The Burning Fiend

After finally arranging his ideas and making a decision of how to proceed, Leylin chuckled realizing that Reynolds had been waiting patiently. He couldn't help but remember the first time they meet and how curious he was then, yet Leylin couldn't help but keep thinking of him as a child.

"It seems that you have many questions... lets try this, ask freely and I will try to answer. A fair warning thou... I do not guarantee an answer for every question". Leylin smirked playfully as Reynolds was focusing his ideas trying to obtain the most helpful information from him. After a moment, he finally asked.

"Lord Leylin, are you a Paragon? If I am not wrong, the restriction of space I felt during the battle was what is called 'will'? What does it entail? And... what is that red liquid that seemed to amplify your power to a whole new level?" These were the questions that Reynolds felt were the more important and significant for his current level, walking into a battle without understanding these issues might turn out to be a costly mistake.

Leylin, who was completely transitioned into his teacher persona, nodded in approval at the questions his 'disciple' had made. "You are correct, I became a Paragon shortly after our first meeting in the Yulan Continent. Once I managed to fuse the six mysteries of the Fire Elemental Laws I received the recognition from the 'heavens', so to speak, in the form of 'will'. This 'will' not only works as a higher form or divine field, it also could be used as an augmenter for your physical strength, speed and your soul strength and innate abilities". He took a moment to take a sip from his wine and enjoy its flavor while trying to arrange his thoughts before continuing with his explanation.

"You need to understand that the Paragon rank is the highest level of comprehension over the Elemental Laws and/or Edicts that can be achieved through one's hard work. Sovereigns depend on the 'Sovereign Sparks' to obtain access to the 'will', which is many times above the one a Paragon could gain as recognition of the heavens, but a Sovereign is not necessarily a Paragon". The once king of Blue City said proudly, he was one of the few Sovereigns that could claim that honor.

"Do you understand the things I have just explained?" Leylin looked curiously at Reynolds who seemed lost in his own thoughts. Reynolds was thinking that the 'will' was a form of benefit provided by the 'artificial intelligence' of the universe as a reward for either hard work or luck, but perhaps he would be able to gain those benefits after his understanding of runes improved to a level that might allow him to take control of this 'artificial intelligence', or at least influence the way it worked, to obtain free access to this 'will'.

"I think I do, but I also think that I would not be able to truly understand the 'will' until I become a Paragon myself..." Reynolds said almost muttering to himself, but Leylin nodded appreciating the answer he received. "I think you are correct, for the moment you should focus in finding ways to neglect the effect of the 'will' that is projected on you as a restriction... but I would say that you managed to avoid that problem quite well in your own way during our battle". Leylin had been quite surprised by how Reynolds had managed to avoid suffering from complete suppression from his 'will' as they battled, even more after he realized that he had never experienced a similar situation before.

Leylin smiled satisfied by the battle instincts that his 'disciple' had shown and proceeded with his explanation. "Now, the red liquid that I used during our battle is called 'Sovereign Might'. Just like deities use divine power as fuel and amplifier for the Elemental Laws and Edicts, the 'Sovereign Might' is the power that Sovereigns use for the same purpose. In other words... is a higher level of divine power that can be condensed into physical liquid in its pure form and it is only accessible to Sovereigns. There are many ways to acquire this precious resource, but the easiest would be to become a 'Envoy' to a 'Sovereign'... normally one would also receive a 'Sovereign' artifact when obtaining that identity".

Leylin could see how understanding dawned upon Reynolds, but he also saw that there was no urgency or greed for getting hold of 'Sovereign Might'. Reynolds thought that his attack formation did not seem to be at much disadvantage against someone of the same level using 'Sovereign Might', and he also though that it might be useful but never a necessity. He continued thinking for a moment before taking another taste of his wine.

This time it was Leylin who asked a question. "Can you tell me about your attack formation?" This question startled Reynolds as he had not expected to be asked about his greatest secret, but his expression betrayed nothing as he took a moment to organize his ideas. Leylin was paying attention to his lack of reaction and smiled with curiosity waiting for an answer.

Reynolds decided that his best strategy was to use half-truths and avoid lying as much as possible, but being careful of never revealing anything crucial. "The 'Ba-Serpent Attack Formation' is based on the basic 'Green Dragon Attack Formation' recorded on most intermediate level books on the topic of Attack Formations. I modified it into the form of a Ba-Serpent as I used to employ a fire construct with that very form before I became a Demigod and as I continued using in my battles for a long time after that... It feels quite familiar". He took a moment to have another taste of his wine before continuing.

