He created a leaf and placed it on one piece of parchment, then placed the other on top, concealing the leaf completely.
"Treat these two pieces of parchment as spatial layers. The leaf is currently behind the first layer of space, invisible to the naked eye, but still there. Behind the leaf is the second layer of space.
If the leaf was a person, it wouldn't be able to see us in the first layer, nor would it be able to see whatever is hidden in the third layer.
Do you understand this?"
William nodded his head but was slightly confused. "How do we reach the second layer of space?"
"." Riyald called Mana of the Wind Element to his finger and carefully sliced through the first piece of parchment, revealing the leaf behind while doing his best not to damage the figurative barrier to the third layer of space.
William was impressed by his Master's Mana Control, which clearly exceeded his own. "So, you just tear through it?"
"Exactly, but your attack must be both accurate and deadly. A Tribulation Transcendence expert near the peak like myself can destroy the first layer of space with a simple Magic Spell, but you couldn't possibly do so unless very specific conditions are met."
"What conditions? And what does this have to do with the Arrays you showed me before?" William asked. He didn't understand how the layers of space could be responsible for duplicate Wind Mana Particles.
"Well for you, all you need is the Space Element. But there's another way, which was most helpful to me when I created those Dials many years ago. That method lies in those Arrays.
Not only can the Splitting and Separation Runes divide Mana Particles, but they can also divide the layers of space with incredible precision, even if their power is only around the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm."
William had a sudden epiphany. His eyes lit up as he said, "The Arrays call in Wind Mana from the surrounding environment, then filter out the bad particles.
The Splitting Runes break apart the layers of space, then the Separation Runes keep the spatial layers apart while the Absorption Runes call Mana Particles of the Wind Element from the second layer of space to further increase the amount of Wind Mana!"
-Knowledge of the Space Element improved: Conditions met for free upgrade...
Space Affinity: (B --> A)
Effects: Space-related Mana Control, Magic Power, and Mana Efficiency +75% >> +150%
Legendary Talent Bonus: Increased sensitivity to foreign use of the Space Element.
Next rank up: 10000PP
A free upgrade? Nice! William gave his Master a mental thumbs up for saving him 2500 Potential Points.
Riyald's explanation was a bit complicated, but once William understood the entire process, his mind filled with new thoughts and ideas of how to apply his knowledge of Arrays. He was surprised the System hadn't shown him this before, since it was clearly incredibly important.
Maybe it was because his Space Element hadn't yet reached S-Rank? After all, the layers of space had more to do with the Space Element than they did with Arrays.
My Master is a genius! To think he came up with this method to create these dials even though he doesn't have the Space Element...
William had never thought much of others, but this old man before him was truly something impressive. He didn't even have the System yet had achieved much more than the old William could have possibly imagined.
"It seems you understand now. I won't give you any more hints unless you get stuck again. Let me know when that happens, and I'll give you some pointers." the old man smiled at William, satisfied that his explanation got through to his special Disciple.
I can't be so quick to blame the boy. After all, he's only twenty years old. What was I doing when I was his age?
Riyald tried to think back that far, but when his incredible memory was flooded with scenes of him in the bedroom, he promptly stopped thinking about it.
I suppose that's the biggest difference between me and him... Follow current novels on novel•fire.net
William looked at his Master's expression of pity with confusion but didn't bother asking for the details.
"Thank you, Master. You said I could separate the layers of space with the Space Element?"
Riyald was awoken from his reverie by William's question, "Ah, yes. Come over here, I need one of my experiments to explain this one to you." he stood up and walked over to a large block of blue metal that was cut into a square shape.
He rapped on the top of the block with his right hand as if he was knocking on a door, which caused the block to change forms into a one-meter-tall humanoid golem with a Greater Beast Core embedded in its chest.
"This is my Space Golem, as I call it. It barely works, but it should be enough to show you how to use your Space Element to open the layers of space."
Its left arm extended, a single finger poking out that emitted Mana of the Space Element. Riyald grabbed the Golem's arm and traced a circle in the air that caused the space to warp.
"This is one way, which is your standard method of forming portals for others to use."
Riyald redirected the arm until it was positioned in another direction away from the circle of warped space, then squeezed the Space Golem's arm to release a laser made of Space Mana that greatly distorted the space around its landing point.
"There are two things to note here with the second option. First, you need to be careful with how much power you are putting into the move, since too much could easily rip into the third or even fourth layer of space.
Second, you need to watch the timing. If you detonate the Space Mana early, you could damage yourself. If you detonate it too late, the Mana might not have stopped until it hit the opposite wall.
Either way, it's too dangerous for you to be trying this out in my lab, so wait until you have returned to your room."
William nodded his head, understanding completely.
Cut or pierce with Space Mana. It's actually very easy. Judging by his smile, this old man probably just wanted to show off one of his experiments...
William was beginning to understand his Master's personality. The old man was very generous with providing benefits to William, and he was very insightful of his Disciple's shortcomings, but there were plenty of obvious flaws that came with being alone for so long.
Now that William was around, his Master seemed to want to show off every experiment he had conducted over the years, not to mention the ridiculous number of traps he had set within the residence.
This thought made the corners of Williams mouth twitch as he remembered the poisoned arrow that "welcomed" him just a few minutes ago. He took another look around the room while Riyald explained a few more things about the Space Element.
Initially, William thought the traps had been there for a while, but after taking a second glance, William discovered that many of the crossbows hidden in the floor and ceiling were made of the Plant Element and the aura they gave off suggested they had only been functioning for a few hours.
Was this your experiment, old man? To peep at me in my room and build traps as a warm welcome to your house?!?