"In my years of pursuit to power, knowledge, and magic, I have come to a conclusion that the essence of the steel element focuses on sharpness, density, adaptability and the power to create constructs. Don't take my word for it though. Everyone has their own understanding of their elements. My path isn't your path, and vice versa." Horace looked at his disciple who was eagerly listening.
"Speed and mobility aren't one of steel's strongest suits. That's why I made suits." The master paused for a bit as if waiting for his disciple to laugh at his pun, but to no avail, Kyrian's deadpan stare had the intention of making him feel shame. But who was Horace to feel that shame?
Horace continued, "Like the armor suit I made when we first arrived in my estate, magitech armors can be made to suit one's needs. Firstly, I made that armor as a joke to shame you in front of my 'family.' But I crafted the armor with balance in mind regardless of your affinities - it has to be upgraded now that we know where your talents lie."
Kyrian nodded and thought how he already forgot about the armor suit since he never got into a fight nor battle ever since he arrived in Ziront. It had been peaceful, aside from his stubborn training habit of fainting when being pushed to the limits, he hadn't experienced a real battle. He had spent weeks sleeping, reading, and learning, but had no practical experiences at the moment.
"Master, can I ask you for a favor?"
Horace gestured for Kyrian to continue. The bald man wondered what this unusual boy would ask for since he had never asked for anything major from the moment he arrived.
"When we craft the armor, is it possible for me to travel and get the materials myself? I think wearing magitech artifacts can disguise my appearance and your puppets can watch me from afar if you're worried about me getting into trouble. I just feel like trapped in here, my instincts tell me that I lack practical experience that can raise me to rank 3."
The steel emperor looked at his disciple in admiration, he thought that Kyrian would ask for a greater weapon or armor, but instead, he asked for the arduous path rather than the easy path.
"That won't be a problem, kid. My only requirement is you finish mastering the four mainstream magic types. Those are essential for survival and having balance in your fighting capabilities. I don't think you'll be having a hard time mastering them since your four known elemental affinities are great at each of these types. Light element for mobility, steel element for defense, dark element for debuff, and fire for offense."
"We'll go in that order."
Horace gestured his hands and summoned a ball of steel forming from the ambient mana. "In the early stages of mages, from rank 1 to 3, there are clear advantages for elements in the mainstream types like I said. There are exceptional elements that can specialize in their chosen fields. But in the higher ranks, these classifications become blurry as mages become more creative with their elements and spells."
"Remember that time when I created a tornado using metal sheets?"
Kyrian nodded as he remembered the destruction it caused by spinning two metal sheets that have different temperature. The creativity that his master demonstrated that time was admirable.
"That was only the tip of the iceberg. As much as I don't want to admit it, there are surely mages more creative than me. I doubt that there are many that are stronger than me though."
"What's an iceberg, master?" Kyrian had remembered everything his mother had taught him including the books he had read in his master's library, but it was the first time he had heard of this iceberg.
"You know what? I'll take you on a tour next time. It's a large mass of ice in the sea and it only shows a part of its mass above the sea level, but below it is a much larger mass of ice that can't be normally seen." Horace seemed to forget that this disciple of his is a sheltered kid who had never seen the world despite his apparent maturity. There are gaps in his knowledge that can't be filled by books and lessons. He must experience some of it too.
"Anyway, going back to topic, the exceptions are people like you who have a lot of elements and are able to fuse them seamlessly. What you did with the [plasma sphere] was praiseworthy since it incorporated two elements at once to create an offensive spell that could easily kill a rank 4 mage unprepared."
With a snap of Horace's fingers, the steel ball that was hovering suddenly turned into a transparent dome that blocked Kyrian from moving. "That is a rank 3 spell [Cage of Steel], it's a mobility debuff preventing you from moving. It also blocks you from gathering ambient mana, making you rely on your mana core's reserve. It's a combination of defense and debuff type - I want to see you break it. Hehe."
