Sora gazed at the strange, changing landscape in front of him.The ground rippled like water, though it was solid rock, and shadows stretched and twisted. Parts of the surroundings distorted as though viewed through a warped lens.

Everywhere he looked, the [Spatial Element] was abundant, its presence tricking his eyes and teasing his senses. Tiny rips opened everywhere in the air, revealing gaps in space, while small objects drifted through sudden portals that appeared and vanished.

Extending his hand, Sora felt the strange energy envelop him. He had achieved basic control over [Space] and no longer feared the element’s destructive and unpredictable nature.

To test his knowledge, he formed a small orb of [Earth] and sent it through a portal he found in front of him. Moments later, the orb reappeared from another portal far away, keeping its speed and momentum.

Experimenting further, he pushed a much longer object—a few hundred meters long rod—through the portal, only to watch the portal suddenly collapsing and cutting the rod cleanly.

'So there's a limit to what each portal can take... And when it collapses, it'll cut what was going through it. I need to learn how to create and test these portals.' He thought, enjoying discovering new fields and elements.

Curiosity consumed him as he explored the effects of the [Spatial Element]. He spent weeks experimenting, discovering that by twisting space, he could reduce the distance between two points, achieving quick movement without relying on portals. With more practice, he created a small, hidden space within the [Spatial Element]—a rudimentary pocket dimension for storing or concealing items. It wasn’t perfect, but it was proof of his progress.

'I'm not sure how Adebayo hid his presence and group in Nara, but I should be able to use this element to veil my presence in the future.' He considered uses for each discovery and his brain never stopped working, looking for ways to catch up to others.

'What are the limits of this element? Can I stabilize larger portals, or are they inherently fragile?' He tested different shapes and sizes, observing how the portals behaved. Circular ones seemed more stable and were harder to detect, while angular shapes, which fluctuated noisily, were easier to sense but caused overwhelming destruction when they collapsed. 'Making portals stable requires higher elemental affinity and extreme mana control.'

Another technique emerged as he managed to bend space all around himself, creating illusions and mirages by distorting how everything appeared. He frowned as he tested the technique. 'So this is an optical illusion? It doesn't mess with my opponents mind, but their sight. How can I integrate this into my combat style? Maybe pair it with a direct attack to confuse my opponent. This feels like one of the countless techniques I discover but never use. Who knows?'

'I need something more practical. The small portal's ability to cut through objects is what has the most potential for now. I should search in that direction...' Considering his fighting style and thinking about what he preferred, he stopped studying other aspects of the [Spatial Element] and started developing skills he could use in battle.

Playing with the smaller portals, he sharpened them into a razor-thin blades, and stabilized them. These 'blades' were capable of cutting through anything he found on the planet. Each slash was precise, the spatial edge cut through objects like butter. 'This feels incredible.'

Satisfied with his newfound abilities, Sora began training his resistance to the [Spatial Element]. True to his brutal methods, he took off his clothes, letting the element bombard every inch of his body. His [Adaptive Regeneration] and mastery over life force kept him alive as he endured the torture, gradually building his resistance.

'I should really take the time to build my resistance to the [Dark Element] and the [Light Element] but I'm unable to damage my body with those elements with how weak my mastery over them is.'

With the first month nearly complete, Sora turned his attention to refining his training environment. He opened the configuration panel and adjusted the gravity settings. Some areas were modified to accommodate Hiyoko, ensuring his companion could train in the outside world. In his own zones, he pushed the gravity even higher.

"I can already feel my passive body forging speeding up," he muttered, closing the panel. "And now that my current mastery over the [Spatial Element] is high enough, I can finally focus on my next goal."

Summoning the elements, Sora began evaluating each one. His [Fire Element] mastery had grown significantly thanks to Netsu boosting his affinity, quickly catching up to [Earth Element] and [Lightning Element] he used the most. He turned his focus to [Wind Element] and [Water Element], aiming to balance all five. After weeks of training, his control over the elements reached a level where he felt confident tackling the next challenge: evolving his [Elemental Nexus].

Recalling the process and hints he’d gathered within the storm of the 8th trial, Sora summoned the elements into his palm, letting them flow and interact. He started by fusing pairs, observing the rules governing their combinations. Higher mastery over an element increased its dominance in the fusion, but Sora discovered that by actively controlling the fusion process, he could influence the resulting properties.

Unhappy with the [Elemental Nexus] formed naturally from the five elements mixed with the [Spatial Element] that was only slightly stronger and more erratic than the original version, he decided to attempt this new fusion method.

'By carefully balancing [Water] and [Earth], and slightly leaning toward water, I can take that element's main characteristics, with [Earth] adding supporting traits. Such fusion results in an element similar to water, with extreme weight, and the ability to be condensed that water did not have.'

Amazed, he pushed his test further and discovered that he could also change the property he wanted, creating the ideal two-element-fusion after countless attempts.

'This requires an insane control and perfect understanding of the elements. The slightest mistake results in instability or a useless element... If it's this difficult with two elements, I'm afraid creating the perfect [Elemental Nexus] will be near impossible.' Understanding the difficulty of his project, he sighed.

