Chapter 760: Chapter 722: Elemental Mastery (Part 2)

Her eyes brightened briefly, then hesitated again, as if pondering whether to come over and sit.

Duke showed no sign.

Lis pursed her lips and sat in the fourth row near the aisle, not too far and not too close, precisely three or four rows diagonally in front of him.

After settling down, she took out a brand-new notebook and a feather pen from her fabric bag and placed them neatly on the table.

After a while, the entrance suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Duke looked up.

A witch was walking in from outside the door.

She looked to be in her early thirties, tall and slender, with black stockings on her long legs, and wearing a dark blue magic robe that was sharply tailored. The hem of the robe lifted gently with her steps, revealing glimpses of her round, long legs.

The most striking feature was her eyes, not ordinary eyes, but deep blue ones that seemed to contain the entire night sky. Just a fleeting glance with her would instinctively make one want to look away.

She stood at the front of the podium, her gaze slowly sweeping over every face in the classroom.

Those deep blue eyes seemed like the most precise detectors, taking just a glance to see through everyone’s secrets. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Everyone in the classroom instinctively sat up straight.

The witch nodded slightly.

"Aisling Dawnchaser." Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it clearly reached everyone’s ears, "For the next four weeks, once a week, the course time will be notified via badge, and the location usually remains unchanged. I’ll be here to teach elemental control."

"Let’s begin."

She turned around and raised her right hand.

The giant screen wall behind the podium suddenly lit up.

A three-dimensional star map slowly emerged, not just any star map, but a plane topology map filled with countless points of light flickering, interconnected by hair-like streams of energy.

"You all come from different environments, different forces." Aisling’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it clearly reached everyone’s ears, "But one thing, all of you have been doing since the first day you stepped onto the path of wizardry—meditation."

She paused.

"What is meditation?"

No one answered.

She didn’t need an answer either.

"Meditation is about absorbing free energy particles, transforming them into your own magic power, and slowly increasing spiritual power in the process." She turned around, her gaze sweeping over the entire room again, "Now, where do these free energy particles come from? Why are some places suitable for cultivation and others not?"

Aisling raised her hand and clicked on the screen wall.

The star map zoomed in, finally settling on a model of a typical plane.

Countless tiny light points floated slowly within the model, varying in color—pale blue, scarlet, cerulean, ocher, silver-white, ghostly purple.

"Every plane is filled with free energy particles, varying in quantity, concentration, and type." Aisling’s voice was steady, as if stating the most ordinary fact, "Wind, fire, water, earth, light, dark—the six basic elements, plus some variants, like thunder, ice, wood, and metal. The distribution of these particles depends on the plane’s composition, history, and its connections to other planes."

She pointed to those color-varied points of light within the model.

"The denser the concentration of energy particles, the faster the cultivation. This is why major powers compete for certain locations, why they fight over resource planes."

"And you—" Her gaze fell on a young warlock in the front row, "Tell everyone, which elemental faction are you mainly cultivating?"

The warlock was slightly startled, then replied: "Wind element, Lady Aisling."

Aisling nodded. She raised her hand and gently swiped on the screen wall, causing the pale blue points within the model to suddenly light up, converging into a dynamic path surrounding the warlock’s projection.

"A Level 2 Wind Elemental Mage, capable of efficiently and extensively controlling the surrounding wind elemental particles in battle." She looked at the warlock, "If two wind element mages were to duel now, what would determine the winner?"

The warlock thought for a moment: "Elemental affinity? Spiritual power strength?"

"Not entirely correct."

Aisling’s response was brisk and decisive.

"It’s control ability." She withdrew her gaze and looked at the whole audience, "Elemental affinity determines how many elemental particles you can attract, spiritual power strength determines how many you can mobilize, but control ability—decides what you can do with these particles."

She paused.

"In a duel between mages of the same element, victory often depends on who has more precise control over the element, who can extract more energy from the environment, who can make their spells consume less and be more powerful."

The screen wall shifted, displaying a scene of two mages dueling. The surrounding pale blue particles were fiercely contested by the two, forming two dynamic trajectories in the air, intertwined, collided, and torn apart by each other.

"A Level 2 Elemental Mage, no matter how strong the spiritual power, cannot entirely convert all specific elemental particles in the surrounding environment for personal use." Aisling pointed at those contested particles, "The total amount is limited, and how much you can seize depends on your control ability. The stronger your control ability, the larger your share, and the less your opponent can use."

She turned, her gaze sweeping over Vera, over Leon, over those students of the Star Tower.

"This is why, for an elemental mage, training in control ability is crucial."

Someone raised a hand in the audience.

Aisling nodded slightly.

The hand belonged to a young warlock from the Star Tower, his appearance handsome and his tone respectful: "Lady Aisling, what if the environment itself is restricted? For instance, in an area with sparse elemental particles, or deliberately suppressed by an opponent?"

"Good question."

Aisling raised her hand and swiped on the screen wall, changing the display.

The quantity of pale blue particles around the two dueling mages suddenly decreased, becoming as thin as remnants of clouds after a storm.

"One of the most common tactics against elemental mages is to restrict the environment." Her voice was calm, "Choosing a battlefield in a location with sparse elemental particles, or using a method to drain specific elements around, can greatly weaken the strength of elemental mages."

She looked at the Star Tower student.

"Even more ruthless—arrange an environment specifically to counter your attributes. Fire element mages fight underwater, water element mages thrown into a volcanic crater. Such examples abound throughout history."

Aisling raised her hand, the scene on the screen wall shifted again.

This time, there were no two mages dueling in the scene, only one mage.

He stood upon a vast ocean, surrounded by water elemental particles so dense they nearly solidified, encircling him like subjects flanking a king.

Opposite him, another mage opened his hands, and those previously flocking to his opponent’s water elemental particles seemed to hear a higher command, instantly solidified, then dispersed in reverse.

"But all this, in front of a Level 3 Mage, is just a joke."

Aisling’s voice remained calm, yet something seemed to flash in those deep blue eyes.

"A Level 3 Mage, masters rules."

She paused, allowing those four words to sink in, sinking into everyone’s heart.

"A Level 3 Mage who has mastered water element rules needs only a thought. It can make you, a Level 2 Water Elemental Mage, completely unable to use any water elemental particle around."

"Not just failing to seize, but completely unable to use."

"Like this."

She raised her hand and lightly clenched it.

The blue particles around the Level 2 mage on the screen wall instantly extinguished.

Vanishing completely, as if they never existed.

Silence filled the room.

Aisling withdrew her hand, her gaze drifting over each young face.

"This is why you stand here."

"This is why the Six-Ring Tower is willing to give you three years."

"This is why—from this moment on, rule realization is a question you must start considering."

Realizing rules, mastering rules, is the key to ascending to a Level 3 Mage.

All those present came from various backgrounds, most of them Level 2 Mages.

For these individuals, Level 2 has never been the end, merely a starting point.