Chapter 1: Seth
Smog and mist hung low over the Forest below as the Iron Star, a clanky airship, chugged through the sky. Its brass propellers whirred, cutting through the smokey sky with small drizzle falling constantly, but the passengers inside stayed dry in the creaky cabin. Hours of travel had drained their aether from constantly battling beasts, and the quiet ride was getting on their nerves bad.
"We're almost there, mates!" Mart Suns said to his four mates. They'd left the grand city of Highspire, all steam and spires, to haul a problem to some far-off border town making sure he can't cross back again.
"About time. This trip's been stuffy," Carter Suns grumbled, eyeing the troublemaker at the back of the airship. There sat a lad, just almost eighteen, slouched in a worn-out seat.
He had the look of a noble, with a handsome face under messy white hair. His blue eyes looked bored, staring out at the foggy world zipping by below.
"Ugh, what a bother!" Mart snapped, annoyed at the lad's blank face. "You ought to thank us, boy. We dragged ourselves all this way just to dump you at your new home."
The others subconsciously nodded, thinking the lad's cool attitude was him acting high and mighty. They muttered curses in their heads.
"He ain't no big deal anymore. After this, he'll be nobody, laughed at," they thought to themselves. This lad they were carting off was once their master, the one meant to lead the Suns Guild and family someday. It shocked them to hear he was being kicked out to some nowhere town.
"Ha! You're not Master Leonardo Suns no more. Just a stray with no name!" Dime Suns, the oldest of the bunch, didn't hold back, spitting mean words.
His mates were stunned by his talk and had to ask, "Oi, Dime, what's the deal? Why's this kid getting tossed out? It came all of a sudden."
"It's a wild story! It's all 'cause of the King's Seer," Dime said, grinning like he knew it all.
"The King's Seer's a famous fortune teller in Highspire, using secret tricks to see big events coming. Word is, she advises the Lord Governor and even turned battles in our favor," he went on.
"At the last guild meeting, the Seer was there. Our Suns noble family is one of the top four families, you know, keeping the empire steady." Dime bragged about what he'd seen. Only he got to go to the fancy meeting due to his higher level among the servants.
"So, you're saying the Seer had a vision about this boy? What'd she see?" Stein Suns, who wasn't at the meeting, leaned in, curious. He glanced at the lad in the back, still looking like he didn't care.
"Ruin lies in the firstborn of Suns. He'll break the lineage's strong walls," Dime quoted the Seer's words.
"After that, she fainted, and the Governor said she'd sleep for ten years. The Seer's real close with the Lady Governor, so you can guess how mad she was at this kid for causing it."
"What's that even mean?" Carter asked, confused. It sounded clear but murky too.
"It's obvious, you fool! The firstborn will wreck our family's history and end our glory. Our job is to dump him far from Highspire," Dime snapped at Carter's dumb question. "The Seer's trusted, so the Master had to ditch his son. Everyone knows this kid don't care for aether training, so it's a chance to erase his shame."
"This firstborn had everything handed to him but wastes time reading books. What, you wanna be a scholar, boy?" Everyone knew the Suns' heir was a weirdo who read novels instead of training with aether. His siblings and cousins were already stars with their powers, which made the guild hate him.
The lad stayed quiet, ignoring them all. Carter got mad at his attitude. "Why just banish this jerk? Why not kill him and be done with it?"
"Don't get it either, but the Guildmaster said messing with fate brings trouble. He's a disaster waiting to blow, so we just cut him loose and forget him," Dime said, sounding wise. The other Suns lackeys were annoyed by the vague talk and just wanted the job done.
The nameless lad, hearing all their insults stayed silent. *These loudmouths sure know how to mock a guy.*
It wasn't like Zach, who has now taken over this body didn't want to exchange words with them but he was at a lost. One minute he was reading novel and exchanging banters with the author of a novel and the next moment he found himself inside a fucking flying airship in a world he never expected to be in, how the hell was he supposed to react? He has been absorbing the knowledge he got and didn't have time to even exchange banters with them as his emotions were in turmoil and his brain in short circuit!
