Aetherion allowed his perception to expand once again.
The ocean of living flames returned.
This time, however…
He went further.
Thin green threads began emerging from his body.
They were invisible to ordinary sight, existing only through his perception of Life.
One became ten.
Ten became hundreds.
Hundreds became thousands.
Slowly, the threads stretched outward until they connected with the flickering flames of the living creatures surrounding him.
The moment they connected—
Aetherion felt everything.
Emotions.
Desires.
Vitality.
Pain.
Exhaustion.
Hunger.
Fear.
Contentment.
Even the physical condition of their bodies became apparent to him.
Then…
Something caught his attention.
A squirrel.
Aetherion focused upon the tiny creature and immediately noticed something wrong with one of its legs.
An injury.
Curious, Aetherion concentrated.
Rather than simply flooding the squirrel with divine energy, he allowed his consciousness to travel through the thread connecting them.
He felt its life force.
Then…
He commanded it.
'Repair.'
The green flame inside the squirrel suddenly burned brighter.
Its eyes widened.
The damaged flesh began restoring itself.
Muscle repaired.
Bone shifted back into place.
The injury disappeared as though it had never existed.
Within seconds…
The squirrel's leg had completely healed.
The little creature stared down at itself in apparent confusion.
Then it jumped.
Once.
Twice.
Realizing that the pain was gone, it immediately scurried toward the nearest tree and disappeared into its nest.
Aetherion smiled.
"Interesting…"
Just seeing what he could do, Aetherion couldn't help but find it fascinating.
Instead of simply healing someone with his divinity, he gave the command toward a creature, a living being's life force, to heal itself.
Enforcing it with a bit of his will and power, he allowed the being to heal itself in a way that was impossible by logic, simply incomprehensible by mortal thinking.
What he did wasn't simply healing.
it was the command of life force.
Too absorbed of wanting to explore his power, he continued.
His perception swept across the surrounding life, searching for injuries and abnormalities.
Whenever he discovered one, a green thread connected him to the creature.
And with a command…
He restored it.
Animal.
Plant.
Insect.
It didn't matter.
Life was life.
And to Aetherion…
All life was equal beneath his Domain.
But healing was something he already understood.
He wanted to go further.
Aetherion's attention shifted toward the lion resting nearby.
A thought entered his mind.
'If I am the Titan of Life…'
A small smile appeared upon his lips.
'Then shouldn't I be capable of controlling living beings themselves?'
The green thread connecting him to the lion tightened.
Aetherion opened his eyes.
He gave a single mental command.
'Hop.'
The enormous lion immediately jumped.
Aetherion blinked.
"…"
His smile widened.
'Run.'
The lion turned and sprinted away.
Several nearby wolves followed after Aetherion extended additional threads toward them.
'Return.'
They immediately turned around.
'Sit.'
The lion and wolves sat before him like perfectly obedient dogs.
Aetherion stared at them.
Then he chuckled.
"Well… that's certainly useful."
And it certainly was.
He couldn't help but think of the different possibilities with this power of his, of controlling a living being.
Just the mere thought of it couldn't help but bring a new world into perspective— just imagining of standing on the battlefield, controlling the life of the enemy in the palm of his hand.
Just thinking of that, a mischievous chuckle couldn't help but escape Aetherion lips once again.
And as such, with that thought in mind, he continued on.
He experimented several more times.
Walk.
Run.
Stop.
Turn.
Lie down.
Every command was obeyed without hesitation.
Finally, Aetherion released his control.
The green threads loosened.
The animals blinked and looked around in apparent confusion, seemingly wondering what they had just been doing.
Yet Aetherion's comforting presence quickly calmed them.
One by one, they returned to the grass.
Some even fell asleep.
The lion made no attempt to attack the deer or smaller animals surrounding it.
Aetherion couldn't help but find the sight amusing.
He lowered his gaze toward his hands.
'I am the Titan of Life.'
His expression gradually became thoughtful.
'Controlling life is simply a natural part of what I am.'
But then…
Another realization emerged.
If his authority extended over Life itself…
What exactly counted as Life?
The body?
Certainly.
Vitality?
Obviously.
Growth?
Evolution?
Adaptation?
Healing?
Instinct?
Emotion?
Aetherion's thoughts stopped upon that last thought.
Emotion.
His eyes already allowed him to perceive emotions.
Why?
Perhaps the answer had been sitting directly in front of him this entire time.
Emotion wasn't merely something experienced by living beings.
It was an intrinsic part of the experience of being alive.
Love.
Fear.
Anger.
Happiness.
Desire.
Grief.
Hope.
All of them were expressions of Life.
And if they were aspects of Life…
Then perhaps they, too, existed within the boundaries of his Domain.
Aetherion's eyes narrowed slightly.
That possibility opened far more doors than he had expected.
Until now, he had barely scratched the surface.
He had primarily used the Life Domain for vitality and regeneration, while Codex Vitae allowed him to perceive emotions.
But Life was far greater than either of those things.
It was vast.
Complex.
Perhaps impossibly so.
And Aetherion had neglected it for far too long.
A grin slowly appeared upon his face.
He crossed his legs once more and settled comfortably against the grass.
There were countless things associated with Life.
Countless concepts to investigate.
Countless techniques waiting to be created.
And if he truly intended to master his Life Domain…
He would have to explore every single one of them.
'This is going to be fun.'
Aetherion chuckled quietly before closing his eyes once again.
Around him…
Thousands of green flames continued to burn.