Nero had, of course, seen the Arcanist form many times throughout his life, though admittedly it was less in person and more on television. It was an expression of the immense amount of pure aether within a card master once they reached the higher stages.
It was said that activating the Arcanist form more rapidly depleted a card masters aether, but the boost in strength was more than worth the price!
It was more than just the fact that while the Arcanist form was active, the card master would have enhanced healing, super strength, increased endurance and multiplied speed. No, the true might of the Arcanist form was in the fact that all aether related abilities were much more effective.
This of course meant that innate abilities were stronger, but much more importantly, even Eldrim cards would have an improved output. The Arcanist form could use a card that produced a breeze to summon a mighty gale!
As impressive as the Arcanist form was, the appearance of the user when activating was even more impressive. This was the first time Nero had seen his father use his Arcanist form, which was why he absorbed everything he saw.
Aether, the invisible energy that defined the natural order of the world, suddenly became visible around Edward, in the form of golden, shimmering crystals that swirled around him as if caught in an invisible tornado around his body.
The crystals, despite appearing so, were not solid. They were just produced as a result of the copious amounts of aether being expended by him throughout every inch of his body. The golden colour of the crystals represented the colour of Edwards innate ability, as every card master produced different coloured crystals.
Those without elemental innate abilities produced clear crystals, though they were still visible to the naked eye.
Standing so close to his father, Nero suddenly felt pressured, as if a heavy weight had suddenly been dumped onto his shoulders.
"Listen closely, kid," Edward's voice echoed inside Nero's mind. "Don't be too proud of being the best Neophyte. You're competing against a bunch of undertrained, inexperienced kids with next to no battle awareness."
A golden ball of light began to shine at the tip of Edwards' finger. It looked like countless golden flames, but the ball of light was too bright for Nero to look at, so he had to turn away.
"That is going to change real quick once you enter the Initiate realm. You don't know what a true Eldrim card master is like, because you're still using 0 star cards. There's a reason why we're called card masters, and not aether masters, or innate masters. It's because our true strength lies in the Eldrim cards."
Even looking away, and shielding his eyes, the brightness from the tiny ball was too much for Nero to tolerate. He had to clamp his eyes shut with his hands, but even then he could feel the light reach him.
"That's not to mention, if you think you're the strongest Neophyte, then you're sadly mistaken. As you are right now, I can tell you that if you had fought Patrick when he was at the peak of Neophyte, you would have lost - especially since your innate ability would be practically useless against him. In fact, worse than useless. It would actually empower him most likely.
Patrick might not have a meticulous mind like you, but his battle intuition is much greater than yours. He too would kick your ass. It's too soon for you to become arrogant."
It was incredible. Nero could not see, but just from feeling the immense amount of aether fluctuating in the air around him he felt like he could see. It was like there was a massive reading current of aether flowing all around him, being sucked into the tiny ball of light - except that with his eyes closed, relying only on the sensation of aether nothing about that ball seemed so small.
"There's also the fact that a lot of things change as you go up levels. When I was a Neophyte, I was quite ordinary, but when I became an Initiate… when I met your mother, everything changed. Tell me Nero, you recall my innate ability. Do you think it has any combat capabilities?"
Nero quickly recalled all the details of Luminalink.
Name: Luminalink
Image: A golden flame, resting in a hand.
Type: Innate
Star rank: 0
Ability: [Transmit any kind of data through light]
Flavour text: "Knowledge will light the way forward," - Edward Grant
"No, no it should be quite… quite plain," Nero said. Initially he wanted to say that the innate ability sounded like it was quite weak, but he couldn't bring himself to say such a thing - especially since he could feel just how much power his father had at his fingertips.
It was not that he thought the innate ability must be strong, but that his father was unpredictable. Who knew if he might fire that ball of light at Nero if he was criticised?
"Good. Then open your eyes and see the heritage your mothers family left behind. There may be more to it than this hidden away, but even this is enough to turn a once ordinary man into a master of war."
Despite his instincts, Nero opened his eyes to take a look since his father had told him. But the moment he opened his eyes, the brightness vanished, silently and without much fanfare. Yet in front Edward, in the direction he had been pointing, the forest had disappeared.
There were no scorch marks, no signs of something ripped out of the ground. There was simply nothing, revealing the dark brown soil which was once covered in grass and mulch.
The tree, which had been subject to his fathers illusion, and had been bashing the ground, had also disappeared in its entirety.
All that was left was Edward, standing there with his eyes closed, his Arcanist form already extinguished.
Nero wanted to call his father a showoff, but he was genuinely mesmerised. His father had never before revealed his powers to him so overtly. Before this, it had all been subtle hints and guidance. Now though… now he was revealing that under the facade of a mundane, unimpressive man walked a deadly weapon.
Edward opened his eyes finally, and looked at Nero with excitement.
"Radix Augmentation works like you said. I can feel a change within my body."
"I already know that, old man. What… what the hell was that you just did? Are you telling me mom's family heritage can… can let you change your innate ability?"
Nero did not directly mention gaining another innate ability. Somehow, the concept that an innate ability could be changed on command was easier to accept than gaining a new innate ability. After all, innate abilities always underwent some change upon transcending from one realm to another.
"No kid. Your mother's heritage isn't something crazy like that. Instead, it's just a few secrets about card manufacturing that no one else knows about. Only through mastering the manufacturing of new and unique cards, with much more powerful abilities can you truly become a powerful card master.
"I'll tell you straight up, my innate ability, in itself, does not seem too impressive, I know that too. But my innate ability, combined with your mother's heritage, allowed me to create cards that have made me invincible. Since the day I mastered it, I have not suffered a single defeat in combat."
Edward looked in his son's eyes, and was surprised to find that he did not seem as impressed as he had imagined. There was intrigue, yes, and there was a desire, a greed for the knowledge and power Edward had promised, yes, but there was no surprise.
In truth, Edward had undersold his own innate ability. It was a habit nurtured through a lifetime of unexpected obstacles and surprises. He himself knew how unsafe secrets were as long as they were revealed in the slightest. So he only revealed to Nero things that would directly impact him and influence his growth positively, keeping unnecessary information hidden.
At the same time, it served to emphasise how impressive his mother's heritage was, not that it needed any extra emphasis. Even so, he did not get the reaction he was expecting - which was incredibly interesting. He was even more curious now about what Nero had experienced in Lumina.
"Now that we've tested out Radix Augmentation, let's get out of here," Edward said, still speaking directly into Nero's mind, no doubt through one of the cards that empowered him so much. "You have eight days before your service begins, which means your mother and I only have seven days to impart everything pertinent to you. Hopefully, it'll be enough.
Compared to other subjects, you've always been average in your artisan studies."
"Oh? I'm going to meet mom too? I thought she'd be busy!"
Edward kicked Nero on the bottocks once more, throwing his body into a lightly cursed bush nearby.
"Why do you sound so happy to see her? Where was that excitement when you saw me? Ungrateful child."
Nero, who had covered his body in blue flames, did not have time to pay attention to Edward as he fought to keep the bush from showing leaves down his throat. That was why he missed it when Edward quickly shot a few more orbs of light into the distance.