Chapter 600 Ice Sanctum
The ice sanctum was filled with majesty and beauty. Its temperature was insanely cold, below freezing point, and if not for his meager ability to control the ice element, Atticus would have long since frozen.
Atticus went through another wave of murmurs and chatter as he followed Isolde through the sanctum.
"What the..."
However, there was a major difference this time around. Atticus had no idea why, but every single person he saw in the ice sanctum was female.
They all had cold and calculating demeanors and were all beautiful.
Isolde noticed Atticus' confusion and decided to address it.
"It's something we also don't fully understand, but it is extremely rare to find a male ice elementalist."
Atticus felt "rare" was an understatement. He couldn't spot even a single male no matter how long he looked.
The walk went uninterrupted until they reached a small lakeside. Atticus couldn't help but recall his time at the water sanctum when he saw the lake. But he could spot a major difference—the water was emitting steam.
Despite the low temperature of the sanctum, the water of the lake was still scorching hot.
The lake was free of anyone, and only Isolde and Atticus were in the area.
Isolde turned towards Atticus and spoke,
"This will be where your first lesson will take place. Considering how fast you finished the other sanctums, I think it's safe for me to assume that you're an incredibly fast learner, so let us begin immediately."
Isolde turned and faced the steamy lake.
However, she was the sanctum master, and she would have to teach geniuses whether she liked it or not, plus this was on Magnus's order. There was no "no" when it came to Magnus.
Isolde watched Atticus without making a sound.
Meanwhile, Atticus had already entered a deep state of focus. Isolde's explanation had been brief, but it had covered everything he should know about the formation of ice.
He hadn't understood it at first, but after Isolde's explanation, he realized why there was a hot lake in an ice sanctum. It was all in the process of lowering the water molecule temperature.
It would seem as though ice elementalists didn't have the ability to directly lower the temperature of water molecules; instead, what they did have was the ability to absorb heat using the mana in the air.
The process was pretty straightforward: the mana in the air interacts with the water molecules, thereby absorbing heat from it, reducing its temperature, and turning it into ice.
The water molecules around this scorching lake were, as expected, very hot. It made figuring out the process of forming ice easier but actually replicating the process harder.
Atticus released a deep exhale, his focus peaking.
Then, he formed a connection with the hot water molecules in the air in front of him and began the process.
Upon forming said connection, Atticus was able to immediately determine that using the ice element, he couldn't control the water molecules. So, he did what he could.
The water molecules reacted with the mana in the air, and the scorching heat contained in each one of the molecules began getting sucked away.
The process was rapid, and Atticus instantly felt the temperature of the molecules dropping at a fast rate. In the next second, a small layer of frost started appearing on each of their forms.
As soon as Atticus noticed this, he attempted to join each one of them together and form something, but he immediately failed. The molecules weren't joining together no matter how much he tried.
Atticus stopped connecting with the molecules and immediately started thinking. 'If the molecules don't join together, then how do I create ice?'
Isolde stared at Atticus without saying anything. She left the explanation of the creation of ice as vague as possible to see if Atticus was what they said he was. She was a bit shocked he had been able to lower the temperature in the first place but quickly regained her composure.
'He will have to ask me how to do it,' she thought.