The day after my cafe date with Vetsmon, I met up with Umara for an early dinner.

After a nice time at a decent restaurant, we went to my room at the hotel. But it wasn’t to passionately make out for two hours.

Instead, Umara wanted a comfortable place to focus on her advancement. She was close and just needed a bit more cultivating before jumping to Authority 5.

We had the entire evening though. Umara wasn’t going to the Puppet Master's training since she was focused on her advancement, so after classes she would come find me.

And for the first two hours, I let her use my bed for her cultivation. Afterward though, she got distracted and came to talk to me.

And our conversation went toward interesting topics. Specifically, how a warlock’s power worked.

It was no secret that there was no more dynamic power than the magic of a warlock. It could do seemingly anything, limited only by the complexity of the spell and the imagination of the warlock. However, there were a few things that imposed relatively strict rules and methods by which magic could be employed.

Specifically, the system of elements they used and how magic was truly engaged.

For warlocks, their spells were classified in two ways. There were the Creation spells and the Manipulation spells.

The Manipulation spells were the easiest. With those spells, one could draw on the elements around you and utilize them whichever way you wanted.

But in different areas, there were differing amounts of elemental mana. For example, an ocean would have prolific amounts of water mana and little to no fire mana. The opposite was true near a volcano, or maybe even around a wildfire.

So sometimes, certain spells couldn’t be used since there simply wasn’t enough of a particular type of mana. That’s where Creation spells came into play.

With those, you could generate a specific element and thereby generate something like fire in an ocean or water near a volcano.

However, Creation spells used far more mana than normal, and the spells to engage them were several times more complex. Unless necessary, Creation spells were very seldom used. Manipulation spells were always preferred, at least until one became powerful enough for it not to matter.

This was easy to understand, however, it was the way spells manipulated the elements that was a bit more difficult to understand.

Spells were like a set of instructions for an element to follow, like software driving the hardware of a machine. And the more complex the software, the more precisely and effectively you could control the hardware.

But increasing the complexity of a spell wasn’t as simple as adding more instructions. For warlocks, creating a spell wasn’t a matter of drawing the instruction set, but feeling the elements and beckoning it to follow your will.

And there were two things that determined how complex you could make any given spell. Your affinity for an element, and your understanding of an element.

Interestingly, Warlocks weren’t born with set affinities. Instead, it was their advancement process that would grant affinities.

When they first awakened, a warlock would choose which element they first wanted to start building. Umara told me that she first picked Air, hence why she was so good with dampening sound.

And for her first three advancements, she built her Mana Core. And the quality of the Mana Core’s development was determined by her understanding of the Air element. If she advanced without a clear understanding, then her affinity wouldn’t rise beyond a certain point.

However, having inherited her mother’s talent and receiving her guidance, she wasn’t allowed to advance before she achieved a perfect affinity for the air element. Apparently, this was the only reason she wasn’t well into Authority 5 by now.

But the solid foundation was important. She now had a perfect affinity for the air element and now, she was working toward building the fire element.

Her next advancement into Authority 5 would lay the foundation for another Mana Core that would grant her a higher affinity for the fire element. The affinity had already grown as much as it could during her time at Authority 4, so she was ready to advance.

The way it all worked interested me. An element wasn’t simply what its name was. For example, the water element didn’t only encapsulate water. It encapsulated all kinds of liquids as well as certain concepts like healing, dissolution, corrosion, poison, and more.

It was the same with air, which represented things like the wind, convection, polarization, pressure, and breathing.

However, there was something I noticed about everything that Umara told me about her understanding of the elements.

All she was doing was describing scientific concepts. And in a way, that’s really all she needed to know.

If you wanted to muffle sound, you had to know that sound propagates through a medium, most notably air. If you knew nothing about how sound worked, then you wouldn’t be able to muffle it.

It was just that warlocks understood these scientific concepts intuitively, whereas I understood it academically.

But that led me to an interesting thought.

What if I taught Umara about all the scientific concepts pertaining to her elements? If she understood it as it was, then how easily would she be able to figure out how to control things intuitively?

While the two might not directly translate into each other, it would still be an incredible advantage to have, especially for her decision making during battles. Not only that, but she would be able to develop special spells that achieved great effects only because she knows about obscure scientific principles.

For example, if she knew that combusting different gasses would result in flames of different temperatures, or that simply feeding oxygen to a fire would speed up the combustion process, then she could wreak untold devastation.

What about water? If she knew how the human body was composed mostly of water, especially the blood, would she be able to make spells that could manipulate blood?

Could she create vacuums of air, depriving her enemies of the ability to breathe? Could she amplify sounds so much that they burst the eardrums of anyone that heard it? Could she use something like sonar to do long distance scans of different landscapes?

The possibilities were endless, and since my mind had been strengthened to an amazing degree, I was better equipped to explain this stuff to her.

So I brought it up, just to test it out.

“Hey Umara, how difficult is it to modify a spell?”

“Modify? It depends, but generally not too difficult.”

“Alright, I want you to try something with your sound spell.”

“Okay.”

She nodded and came to where I was, the two of us sitting down in front of each other.

I explained.

