A burning hot white hammer slams into me, sending me flying into another pile of rocks before I can even heal from our first collision. My body feels as though it's covered with pins and needles, and the third attack is coming my way faster than I can react. Ava's voice rings out as she slams me across the black stone landscape again. "Say the word and I'll take it down a notch, but I can keep this up all day!" Half my mind is concentrated on summoning wisps of Ether to flood into the impact zones, but I yell back, "Don't hold back. Fight as if you're trying to kill me... we only have two and a half days until that District Lord comes back, right? I want to be prepared for the worst." Before my words finish, I'm hit with her hammer again. "As you wish!" There is no direct physical pain or damage to my body. The divine barrier around me absorbs all of the pressure, but massive amounts of Ether seep into my being after every hit. Ava's hammer is glowing just as white-hot as in our first battle, but so are her feet. I watch white Ether strengthen her hamstrings, quads, and even arms when she swings. Her entire body is glowing hot with Ether, and every single time I try to predict her movements and add layers to certain areas of my body, it's far too late. Ava is breathing as heavily as I am, and she's smiling ear to ear. If the 20% number she mentioned is true, and I used the same amount of Ether as she did, that's roughly 0.1 gone, maybe more. I remember the throne stating I had about 1.2 Ether in my body. Whether that was all from the pill, or some from the herb, I'm not entirely sure. My guess is I managed to pull around 0.3 from the four Ether stones earlier, but it still feels like I'm pulling from an endless pool. There's no status reading that tells me how much Ether I have. I reply, still glowing white all over in my perception. "Good idea. If we keep this up, I'll definitely get the hang of it soon..." She laughs as I fall on my back, smiling and breathing heavily while I finish healing the remaining tingling wounds all over my body. It takes almost a full minute to rid myself of all the foreign Ether damage, but once my body is completely back to its natural state, I feel as though my senses are sharper. We make our way back to the mining zone's border and travel along its edge until another hot sensation hits my senses about 200 meters away from the point where I crossed this invisible border before. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I venture out into the untouched land of black rocks, just like before, powering my footsteps with Ether while running this time. My movements feel crisp and exhilarating. I still have to physically think and summon each wisp beneath my feet, but it's beginning to feel more instinctual. While I collect 12 more fourth-class Ether stones, I play through the long sparring session I just had in my head, visualizing each of Ava's movements over and over. They were all machine-like, exactly like her Ether-draining technique. Clearly, these avatars have functions that help newly ascended individuals use this new power source in the Upper Realm. While this means activation time is faster and there's no room for failure, it feels quite limiting. If there are maximum settings and specific commands that need to be selected, there is no freedom to reach higher heights or create unique techniques. Not to mention, being physically limited to select locations. I stare down at my hands, as they continue to burn bright white, allowing even more Ether to pour into them, making them brighter and brighter. From the constant Ether draining we've been doing between sparring matches, I've been keeping rough track and assume my stores have risen to around 5.0 low-quality Ether. However, my punches, movement speed, and healing speed feel like they've increased in strength far more than just 5x. I can feel that this is just the start. Every time I use Ether, it's like old knowledge and experience are coming back to me from my subconscious. Memories of Ember explaining how I was processing Ether in the depths of my mind for over 900 thousand years during the second trial come to mind. I'm unsure if this is the reason for my rapid growth or the fact that I'm not held back by the constraints of an avatar. I come to the conclusion that it's a mixture of both. All my theories are pushed to the back of my mind, and the Ether around my fists dissipates into the atmosphere once I hear Ava's voice call out from the distance. "Let's stop there for today..." Her words sound like she's in pain. When I walk over and see the wound on her side still radiating with dense white energy and the hobgoblin holding the side of her head with her free hand, my eyes widen. She pushes herself up from the ground with her hammer and replies after a light chuckle. "I'm fine. Your punch sure packs a force..." She grits her teeth and holds her head again. "I don't know if you meant to activate a mental attack in that blow, but when we spar again, you should turn it off. My basic avatar doesn't have advanced mental defense commands. If I didn't block the majority of that hit, I could have been knocked out cold..." My eyes widen, but I don't reply just yet. I raise an eyebrow to reply. "In that case, no more sparring... There isn't much time left before the Lord in question arrives. If you're up to walking, I'd like to continue moving along the borders to absorb as much Ether as possible."