We spent some time resting in the Hall Of Water. After a while, Aunt Ai and Aileen I resumed the lesson.
"Today, we will study the properties of Water as a magnifier of Light and by implication a magnifier of Vision" Aunt Ai said.
"We're listening" I said.
"When an object possesses a bright surface, it possesses the capacity to reflect Light. However, when the surface of the object is dark, the object absorbs energy from Light instead of reflecting it. This property is visible in Water. When Light illumines Water, the surface of Water is brightened and the Light is reflected off the surface of Water allowing Water to absorb minimal energy from Light. In a sense, you can consider this phenomenon a sort of Shield or Defensive Mechanism that allows Water to avoid absorbing Heat Energy from Light which may vapourize portions of it and thus reduce its level. It's a mechanism that allows Water Bodies to conserve the amount of Water present within them. However, when a Shadow is cast over the surface of Water, darkening it, the surface of the Water loses the capacity to reflect Light and instead absorbs energy from Light thus allowing Light Rays to penetrate the depths of the Water. In the first instance, any object hovering above the surface of the Water becomes able to perceive its reflection which is a self-portrait. In the second instance, instead of becoming able to perceive its reflection, the object instead becomes able to perceive the depths of the Water Body" Aunt Ai explained.
"There is another phenomenon that occurs when Light hits the surface of Water. It's called Refraction. The three states of Water namely Solid, Liquid and Gas have their properties determined first by Temperature and secondly by how compact their molecular structure is. Solids have the most compact structure, Liquids have a moderately compact structure and Gases have the least compact structure. Thus when Light flows from Air into Water, its Rays are bent by the Water which is more compact in structure than Air. This phenomenon causes the Water Body to appear shallower than it actually is. It is an alteration in the perception of distance to put it simply. Thus you could say one of the abilities of Water is to alter perception of distance when Light is involved" Aileen I explained.
"A third ability of Water is the ability to altogether render objects invisible" Aunt Ai said.
"How?" Ciella asked.
"Vision is possible as a result of Light Rays making contact with any Physical Object which is why objects become invisible in the presence of Darkness. When one becomes able to bend Light Rays away from any object, one gains the ability to render the object in question invisible and as Aileen said earlier, Water has the ability to bend Light Rays through Refraction. Thus it could be said that Water possesses the ability to render objects invisible. Aside from through the application of Mist, Refraction is another means by which Water can achieve this. The ability of Water to alter perception of distance also implies that it possesses the ability to magnify objects. In other words, Water possesses the ability to magnify perception of any object or to emphasize its characteristics allowing one to spot details that might have been invisible under normal circumstances. This ability to magnify an object can be used to generate Heat as well through focused beams granting Water, Fire and Light a unique relationship to one another. Finally, Water can diffract Light Rays to altogether alter perception of any object. Diffraction splits White Light into its various unique spectral components. This Diffraction possesses the ability to alter the colour of any object. In a sense, it could be said that Water possesses the ability to alter perception of any object. Aside from Water, Earth is the only other element that can achieve these feats" Aunt Ai explained.
"Water is a really versatile element" I realized.
"Exactly" Keiran agreed.