“Alright, you obviously know that sound travels through the air. But do you know what sound is specifically?”

“Kind of? It’s hard to explain, but as far as I know, it’s like a wave that spreads through the air.”

“That’s true, but that’s not what creates sound. Here, you know how the ground can vibrate?”

“Yea.”

“Well that’s what sound does. It vibrates through the air, oscillating back and forth really fast. And we hear it because our ears have a bunch of little hairs that vibrate with the sound. Do you understand?”

“...I suppose. Not really the ear part, but the vibration part, yes.”

She nodded, thinking intently as I continued.

“Alright, well, those vibrations in the air can also go through other things, like water or the ground. Like… Here.”

I suddenly got up, going to the kitchen and grabbing a utensil and a cup.

I filled the cup with water before setting it on the table. Umara came over when I waved.

“Alright, you've definitely noticed before. But when I tap the edge of the glass, the water ripples.”

*Ding!*

I tapped the glass with the utensil, sending ripples across the water that disappeared in the center.

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“Those ripples are sound, or more technically pressure waves. Or a mechanical wave? Anyway, the water can conduct sound much better than air can. As for solid things like wood or metal, they conduct sound even better than water. So, here’s what I want you to try.”

I sat her back down and laid out my idea.

“I want you to make a spell that can transfer the sound in the air into the ground.”

“...Okay. I’ll try.”

Umara nodded and sat down, closing her eyes for several minutes.

After thinking for a while, she started to conjure spells in the air. She even brought out her staff.

Her staff was a short wooden stick that held a cluster of crystals at its top. The crystals were meant to act as a stabilizer for her spells. Without it, it was easier for a spell to dissipate. So while it technically wasn’t needed, in the heat of a battle, it acted as an important buffer.

I watched as dozens of spell formations appeared in the air, her eyes closed in deep concentration. In fact, I also heard some odd sounds from some of the formations, as if she were testing things out.

And then, her breathing suddenly hitched before she smiled. After that, a single formation appeared, writing itself out before activating.

After that, it was like I lost my hearing. No sound reached my ears, even when I spoke.

Umara opened her eyes, looking at me while speaking. But I couldn’t even hear myself, let alone her.

With a thought, my eyes suddenly brightened as I grabbed the cup of water, placing it on the floor.

Then, I yelled as loud as I could. And I watched as the water in the cup vibrated just slightly.

It was a success! Even Umara jumped and clapped.

Then, the spell deactivated, letting us hear normally.

“It worked! I figured it out!”

“Haha, you did!”

I laughed as she jumped toward me, wrapping me in a hug before jumping off again.

“I realized what you meant as I was making the formation. It really is just a vibration through the air! So all I had to do was direct all the sound into the solid ground without letting it escape. So anything within or beyond the sphere of influence can’t be heard.”

“Yea, I couldn’t even hear my own voice, though I could feel the vibrations in my head.”

“That was because the vibrations coming from your throat were grounded as soon as they came out of your mouth. I made it so the spell causes any agitated air to direct itself downward straight into solid ground. It was never allowed to make it to your ears.”

“Very impressive. I have such a smart girlfriend.”

“Well it’s not like I could have done it without your knowledge.”

We smiled as she hugged me, the two of us giving each other a long kiss before she separated again.

“So what else! This is new so I need to work on it, but what else can tell me about air?”

“I told you about sound, not air. But other than that, I’m not sure. You’d need to give me something specific. What other air spells do you have?”

“Oh, I have a book.”

With a wave of the hand, she brought out a large book as big as her torso, slamming it on the table.

It radiated mana with a thick leather cover and black pages. When she opened it, I saw all the dozens of spell formations inside, each of them labeled and described.

It was a spell book, perhaps a grimoire.

“This is my Grimoire.”

“Oh.”

“I have tons of spells in here. A lot of them are from my mother. She made me cast certain ones before hitting milestones as a way to gauge my knowledge. Here, I’ll tell you what they do, and you can tell me if there are ways to improve it.”

“Alright.”

I nodded and listened as she flipped the pages, going between tons of different spells.

As she landed on some of them, I started to get an idea of what she needed to know.

In particular, there were some basics that she found valuable. For instance, there was an entire periodic table of elements, each element a different atomic configuration. And most elements had a solid, liquid, and gaseous form.

I told Umara how the air around us was composed of several different elements that had different properties. I also told her how there were gas compounds like water vapor that could become airborne.

The point was that the air wasn’t simply air. It was a gas, and there could be countless different gasses. I told her of the main ones under the assumption that this world’s atmosphere was similar to Earth’s, speaking of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon, and others.

I even ended up drawing out the entire periodic table of elements. I had been forced to memorize most of it in school, so with my empowered mind, I was able to recreate it with no problem.

Like that, I went on a science lesson for close to three hours. The only reason I went on that long was because I got rather excited to share my knowledge and because Umara was so genuinely interested. The entire time, she would occasionally generate new spell formations to test certain things out, often coming back with resounding success.

However, as more time passed, she began to go from smiling to frowning.

She looked concerned as the night got deeper, so I stopped the lesson and asked.

“Are you alright?”

