Sylas turned to Akashia, gripping Zenith and Nadir tightly.
"Do you have a training room?" he asked.
Akashia nodded and pointed at one of the chamber's walls.
At her command, the smooth black metal shifted, parting like liquid to reveal an entrance.
Without hesitation, Sylas, Sera, and Akashia stepped through.
The room was massive—an open expanse bordered by walls embedded with shimmering runes.
The floor was a polished obsidian surface, reactive to movement, designed to shift and reform to create any terrain necessary.
Sylas twirled Zenith and Nadir, the twin blades humming with restrained power.
His movements were careful at first so as not to injure himself—measuring the weight distribution, testing the balance.
He switched seamlessly between forms, splitting the weapons into four single blades before recombining them into two twin-bladed swords.
Then, with a twist, he connected both hilts, forming a single, imposing spear.
Sera stood nearby, arms crossed, observing. "You're adjusting quickly."
Sylas grinned, spinning the spear before breaking it apart once more. "They feel natural," he admitted. "Like an extension of me."
Akashia smirked. "Good. Because now, you can test them here."
The runes on the walls pulsed, and from the ground, metallic constructs emerged—training droids armed with aether blades.
Five of them.
Without hesitation, Sylas surged forward.
He turned on all four blades, weaving between strikes with inhuman speed.
The weapons moved like flowing water, each shift between forms seamless and instinctive.
He pressed a button on both switching off all the blade connected them before turning their combined form back on.
Sylas spun the newly formed spear, knocking two droids off balance before driving the weapon through their cores.
The fight lasted nearly an hour, his mastery growing with each engagement.
The more he used Zenith and Nadir, the more he realized just how much they enhanced him.
His Aether control felt sharper, his reflexes more refined. He could tell also had the ability to amplify is aether attributes.
By the time the last droid crumbled to the ground, Sylas was breathing heavily, his heart pounding—not from exhaustion, but exhilaration.
Akashia raised a brow. "And? What did you learn?"
Sylas flexed his fingers, feeling the Aether coursing through him. "They increase my Aetherian attribute. By a lot."
"How much?" Sera inquired.
He closed his eyes, focusing inward. The surge was unmistakable. "Around twenty-five percent," he finally said. "A massive boost."
Akashia nodded approvingly. "That's what four Aether cores will do."
Sera tilted her head. "And the drawback?"
Sylas smirked. "Increased stamina consumption."
"A severe drawback for most." Akashia stepped closer. "But not for you. Your bloodline negates it entirely especially after the enhancement you just went through."
Sylas flexed his fingers. "Then that means I can fight at my peak without worrying about wearing myself out."
Akashia smiled. "Precisely."
He looked down at Zenith and Nadir, their edges gleaming with energy. These weapons were perfect for him.
He had only just begun to tap into their potential.
After he was done training, Akashia handed Sylas his custom anti-Aether chest piece along with his former Aether blade, which she had taken from him before he started his trials.
Sylas took them, briefly considering crushing the Aether blade, but before he could, Sera asked for it.
He didn't think much of it and simply handed it to her.
Sera took the weapon and, without a word, tucked it into the folds of her dress.
Meanwhile, Sylas secured the chest piece to his torso and tapped it.
The suit instantly responded, activating and spreading across his body, forming his armor in a seamless, fluid motion.
Akashia gestured for them to follow as she led them toward the docking bay, the massive hangar where smaller spacecraft, such as starfighters and personal transports, were stored within Zelathar's Veil.
As they walked, Akashia glanced at Sylas and said, "There's something else I want to give you."
Sylas raised a brow in curiosity, and she continued, "Technically, I didn't completely fulfill your third wish, so consider this compensation."
Sylas nodded and took a few moments to think while they continued toward the hangar.
He was initially going to ask for wind-elemental arts, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
If she did grant him one, it would likely be something he could obtain elsewhere.
Since she was only obligated to grant him half a wish, he wanted to make sure he asked for something truly worthwhile.
He pondered his options, even turning to Sera for input.
After some deliberation, they finally settled on requesting ownership of all the abandoned ships floating in the graveyard surrounding Zelathar's Veil.
Akashia agreed without hesitation. To her, nothing within those derelict ships was of real value.
Out of boredom, she had already combed through the wrecks, pretending to be on a treasure hunt, and had taken anything she fancied.
"I'll have one of my Void Serpents bring you a ship every month," she said. "That way, you'll have time to go through each one before a new one arrives."
Sylas and Sera exchanged glances and nodded.
The arrangement was ideal.
It ensured they wouldn't be overwhelmed by a massive influx of ships all at once, and it gave them time to properly inspect and strip each one for valuable parts.
As they arrived at the hangar, they quickly realized a major problem—their own starfighter, the one they had arrived in, was completely destroyed.
It had been obliterated by Sera when she used it to upload her memories while she was rebooting.
Sylas turned to Akashia and asked, "Would it be possible to take one of the starfighters here?"
Akashia shrugged. "Sure," she said casually. "They're mass-produced where I'm from, so it's no loss to me."
She gestured toward a row of sleek, high-performance fighters. Sylas and Sera exchanged a satisfied glance before picking one.
As the hangar doors began to open, revealing the void beyond, Sylas climbed into the pilot's seat while Sera took the co-pilot's position.
It was time to leave Zelathar's Veil and begin the next phase of their journey.