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With [Space] as the primary ingredient for crafting a new [Elemental Nexus], he began by introducing the obedient [Earth Element], [Wind Element], and [Water Element] elements into the mix, urging them to merge their strongest traits with the [Spatial Element]. These three elements, being the most compatible with [Space], blended, offering low resistance to the fusion process.

The joy on his face disappeared when he added [Lightning Element] and [Fire Element] to the mix because chaos erupted. These elements fought against his control, destabilizing the fusion. He threw every trick and ounce of concentration into taming them, but his attempts ended in failure time and again. Frustration started building up as he realized the fusion process demanded far more time than he anticipated.

'I didn't even begin choosing the elemental properties I needed, and it is already blowing up to my face.'

Sora paused, reflecting on his failures. “If I can’t fuse them for now, there are two ways around this. I can either make my [Spatial Element] stronger so it can forcibly suppress the rebellious elements, or improve my control over the rebellious elements. The first method is simpler and more efficient in guaranteeing the fusion, but the second will help me adjust the elemental property the [Elemental Nexus] will take from that specific element.”

He started with the first method, by honing his control over the [Spatial Element], refining it repeatedly until he could no longer improve. Without even trying the fusion, he then focused on the other elements, pushing his control to the limit.

After months of practice, he attempted the fusion again, this time guiding the elements with greater care. Slowly, he crafted an [Elemental Nexus] that aligned with his vision. It had the unique properties of [Space] while borrowing traits from the other elements. The result was an extremely powerful fusion, more stable and versatile than anything he created so far.

“This...” Sora whispered, testing the new power, “This is insane. Can anyone even resist a blow from this?” He shivered at the thought of testing it on himself. 'Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if I died trying this skill on myself? It's such a shame this trial doesn't allow me to use my innate ability, or I'd definitely try.'

Looking around for a suitable target, he sighed. "There are only the three of us on this planet. I’ll need to add beasts for the next month’s training."

With his training with the [Elemental Nexus] completed, Sora’s thoughts changed to another idea he had been considering. 'I have too many abilities and limited brain capacity. I want to reach a point where I can use them all to the fullest. Bombarding my enemies with countless abilities is the dream.'

He’d watched Emily and Kara use their clones, each requiring immense control and focus to maintain. 'But I don’t like having to split my focus to fight. Unless my ability to multitask drastically improves, I don’t want that restriction when fighting. I prefer being fully focused on smashing skulls with my Sledge Hammer with my overwhelming physical power.'

He envisioned something greater, "I want autonomous clones… or abilities that cast themselves automatically! I don’t want to control each ability by myself; I’d rather they act on my intent and fight for me." His mind raced with the possibilities, more confident than ever that, given time, anything was possible.

Weeks of experimentation followed as Sora attempted to create clones suited to his needs.

There were [Elemental Clones] with high damage output for each element. He had designed them to use surrounding elements to fight, and he could also supply them with mana if elements were lacking. However these clones were fragile, and he found their impact too limited given the amount of focus they required from him to control.

One clone, modeled after Kara's clones, relied on [Life Force], but it felt like a cheap imitation. The quality of these clones depended heavily on the strength of his Life Force, making them weaker than him. Their main purpose was to heal him upon sacrifice, but Sora ultimately considered them a waste of time.

The clone from his [Martial Titan] class was more promising after a few upgrades, able to function as an extension of his body and wield lower versions of his original skills using mana. But it too lacked independence and its own thought process. Despite the improvements, Sora found himself nearly tempted to write it off along with the rest.

Ignoring the countless variations of clones he'd created, Sora sighed.

Disappointed, Sora dissolved the army of clones he had created. "None of them are good enough. They’re just mindless extensions of me." He sighed. “What’s missing? Maybe… they need a brain. Or a soul? But how do I do that?"

He had tested them in many ways, with different environments and situations, but they could only manage basic tasks. They lacked initiative and couldn’t make even the simplest decisions.

Uncertain about the path forward, Sora shelved the clone project for the time being. It was a frustrating experience, but he resolved to return to it later, better prepared to tackle the challenge.

As his sixth month began, he headed to an area he’d designed specifically for training his mental defense, filled with hundreds of high-level spirit monsters. Here, he intended to hone his [Focus], [Faith], and [Peak Meditate] skills, inspired from his second trial and the Spirit Race's might.

[Focus] proved easier to advance than [Meditate], likely due to his strong foundation and the perfect training environment. Within weeks, he evolved it and unlocked [Peak Focus].

When he activated [Peak Focus], his field of vision narrowed to a small angle, and the world around him slowed, granting a feeling almost akin to Kara’s [Time Acceleration]. With complete awareness of every inch of his body and mind, he could feel, understand, and even anticipate any movement in his limited view.

In contrast, [Peak Meditate] provided a deep sense of calm and understanding of his surroundings, while detaching him from the action and his body, limiting his ability to act on what he perceived.

'What if… I could use both at once?' he thought, sensing the potential. '[Peak Focus] drains me quickly and limits my vision but makes me react instantly and efficiently, while [Peak Meditate] enhances clarity and calm but makes it harder to react.'

Determined to overcome the challenge, Sora trained his mind, repeatedly attempting to fuse the two skills. Each failure brought him closer to understanding the subtle balance required, pushing him closer to a breakthrough in his mental mastery.

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