"Perhaps you are curious as to why it seems much more powerful than the 'Green Dragon Attack Formation'? My answer would be that I found that I could use my mutated flames to power the attack formation instead of using divine power as it is the standard for runic arrays and attack formations". Leylin was no expert in runes, so he had no way to verify this, but to him it made sense to be able to use the Elemental Laws while employing an attack formation because the mutated flames were created by the fusion of the Fire Elemental Laws that the kid had mastered, as well as the semi fusion with the Edicts of Life and Death that his mutated flames had showed when he gained his three divine avatars. But he also made a mental note to buy an attack formation to try to power it with 'Sovereign Might'.

Reynolds felt relieve as Lord Leylin did not continue to pursue the topic knowing that it might be useless for others if the power of his attack formation depended on his soul mutation, as he wanted others to believe, and not on his mastery over the runic arrays that he had created to control the Fire Elemental Laws, for once he was blissfully unaware of the idea that was taking form in Leylin's mind.

Without wasting the opportunity to change the topic, Reynolds asked what was most important to him at the moment. "Lord Leylin, could you help me with an introduction and a few demonstrations of the Fire Elemental Law that I am yet to start pondering? I was so invested in fusing the mysteries I had already mastered that I avoided all possibility to get insights over this last Elemental Law... I don't even know how this last mystery is called by other deities".

Leylin blinked in surprise at the new information and could not help but laugh out loud for a while before composing himself. "So that's how you did it... no wonder you managed to progress so much with the fusion of the laws as you did. Perhaps I would have become a Paragon several tens of thousands of years if that idea had occurred to me while I was still a God".

Bluefire had fused only three mysteries before he became a Highgod, he did not know how difficult it will be to fuse the mysteries later on. And after gaining insights on a new mystery, it was easier to ponder said mystery than start fusing the laws. As many other, he had the urge of becoming a Highgod for the security that it entailed... he lived in the Gebados Planar Prison at that time, and protecting himself and his two brothers was his priority.

He stopped his remembrance of the old days and focused on how to explain the mystery in question to his 'disciple', after a couple of minutes he started talking. "The name of the mystery is 'Combustion'... I personally think that it is the most difficult and complicated mystery within the Fire Elemental Laws. The mystery of 'Combustion' has may intricacies and facets, but there are two aspects that might make this mystery one of the most powerful if not the most powerful".

Leylin smiled as he noticed that Reynolds was drinking every word as if it were water, and he had spent several years living in a desert without a drop of the precious liquid. "The first aspect of this mystery, that I think is of great importance, is the fact that the fire consumes 'something' to power the flames. You might use divine power, but fire in nature is the result of something being burned and you should know that the greed of fire is insatiable... it would destroy everything to gain more power without caring if it provokes its own destruction".

Reynolds was nodding in understanding as it was something that he had already known to some level... perhaps even unconsciously. "The second aspect of this mystery that might provide the most potential is that the properties of the flame change depending on what it is being consumed and the conditions in which the phenomenon is happening".

Realization was dawning upon Reynolds as these simple truths were clear as water to him, he had just never dedicated a pure conscious thought to the issue. He now had an idea of what to look for when starting to ponder the last mystery, but he knew that his initial position for understanding this mystery would improve tremendously if his mentor were to provide some demonstrations of the application of the mystery of 'Combustion'.

Leylin smiled when he noticed that Reynolds had managed to remain calm and that he was not jumping in his seat like a kid as the last time he had tried to explain and demonstrate to him the application of the Fire Elemental Laws. Still, he hesitated on how to demonstrate the application of this mystery as it was not as straight forward as the other Fire Elemental Laws.

In the end he took a few samples of different materials, that had not much value to him, from his interspatial ring and proceeded to burn them using the mystery of 'Combustion' as slowly and clearly as he could in the current circ.u.mstances. The first sample was a gray stone that soon turned into ashes as a gray flame seemed to devour it, the second sample was puddle of wine that disappeared as an orange flame came to life.

Each and every sample material that Leylin had used to demonstrate the mystery of 'Combustion' disappeared or become ashes by different types of flames, each flame had its own peculiarity and Reynolds used his divine sense to try engraving every moment of the demonstration into his mind. He was sure he had gained a clear path to start exploring the mystery of 'Combustion' and he found it fascinating.

Leylin smiled, noticing that the kid had already gained entrance to the new Elemental Law, and wondered how long would it take him to become a Highgod. He was even more curious as to how long it would take him to become a Paragon, he trembled at the idea of a 'Ba-Serpent Attack Formation' powered by the mutated flames while using the 6-way fusion of the Fire Elemental Laws as a base. It was at this moment that Leylin decided that the one that would face such a behemoth, when the kid wanted to test its power, would certainly be Beirut... 'There is no way in hell that I volunteer for testing that monstrosity'. He thought with an evil smirk on his face wondering how well would Beirut fare against such an opponent.