Chapter 199: Runes
"So, do you know the difference between passive energy and active energy?" Auric asked.
"To a certain extent." Katarina nodded. "The passive energy is an energy that is not part of the circulation system anymore. It’s normally found in the materials after they’re removed from the beasts.
"It is used to do a lot of things, mainly supporting our infrastructure. The most famous example is the magic item. By not having a circulation of its own, the passive energy moves to fill a space or flow because of an outside system.
"There are other examples, such as the magic generator that is currently used to fuel planes.
"On the other hand, active energy is a form of energy that is currently within the system. It is mainly found in a living being, such as humans or beasts. There is a will or a natural flow that has been programmed into it."
Auric smiled. "Which is why the passive energy won’t resist other energy. If there is another type of energy in the system, the two energies will simply mingle with each other, not fuse. This is why I think it’s possible to actually create the fusion part."
Katarina’s expression turned solemn. "How am I going to help with that?"
"First, I’m going to tell you that this will combine three concepts at the same time. They are Active and Passive Energy, Dual Fusion Method, and Elemental Fusion." Auric moved to the whiteboard to start drawing his concept.
"We will create two separate systems. The first one will be used as a trigger, which is why the active system will be necessary. The second system will be based on the passive system."
Katarina raised her hand. "But how are we supposed to use the passive system? Do we have to use a material every time we use our power? That’s just not cost-effective."
"I know." Auric raised one finger. "The difference between passive energy and active energy is whether affinity is present or not. When you release your energy, you will still have a connection to that energy."
"Well, of course."
"However, what about the energy that has been discharged?"
Katarina thought for a moment. "That depends. If you simply discharge it, the connection will be lost. But at that time, you can’t control it anymore. If you try to control it, it will be reconnected. In the end, it will become an active system again."
"In that case, what if you release it but disconnect it right away?"
Katarina tilted her head in confusion. She raised her palm and formed her bullet, but once she cut that connection, the bullet dispersed. "It will be like this. My bullet’s shell will dissolve and the rest of the energy will disperse."
"Indeed. In that case, all we need to do is disconnect it while containing that energy."
Katarina’s eyebrows twitched. "If it’s that easy, people would have done it already."
"Exactly. People have done it, they have just never applied it in this particular way." Auric pointed up. "Do you know that our air is filled with elements?"
"Yes. Recently, I came across some gathering techniques, a method that allows us to gather energy from the air. In fact, I forgot to ask you about the gathering techniques." Katarina scratched the back of her head.
She already told Auric that she wanted to consult with him about one thing. She actually wanted to ask his opinion about the gathering technique.
However, with everything going on, she simply forgot about it.
"You want to ask me about the gathering techniques?"
"Yes. I just want to know if it’s really as useful as it claims. Your way of thinking is different from the others, so you might give me a unique insight. Well, forget about that. I’m more curious about this fusion."
Auric nodded. "It’s simple. We will simply create two layers. To prevent the free energy from the air dispersing, you first create a container for it. Then, this free energy will create another container for our own energy.
"This way, our energy will be isolated inside. With free energy being a passive energy, it will create complete isolation, which will create a passive energy system."
Katarina was dumbfounded. "Yeah, even if what you’re saying is possible, how are we meant to control the free energy well enough to form a shell?"
"That’s where the Dual Fusion Method comes in. I told you that people have been doing it, but not in this particular way."
"Ah!" Katarina had been so focused on the passive and active energy that she forgot about the Dual Fusion Method. This was why Auric told her that he planned to combine three concepts.
"Take a look at this." Auric raised his hand and formed a sphere.
The sphere was first made of his energy. The particles inside were spinning in one direction.
However, Auric created another layer for this sphere, trapping the free energy in the air.
Using the Dual Fusion Method, he controlled the free energy to form a shell. It was quite hard, even for an evolution master. The hardest challenge would be controlling the particles.
With his eyes, he could see the particles, so Auric could succeed in one go, but it still took two minutes to set it up.
Of course, this number might change once he gets used to it, but even then, it would still take some time.
After the free energy created a shell, Auric made the inner layer disappear. It turned into energy and fused with the energy from within.
The energy gushed out, but it was contained by the outer layer. With the Dual Fusion Method, the last layer wouldn’t influence this energy anymore.
As a result, his own energy, which was supposed to belong to the active system, turned into the passive system.
"Can you see the change?"
"!!!" Katarina widened her eyes in shock. She had never thought that Auric could easily do something like this.
Auric continued by raising his other hand, forming another sphere. "So, the energy in the passive system will continue to circulate according to the original flow. All we need to do is create a trigger."
The other sphere had a different flow, but it didn’t matter. Auric moved the two spheres closer.
The two spheres gradually fused and created one bigger sphere.
