Neo had a thoughtful look.
His Concept gave him the ability to essentially lock into a possible future and make it come true.
He once again realized Elizabeth was a genius. She came up with an innovative use of his Concept just by hearing the basic information about it.
“Well, while that sounds nice and all, I think we should start with Space Perception. Baby steps first,” Neo said.
“Okay,” Elizabeth nodded. “How do I help you gain Spatial Perception?”
“Just use Space Elemental manipulation, but at the level of low mastery. I will try to copy it with my Shadow Affinity.”
Elizabeth nodded.
She turned her non-elemental Energy into Space Elemental Energy. Silver motes of light appeared around her hands.
She sent them around Neo and made them encircle him.
Neo watched the Elementals carefully.
Space Affinity was powerful. It could help him in his battle against Tyr if he could use attacks like Space Render and Black Holes.
He raised his hand.
Shadows slithered around his fingers.
Neo concentrated.
What was Space?
The empty area before him?
No.
That emptiness was Void. It was not Space. Then, what was Space? Neo imagined Space as a sea of countless tiny particles.
Black motes of light began to materialize above Neo’s hand. They had a slight blue hue.
“You copied it quite fast.” Elizabeth was surprised. “This is just Elemental Manipulation. Let’s try a bit more.”
She controlled the Space Elementals to compress. They resisted at first. Her masterful control condensed them into a thin line.
She used that line to attack the ‘space’ that was already present there. It created a line-shaped tear in the air.
Neo followed her.
He tried to condense the mimicked Space Elementals.
He felt as if he was trying to put two solid objects at a single coordinate and have them overlap, which was supposed to be impossible.
Unlike Elizabeth’s Space Elementals that condensed with minor effort, his mimicked Space Elementals seemed to hate the idea of listening to him.
Beads of sweat rolled down his face.
There was a trick Neo had learned that allowed him to be better at Elemental Manipulation. It was how he progressed his Elemental masteries to Savant (High) within a year.
He forced his Intent into the Elementals.
He ordered them to listen and used his ungodly willpower to break apart their will.
During the Shadow Trial, Emma (Nyx) taught him two types of Incantations.
One was Harmony Pathway Incantations that everyone used, the other was Willpower Pathway Incantations that those with high willpower used.
Harmony Pathway Incantations taught awakeners to ‘request’ the Elementals to fulfill their demands. Often times, the Elementals would refuse, and magic would fail.
Willpower Pathway Incantations forced the Elementals to listen to the awakeners. It was done by forcing their thoughts into Elementals and using one’s willpower to bend their will.
Willpower Pathway was dangerous. If Elementals were angered as they were forced by awakeners, they would complain to the Elemental Supreme.
The Awakeners would be punished and suffer a fate worse than death.
It was why Neo never used Willpower Pathway Incantations. The risks outweighed the gain.
But what if Neo used Willpower Pathway Incantations on the Elementals he created, and not the ambient, naturally existing Elementals?
When one created Elemental Energy by turning non-elemental energy into Elemental Energy, it was actually done by transforming the non-elemental energy into Elementals.
These Elementals were not sapient like naturally occurring Elementals.
Due to this most didn’t realize that the Elemental Energy they created was a cluster of Elementals.
However, while these Elementals were not sapient, they still had instincts of their basic nature.
The instincts became the reason the mimicked Space was resisting Neo’s control.
He forced his thoughts into the Elementals’ minds.
Since they were created by him, they were a part of him and couldn’t complain to Elemental Supremes.
‘Is this slavery?’ Neo suddenly wondered. He shook his head and erased the useless thoughts.
Elementals, even natural ones, weren’t alive.
So it wasn’t slavery.
Controlling the mimicked Space Elementals became much easier after Neo forced his thoughts into their minds.
They had to listen.
The bluish-black motes condensed and formed a line.
Neo made the line burst, and the air (space) was torn apart in the shape of a line.
He was breathing heavily. His clothes were drenched in sweat.
“You… might be quite talented in Space Element manipulation.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“No, I’m not giving you fake praise,” Elizabeth said, noticing his expression. “The thing you just did needs Adept mastery of Space. You reached it instantly.”
Her words gave Neo pause.
Had he mastered mimicked Space up to Adept mastery?
Or had he copied her technique, which showed Adept mastery?
Neo recalled the Darkness’ words. It had asked him to use Shadow Supreme’s treasure and copy what he was seeing.
Thinking again, he had somehow learned Dimensional Shift just by watching Air Elementals.
The feat had been so impressive that it shocked Sphinx.
‘Is this the result of the treasure?’
An idea formed in his head.
‘If I can copy what I see, what are the limits of it?’
He turned towards Elizabeth, slightly excited.
“Can you show me more Space Elemental Manipulation techniques? Preferably of Expert mastery.”
Elizabeth nodded.
She created two sheets of Elementals, one along the ceiling and the other on the floor.
Just when Neo was wondering what she was doing, the Space Elementals above started to send out tiny packets of energy downwards.
The Elementals on the ground absorbed the packets of energy.
‘Huh? Elementals can be broken down into smaller particles?’
Before Neo could complete his thoughts, an overwhelming amount of gravity smashed on top of him.
He realized that whatever touched the tiny packets of energy was being pulled downwards.
“Looks like you can sense the sub-particles that are released by Space Elementals,” Elizabeth said. “We call it Graviton. Space Elementals are always releasing or absorbing Gravitons.
“Take a look at this.”
She changed the shape of Space Elementals and formed a ball.
With a slight effort, she compressed the ball of Space Elementals into a single point.
Instantly, the ball began to absorb the Gravitons being released by natural Space Elementals.
It created a powerful pull towards the point where Space was compressed.
It was a Black Hole.
Of course, it was weaker than its naturally existing counterpart. But the force was enough to make Neo feel like his body’s skin and cells were being forcibly pulled away.
Elizabeth snapped her fingers, and the Black Hole disappeared.
“You try it now.”
