The Spirit Link was seemingly the simplest feature of the four that Grand Elder Maya had listed.
It was the simple act of forming a connection between oneself and another individual by threading their Spiritual Energy together. Or by invading their personal space, linking directly to their Cerebral Core with your Spiritual Aether.
Which was something considered extremely rude unless you were extremely close with that individual, or if that individual was under your command.
Cultural nuance aside, that simplicity was deceptive.
And that's because the Spirit Link allows the sharing of images, thoughts, and if one had comprehended the right Law, their emotions with the other individual they were connected to.
It was the foundation for a trade known as Beast Taming, as well as something Grand Elder Maya called "Paired Evolution."
Which, after some more prodding… Mikhail was able to discern that Maya was talking about sex. Super duper magical sex, at that. Which, while interesting… wasn't really all that important right now.
Especially since Mikhail didn't even have the heart for such activities…
However, he was more than intrigued about this whole Beast Taming thing. So, of course, he prodded Maya for more information on that. Yet…
"We can discuss it after you've finished your training later. Discussing it right now would use up the rest of your time."
Grand Elder Maya was sticking to the topic at hand.
Thus, her explanation moved on to the next feature of the spirit.
Spirit Storage.
This was a feature that only Evolvers with a Cerebral Core in the Spiritual Tempering Realm could make use of. And that was due to the evolution of an individual's Mind Eye into a proper Spiritual Realm after the Self Tribulation.
The Self Tribulation being an event that occurred upon breaking through to the Spiritual Tempering Realm. A tailor made challenge for each and every individual that reached that point, created by Heaven itself.
The Mind's Eye being the ethereal space where one's thoughts took form. A malleable void with no real structure. A place where ethereal items could be stored, like memories or the runes for a spell, for example. But not one where physical items could be stored.
The Spiritual Realm, being an evolution of the Mind's Eye, did have a structure though. It took up proper space, allowing one to store both physical and ethereal items.
And this was done by expending Spiritual Aether in order to form a connection between one's personal space and the real world.
As for how exactly that was done, Mikhail would not find out anytime soon. In Maya's words, "It's a waste getting into the nitty gritty when you have other things to focus on."
So, she moved on to the next feature of the spirit.
The Spirit Sense.
The process of using one's Spiritual Aether to see their surroundings, spreading it outwards into one's sphere of influence.
"Wait, what do you mean by a person's sphere of influence?"
"Ah, yes. How silly of me. Do you recall how I said your Mind's Eye evolves into something called a Spiritual Realm?"
"Yeah. You said it takes up proper space. So… Is a person's sphere of influence the size of their Spiritual Realm?"
Grand Elder Maya gave a thumbs up.
"Correct. Because the ethereal Spiritual Realm takes up proper space, it overlaps with the corporeal realm. Thus, it gives one a sphere of influence."
"And the Spiritual Realm grows in accordance with the size of your Cerebral Core, maxing out in its diameter once you've reached the Final Tier of the Spiritual Savant Subminor Realm."
"Interesting…" Mikhail said while parsing out that information.
And with that explanation out of the way, there was only one thing left to discuss before Mikhail had his last bit of mandatory training for the week.
So, she moved on to the last feature of the spirit.
Fabrication.
The process of using one's will to change the nature of their Spiritual Aether. Shaping it into different forms through one's desires.
This feature was the reason Grand Elder Maya said the "Spirit Element" was the most versatile one. Because through the application of one's will, Spiritual Aether could take on a great many forms.
It allowed one to make the ethereal energy tangible like a proper element. And with that tangibility, one could use it for things like grabbing and moving things within one's sphere of influence.
Or, they could make constructs out of it. Spirit Blades, Spirit Spears, or even things like a Spirit Spoon. Grand Elder Maya even showed an example, opening the palm of her hand upwards and creating those glittering silver constructs.
The mind was the only limit when it came to Spiritual Aether's versatility.
Fabrication went farther than that though.
"Mikhail, you say you remember the lesson I imparted to you last time… So, tell me, what else does Fabrication entail?"
Mikhail furrowed his brows by the sudden question. His gears turned as he thought back to the lesson on the Elements… He reviewed them, parsed them out, but failed to recall anything. So he thought about the brief lesson on Laws he had learned afterwards.
His eyes suddenly widened.
"Comprehending a Law cements it as a part of my being… Which entails the ability to Fabricate that Law. Fabrication… You mean to tell me that once I've trained enough, I'll be able to turn my Spiritual Aether into a manifestation of those concepts?"
Grand Elder Maya nodded with a smile.
Unfortunately, despite the juicy revelation, Mikhail would not gain access to such abilities until he was in the Final Tier of the Spiritual Awakening Subminor Realm.
Because without full control over his nervous system, he could not control the Spiritual Aether.
So, for the time being, his Spiritual Aether was just the fuel that Mikhail expended to stay awake, fight, and train. The fuel he recuperated by sleeping.
"You know, teaching you is so much more fun than the other younglings… You're much sharper and are very quick to catch on."
"Uh. I would hope so? I'm a young adult, after all."
Grand Elder Maya knitted her brows.
"No? I don't see a Fuentevacia inside your body, let alone the Elemental Routes."
'Ah, right…' Mikhail thought as he remembered what made someone an adult in this new world.
"That aside… Laws are the building blocks of reality, right? So, if I were to say, comprehend everything… Wouldn't I be able to fabricate my own world?" Mikhail said as his eyes glowed with burning ambition.
Grand Elder Maya's gaze sharpened a little.
"Oooh? Isn't that an interesting idea… Well, yes. Most likely. Though, I believe something like that is far beyond the grasp of these lands…"