Chapter 217

[[Come what may, Brancie, Umbridge ain’t bad, look at how little effort it took to forcefully Evolve her Fire Affinity, a simple flick of the wrist, and BOOM, I have tried for YEARS to do that. Now that I can see the Mana particles and how they adapt to the commands given by the user, it’s like I jumped hundreds of miles ahead of where I was 10 minutes ago. How could I possibly let that go over a bit of exposure?]] Cynrik replied, shoving Selene, who was in the middle of trying to crawl into his lap, away.

Selene gave a small whimper as her eyes held a deep hunger for Cynrik, but every attempt she tried to make, was instantly shut down by the boy.

“I think that is enough for Fire and Lightning.” Then, pulling the student’s attention away from the hundreds of thin lightning bolts crackling in the Air, Morningdale flicked her wand again and released the Mana, allowing the particles to calm back down and the Lightning to vanish.

“Up next is water; one thing to note is at our source, we are technically beings made majorly of this Element. Therefore, as humans, we tend to be able to advance further along with a Water Affinity than other races and thus can quickly become very powerful in a shorter amount of time. At the start, however, water is known to be one of the weaker of the Basic Grade Affinities since its use is minor compared to other elements. However, no Element can genuinely be considered weak, as once it grows in power, it becomes the formidable Ice Element.”

Like before, Morningdale took control of one of the four remaining orbs and flung it into the Air above the now recovered students. The orb expanded into a majestic and glistening sheet of floating water with a splash.

At this, Benny’s eyes lit up with excitement. He had always felt lacking compared to the other members of his party when it came to his Affinity. Cynrik and Brance were able to cause massive amounts of damage and destruction, and his little sister could not only move but create images with her Psychic Affinity. However, all he could do was make water balls and walls, and he really only had one offensive skill.

His Affinity made him feel like the Parties hydration station.

“Similarly to how you can raise the temperature of Fire, those with an Affinity for Water Mana can lower its temp considerably, with the end goal being subzero temperatures, Evolving the particles from their liquid manifestation into one of a solid nature.” Like before, Morningdale made a swift double-action gesture with a flick and caused a chain reaction in the moving wall above.

Crack CRACK CRACK

Instantly the temperature plummeted in the room as the water changed state into a massive block of ice that cracked loudly as it floated harmlessly above the class, occupying the entire space from wall to wall.

Benny, who could see his own breath as he exhaled, practically vibrated in excitement on the opposite side of Brance, who smiled as he watched.

[We should really give that Ice Orb to Benny soon, just look how happy the kiddo is.] Cynrik, too, noticed how Benny, for the first time, showed a childish interest in something other than combat strategy and spoke up about it.

[We did say that we wanted to wait for him to reach Tier-2 before handing over another Affinity to him, but what do we do about Gabby. We came to the agreement that they both get their 2nd Affinity simultaneously.] Propping his chin on his palms on the desk, brance said while watching the demonstration the overly proud Morningdale was putting on.

[About that, have you not noticed she already picked out what Element she wants? You’ve been spending practically every minute with her since we got to the Academy. Have you really not seen her scrolling through the online shop looking at Affinity Gems?] As Cynrik replied, he swatted at Selene’s hand once again. Since they had all gotten back in their chairs after the Lightning was dispursed, Selene had been sneakily attempting to molest his Abs again. While effortless to smack her hands away, Cynrik was slowly getting annoyed by how it was becoming a habit to do it.

[I mean, she is always looking at stuff on there, mainly new bows or arrows, there was even a point she showed interest in a hidden weapon similar to your Assassins tools, but no, I haven’t caught her looking at Affinity Gems yet, why what is she looking at?] Brance tilted his head to the side and calmly watched Morningdale break apart the Ice block into snowflakes by flourishing her want once again.

[She had been on the fence about either Earth or Wood. Now, this is only a theory, but I assume she wants Earth to have a matching Element with you, but then again, it could just be so she can use it for gaining the high ground advantage during combat. And when it comes to wood, I can only guess, but maybe she wants to take it so she can become a secondary Healer for the party.] Cynrik stated while brushing off the snowflakes accumulating on his shoulders and hood.

[She did overhear our argument the other day about picking up a Cleric; it’s fair to come to the conclusion that she doesn’t want us to argue and is taking it on herself.] Casting a glance at Gabby, who was in the midst of gleeful excitement that it was snowing indoors, Brance couldn’t help but chuckle.

[Hey, have you noticed her maturity level has increased several-fold since her Advancement to Tier-2?] Noticing that his brother was sneakily stealing glances at Gabby, Cynrik poked at him.

[Yeah, if I didn’t know how old she really was, I’d think she was our age. It’s the INT and MIND stats at work. In a world where you can be killed at any minute if an Egress spawns above, it makes sense that the Central System hub has a means of forcing kids to grow up rapidly.] Adjusting his posture so he could scratch the back of his head, Brance threw out a theory of his own.

He had noticed that although Gabby and Benny had kept their childhood innocence, how they thought and handled situations was exceptionally mature, putting their mental age in the high teens to early 20s.

