Fei Lei and Yan Mei stood on top of his mansion and stared at everything they built together.
With Yan Mei's ability to melt the metals, and Fei Lei's ability to shape them with his telekinesis, they managed to build a fully operational water system.
A high elevated miniature water dam was one of the first objects Fei Lei built upstream.
With a rampart constructed out of solid stone, next came connecting an extra-large copper piping to the slope to make a Ramp Pump that gave them a powerful amount of water-pressure to play with.
In order to keep the pressure levels at a constant, the ramp pump had a waste valve installed near his house.
The waste valve dispels the excess water from the water line by constantly lifting from the build-up of water and shutting with a loud and incessant clang.
Fei Lei decided to seal it behind a wall stone to muffle the noise, and used long copper pipes to feed the line out into a large water tower built on his property.
They stood in front of the wood-fire water heater when Fei Lei said, "Okay start the fire."
Yan Mei used a basic fire spell and started to burn the wood-charcoal fuel. Closing the latch, they watched as the primitive water heater's pressure gage rise until it reached the maximum boiling point.
Fei Lei ran inside his house and to his bathroom before he turned on the water. Moments later, the hot water came pouring in.
By putting a little cold water into the mix, the boiling water turned warm and made him smile as he shouted, "Success!"
Yan Mei ran inside before she placed her hand under the sink and went wide-eyed.
"Incredible, it doesn't use mana but can actually do all this?!" Yan Mei shouted in joy as she jumped into his arms.
Fei Lei was in such good spirits that he was pulled into the moment without realizing it and hugged back.
"This is just the beginning, once we have electricity so many more things become possible," Fei responded with his voice full of elation.
Noticing their faces were close to each other Fei Lei and Yan Mei both separated with blushed faces and awkward stances.
"Once 'We' have electricity?" Yan Mei asked with a cute smile on her face.
Fei Lei blushed grew redder as he turned around to hide his face and said, "I intend to make this place a city someday, and whether you can use magic or not, all will be welcome and treated as equals here. That includes you...if you want..."
Yan Mei was surprised by what he was saying. Her face then took the form of a vibrant smile as she asked, "S~o~o, I can stay?"
Fei Lei embarrassedly nodded his head in confirmation, he then started to walk away before he looked back and said, "Follow me."
Yan Mei nodded her head as he led her to a large stone wall, using his telekinesis he moved the wall horizontally showing that it could retreat into a carved out slot.
As he led her through the only other offshoot of the cavern, she was led into a wide and open space that had smaller yet luxurious residential houses lined up in streets.
Along with several nicely designed streets, there were larger buildings for possible future businesses.
"I'm going to turn this entire mountain into a massive city and then rip off the surface when I'm done. It'll be like a city appearing overnight," Fei Lei said as he placed his hands on his waist.
Every house was made from a combination of finely carved stones and wood collected from the forest trees. He had several vacant gardens and parks set up so the surroundings so that the city wouldn't drown out the nature of the environment.
Yan Mei looked excited at the prospect of Fei Lei's ideals and plans to build a kingdom, but, she then sighed before saying, "Many of the other Mage families probably won't approve of your laws of equality. I'm not saying that all the royals or nobles think this way, but the majority of them look down on commoners, and your declaration would definitely upset some of these families."
"Then I'll make sure I'm strong enough to defend my lands before revealing it," Fei Lei said before he threw open his arms as he shouted, "Thus, that is the very reason I'm doing this inside a mountain! Away from the prying eyes of those that seek to oppress."
Yan Mei listened to his intentions for the future as he guided her around the empty town.
"Why are there windows in the buildings framed like this?" Yan Mei asked.
"Those grooves and frames are for when I make glass windows. Which reminds me, I need to go to the beach sometime and collect a lot of sand, silica, limestone, and sodium carbonate," Fei Lei explained.
"You want to put windows on every building? Do you know how expensive that is?" Yan Mei was shocked, normally a mage would have to make glass because they didn't have anything that could support the heat needed to craft it.
Fei Lei, on the other hand, could make an entire furnace out of solid stone. Although it would break over time, all he needed to do was get some Earth Mages to reinforce the stone to higher levels or restore them.
When he explained that when he got better resources, he could create a kiln out fire-resistant materials.
"Fire bricks, aerogel? Can such objects really be synthesized?" Yan Mei quested.
After showing her the entire city, Yan Mei looked over the land and said, "You, know if you hired some mages they could make this pace look even better, you could get some earth users to grow some trees and foliage. Some Water Mages could enchant some springs, and a lot of other stuff too."
Fei Lei smiled and said, "Yes, I suppose so, but with what I'm going to build, will be more suitable for non-magic users to live in, they won't have to rely on magic to live comfortable lives."
Yan Mei smiled as she bumped his shoulder and said, "You know what? You remind me a bit of my papa!"
Fei Lei lifted a brow and gave a funny expression, as if he were saying, "What'chu talking about?"
Realizing what she said, Yan Mei waved her hands in front of her face defensively and said, "I didn't mean personality or appearance-wise, and anything along those lines for that matter. It's just, my papa was a commoner that managed to rise through the ranks of the Grand Magic Academy."