“...I don’t know. As I learn more, specifically about air, I’m figuring out that my perfect affinity isn’t actually perfect.”

“Well that doesn’t sound good. But how do you know it's not perfect? I thought you could feel whether or not it was perfect.”

“I could, and back then, I did in fact achieve a perfect affinity. The Mana Core gets created a certain way when perfection is achieved. Not only that, but with a more perfect mana core, one’s mana pool increases. I got mine measure multiple times and it’s been proven that my advancement was in fact perfect. But… I feel like there’s more there.”

“More than perfect?”

I asked with confusion. How could you do better than perfection?

But I did also agree. If she didn’t know about even some basic concepts, then how could she know all there was about the air element? How could perfection be achieved like that?

However, I noticed something else. Most of the things I taught her, while able to be applied to air, were still general scientific principles.

I suddenly spoke.

“What if it’s not that your air element isn’t perfect, but that your understanding of all the elements is getting better? I’m not only teaching you about air. I’m also teaching you about liquids, solids, and plasma, the other elements.”

“...Maybe. Air is only one part of a greater whole. To understand how it might relate to the other elements would be beyond perfect, since strictly understanding air by itself, even if perfectly, still isn't everything. It's the difference between knowing the pieces and knowing how they connect. Yea, I think that's it...”

Umara slowly started to smile, her eyes brightening.

“You’re a genius! That’s it! I- Oh no!”

“What?”

“Advancement!”

Umara shouted, and I watched as her body suddenly started to suck in all the surrounding mana.

My eyes widened. She was actually advancing!

“Crap! Uh, I know where to go!”

“I… I can’t…”

Umara’s eyes started to blur as she collapsed. It was like she was in a trance, unable to think straight.

I caught her before bolting straight out of my room.

I ran without hesitation, making my way back down the elevator to the lobby where I saw the Key Master.

He looked over with surprise.

“An advancement?”

“I need to get to Maxwell! Can we get a carriage?”

“Oh, certainly. Head to the market. It’ll be there.”

“Thank you!”

“Of course, John.”

He smiled before I bolted back into the elevator. Then, I dialed in the numbers for the market, the elevator descending.

Before long, we arrived and I saw a carriage pulling up to the plaza. I ran over where the driver had opened the door, jumping in.

“Polaris headquarters! Quickly!”

“On it!”

The driver shut the door and the carriage started moving, barreling down the street.

As we rolled, I tapped my Aerial, making a call.

“What?”

“Maxwell!”

I shouted.

“I’m on my way to you! Can you prepare the stuff you had for my advancement?”

“What? Why?”

“It’s Umara. She’s advancing right now!”

“...”

He was silent for a bit before sighing.

“Fine. I’ll prepare it. Does her mother know?”

“No, not yet.”

“...You’re making things difficult for me. Whatever. Just get over here.”

“Almost there.”

“Mm.”

With a groan, he ended the call. I then just waited anxiously.

Once we arrived, I threw the driver payment before rushing into the headquarters. Since the guards knew me well enough by now, I was able to head straight in.

And I saw Maxwell standing at the door, waiting for me.

“Get inside and put her in the chair. Hurry.”

“Yep.”

I ran inside and saw the chair, setting her down on it. After that, Maxwell stepped in and set up the ring, loading it with Authority 5 White Crystals.

Then, he tapped a few buttons before it activated. Once that happened, her body was hit by an overwhelming amount of mana.

After that, her eyes began to sparkle as the mana flowed through her body like a river.

With that, Maxwell sighed.

“It’s not perfect, but you got here fast enough for it to end very well. She just needs time.”

“Right. Thank God…”

I let out a deep breath, leaning against a bookshelf. I was tired from the running, but more than that, relieved that her advancement would go well.

Then, Maxwell suddenly dropped some interesting information.

“Warlocks go through things called enlightenments. I’ve seen this before. She’s gone beyond perfection in her element. This isn’t actually an advancement.”

“Oh. I’ve never heard of that.”

“Yea. More secrets. Anyway, we need to get in contact with her mother. She’s close to advancing anyway and this will trigger it soon. Can you contact her?”

“No, I never exchanged information.”

“Then contact someone who can get it. Like your friends. Maybe their parents can contact her on your behalf.”

“Alright.”

I nodded and thought for a second before dialing a number.

“Hello?”

“Feiden? It’s John.”

“Oh, hi John.”

“I need your help.”

I explained the situation to Feiden. And as soon as he understood, he hung up.

After that I waited as he called his parents. And it was several minutes later when I got a message from an unknown number.

“Hello John, this is Feiden’s father. Use this number to contact Duchess Talerria. I hope the situation is resolved well.”

“Nice!”

I smiled and saved the number. And once dialed, I called and heard the voice on the other end before long.

“Who is this?”

“Hello Duchess, this is John Cooper.”

“John? How did you get my number?”

“I got it from Feiden’s father. Listen, I’m with your daughter and she’s going through an enlightenment. She’ll probably advance soon so I wanted to let you know.”

“...Where are you?”

“Polaris Headquarters in the Black Spider Market.”

“Very well. I’ll be there soon.”

With a hurried voice, she hung up. After that, I took a seat nearby, waiting.