"Good!" Mandrake shouted. "Then, let's get right into it!"
Kyle looked around the small room. "In here?"
"Yeah, why not?" Mandrake asked. "You just have to learn how to manipulate your Ether. You can train the actual technique later."
"Okay, then, how does it work?" Kyle asked with an excited smile.
His first technique!
Mandrake took out his rapier and cut a couple of fist-sized stones out of the walls.
He threw one of the stones to Kyle, who caught it.
"Since you don't have a weapon with fitting arrays, you need to learn it the hard way," Mandrake said.
Kyle nodded.
He had learned quite a bit about smithing, and he knew that good weapons needed Formation Arrays on them.
Formation Arrays were diagrams that automatically manipulated Ether.
For example, Fennek's swords had Formation Arrays on them.
Since Fennek was a Squire, his Soul was significantly weakened, which meant infusing weapons with his Ether was extremely difficult and straining.
If he wanted to use a Squire technique, he would need to create a certain kind of Ether and then infuse it into his sword.
The Formation Array would take that Ether and spread it across the entire weapon.
Like this, Fennek didn't need to envelop his entire sword with Ether. He just needed to produce the Ether on his hands.
The sword took that Ether from his hands and spread it.
Fighters and Knights used these kinds of weapons to allow them to make use of their Souls without actually having to actually use them.
Of course, the downsides were that these weapons were quite expensive and that they could only use the techniques the weapons were designed to use.
Kyle didn't have any of these issues since he had a powerful soul.
He could use his Soul and techniques with any object.
"Earth Smash is a pretty simple technique," Mandrake said. "It's so simple that I can even use it with your big hammer, which isn't made for this kind of weapon."
"You could say it's just a special way of swinging it."
"Almost every Adept knows this technique, regardless of Elemental Affinity. Technically, it's a technique for Earth Affinities, but everyone can use it."
"In fact, you don't even need to be an Adept to use it. Being an Adept just helps in learning the technique quicker."
Kyle nodded.
"Alright," Mandrake said, showing the stone.
Then, the stone started to shine with a subtle brown light.
"You do that. Do you know how to?" Mandrake asked.
"I think so," Kyle answered.
Next, Kyle used his Soul to infuse the stone with Ether.
The next moment, the stone shone with a white light.
"No, not like that," Mandrake said. "You're not turning your Ether into Elemental Ether. You're just using regular Ether."
Kyle blinked a couple of times.
He had used his Affinity several times before to refine metal.
He had always done it this way.
"This is how I usually use my Affinity," Kyle said.
Mandrake shook his head. "No, no, no," he said. "Yes, you can use your Affinity for random stuff in this way, but this won't help you when you want to smash stuff."
"You need to transform your Ether into Elemental Ether if you actually want to damage anything."
"Think about it. Everyone and everything uses Ether to become stronger, right?"
Kyle nodded.
"So, if you cover your hammer with pure Ether, wouldn't that be like covering your weapon with food?" Mandrake asked with a smirk.
"Huh," Kyle said. "That actually makes sense."
"Right," Mandrake said. "You need to turn your Ether into something that's actually destructive. In your case, it should be Metal Ether. You said you have a Metal Affinity, right?"
Kyle nodded.
"Transforming your Ether into Elemental Ether requires some practice and feeling. Theoretically, you can transform your Ether into any kind of Elemental Ether."
"Wait," Kyle said. "Then, what's the point of an Affinity?"
"It's an Affinity," Mandrake said with a laugh. "It means you are very good and talented in an aspect. If you have a Metal Affinity, turning your Ether into Metal Ether and manipulating Metal Ether further should be far easier."
"Someone with a Metal Affinity can learn a metal technique within a couple of days, while someone with a Wood Affinity probably needs months or even years."
"Theoretically, they could do it, but the effort and time put into learning that technique would not be worth the payoff."
"Oh, I get it," Kyle said. "Thanks for explaining."
Mandrake nodded. "Now, try to transform your Ether into Metal Ether."
"Eeehh," Kyle said, looking at the stone. "And how do I do that?"
"You've said you've used your Metal Affinity before, right?" Mandrake asked.
Kyle nodded.
"Just do the same thing but be more aggressive about it. If I remember correctly, Metal Affinities are easier to control if you want to destroy or kill something. While it is not necessary, feeling certain things helps to create Elemental Ether."
Mandrake pointed at himself. "I have an Earth Affinity. Whenever I create Earth Ether, I imagine myself to be a huge mountain that doesn't give way to anyone. I stand here, and there is nobody who can move me. I am tall, big, powerful, and nobody can shake me."
"Earth is about resistance, toughness, and hardness."
"If I remember correctly, metal is about controlled destruction. You are decisive and silent, but when you are angered, you explode with controlled destruction. You kill exactly what angered you. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Try it."
"Okay," Kyle said.
Kyle closed his eyes and focused on the stone in his hand.
He felt his Metal Affinity like usual, except that he couldn't refine the stone since it was just a normal stone.
Then, Kyle narrowed his eyes as he imagined himself hating the stone.
This fucking stone!
This stone had insulted him!
How dare this mere stone?!
Kyle opened his eyes and glared at the stone.
His Ether was still white.
When Kyle saw that, all his bravado left him.
Mandrake just smiled.
"You'll get it. Don't worry."