Back in his room, Leon began to think about the experiences he was able to gather about Shell Energy.
"To be able to do those marvelous things. Perhaps this is the true purpose of the System."
The miracle that the system has enabled Leon to achieve last night was truly mystical. At least, it has never been done towards twigs and stones.
In fact, the abilities that exists as options in Leon's Optimization System has been observed within various individuals throughout the world, although in a devolved form.
Leon took out the book that he asked a servant to bring to his room.
It was a book called "Shell Energy: Introduction towards the World's Most Valued Resource."
The details that can be found in this book are basic knowledge that practically anyone in the world knows to a certain extent.
However, what is truly important information in this book are the rare constitutions that have been discovered and listed throughout the years of study.
Special constitution such as True Shell Vision, an ability that allows an individual to measure the concentration of Shell Energy, a rare talent that is used by people in charge of the Shell Aptitude Ceremony.
However, it is primarily a devolved version of [Shell Inspection].
Amongst the rarest of special constitutions, it would be the Mind-Heart Duality.
Introduced in the book, the human body has two organs that works as a pathway in which Shell Energy can be absorbed.
Leon discovered the first one last night, it was written in this book as the Heart Vortex.
It is usually the organ that Inner Shell experts utilize in order to use Shell Energy. The Heart Vortex absorbs Shell Energy and is the stored in the body.
It can accumulate over time and can be utilized on any moment.
On the other hand, the Mind is the primary focus of Outer Shell experts.
They refine Shell Energy through the use of their brain, it was named the Mind's Swirl. They are unable to store these refined energy in their body but they instead envelope their body with these refined energy for future use.
The refined energy that they use was called the "Outer Shell." The thicker the Outer Shell, the more energy reserves a person can have.
Someone who is able to do both Inner Shell and Outer Shell techniques in practice are considered to have the special constitution of Mind-Heart Duality.
Still, this rarest of the rare type of constitution, is technically a downgraded version of [Shell Utilization] that Leon's system have.
What this implies, Leon began to think about it.
What the System offered to Leon, as he hypothesize, is the complete functionality that any human being should be capable of.
The Shell Aptitude Ceremony that the Kingdom sponsors towards the measurement of the aptitudes of coming of age teenagers, has the hidden implication of measuring both Inner Shell and Outer Shell aptitudes of individuals.
Somehow, people are being categorized as Inner Shell and Outer Shell experts.
Why is there an aptitude rating for both Inner Shell and Outer Shell for every person?
If it does not exist, there is nothing to measure.
The fact is, anyone is probably capable of training in both fields but most people only ever focus toward a single field of study. Why?
"Now that I think about it, technically all Shell Energy experts are able to use [Shell Optimization] to release their abilities. They just did not know the logic behind it all. They only know that they can do it. What a laid back attitude. A power you do not completely recognize can be a dangerous one."
"There must be a hidden context not mentioned in the book. The book also states that inherently, human beings were not able to utilize Shell Energy naturally during the ancient times. There must be a hidden story behind this cultural and historical discrepancies."
Leon resolves himself to get to the bottom of this problem.
"If I want to change the North, I will need to teach the people these things that I have discovered. But considering the two millenniums of human history, there might be some degree of danger that accompanies this reform."
Why is it that in 2,000 years, humans has never significantly advanced in the field of Shell Energy Utilization?
Leon left himself this question to solve in the future.
He lays down on his bed as he finished reading the contents of the book. He began to feel drowsy as soon as he laid down. He yawns as he relaxes on the bed.
"Ah, how tiring. Now that I remembered, I never got any sleep tonight. Hmm, got to get some sleep. I wonder if lady Issa liked my farewell gift. I look forward to seeing her again in 6 months."
As he stops talking, Leon falls asleep.
-
Leon fell asleep for over 6 hours, when he woke up it was already way past lunchtime.
" *krrrrrr.. "
Leon's stomach grumbles as he began to feel hungry. His fat body is yet to adjust to a diet plan so it grumbles whenever he feels hungry.
"I better eat a light snack to stop my stomach's urging. *krrrrrr. Ooooh."
Leon heads towards the dining room to check if there are any leftover food from a while ago.
"Nope, all cleaned up. Haiz, I better go to the kitchen then."
Leon heads to the kitchen at the back of the dining room. As he walks in, he was assaulted by the thick smoke pervading the area.
"*cough *cough. What? How is it so smoky in this place?"
As he walks inside aimlessly, he bumps into someone who was working inside.
"Oh, I am sorry. I did not see you were in front of me."
"What the are you kidding m- me? Young Lord, I did not know it was you. Forgive me for my inappropriate behavior."
The worker was crestfallen to have directed a fit of anger towards the Young Lord himself.
"It is of no consequence, I was also at fault. I was just trying to see if there is any food to eat."
"Of-of course young Lord I will prepare a full meal for you immediately. I will do it quickly. Please, just wait for it to be finished in the dining room. This place is not the best place to be in for someone of your position."
"Alright, I do not want a lavish meal. Just give me a light snack to eat. Also, I wonder if you know Mr. Arnold Bell who is working in the kitchen?"
"The head chef, yes, I do know him. B-but why do you need him? Will you tell the head chef to fire me for my mistake? Please do not fire me, this job is very important for me. I need to support my family with the salary I have here. Young Lord have mercy."
