The ice sanctum was filled with majesty and beauty. Its temperature was insanely cold, below freezing point, and if not for his meager ability to control the ice element, Atticus would have long since frozen.
Atticus went through another wave of murmurs and chatter as he followed Isolde through the sanctum.
"What the…"
However, there was a major difference this time around. Atticus had no idea why, but every single person he saw in the ice sanctum was female.
They all had cold and calculating demeanors and were all beautiful.
Isolde noticed Atticus' confusion and decided to address it.
"It's something we also don't fully understand, but it is extremely rare to find a male ice elementalist."
Atticus felt "rare" was an understatement. He couldn't spot even a single male no matter how long he looked.
The walk went uninterrupted until they reached a small lakeside. Atticus couldn't help but recall his time at the water sanctum when he saw the lake. But he could spot a major difference—the water was emitting steam.
Despite the low temperature of the sanctum, the water of the lake was still scorching hot.
The lake was free of anyone, and only Isolde and Atticus were in the area.
Isolde turned towards Atticus and spoke,
"This will be where your first lesson will take place. Considering how fast you finished the other sanctums, I think it's safe for me to assume that you're an incredibly fast learner, so let us begin immediately."
Isolde turned and faced the steamy lake.
"The ice element, as you know, is a subset of the water element. However, water elementalists cannot form or manipulate ice. Do you know why?"
Atticus didn't respond immediately and decided to deeply ponder the question. He went through everything he had learned about the water element in his head and reached a conclusion quickly.
It was plenty obvious.
"The inability to lower the temperature of water."
Isolde nodded.
"Yes, you're half right. It is the inability to lower the temperature of the water molecule. This is what separates water elementalists from ice elementalists. We do not use a separate molecule in the air for forming ice; it's still the water molecules.
However, instead of forming a connection with the molecules, making them react with mana and joining them together, we form a connection, making them react with mana and lowering their temperature before joining them together. Am I making any sense?"
Atticus nodded his head immediately. His mind was already working on digesting everything Isolde had said.
"Well, if you understand, then get to work. The temperature of the water is very hot, so you can simply sit down at the edge to meditate."
Isolde backed up and allowed Atticus to sit at the edge of the lake.
Seeing Atticus enter a focused state with his eyes closed, Isolde's gaze slightly narrowed as she stared at him.
She had visited each of the sanctums except the Earth Sanctum and met the sanctum masters. It was truly hard to believe everything she had heard about him from them, but the only reason she considered it in the first place was because it was the sanctum masters telling her. She would have dismissed it if it had been anyone else.
The sanctum masters could not joke about something this significant. If they say it happened, then it happened.
A 16-year-old boy breezing through each of the lessons that they spent decades perfecting left a bad taste in Isolde's mouth.
She knew she was only supposed to feel happiness—they had gained a monster in their family after all. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Isolde had always had a primal dislike for people who were naturally gifted. This had formed because, from the very beginning, she hadn't been that talented. Everything she had achieved had all been from her hard work and persistence.
Seeing someone who just breathed and got what others struggled for was something she hated. While she was insanely old, this was a deep-rooted feeling. It wasn't going anywhere.
However, she was the sanctum master, and she would have to teach geniuses whether she liked it or not, plus this was on Magnus's order. There was no "no" when it came to Magnus.
Isolde watched Atticus without making a sound.
Meanwhile, Atticus had already entered a deep state of focus. Isolde's explanation had been brief, but it had covered everything he should know about the formation of ice.
He hadn't understood it at first, but after Isolde's explanation, he realized why there was a hot lake in an ice sanctum. It was all in the process of lowering the water molecule temperature.
It would seem as though ice elementalists didn't have the ability to directly lower the temperature of water molecules; instead, what they did have was the ability to absorb heat using the mana in the air.
The process was pretty straightforward: the mana in the air interacts with the water molecules, thereby absorbing heat from it, reducing its temperature, and turning it into ice.
The water molecules around this scorching lake were, as expected, very hot. It made figuring out the process of forming ice easier but actually replicating the process harder.
Atticus released a deep exhale, his focus peaking.
Then, he formed a connection with the hot water molecules in the air in front of him and began the process.
Upon forming said connection, Atticus was able to immediately determine that using the ice element, he couldn't control the water molecules. So, he did what he could.
The water molecules reacted with the mana in the air, and the scorching heat contained in each one of the molecules began getting sucked away.
The process was rapid, and Atticus instantly felt the temperature of the molecules dropping at a fast rate. In the next second, a small layer of frost started appearing on each of their forms.
As soon as Atticus noticed this, he attempted to join each one of them together and form something, but he immediately failed. The molecules weren't joining together no matter how much he tried.
Atticus stopped connecting with the molecules and immediately started thinking. 'If the molecules don't join together, then how do I create ice?'
Isolde stared at Atticus without saying anything. She left the explanation of the creation of ice as vague as possible to see if Atticus was what they said he was. She was a bit shocked he had been able to lower the temperature in the first place but quickly regained her composure.
'He will have to ask me how to do it,' she thought.