It was morning in the Hidden Phoenix Village. A week had passed since the scouting of the Physical World through the parallel realities in the Book Of Jo-lan began. Each member of the Phoenix Clan scouted their home territory through the Book Of Jo-lan by observing the parallel realities within the Book. The knights of the continents of Vung, Avalon, Storms, Deserts and Thunderstorms scouted their continents from within the Book Of Jo-lan while secretly shoring up defences in their various continents.
They could share and exchange information from within the Book Of Jo-lan as well as through the Mutating Several Layered Zone Of Absolute Defense they had implemented in the Physical World. They kept their activities in the Physical World to a minimum and performed most of their scouting through the Book Of Jo-lan. So far, it didn't appear as though Souryu was making any notable movements.
That morning, Josec, Harry, Buern, Estelle, Jason and Fleur sat in their portion of the Farm they had cultivated through Master Ken's trial that required them to turn the stretch of barren land fertile.
"We've become significantly stronger since we commenced our training in the Hidden Phoenix Village" Jason said.
"That's true" Fleur agreed. "I've learnt so much. I feel I can now better serve as Yggdrasil's sentinel" she said excitedly.
Josec laughed.
"Are any of you worried about what the elders told us concerning Souryu's abilities?" Buern asked.
"Concerning Souryu's debilitating terrain alteration abilities, we've already faced each of his generals, well except for Syren so we have an idea as to how to counter them. Thankfully, we've all mastered the Psychorage Improvisation. I can't say for certain that we've mastered the Psychorage Fusion yet" Harry said.
"Yeah, we are able to generate a pretty powerful fusion Psychorage. It's quite balanced as well considering the fact that it has both great offensive and defensive abilities as well as regenerative abilities" Buern said.
"It's a fusion Psychorage through the augmentation method. You've noticed how our abilities are integrated into the fusion Psychorage and are converted to the properties that define its strengths right?" Estelle said.
"Yes" Josec admitted.
"In a sense, our fusion Psychorage's current limitations also connote our own limitations" Estelle said.
"Really? How?" Fleur asked.
"The Psychorage Fusion is the greatest expression of our affinity for one another and our ability to work as an effective team" Estelle explained.
"What are you trying to say Estelle?" Jason asked.
"I see. The abilities of our Psychorage Fusion. They seem to imply that at the best we can currently work as a team, we're mainly an offensive/defensive/healing type of team" Harry realised what Estelle was getting at.
"That's exactly what I meant. At best, the strengths of our team can best be categorised as offense, defense and healing. That's the current ability of our team but it's also our current limitation" Estelle said.
"It may not be as strong as these three abilities you've mentioned but we've recently begun to integrate extrasensory techniques into our fighting style as well" Harry said.
"You guys remember what Master Ken said about the Psychorage Fusion by Augmentation right?" Jason asked.
"He said that it was a method of Psychorage Fusion that was not dependent on a preconceived form and that the final form of the Psychorage is dependent on the current ability of the members of one's party and that one can never be sure of what form the Psychorage Fusion will assume until the Psychorage is completed" Jason recalled.
"I see what Estelle was getting at earlier. That fact seems to imply that in order to strengthen our current Fusion Psychorage, we'll each need to improve our individual abilities" Buern said.
"So any ideas on where to start?" Fleur asked.
"I think for now we should focus on sharpening our understanding of the Elemental Balance and apply it to our techniques" Jason suggested.
"That's a pretty good idea" Josec said.
"Fleur, why don't you and I work together since our abilities are similar?" Jason suggested.
Fleur agreed. From then on, the Students split up and went to different locations on the Farm to sharpen their abilities.
JASON AND FLEUR'S TRAINING
Fleur and Jason stood in one location on the Farms.
"So Jason, what do you have in mind?" Fleur asked.
"Fleur, you seem to want to develop your abilities mainly because you want to protect Yggdrasil. To protect Yggdrasil effectively, you'll need to focus on strengthening your ability to utilise elements that can enhance plant growth. I suggest you focus on sharpening your ability to utilise the elements of Light, Earth, Wind, Fire and Water" Jason said.
"Light, Earth, Fire, Wind and Water? I see. Plants need fertile soil, sunlight, warmth, air and water to survive" Fleur realized what Jason was getting at.
"Yes, depending on the amount, quality and intensity of some of these elements, you could accelerate or slow down plant growth" Jason explained.
"Thanks Jason, it's really helpful advice" Fleur said.