"No, I am not going to fire you. I know Mr. Arnold personally so if you could do me a favor, I would like to speak with him. Let him bring the food to the dining room."
"Okay thank you young Lord. I promise I will work harder to make up for my mistakes. Thanks for the Pardon young Lord."
Leon escapes that smoky scene and goes back to the dining room.
"Why is the kitchen so smoky? The kitchen in the palace residence never smoked like that. I always get leftover food to eat during the day before and it was all okay."
Leoncis confused by the situation he saw from the Oliver kitchen.
In no time at all, Arnold came out from the kitchen and to the dining hall.
"Good afternoon young Lord. Here is your meal. Did you want to speak with me? The young chef inside asked me to bring this for you because you had something to say."
"Yes, actually this is just a spur of the moment inquiry due to my curiosity."
"Okay, please do tell me what you want to know." Arnold replies.
"I am just confused as to why the kitchen has so much smoke than necessary. In the kitchen of my old residence, it never really smoked that way." Leon expressed his doubts.
"Oh, so that is what you are confused about young Lord. For this issue, I think it is better to show than to say. Wait for a while young Lord, we will ventilate the place and I will show you what the situation is."
"Okay."
Leon easily finishes the meal he was given.
It was smaller than he was used to but this is for the sake of his diet so he got to suck it in. Arnold then once again came out from the kitchen to call him in.
"Young Lord, it is now good to enter. Come let me show you around the kitchen."
Leon stands up to enter the kitchen. As he enters, he was welcomed enthusiastically by the staff inside who are on duty.
"Welcome young Lord."
"Welcome young Lord."
"Welcome young Lord."
Leon was flattered by the scene.
No one really greets him cheerfully when he was the Prince. Now, it has a homey atmosphere that he liked. It was warm, just like when he was with his mother.
"Young Lord here is the reason for our daily smoky situation."
Arnold shows Leon the one causing the smoke inside the kitchen.
It was the woodfire stove.
The Oliver kitchen does not have a Shell Energy powered stove so they had no choice but to light up a fire for cooking.
The chimney is just too small for the amount of work that needs to be done and so the smoke goes everywhere.
"Hmm, so the technology in the North truly is crap." Leon comments dejectedly.
"Yes, young Lord but we got to make do with what we have over here. We are already used to the smoke with our years of working experience. We just have to endure."
"Hmm, a dangerous mindset. I think you should not light up a fire inside the kitchen for now. If you need some cooking done, just do it outside temporarily. My orders, okay?"
"Yes young Lord. Thank you for your concern." Arnold speaks, clearly relieved by the way the conversation flowed.
"Well, I will borrow your stove for a while. Just a little bit curious about its form. I never got the chance to see one of these up close." Leon decided to check on the stove and see what can be done with it.
"Yes, I will send someone to bring it to your room."
Leon went back his room together with the stove top.
"Okay, let me see what I can do with this bad boy."
Leon begins by inspecting the stove top.
It has 5 grates that is directly connected to the stove. There is a hollow portion inside where the stove top was supposed to be and also on one side of the stove.
This is probably the chamber in which firewood comes in and the stove top is impractical as it blocks the fire from going all the way to the top so it was removed. The stove's material is clay.
"Hmm, an interesting design. All it needs is a fuel source. Luckily, we have the best energy source in the world. I better create some fire stones and lay it inside to serve as the stove top instead of leaving it hollow. It would make it harder to move around though.
A new innovation that Leon thought of were the Elemental stones.
Leon reinforces the initial material of the stone with the Shell Particle Pattern created by [Shell Engineering].
He then creates Shell Particles that are able to be mounted on matter and traps the pyramid Shell particle, which coincides with fire, inside it.
The only process left would be how to go on with the other functions.
How should the stove work?
The fire Shell Particle will not go off unless there is some kind of activation.
Leon is torn between a simpler and more degraded design over a highly technological design.
Leon can easily make it so that it is voice controlled like Issa's stone wand. But it is way too groundbreaking that he is afraid of letting the world know about it this early.
He might be the target of multiple organizations or become a part of a Hit List so suddenly for creating new technology.
Leon is not aware of how stove in the Royal kitchen work so he is developing this system on his own initiative.
If Leon knew that the stove in the Royal kitchen is powered by Shell crystals, he would faint in shock. Shell Crystals are valuable resources that any country would fight to own.
Shell Crystals are formed by the natural settling of Shell Energy once they reach the very tip of the atmosphere.
Shell Crystals occur naturally over time but it takes a long time for them to turn up.
Places with high Shell Energy consumption will most likely never expect to see Shell Crystals turn up in their place.
But Shell Crystals are rich in uncharted areas where no humans have ever lived in before.
As Leon continues to mull over his decisions, he finally decided that it can simply be activated by lighting a match above the stove top.
The heat adjustment system will be an up-down pulley on the side of the stove.
Turning the pulley will push the fire stones upwards and vice versa. Thus, allowing to control the heat, although it may be a crude design.
The fire stones will automatically deactivate once it detects no material on top of the stove.
"It's done. Now all that is left to do is how to introduce it to the staff, and most importantly how Grandpa and Grandma will react to this. Haiz. Should I tell them? I should tell them right?"
Now, Leon has to make a crucial choice.