<h4>Chapter 529 - Progress</h4>


    A few days passed in which Eldrian and Two constantly worried about their chat with Ziraili and why she had disappeared without any warning. They had tried and failed to contact her and as such, all they could do was wait.


    Eldrian did not let this concern of her disappearance and reason for it keep him from his training, he continued to practice feeling and controlling ether. Staying in Avgi as he did.


    Naturally, he also caught up with Erik; this, plus letting Ceph be with his parents for a while were his reasons for staying.


    Akarui had sessfully broken through and reached Tier 1. Which might not sound like much, but considering everything it was quite amazing.


    She was only eight, her birthday was a month ago. To reach Tier 1 at such an age was amazing, but on top of that her ss was anything but normal. It was such a strong ss that it would have killed her if not for Erik and their luck in meeting the Treants.


    She was an Eri Fysi, someone who was naturally entuned with the world. Eldrian hade to realize that Erik was mistaken in what he had exined and understood of her talent and the hidden ss it was. It was far bigger than just being entuned with mana.


    ''Zamia, why-''


    ''I didn''t share this with them because they are not like you.'' Zamia replied, ''You seem to have taken it upon yourself to protect everyone you hold dear, and slowly it seems you are starting to even want to protect everyone, not just those close to you.''


    ''Akarui, she is just a child. And Erik, he does not wish to fight. Sharing this with them will ruin her childhood and break his spirit. I would rather let them have a few years of peace and happiness.''


    While Eldrian could understand her reasons, he did not know if he agreed. Personally, he would rather know of the impending doom and do his best to change it. But, that might not be possible and could mean your struggle was in vain.


    Due to this, Eldrian had also kept the news to himself for now and instead focused on just celebrating the small victory. The victory in that her life was not in imminent danger.


    And to celebrate this, he and Ceph even went to get some party essentials from the nearest city. The Alicorns, Unicorns, and a few Pegassi had even joined in on at one point and both Ceph and Akarui had been beside themselves.


    Seeing this, Eldrian had decided to keep it to himself for a while longer. Not even sharing this with Ceph upon seeing how close the two were.


    After the party, Eldrian had also started going on hunting runs with Ceph. Where they would work on their teamwork andmunication, with Eldrian practicing sending messages and slowly gettingfortable with how a mental connection was made.


    He also practiced his control of ether in these hunts.? Unlike with elemental mana, he had no spells for ether. Just some spells that made use of it. However, he knew he didn''t need spells.


    Spells were needed only if you wanted a repeatable, guaranteed effect to happen. They also helped in increasing the density of mana, which Eldrian now understood was what actually determined a spell''s Tier.


    It was not about the amount of mana, but rather how dense the mana could be packed.


    Regardless, he could still control the mana and slowly practice how it flowed both outside and inside of him. Even realizing that he could let it merge with him much like elemental to give him certain physical boosts.


    Eldrian also learned that all mana was equal. There was no quality of mana, though there were states of said mana.


    He had always known this subconsciously, but he had made this conscious connection after being reminded that the elements in the real world were all equal, with elements referring to atoms and what makes them up. Such as protons and electrons.


    They did not differ from one another and neither did mana; at least not within a type, elemental or other types of mana.


    Eldrian hadn''t been able to get to the bottom of how elemental had different variations, but he had confirmed that both elemental, raw, and ether have active, passive, and exhausted states.


    He was also constantly aware that if something was not in its passive state, then it was not in its natural state. He assumed that it didn''t matter what aspect was used but rather that when the environmental mana tipped too much into either active or passive, then chaotic energies would appear.


    ''Creation is likely due to this. By merging the different variations of elements and forcing them to fuse I likely created an imbnce of activeness, chaotic activeness.''


    ''But, this also brings in the question of what the chaotic energies'' true purpose is. The name of the spell must hint that their purpose is not destruction, but creation.''


    ''However, regardless of this it also means that the chaotic storms are not just caused by the demons'' and monsters'' usage of different aspects. But rather their rampant use of it.''


    ''Elemental mana is constantly brought into bnce with the environment, which is why it is the most stable and abundant type. Ether, it seems to not exist in nature. Which means it is unnatural and I should be wary.''


    Naturally, raw mana was a mystery. Eldrian could feel it, and he had it running through him. However, he could not do anything with it itself. If he wanted to use it, it had to be turned into another type of mana.


    This happened naturally in nature and also when he used mana.


    Eldrian had no idea what the source of raw mana was. But, it was likely the source of all mana and all magic. Eldrian was also aware that while ether seemed to not be in nature, he could not conclude the same of the other types just because he could not see them.


    With all this knowledge, he slowly forged his own path in how he would handle feature advancements.


    Wishing to rid spell modules was dumb, wishing to rely on them was also dumb. Instead, he now understood that like one weapon was better than another for one scenario, one way of casting was better than another in different scenarios.


    ...


    "Zamia, can you help me with this?" Eldrian called out as he lost control and his new spell module erupted inside his envisioned mental room. Causing him a massive headache and also giving him a bleeding nose.


    Luckily, this time his eyes and ears were intact. Truly, only a Chosen could attempt such a wild and self-harming way of making a new spell.


    "Really now, you can''t just do things blindly. There is a reason why even we make use of some of the mathematics developed to create spells." Zamia said as she healed Eldrian with a wave of her hand.


    "If I had the time," Eldrian replied and Zamia had no counter to it. Indeed, they did not have the time for Eldrian to spend years learning the required knowledge and skills to safely adapt and make spells.


    Sure, she could help him by doing the calctions for him, and she had offered. But Eldrian had declined. Understanding that if he grew to rely on her, then he would always rely on her. Asking for advice was okay, asking for her to do the homework for him was not.


    AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.