When Professor Schad did it, the energy particles within the sphere would clash with each other, causing the energies to disappear. In the worst-case scenario, the clash would destroy the outer layer and produce a burst, which would injure the user.
But with one of them being a passive system while the other was an active one, the energy didn’t clash like what happened when an evolution master used the Dual Fusion Method in someone’s body, combining their energy with the energy from a material.
"This..." Katarina was speechless. It was a problem she couldn’t solve no matter how hard she thought about it. Even Professor Schad had been researching it for over five years.
Yet, Auric actually solved it in just two days.
Auric already knew how the particles reacted when he used the Dual Fusion Method, which was why he knew this method was a viable option.
In addition, creating a shell with the energy from the air was easier said than done. If not for his eyes, there was no telling how long it would have taken him to accomplish it.
Of course, the amount of time needed to do that was quite long. But with practice, that time could be reduced to a minimum.
Katarina felt a chill down her spine. As she expected, Auric’s talent far surpassed anything she had seen so far. If not for his unique element, Auric might be able to become one of the strongest people in the world or even more.
The heavens might have been jealous of his talent, so they gave him a unique element.
Katarina gulped. "In that case, how are we going to handle the division?"
"That’s another problem. We can’t do that with this method." Auric shook his head helplessly. "That’s why I’m going to present the problem to the professor and see how he’s going to handle it."
"To be honest..." Katarina pondered for a few seconds. "...the fusion part is all I need to do what I want. The division part is just an extra and I don’t really need it."
"I’m the same." Auric nodded in agreement.
"You know what? How about we go to the professor and tell him about it right now?"
"You sure?" Auric looked up. "It’s already 8 p.m."
"Professor Schad is usually still here."
"Hmm..." Auric agreed after a few seconds. "Let me call the Relesha family first so that they aren’t worried about me."
"Sure. I will send a message to the professor so that he knows we’re coming."
Katarina also helped him close the store. Once everything had been settled, they immediately headed to the professor’s office.
Lindwurm couldn’t help but ask, "You do know the difficulty of this technique, right? You can do it because it’s you, but the others... it might take them a long time to do it."
Auric replied to Lindwurm in his mind, ’I know, but that’s not my problem.’
"Fair enough. Your problem is what you’re going to do with this power. It looks like you are going to use your ’Edict’ as your main battle technique, meaning you plan to upgrade it again and again to match your power."
’Of course. My ’Edict’ is the only battle technique I can use with all my elements. I already have the concept in my mind. It will be like a runes system.’
"Runes?"
’You know, the languages used in magic systems? I may not be a fan of reading novels, but I do know a thing or two. After all, there are avatars like elves, goblins, werewolves, and all kinds of fantasy creatures.’
"So, you’re using that as your foundation?"
’Yes. However, rather than creating a language from the start...’
"That’s true. If you use runes as your foundation, you need to invent a new language. It’s better to learn languages that are similar to a rune system."
’Exactly.’
"So, you’re planning to learn a language?"
’It’s better that way. Besides, I may not have a perfect memory, but I am good at studying.’
"Now that I think about it, you can speak three languages, right?"
’Yes. My parents’ original languages and the universal language. So, learning one shouldn’t take too long for me. If I just spare an hour or two every day, it should be at a functional level in a month or two. It’s not like I’m learning to speak or understand the spoken language. I just need to learn their writing system.’
Knowing Auric, Lindwurm couldn’t help but agree with him. "So, which language do you plan to use? Chinese? Korean? Japanese? Or maybe another language?"
’I’ve been thinking about it, but I think I’m going with Chinese. Japanese has three writing systems, namely kanji, hiragana, and katakana. But from what I’ve researched, kanji are derived from Chinese characters because of their concepts rather than a specific sound.
’Hiragana is mainly used for grammatical structures, while katakana is mainly used for foreign loanwords.
’Meanwhile, Korea’s Hangeul was originally designed to mimic the shapes of the mouth and tongue when making sounds.
’So, Hangeul is not really an option. The same applies to Katakana and Hiragana. That leaves only Kanji, which is derived from Chinese. I might as well learn Chinese.
’Since I’m not planning to master the language, I’m just going to learn the simplified version. Besides, there’s one more reason I chose this. The radicals. There are radicals for fire, water, and so on, right? It can represent an element, so I can do two things at once.’
Lindwurm was quite surprised. He wasn’t exactly watching Auric every second, so he didn’t know how much Auric had spent to research all this. "It looks like you are not making this choice simply because you want to..."
’Yeah. There is one reason I use this specific system. The passive energy system, even if I master it, will still take some time to prepare. Hence, I can just write down all the words with the passive system, so by the time I write the last word, which will follow the active system, they’re already done with the isolation.’
"!!!"
