that is physical, and even if you hold a weapon, you will weave through it, rendering whatever weapon you may have useless, since the dimension renders all physicality null—ultimately resulting in you never getting a hold of it."
"It's the first dimension that the cultivation of Aetheris energy will give you. A sign of acknowledgment towards your knowledge of it," Asteralaxia explained, tingling the wings of the butterfly on her palms, before her gaze focused and she raised her hand into the air, the butterfly flying away.
Ryuk's mind reeled from her explanation.
A dimension beyond reality.
A place where the concept of physicality has no meaning.
He had never heard of it before—neither had his mind crossed it.
"But that isn't all there is..." Aster said as she raised her finger up once more, and then—
FLIICCCCCKK