*This motherfuker family's done with him and I get to bear the pain occupying the body, so done with them too,* he thought, looking ahead to his lonely path with sorrow in his heart. Who will feel happy starting a new life in a new world at level 0 when he could have started at level 99 with wealth and backings if only he arrived earlier? It hurts. *You know what? Fuck them, I don't need their rules. The old fucker author probably set this plot up to make things hard for me by making a fake seer with fake fame plot to take me out. His pride got hurt by my insults and he did this, so he hired set a plot where the main owner of this body's father hired Highspire's best liar to trick everyone. I didn't choose to even start this low, I was pushed into it.*
…
The Iron Star airship was a fancy machine, so it sailed smooth over the lawless borders and forest full of thieves and only occasionally fight with those flying beasts, giving Zach the chance to witness how people fight with aether clearly.
The Crooks knew better than to mess with a noble family like Suns, known as Highspire's strongest. Even out here, folks recognized the airship that carried the family's men.
The travelers spotted a jumble of buildings ahead, all brass and smoke. That meant their job was nearly done.
"This must be Velgrave city in the The Dominion of Vexleigh . It's close to our border, and it's where we leave the kid," Dime Suns said, leading the group. He controlled the airship to land in a muddy forest scrapyard below, full of rusty gears and trees.
"Get off, boy!" they shouted, and the lad jumped from the airship. It was a long drop since they didn't lower the ladder for him, and he winced when he hit the ground.
"That's gotta hurt for a weakling hahaha. Here's a bag for you," Carter sneered, tossing a leather sack on the mud. "Got some stuff to keep you alive a bit. Master says it's the last thing he'll give you. Don't you dare use the Suns name and shame it more."
The airship took off with a blast of steam, knocking the lad back. The group laughed at his sorry state.
They'd been jealous of his high place since he was born, and now they loved seeing him fall. Being part of a rich family beat being thrown into the world with nothing. They carried the Suns name, but weren't true blood, just workers who earned it through hard jobs.
The airship zoomed back toward Highspire, leaving him behind.
The lad got up, brushing dirt off his tattered coat. He stayed calm 'cause he was used to this treatment.
Scratch that, he hated it. "You motherfuker slaves who toil daily just to carry that name will rot with that name! Just you wait!" He let out deep curses before quickly lowering his voice, remembering he was in a forest.
"They call me a disaster. Guess I'll be Seth then," he said, picking a name to spite their curse. He'd spent years reading novels and mythology of gods and had loved Seth the God of chaos and destruction from Egypt and this name for perfectly for him.
Seth checked the sack, flung a bit away. It held five thousand shiny galvanic coins. "Nice of them," he said, sarcastic. It could feed a poor family for years, but for the Suns, it was pocket change.
The coins showed what they thought he was worth. It stung, but he'd use it to start over.
"Gotta check out the city. Good thing I look like a nobody," he said. His plain coat and muddy trousers would keep thieves off his back, thinking he was just a lost kid.
Not being used to wandering, Seth struggled. He got chased by stray dogs in the scrapyard, mud caking his clothes.
"Works for me. They'll think I'm a beggar," he muttered, trying to stay positive. At last, he stepped out of the forest.
At the city gates, guards in clanky aether suits ignored him, letting him slip through. With so many folks coming and going, a scruffy kid wasn't worth noticing.
"Aunty, can you tell me about this place? It's real busy," Seth asked a woman, using his charm to learn more.
"Young beggar, this is Velgrave city, a hub for trade guilds. It's by the border, a stop for tons of travelers. You can find goods from all over," the woman said, proud of her town.
"It's old, maybe five thousand years, but still growing, better than most border towns."
"Thanks, aunty," Seth said. She smiled, happy to brag about her city, even to a scruffy kid. The place wasn't much to big guilds, but locals loved it.
Seth wandered into the crowded market, full of stalls and people with their own plans.
Money ruled here, and folks weren't as strong as in Highspire's power-hungry capital.
But that didn't mean it was weak—experts in aether gear kept the city safe.
"Just around this corner's what I need," Seth mumbled, getting close to his goal. On his own now, he had to survive this rough world.
Best way was to grow strong with aether and plan revenge from this far-off city.