Horace smugly laughed as he thought that even with Kyrian's talents, superior mana grade, and elements, the spell that he created when he was in his thirties as a rank 3 couldn't easily be broken. Of course, he knew that it would be broken, but he waited for the time that he would see his disciple struggle for hours in attempting to break free.
Kyrian tried to absorb the ambient mana to replenish his innate mana, but the magical properties of the steel that Horace summoned prevented him from doing so. His golden eyes shone as he activated his innate talent [Eyes of Divinity] to look for weaknesses in the construction of the spell. Instinctively, he felt that using his superior mana quality, a Supreme grade mana, will destroy his master's rank 3 spell. Using his innate mana, the mana stored inside his body or core, he willed it to move in his mana pathways and manifested a burning ember that has a golden color.
Traditionally, rank 2 mages wouldn't have a lot of stored mana in their body since they do not possess a mana core to act as a storage for their innate mana. Rank 2 mages rely on ambient mana to be absorbed then converted in their mana pathways to turn into innate, then use chants to guide the mana to cast a learned spell.
The golden eyed genius was different. As a rank 2 mage, he has a mana core than can store innate mana. It wouldn't be special if he had a normal grade mana, but he has a Supreme grade mana that is vastly superior to all other grades of mana. He also doesn't need to use chants because he is creating his own spell. That means that he is discovering a new pathway for the mana to follow and make a new spell, or a spell that he hasn't learned yet.
There is a possibility that the spell that he is creating has already been made by another mage, but he is unaware of that, that's why he's creating his own version without the constraints of a predetermined path.
He focused on this burning ember to accumulate and become more concentrated while he summoned a steel blade after stabilizing the golden ember that continuously became denser until he couldn't compress it anymore. The mana was on the verge of going out of control as the accumulation of fire and steel continuously pushed the boundaries of rank 2 magic. The complexities of the spell almost went berserk as the innate mana wanted to break apart due to the excessive compression to form magic.
'Come on, don't break. Hold on. Hold on…' Kyrian's forehead was dripping with sweat, preventing the spell to explode in his face. He thought of a way to combine the steel and fire element to stabilize the mana. Theorizing and practicing is so different in real life as it is much harder, but for Kyrian who has his innate talent, it was relatively easier.
With great concentration and the help of the [Eyes of Divinity] to see the mana pathways and combine them seamlessly, he fused the fire and steel to create a rank 2 spell with his Supreme grade mana, [Pyre Blade]. Even without swinging the golden burning blade, the cage that was blocking him was already showing signs of melting.
"Rank 2 - intermediate spell, [Pyre Blade]." He swung the blade and easily cut through the [Cage of Steel] like butter that his master cast.
"So unfair…" a whisper of complaint passed by as Kyrian was focusing on maintaining the spell.
"What do you mean unfair, master? I had a hard time making that spell!"
"It takes a lot of time to create a spell, Kyrian. There are trials and errors that must be done to properly create a pathway for the mana to work as a spell. Especially spells as complicated as your [Pyre Blade] that requires increasing the density of element and combining them perfectly. Your plasma sphere was a bit understandable because you used brute force through [Limit Break], but this time, you properly made a spell using [Eyes of Divinity]. It is a replicable feat and will be a staple spell that you can use in the future without the price of fainting. With your eyes, making spells seems to be trivial. Here you go creating spells left and right, you're not even following the [Steel Emperor Arts] and the book of Pyrus family, [Embers of Life]. Besides that, you easily broke my spell with your superior mana quality. I feel bad for your future opponents."
Kyrian scratched his nose and blushed from his master's praises. 'Master really knows how to make me proud of myself without saying it directly. Hehe.'
"Master, you said that we'll be focusing on mobility. Why did you make a steel debuff?"
"Oh, did I? When did I say that? Do you have proof?"
The [Pyre Blade] that Kyrian was maintaining dissipated as he thought, 'I take it back. This senile old man should eat dirt.'