"If he was a commoner, how did he get accepted to such a prestigious school?" Fei asked.
"His roots were special." Yan Mei answered before she sighed and continued trying to make her point, "Anyways, after he ended up marrying my mama, he became a Noble, but he always talks about how living with magic-less parents and friends were the best of times."
Yan Mei sat down next to Fei Lei and said, "Not to mention how he's always trying to improve the lives of commoners. Kind of similar to what you're doing here," Yan Mei rambled on in embarrassment making Fei Lei laugh.
Yan Mei froze, she had never really seen him smile or laugh so innocently before. Her face started to blush as she turned around, and said, "It's not that funny."
Fei Lei giggled as he said, "Sorry, it's just you haven't really opened up to me much about your personal life, and now, all of a sudden you just dump all that off at once. Not to mention you pretty much presented yourself as the biggest Daddy's Little Girl, I have ever met!"
Yan Mei jumped up and continuously hit Fei Lei's shoulder while shouting, "Meanie! Rude! Jerk! I was trying to bond!"
Fei Lei paid no attention to her feather-soft punches and calmed his laughter before he said, "Ahem... Sorry, your father sounds like an interesting person."
"He's the coolest, strongest, most spectacular father in the world! As his proud daughter, of course, I would brag about him! Plus, my Mama is even stronger than him! So I have two parents to be proud of!" Yan Mei responded while stomping her foot on the ground.
Fei Lei laughed a little more before he said, "So now that we've finished off all the remaining construction materials, maybe we can get to work on my magic lessons."
Yan Mei smiled and said, "Of course! I've been waiting for this, but first, you tell me how you got so strong using the human transfiguration Sigil!"
Fei Lei smiled and said, "How much do you know about the human body."
Yan Mei seemed puzzled, "What's there to know, we're made of blood, muscle, and bone."
Fei Lei laughed, "Wrong, our bodies are mostly made up of elements, almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six of elements."
Yan Mei seemed lost while Fei Lei continued to explain, "Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% of an average human body, is composed of another five elements. Potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium."
Yan Mei's eyes started to swirl, she didn't recognize half of the materials he listed.
"All 11 Elements are thought to be necessary for life. The remaining elements are minute amounts of metals and minerals. All of the mass of the trace elements put together is less than 10 grams for a human body, thus they do not add up to the body mass of magnesium, the least common of the 11 non-trace elements. The additional trace elements are silicon, boron, nickel, aluminum, gold, iron, and vanadium. The trace elements are probably needed for mammals also, but they're are found in far smaller quantities."
Seeing Yan Me struggled to keep up, Fei Lei exercised his time and began explaining what each of the elements is and where they come from.
Once she had a grasp of understanding, "Okay, now that we've covered general the chemistry of the human body, we can move on to the next step. Tell me, how much do you know about how the human body functions?" Fei Lei asked.
To which Yan Mei responded with a simple, "Um?"
"Motor functions, visual function, sensory functions are all bodily functions that we have active control over, however, what about how our bodies digest food and turn in into energy. This is something that is passive and we have no active control over. Just like several other parts of our body. For instance, we are capable of synthesizing adrenaline, dopamine, morphine, and several other chemicals, but they require a trigger such as pain, excitement, or drugs."
"What does this have to do with the Human Transfiguration Magic?" Yan Mei had steam rising from her head as she tried to comprehend everything he had told her.
"Human Transfiguration magic allows me to manipulate all of the passive functions of my body. It gives me one hundred percent control over my physique. The reason no one could make use of this Sigil till now is that they didn't have a good understanding of what the human body was capable of." Fei Lei explained.
Yan Mei was beginning to catch on.
"I eat, then break the contents of the material down into energy and chemicals to increase the rate in which I can build muscles. When my muscles reach the limit of space that my body can contain, I compress it and start all over again. I can even alter the shape and destiny of my bones by supplying them with a large source of marrow," Fei Lei announced with pride in his eyes.
Fei Lei then lifted a part of his shirt and place her hands on his ribs as he said, "See, no gaps in my ribs. My skeleton is far more advanced than any other human alive."
Yan Mei felt around and noticed the difference between a regular humans skeleton and Fei Lei's skeleton. She rubbed across his abs and felt the tight layer of muscules while thinking, "They're so firm and tough."
Realizing that she was groping his body, Yan Mei pulled back her hand and with a flushed face said, "I.I.I.I see!"
She then quickly calmed herself down before saying, "But how do you know so much about the human body and this science stuff?"
Fei Lei smiled and said, "Secret!"
"You said you tell me!" Yan Mei pouted with puppy dog eyes.
Turning around, Fei Lei looked back and winked at her before saying, "That wasn't part of the deal as that subject isn't related to magic."
Fei Lei waved his hand behind his head in a mocking manner as he walked towards his house and said, "Later! I'm going to go take a shower!"
In response, Yan Mei stomped her feet behind him while shouting, "You...you, Tricky devil!"
When they returned to his house, the two mages enjoyed a hot shower before they met up his lounge room which was spacious enough to fit a hundred people or so.