"You could also work on combining some of these elements and study their effects on plant growth. Just doing this will certainly improve your regenerative abilities as Dryad and will help you effectively heal your party members as well as protect Yggdrasil" Jason advised.
"Hmm, improve my regenerative abilities by strengthening my understanding of and ability to utilise these elements?" Fleur wondered.
"Yes, our ability as Dryad is converted into regenerative abilities in the Psychorage Fusion. Humans are living beings, same as plants. We also require similar elements plants need in order to survive. Your ability to heal plants and accelerate plant growth can be applied to animals and humans as well though your understanding of the Elemental Balance and your regenerative abilities will need to evolve before you can apply it consciously to humans and animals" Jason said with a laugh.
"I see. I never even considered that the abilities of a Dryad could affect animals and humans" Fleur said.
Jason nodded.
"But you became a Dryad at practically the same time that I did. How do you know so much?" Fleur asked.
"Just as you've been undergoing private tutorship under Yggdrasil, I've been undergoing private tutorship under Master Pheisl, one of the Seven Jo-lan Masters" Jason explained. "Yggdrasil probably didn't bother to explain this because he might have felt you're still too young to comprehend it however you've been undergoing tutorship in the Hidden Phoenix Village as well. If you can utilise the Psychorage Improvisation, this shouldn't be too difficult for you to understand" Jason explained.
From then on, Fleur headed into the Dome with the retractable roof Harry and Estelle had cultivated. With the retractable roof, she could regulate sunlight, air and warmth within the Dome. Through the Psychorage Improvisation and the channels, she could regulate the amount of water within the Dome. Whenever it seemed as though the plants were in poor health, she adjusted the output of some of these elements. Gradually, she began to come to a comprehension of the optimum requirements necessary to accelerate plant growth and ensure plant health.
Jason meanwhile was outside the Dome, quite a distance from Fleur but not out of Fleur's sight.
"Hmm, it's about time I also began training. I'm quite interested in certain aspects of the abilities of Earth Element Users that Mistress Kyla mentioned earlier especially with regards to magnetism being used as a means to enhance mobility. If I can master this, our Psychorage fusion's speed could probably be multiplied many times over depending on the strength of the magnetic field I can generate" Jason thought to himself.
"To be able to use this technique on myself, Mistress Kyla mentioned something about Earth Element Users coating themselves in magnetic earth" Jason thought.
"I'll probably need to craft a vest out of earth and magnetize it" Jason thought as he focused his mind. He engulfed the field of dust within a field of flame. He altered his affinity to water when the dust became molten hot and tempered it. The dust took on a metallic appearance. Jason then drew the field of metallic dust to himself and merged it with his clothes. Then he altered his affinity to that of lightning and ionized the metallic dust bonded to his clothes.
"Time to test it" Jason said as he removed a small iron bar from his pocket and stretched it over his clothes.
The bar flew out of his hand and stuck to his clothes. Jason altered the wavelength of the lightning and flowed it through his clothes. After trying several times, the iron bar was repelled.
"Hmm, magnetic repulsion could be used as a defensive technique to counter weapons forged out of metal depending on the strength of the magnetic field generated by the armour" Jason realised.
"It looks like I might be able to further enhance the defensive capabilities of our Fusion Psychorage. I'll need to keep that in mind but for now I'm more interested in enhancing our mobility" Jason thought to himself.
He focused his mind and caused a large amount of dust to rise into the air forming a field above him. He magnetised the dust by the same method and manipulated it with his Joki.
"The mass of dust gathered above me must be more than my own mass. If that condition is satisfied, then I should be able to levitate by granting it attraction capabilities. Of course I could simply magnetize the ground with a wavelength that grants it repulsion capabilities and then levitate myself through that method instead. It might not be as effective as magnetizing light particles of dust in the air and utilising their cumulative mass to lift myself from the ground through magnetic attraction though" Jason thought as he purified the dust and ionized it.
Gradually, he was lifted from the ground by the magnetism acting on his clothes through the dust above him. When he was floating among the dust, he began to manipulate the dust with his Joki and found himself floating in whatever direction the dust flew in. By increasing the strength of the lightning flowing through the dust, he could manipulate his speed by strengthening the forces of attraction acting on him through the dust and his clothes.
"At least I've got the concept down. Now I've got to work on getting used to this motion till I achieve a level of mastery that allows me to apply this in combat" Jason said with a satisfied grin.