Chapter 38: Wave Trans.m.u.tation
The virtual screen above Wink focused on the last humanoid. This one first triggered Wave Cloak, then used Wave Burst, and finally employed Wave Focus to concentrate most of his Wave in his right hand before finally shooting a fireball.
“That is Wave Trans.m.u.tation. In a nutsh.e.l.l, it is the conversion of our Wave into something else. It can be simple elemental forces like lightning, fire, water, or even more complex like gold or poison.”
Wink raised his hand and focused Essence Wave in it before making fire, water, and even earth appear.
“This art plays a fundamental part in the use of spells. Not only does it improve our proficiency in them, but it also diminishes the amount of Wave we need to use them. Of course, although anyone could change their Wave into flames, someone that does it following the principles taught in a technique can show much greater destructive power.”
The Wave in Wink’s hand transformed once again into a ball of fire, but while the amount of Wave was the same, the power in it was greater.
“When it comes to proficiency in this art, Essence Wave Cultivators have a much higher innate talent, which can increase even more as our cultivation advances, and our perception develops.”
Those words did not surprise anyone. Essence Wave lacked the enhanced vitality and durability of Astral Wave, but it was more malleable, so it made sense for it to be easier to trans.m.u.te.
.....
“Astral Wave Cultivators usually focus on the element related to their Lineage since, at least in it, they do not fall behind their counterparts. Some with powerful Lineages can even trans.m.u.te their Wave at an intuitive level.”
Cain nodded as he heard that. Among the skills learned after obtaining his Lightning Lupus Lineage, there was Lightning Conversion.
Transforming his Astral Wave into lightning was not hard, but he found it highly challenging to do it with any other element. As for things like poison or gold, that was simply impossible for the current Cain.
“Those are the Four Basic Wave Arts. As all of you should understand by now, the word basic is not a reference to their power but the fact that everything else emerges from them. They are the essence of spell casting and any battle style.”
Wink waved his hand after that, and all the cadets received a file through their A.I. Chips.
“In that file is all the information I just gave you about Wave Mastery. While you have it at your disposal at all times, sharing it without consent from the Imperial Military Force is a crime. Now put some distance between yourself, and we will train Synergy Flow, Free Flow, and Directed Flow. There are three hours left, and we will use one for each exercise. I will monitor you and advise you when I see the need for it.”
Cain, Levi, and the cold beauty stood up and moved away before unleashing their Wave Cloaks. The men’s Wave was dark purple, but the woman was sky-blue, meaning she followed the Essence Evolution Path of Power.
Cain did not lose time and immediately focused. According to Wink’s teachings, Synergy Flow consists in making your Wave dense and evenly distributed.
The file mentioned it would help you think of your Wave as a river. It was a wild force you needed to use your mind to bring into order, making it steadily revolve around your body while condensing it.
Cain’s Wave Cloak gradually lost its flaming state, becoming more defined and smaller.
Wink advised some cadets and guided those that were having difficulty. Despite his seemingly carefree att.i.tude, he was very diligent in his work.
After an hour pa.s.sed, it was time to exercise Free Flow. Cain found it a little easier than Synergy Flow, as he only needed to focus on making his Astral Wave expand as far as possible. According to the file, it was good to visualize your Wave Cloak as a pool of water losing its atomic density and transforming into vapor.
The auditorium filled with dark purple and sky-blue fog during the next hour as the cadets trained Free Flow. Since they were all Level 2 Wave Warriors, none of them felt discomfort by the Wave of the others.
Finally, it was the turn of the cadets to train in Directed Flow. Everybody got a small steel marble, and the goal was to extend their Wave Cloak into it flawlessly.
As expected, Essence Wave Cultivators had a much easier time in Directed Flow than Astral Wave Cultivators.
Cain managed to extend his Wave Cloak into the steel marble, but he constantly had to focus on it, and a lot of Astral Wave dispersed due to his inability to control it once it left his body.
“Ok, that is all for today!” Wink’s voice echoed through the auditorium, and all the cadets sat.
All those youths were exhausted, but they were also smiling. The cadets felt that their mastery over Wave Cloak had increased significantly. As long as they kept training Synergy Flow, Free Flow, and Directed Flow, their power would increase even if their cultivation did not.