Chapter 621 - Thoughts To Actions, Another Analogy

Fighting to stay awake, Eldrian tried to follow what Athtar said next. 

"While the analogy isn't perfect, it does help us to understand something crucial. Being alive does not qualify something as being a living entity."

"However, contrary to the arm analogy, mana isn't a part of a larger whole. If you do wish to classify it as such, then it would be more in line with how water is a part of nature. Not how your body parts are a part of your body."

"They might mean the same if you break it down what it means to be a part of something, but the understanding people get from how something is a part of a living thing and how something is a part of nature is completely different. And it is important to realize this."

Athtar paused, realizing that Eldrian would not be able to stay awake much longer he decided to conclude his explanation quickly. 

"From here you can go and break down what an arm, or indeed what mana exists out of. All those parts are a part of it, yet it does not necessitate that it must be a part of it."

"Lifeforce is one of these parts. Yet, lifeforce is something that cannot exist without life as should be clear from its namesake. And we have just confirmed that while mana is alive it does not live."

"This is why mana cannot stay in its natural form."

'Natural form!?' Eldrian's attention was clearly pulled to that, almost missing the following sentence.

"Hence, mana instead takes on the form of its environment, normally in the form of the elements but also quite often in more abstract forms."

'I see! It is similar to how I made the breakthrough with mana being mana. That it is energy and can just take different forms but stays the same. But I feel like my understanding is still too shallow.'

Athtar paused as he saw the glimmer of comprehension in Eldrian's eyes. It told him that the young elf had grasped at least some of what he had explained, yet the fatigue of his ordeal could not be ignored. 

Eldrian still had no idea what lifeforce truly was, a part of him believed that it was XP or at least linked to XP. And if it was, then it also explained a couple of other things. He needed clarification on this.

"I have a question." Eldrian paused as he fought off a yawn, "What is lifeforce then?"

"Are you sure that it is only one question?" Athtar smiled and jokingly answered his own question. "No, your right, it is just one. The answer however is too complicated."

"You can't say that..." Eldrian countered while fighting another yawn. 

"You are unfortunately in no state to wait for the explanation. I'll instead leave you with this: Consider how you control your arm, think of what you do and what is actually happening. The answer lies within this."

As Eldrian's eyes closed and he started falling to the side, this last sentence he tried his best to analyze it, but of course, he fell asleep before he could.

His wandering thoughts as he drifted into sleep were off the difference of commands. There were conscious and unconscious actions. For the conscious, there were two ways; where you 'think' or you could 'do'. Both resulted in action being taken, but through the need to think it was slower. 

It was similar to how he had defined his control of mana and dynamic casting. This was not new.

A simple example: Someone new at driving needs to consciously think about each action and purposefully will themselves to execute them in order. Whereas someone with years of experience does not consider each action but rather the outcome needed, and they would automatically execute the steps required. 

Unfortunately, sleep came before Eldrian could connect it with the next part. The part of how your thoughts are changed and transported to give the commands to the arm, and how those same thoughts change over time as you gain more experience in an action.

The act of muscle memory.

To consider the biology of such actions and changes, and to find the similarity between it and magic. To dive deeper into what thoughts and commands are. But that would be left for the time when he would come to. 

"What is your opinion of him?" Amnur asked after a few seconds after Athtar returned to their little group who had been discussing recent events while listening in on what Eldrian and Athtar had talked about.

Turning to look at the flaming dwarf whose fire was much weaker than normal, Athtar smiled. "He's quite talented. I get that you worry he would not be able to become a legend if we train him. However, the case of candidates not becoming legends isn't to be faulted on teaching them."

"It is not in the act of helping, guiding, or teaching that a person loses their path and becomes blocked from becoming a legend. It is in them becoming reliant on the person that is teaching them."

"It is when they lose the drive to search; when their reason for becoming a candidate becomes confused, become reliant, that is when they will fail. They will never be able to overcome the bridge between the ordinary and the legendary if it does not come from within themselves."

Looking at the two Alicorns, Athtar felt it was the perfect example- though it was rude to mention. "This is one of the reasons why it is so hard for magical creatures like our friends to reach the same level. Even if they do not mean to, the strength from their race and their natural abilities act as a crutch which they rely on."

"Certainly, it is a strong crutch, capable of even closing the gap between them and ordinary legends. But it is the reliance on it that blocks them from moving further." Turning to Zamia and Agamemas, Athtar apologized. "I don't mean to say you do not work hard-" He paused as Agamemas indicated for him to stop. 

"No, you are correct. Even if we never meant to rely on our racial abilities, it is something we are born with. We can't change it, it is part of us. We do not hate it, nor do we regret using it. It has saved our lives many times."

"But, if it is just that then why are they still unable? Their knowledge in their fields rivals my own in creation?" Amnur questioned. 

"It isn't always a matter of knowledge. Just look at Eldrian, he knows almost nothing. Yet he pushes on and discovers a new way of using magic almost instantly after having just made a breakthrough."

"Still, even if that is the case-"

"I understand your confusion, Amnur. Unfortunately, making the jump isn't a matter of understanding something or a question of effort. If it was we would be able to train people to become legends..." Athtar paused.

"To reach the level of legend is to surpass the limits of your natural personal ability. To go past what should be considered your limits."

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