Zain stood still in front of the vault, the air humming faintly around him.
He narrowed his eyes and took a slow breath in.
Something about this place... it was off. No—better.
He glanced at his hand.
The ether around his fingers pulsed brighter than before.
"…Stronger," he muttered.
Velra turned slightly. "Hm?"
Zain didn't answer right away.
He looked up at the ceiling, then closed his eyes for a moment.
In his head, memories stirred.
Back in my old world…
He remembered sitting on cold stone, drawing in qi through meditation.
Mountains, storms, battlefields—wherever the qi was thicker, his power would surge.
He'd walked through forests that breathed energy and ruined cities that felt dead.
The air mattered.
Even here in this new world—without cultivators, without sects—he could still feel it.
They don't call it qi. Maybe it's mana. Or aura. Or whatever this "ether" is.
He opened his eyes again.
"But it's the same," he said quietly. "Energy in the air."
