“Comprehending a material means comprehending its Ether,” Theodor explained. “First, look at it.”
“I am,” Kyle said as he looked at the copper.
“Take it into your hands.”
Kyle did just that.
“Move it around,” Theodor said. “What’s the color?”
“Eh, copper?” Kyle asked.
“What if you bring it to a stronger light source?” Theodor asked.
Kyle brought the piece of copper closer to the window.
At this moment, Kyle was in a warehouse he had rented. After all, all of this ore didn’t fit into his tiny room.
He held it to the sun and looked at it.
“Its color changed a bit, but not by much,” Kyle said.
“Remember that,” Theodor said. “Now, bring it to a dark place.”
Kyle went to a small closet near the side.
“Huh, strange,” Kyle said as he looked at the copper in the darkness. “I never noticed that.”
At this moment, the copper was green.
‘I’ve never heard of copper being green,’ Kyle thought. ‘Why the fuck would it be green, and why does this not feel weird? It almost feels like it’s obvious that it would be green.’
“Is the color different?” Theodor asked.
“Yes, it’s green,” Kyle answered. “It kind of feels wrong. It feels like it shouldn’t be green, but it’s just green. Yet, it also feels like it’s supposed to be green. It’s so weird.”
“This is because of your vision,” Theodor said. “Normal people can’t see in the darkness. As a Fighter, you can.”
“Normal people use their eyes to perceive light.”
“This is no longer true for more powerful people.”
“Wait, what?” Kyle asked. “I’m not seeing light?”
“You can see light, but you are not using it as a medium to see the world,” Theodor explained. “The more powerful you become, the more your body adapts to Ether.”
“Your eyes are not sensing the light anymore. They are sensing the Ether making up the light.”
“Since your eyes no longer need light to see things, they can also see in the dark.”
“However, the interpretation of color can be different at times.”
“In the dark, there is no light to reflect off the material. As you saw, the color changes when you look at the material in a brighter environment, and the same thing is true if you look at it in a darker environment.”
“Materials interact with the world. That means they also interact with Ether.”
“Light is a form of Ether. If you put the copper into a brighter spot, more Light Ether interacts with the copper. The copper reacts to the Light Ether and changes ever so slightly.”
“Wait,” Kyle said. “Why would it change? Its composition should remain the same, right?”
“That is correct,” Theodor said. “Its composition does not change.”
“However, the way the composition interacts with its surroundings changes.”
“Remember, you are seeing an aspect of the copper’s Ether. You can see how it interacts with the outside world. If you could see the copper’s actual Ether, you would already know how it works.”
“Okay,” Kyle said. “So, I have to learn what its Ether actually looks like to learn how it works, right?”
“Right.”
“Then, why am I not just doing that?” Kyle asked.
“Go ahead,” Theodor said. “You can also do it like that.”
“Oh,” Kyle said with surprise. “Okay, then.”
Then, he looked at the copper again.
Silence.
“Eh, how can I do that?” he asked.
“If you find an answer to that question,” Theodor said, “You will become the most powerful person in existence.”
“There’s no way?” Kyle asked.
“None that I know of,” Theodor said. “You can see how Ether interacts with the surroundings, but you can’t see the Ether’s pure form. When you see the copper, you are only seeing its physical aspect. You are not seeing all its other aspects.”
“In order to understand materials, you have to look at everything, understand everything, and finally, combine everything into one concept.”
“The more aspects you know of something, the more accurate your picture will be.”
Kyle rubbed his head in annoyance and sighed.
‘Why does this have to be so stupid?’ he thought.
As Kyle thought about it, he remembered a fun fact from high school.
‘Apparently, people knew about atoms for a long time. How long was it? 100, 200, 300 years? Something like that.’
‘Yet, the first photograph only happened sometime within the last century.’
‘That means people knew what atoms were and what they did before even seeing them.’
Kyle sighed.
‘Feels like I have to do the same thing.’
‘Gotta create the concept of an atom without being able to see one.’
‘Oh well, it sucks, but whatcha gonna do? Just gotta work some more.’
‘Nothing new.’
Kyle looked at the copper some more.
“That should be everything you can learn with visuals alone,” Theodor said. “Now, you need to focus on other aspects.”
“Start with sound. Tap it with different objects at different strengths and listen.”
Kyle did just that.
The sound was very mediocre and boring. 2/10.
Some minutes later, Theodor told Kyle to cut a thin strip of copper off the bigger chunk and do the same thing again. It sounded a bit better.
“You notice how the sound changed?” Theodor asked. “This is an important aspect.”
For some more minutes, Kyle made more sounds with the copper.
“Now, smell it,” Theodor said.
Kyle felt quite stupid sniffing a copper rock, but he did it anyway.
“Make some copper powder and smell it without trying to inhale it.”
Kyle did just that.
“Put it into water and smell it again.”
“Heat it up and smell it.”
Ten minutes later, Theodor told Kyle to feel it.
“Cool it down and feel it.”
“Heat it up and feel it.”
“Wait,” Kyle said. “How hot?”
“As much as you can handle,” Theodor said. “At the very least, you want to feel it when it is in a solid, liquid, and gaseous state.”
“Copper… gas?” Kyle asked. “That’s probably quite hot.”
“Yes,” Theodor said. “I know. I know that very well.”
“That’s why a powerful body is a great help.”
“What’s also a great help is a strong Center.”
“A strong Center should expedite the healing process of burns.”
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