It had two floors, the second floor contained a rather large set of stone bookshelves and a wooden desk with a polished marble covering.
On the first floor were the same bookshelves above, only there were fewer of them and more tables placed around for people to study.
At the end of the building was a large window that showed the Fei Lei's garden on the other side. Next to it, was a large fireplace and a comfortable looking couch that he recently crafted from materials he bought from that small village.
The covering was leather and the cushions were made out of the fur from a type of sheep monster that is praised for its soft and bouncy texture. A Magic Sheep beast that was so fluffy, Fei Lei vowed to capture a herd one day.
Inside the first floor's bookshelves were some of his Teacher's level 0 spells alongside some of his personal notes on magic.
Yan Mei's eyes skimmed past some of them and forced herself to look away, it was considered rude to peep at another's magical research and findings without permission. Only the closest of family members dared to share their spells so openly.
Fei Lei sat down and said, "Okay let's start with the basics, what is mana?"
Yan Mei sat down and started to teach him, "Mana is extra-dimensional energy that comes from a reality that's overlapping our own. Everything in the world is exposed to this energy, and only around 10 percent of the population is born with the capacity to use mana."
"Question, Teacher Yan?!" Fei Lei said as he raised his hand into the air.
"Yes, pupil Fei Lei?" Yan Mei replied as she comedically pointed her finger out.
"Why are the number of Mages so low, if the entire world is exposed to this energy, wouldn't more people be capable of learning magic?" Fei Lei questioned.
"That's because of the Mana Roots that all mages possess. For some reason, only a 10th of the population is born with this additional extra-dimensional network. They are intangible veins that run throughout your entire body, they carry, transfer, and expel the manna needed to operate spells, and the source of this pool of magical energy is inside the core located at the center of your heart."
Fei Lei frowned and crossed his arms while he thought in frustration, "How the hell am I going to study and observe something I can't see?!"
Fei Lei then looked back to Yan Mei and asked, "Is there any way one can view these roots?"
"Yes, a Water Mage who has reached the middle stages of their cultivation can, and there are some rare types of magic items out there capable of scanning for Mana Roots," Yan Mei answered.
"Middle stages?" Fei Lei questioned.
"As you know there are nine known rankings of Mages, the first 3 are called the Minor Stage Mages Rankings, the next 3 are the Middle Stages, and if you are in the final 3 stages, you are called a Greater Mage," Yan Mei said nodding her head.
"Is there any significance to that additional naming?" Fei Lei asked.
"I'm glad you asked, at the end of every three rankings lies a bottleneck, the Erudites are no match before Sorcerer's power, the bridge in mana capacity and spell strength is like heaven and earth. The same can be said for Warlocks and Arch Wizards rankings." Yan Mei said as she sat down across from Fei Lei.
"Okay, what about Sigil Summoning, why does it need to take place in a spell tower?" Fei Lei continued to question
Yan Mei smiled and said, "The Spell Towers are called Ascension Towers for a reason. They lay on top of the Magic Layline, a massive nexus of ambient mana that runs through the earth and powers the Spell Matrix that allows us to rank up. Only under such conditions can humans access the extra-dimensional source and call forth their Sigil. The Spell circle is important as well, as it cost a small fortune to replace it every 3,000 uses."
"Ambient Mana?" Fei Lei questioned.
"Yes, the natural Mana that flows through our world, it's also known as Ether, it's a lot more potent than Mana found in Magic Beast Cores, however, it's very unruly and has to be filtered through special means," Yan Mei answered.
"Aether and Ether? Why are their names so similar?" Fei Lei thought before he turned his attention back to the subject at hand and asked, "Okay, what about Sigil Advancement, how does that work?"
Yan Mei looked a little down, knowing that he couldn't do the same, and then said, "I can show you..."
"It's okay, just tell me what you know, besides maybe I can figure something out on my own," Fei Lei said scratching the back of his head figuring out her why she seemed depressed.
Yan Mei pulled out the Fire Core and started to absorb it into her body, the fiery glow was slowly sapped from the crystal and traveled to the core in her heart, a gaseous Level 1 Spell Sigil appeared with the character for 'Blazing Heart Fire' appeared.
"All you have to do is use your Mana to guide the energy from Magic Beast Core into your body," Yan Mei declared as the 3-Star Fire Core started to grow dimmer and her Sigil brighter.
The gaseous level 1 Sigil slowly started to convert into a liquid-like form. The Mana Core started to lose its color while the Sigil flowing above Yan Mei's head appeared as a stream of flowing green lava.
When her Sigil faded away, Yan Mei opened her eyes and the crystal in her hand turned into a pure and clear color before it started to shatter in her palms.
Fei Lei used his Telekinesis to pick up crystalline ash as Yan Mei said. "Those are core dregs, I hear Enchanters use them to stoke the flames of their forges. Actually, the reason I left home was to look for someone who could teach me Enchantment magic."
Fei Lei looked at the material and tried to absorb it in the same manner as she did, however, nothing occurred, and with a great look of contemplation, Fei Lei thought, "I need to experiment."