Chapter 13: The Hidden Properties of Elements

Let's not talk about how we went to the council building to ask Crestvale Republic for help. They needed time to contact their country and find out what's going on, so we couldn't get any useful answers quickly.

We thought about going to Crestvale Republic ourselves, but we wouldn't be much help in a place we don't know. Plus, Adrian can't fly and we can't leave him behind. So we had to stay in Crescent City and wait for news.

But we ended up waiting for two or three days. During this time, we still didn't hear anything about Mia and Reed. We even lost track of Nicola.

We didn't just sit around doing nothing though. We found ways to pass the time. Crescent City has many different types of schools and academies. Besides the Earth Academy and Soul Academy we visited before, we spent our free time during the day sneaking into interesting academies to listen to classes.

Today is the third day...

"What is the essence of Battle Qi?" the teacher at the Battle Qi Academy asked, pointing to the words "Battle Qi" on the blackboard.

This place felt much more normal than the weird "cult-like" feeling of the Soul Academy. It looked a lot like a regular university classroom.

"I know!" An eager student raised his hand and stood up to answer. "Battle Qi is actually a mix of all elements. It only forms when the ratio of each element is just right and balanced."

"Very good answer!" The teacher nodded, pleased. Then he asked a second question. "Why can't mages awaken Battle Qi?"

"I know this too!" The same student stood up again without waiting to be called. "The human body is made of different elements, but the ratio is different for everyone. When one element is much higher than others, that person shows affinity for that element and can become a mage. So mages can never have balanced elements, and Battle Qi users can never have element affinity."

The student kept answering even though the teacher tried to stop him.

"That's mostly correct... but Fred, you should sit down now. You're preventing other students from speaking," the teacher said, looking a bit helpless. He seemed annoyed that his student was too eager, but he agreed and added an example.

"For instance, this young lady here is probably a light mage, right? That's because she has a very high ratio of light elements in her body, so she can use light magic. But Battle Qi is completely different. It needs the user's body to have balanced elements, with no element standing out. This makes awakening very rare, and Battle Qi users can't have any element affinity or use any magic."

The "student" he mentioned was actually me. What bad luck to be called out! It's strange for a "light mage" to sit in on a Battle Qi class. When all the students turned to look at me, I felt very uncomfortable. I quickly pulled Adrian out of the classroom when the teacher wasn't looking.

"The Sage Council really is the top human research group. Even though I've awakened Battle Qi, I'm hearing a lot of theories for the first time," Adrian said with admiration after we left the Battle Qi Academy.

"Yeah, I guess only the Sage Council studies these things so deeply. So even though there are many students learning here, it's still just a drop in the bucket compared to the whole continent's population," I said. Then I thought of something else. Even though these element theories don't sound very complex, don't forget that the average education level in this world is much lower than on Earth.

Forget about all these academies in Crescent City. In small towns or villages, many people can't even read. How could they know about the "true nature of the world"?

In this world, almost all education is provided by church-funded schools or a few public academies. And that's just basic education. Higher education is very rare. Regular people can't afford it, only nobles get the chance.

So looking at Crescent City managed by the Sage Council, it's quite amazing that this university-like place can exist long-term.

"Anyway, since we rarely get to visit Crescent City, why don't we check out a few more academies?" Adrian suggested. I agreed, so I quickly listed the next few places we had planned to visit.

On the third day, we went to the Element Theory Academy. We wanted to use our connection with Judith, who was reassigned there, to see if she could find some high-level teachers to give me special lessons on water magic.

But when we got there, we searched the whole mage tower and couldn't find her. Maybe she went to see her precious son again. We had no choice but to leave. Just then, we heard an element theory teacher's voice from a nearby "classroom".

"Earth, wind, water, fire, light, and dark are just names humans gave based on the simple properties and phenomena of each element. But these are just surface appearances. Each element has deep hidden properties that people don't know about. For example, we talked before about fire element's hidden property. Because fire element has very high energy properties, fire magic of the same level is always a bit more powerful than other element magic..."

This topic sounded interesting! We weren't planning to listen to the class, but my curiosity was piqued. I quickly pulled Adrian to find a seat and sneak in.

After all our adventures, I've kind of figured out the hidden properties of wind and earth elements - wind's hidden property is time, and earth's is space. I'm not sure about light, but maybe it's mind and soul? But this is the first time I've heard about fire element's hidden property. And most importantly for me, what about water element?

"Teacher, what exactly is the hidden property of water element?" I couldn't help asking after the class. We sat at the back and listened to the whole lesson, but the teacher didn't mention this because it was covered in previous classes.

"Water element... I've actually talked about this before. You're probably not a formally registered student in our academy, are you?" The female teacher with glasses looked me up and down carefully. She couldn't tell anything from my hidden wings, so she continued meaningfully, "Instead of telling you the answer directly, why don't you think about it yourself? Why is water the only element among the six that has true healing magic? What is the elemental essence of healing magic?"

"Huh? The essence of healing magic?" I was surprised by her question and didn't notice the teacher had already turned to leave.

"Yeah, I never thought about that either! Why does healing magic only appear in water magic? Is there something special about it?" Adrian also started thinking deeply, mumbling to himself. "It seems healing magic is indeed special. Like when my arm was cut off and kicked away by Nicola, high-level healing magic could make it regrow quickly. Is the hidden property promoting wound growth? But then again, the arm wouldn't grow back slowly without healing magic..."

"Instead of guessing blindly, why don't we just ask other teachers? It would be easier to get an answer. How about Judith? She's not here today, but she should be here tomorrow, right?"

I couldn't believe we couldn't find anyone to answer such a simple question. The students who attended the class left very quickly. It must be "school's out" time. When we came to our senses, we were surprised to find the classroom completely empty.

Soon it was evening.

"According to the agreement, the Crestvale Republic representatives will give us their investigation results about Reed and Mia's whereabouts tomorrow. Remember to wake up early!" I reminded Cyra, feeling a bit worried. She's been much crazier than Adrian and me these past few days. She's been in and out of several mage towers every day, visiting almost all the academies, but still hasn't found what she's looking for.

"Of course I know! You're the one who shouldn't oversleep. I'm always the one waking you up!" Cyra waved her hand dismissively, pouted, and went back to her room with a "bang" of the door. I couldn't help but smile. After washing up, I also went to bed.

But I had no idea that soon after I closed my eyes, when I opened them again, I suddenly found myself in a strange room.