True sovereign

"Even the lust artifact may not help me regain my element? Why are you so sure of it, the artifact wasn't supposed to be able to grant me the ability to copy others abilities, but yet, I can copy abilities" argued Alex.

Lilia shook her head at his statement and replied.

"What you need to understand is that severing your bond with your element is quite severe, when you break the bond that connects you with your element, it's like you abandon your right to use this element, and likewise, the element will also abandon you completely, which means that even if you somehow had the means to delete this element from your list of abilities and then recopy it, the element will still reject you"

'Hmm, it does make sense I guess' thought Alex, but he still decided to ask the system if it was really the case.

The system pretty much confirmed what Lilia said, making Alex understand that if he were to take the sovereign route, he might potentially lose his newly acquired smoke ability.

His face got somber as he imagined himself losing the smoke ability, not only would he have lost his hard-earned points, but he would lose the element while he never truly had a chance to try it in an actual battle.

In the end, he sighed and decided to hear out what was this last step before deciding what route he would take.

"What happen after I break the chain that bonds me with my element ?" Asked Alex.

"After you break the chain that bonds you with your element, one of two things will happen, the first thing is that your affinity is not enough, and you will permanently lose your ability, or your affinity with your element is quite decent, in which case your element will reach out to you".

"Reach out to me ?" Asked a confused Alex.

"Yes, reach out to you, what you need to understand is that element are not just mindless energies, they also have their own will"

"Mm, I once read something that said something similar."

"Good, I wouldn't need to explain it. If we consider that element has their own will, we could summarize your relation with your element like that: your affinity is like a relationship with your element, the higher your affinity with your element, the closer you are to it, so when you suddenly cut your bond to it, your element will reach out to you, it's comparable to when you suddenly cease to receive news of one of your closed ones, you will reach out to them and see if everything is going well, right? That's about the same thing with your element".

"I see, but what will happen when my element reaches out to me ? Will I directly become a sovereign?"

"No, your element reaching out to you is actually the start of the third and final step towards either becoming a true or false sovereign" answered Lilia while shaking her head.

"True or false sovereign ? What is the difference between the two?" Asked Alex, feeling like he was asking the same question from the start.

"Being a true or false sovereign is actually the result of you either succeeding or failing the third step". Clarified Lilia.

"And I assume the false sovereign are those that have failed the third step, right?"

"Indeed, those that fail the third step are called false sovereign due to them possessing an affinity and a level of control above those that had taken the classic route, but below those of true sovereign".

"I get it, however you have been talking about the third step, what is it exactly ?" Asked Alex with an intrigued tone.

"Like I already said to you, the sovereign route is the one you take when you want to subjugate your element to your will and enslave it, this action is basically the third step. After your element reaches out to you, you actually have a choice to make, the first one is to willingly reconnect with your element, in which case you will build a new relationship directly with your element without having a chain that connects you to it, thus becoming a false sovereign."

"The second choice however is to try and impose your will over your element, basically you try to turn your element into your slave, but your element won't obviously sit tight and watch you do as you please, so it will fight back, if despite that you manage to overpower it, you become a true sovereign. If not, and you actually lose the battle, then you become a false sovereign".

Lilia exhaled, coming to the end of her explanation.

Alex lingered for a moment then asked:

"You mentioned that I would need to battle it out with my element, how does it work ?"

"It's as I said, you just try to impose your will over your element, it's actually a mental fight, the one with the stronger will and desire to make the other succumb will be the winner" explained Lilia.

"I think it's kind of cruel" sighed Alex after a while.

"Hmm? What are you talking about ?" Asked Lilia.

"I'm talking about the last step of the sovereign route. If the elements really had their own will, then the third step is actually kind of heartless, using your metaphor, you said that my element is like one of my closed ones that try to reach out to me after not having news of me, right? Don't you think it's cruel to attempt to enslave it," Asked Alex with a slightly Disturbed expression.

"Hmm, I never thought about it this way, but you are kind of right. Unfortunately if you want to become a true sovereign and have absolute control over your element, you don't have another choice" said Lilia.

"Sigh, I guess you are right" replied Alex.

Since everything was said, Lilia took out the nebula stones and placed them all around Alex that was sitting in a meditation position.

"Hey, before the process starts, can you tell me what kind of sovereign you were" asked Alex, not even bothering to think that maybe Lilia had taken the classic route, he knew very well his wife and understood that she wouldn't in no way settle with the classic route, and as he thought.

"Why, of course I was a true sovereign" said Lilia with pride.

"Haha, if so, then as your husband, I will also be gunning to become a true sovereign".