[My thoughts exactly. While the advancements allow you and I to accelerate our thinking and processing, it seems that for the natives, it forces them to grow up, becoming adults much quicker. Setting aside the physical aspect, listening to how they speak now makes it hard to believe they are 10 and 11 years old. Yet it also explains why kids can get married here, at least in our country, at 14 with parental consent.] Cynrik shuffled in his seat, putting some space between him and Selene, before continuing the thought further.

[It is worrisome, though, because other than effectively cutting a person’s childhood in half, it also means the adults will have significantly higher expectations of their children. And, well, it also explains why Mom is constantly cracking jokes that aren’t really jokes, about you and Gabby getting married. At first, I thought it was only her being a dork, but now…it makes too much sense. So you better be careful around our parents and the Sanfords, or you may get married before you turn 18.] Cynrik smirked as he saw Brance stiffen at the thought of marriage; however, soon, his attention was dragged away from teasing his brother as Morningdale dissipated the ice and began her demonstration of Wind Affinities.

“The Wind Affinity is a bit different from other BSG Elements. Unlike Fire, Water, Earth, or Even Wood, it doesn’t have any easy to learn Solo Evolutions; instead, it is one of the most adaptable of the Five Basic Elements and the easiest to fuse with others, creating a new Element entirely.” So, just like the other two times, Morningdale sent a green orb into the Air and kicked up a miniature hurricane of winds, fluttering everyone’s hair and uniform.

“Wind Mana can be silent, yet loud, soft, yet forceful, visible yet also invisible. Its Evolution is into that of Sound Affinity, as the two share a very close bond. Without Air, sound can’t travel; without sound, one is left in a world void of everything but sight and touch. Unfortunately, I am unable to demonstrate the Sound Affinity as even I find it challenging to navigate the particles and control them. So instead, I will show you the effect Wind Affinity users have on both Water and Fire.”

Using her wand to control the air currents in the room and her free hand to manifest an orb of Fire Mana, Professor Morningdale caused friction between the two, resulting in two very different effects above the class while narrating.

“The Elements of Fire and Wind can mutually affect each other in two different ways. For starters, if your control over Wind particles is weaker than your control over Fire, the Fire Mana particles will take priority and grow in power. However, in contrast, if your Wind Affinity is stronger, you can neutralize the Fire particles by creating a vacuum, sealing off the food source of the Fire Mana.”

Students oohed and ahhed as a magical display occurred 30 feet above their heads, yet the members of MyrkLys were unimpressed. Cynrik had basically been doing similar actions for years. As a result, Benny, Gabby, and Brance had seen just about every strange combination, from Fire Cyclones to literally controlling the path of flames by moving the air currents.

By the time Morningdale finished with the flames, she had called forth the orb of pure Water Mana and continued her lecture on the effects of the two elements on each other.

“Wind and Water share a special relationship as they can fully support each other. From creating whirlpools and Water Cyclones….”

WHOOSH

At her command, the orb grew in size and split off into two distinct formations, one of a towering tornado of water and the other an inverted cyclone representing a whirlpool.

“But that is not the only application the two have, for if you can reach the Fusion State, you can achieve a Unison of the two Elements, creating a completely new Affinity…Storm!”

BOOOOOOMMMMM

Wearing a cocky smile, Professor Morningdale slammed her hands together, smashing the two cyclones into each other. Then, with several gestured waves of her wand, she manifested a massive dark cloud above everyone’s head.

CRACKLE, BOOM

[[This…wait a fucking second, is that Lightning rippling in the cloud? How is that possible? I know how the water cycle works and how Lightning is generated in nature but isn’t it tied to the Fire Element.]] Cynrik exasperatedly said in the group mind link.

Morningdale soon answered his concerns.

“Now, I know some of you have already noticed, but the Storm Affinity doesn’t contain just wind and rain. If you look closely, you will also notice the presence of an extraordinary natural reaction…the formation of Ambient Lightning.”

“If you observe these flashes carefully, you will notice a distinct difference between what I demonstrated earlier and what is before your eyes.” While she spoke, Morningdale’s eyes flicked to Cynrik, who had pulled down his hood and observed the flashes within the storm cloud.

“Mr. Ragnarsson, please inform the class of what you have noticed.” Then, smiling at how intently Cynrik was staring at the clouds with a strange light in his eyes, Professor Morningdale called on him, startling Cynrik, whose mouth opened and closed like a fish before answering.

“Yes, Professor, it’s the color and collection of particles. Lightning Evolved through the Fire Affinity has a dark blue, almost violet hue to it, and a certain…how do I say this…ferocity, like an angry monster, wild and unrestrained. Meanwhile, if you examine the naturally occurring Lightning from the Storm Affinity, it is pale yellow and has a strange softness that hides violence. It’s similar to how a lightbulb can’t hurt you if you touch it, but if you stick a fork into the wall socket, you’re in for a “shocking” surprise. The warm light it emits is vastly different between the two types, so it’s almost like night and day.” Then, standing up and projecting his voice with his Wind Affinity so the whole class could hear, Cynrik gave a detailed description of what he was witnessing.

“EXCELLENT OBSERVATION MR. RAGNARSSON, 15 Merit Points for your astute findings.”

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