Kyle wanted to throw a side-eye at Theodor, but Theodor was inside his brain.
In order to throw a side-eye at him, he would need to turn his eyes by 180 degrees, which wasn't really feasible.
So, he was stuck looking at the floor with annoyance.
'Theodor fucked my Affinities,' he thought.
Then, he sighed.
'But he gave me an Aristocrat's Body. I guess that's better than some Affinities.'
'Well, good and bad stuff, as always.'
Theodor hadn't said anything ever since Mandrake had appeared.
"My guy," Mandrake said. "I think Earth Smash is not the right technique for you. It works with Earth and Metal Affinities, but it doesn't work as well with other Affinities."
Then, Mandrake broke out into laughter again. "I should have known that you don't have a Metal or Earth Affinity just by looking at your hammer."
"Why?" Kyle asked.
"Have you seen that huge thing?" Mandrake asked. "This does not look like controlled destruction at all. Your huge hammer just screams reckless destruction. It perfectly fits someone with a Fire Affinity."
"People with Metal Affinities mostly use swords. They are very disciplined and only pull out their swords when they want to kill someone."
Kyle looked at Mandrake's rapier. "And rapiers are normal for Fighters with Earth Affinities?"
Mandrake was taken aback.
Then, he laughed even louder.
"Okay, you got me there," he said. "Yes, my choice of weapon is also very atypical. People with Earth Affinities walk around with shields most of the time."
The Mandrake winked. "But that's why I got into the royal army, while they have to make do with random jobs."
"You have to craft your identity. There are strengths and weaknesses to every Affinity. By wearing heavy armor and using a shield, you are making use of your strengths as a Fighter with an Earth Affinity, but that makes your weaknesses even more pronounced."
"They are slow, inflexible, and cumbersome."
"Meanwhile, I can summon walls of earth to defend myself, while I can attack with fast speeds."
"I have an Earth Affinity, but I also focus on Metal Affinities."
Kyle nodded.
That made a lot of sense.
"Is it hard to get into the royal army?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah," Mandrake answered. "The royal army has the best benefits, and they can choose anyone from anywhere. Everyone wants to get in, but there are only so many open spaces."
"Took me four tries to get in."
Kyle nodded before sighing again.
'Well, there goes Earth Smash.'
Mandrake looked at Kyle for a bit.
Then, he rolled his eyes before shrugging.
"How about another technique?" he asked.
Kyle perked up when he heard that. "You're willing to teach me another one?"
"Yep," Mandrake said. "This one is a bit more valuable than Earth Smash, but not by a lot. It shouldn't be an issue to teach you."
"I'm sorry, and thank you," Kyle said.
Mandrake didn't need to teach Kyle anything, but he was still willing to do so.
Kyle respected that.
"Your hammer is quite slow, right? Probably difficult to hit enemies with it," Mandrake said.
"Yep," Kyle said with a nod.
"Then, what do you think about learning Air Current?" Mandrake asked.
"What does that do?" Kyle asked.
"It's one of the basic techniques for someone with a Wind Affinity," Mandrake explained. "It reverses air resistance."
"Not sure what that means," Kyle said.
"When you swing your hammer, it probably displaces a lot of air, right?" Mandrake asked. "It probably takes a lot of power to push through that air resistance."
Kyle nodded.
"With Air Current, the air resistance in front of your hammer moves behind your hammer and pushes it forward instead of blocking it. In short, the harder you strike, the more Air Current helps you."
Kyle's eyes widened.
That sounded too good to be true!
"Don't get so excited," Mandrake said with a laugh when he saw Kyle's expression. "It's pretty useful in the First and the beginning of the Second Realm, but at some point, your power will reach a level where air resistance barely matters anymore. That means the boost in speed also barely matters."
"It's nice for the beginning but almost useless later down the line. That's why it's a basic technique and why it's not very valuable."
"I don't care," Kyle said. "It's still better than anything else I know!"
Inside Kyle's mind, Theodor snorted while Mandrake laughed again.
"Alright, then, let's get right to it," Mandrake said.
Kyle nodded.
"Summon some Wind Ether on that stone," Mandrake said.
Kyle looked at the stone and just let his carefree persona out.
The Ether quickly turned green.
Creating Wind Ether was exceptionally easy for Kyle.
"Good," Mandrake said. "Now, create a circular current. Create many small whirlpools all around your stone."
Kyle furrowed his brows.
The Wind Ether started to move chaotically.
Creating stable whirlpools was not easy.
Yet, Mandrake's brows rose in surprise.
"You're really talented with your Soul. If I didn't know any better, I would think you're a Paladin," he said. "Most people need 30 minutes to get this far."
"Thanks," Kyle said absentmindedly as he focused on the chaotic Wind Ether.
"You're progressing too fast," Theodor spoke up for the first time in a while. "If you learn the technique too quickly, he will become suspicious. Keep it like this for a couple of seconds, and act like you're exhausted."
Kyle couldn't answer, but he followed Theodor's command.
Some seconds later, the Wind Ether dispersed, and Kyle breathed heavily.
"Not bad," Mandrake said. "You did very well on your first try."
Kyle nodded.
Two minutes later, Kyle attempted it again.
Of course, he also failed again.
This repeated for about an hour, and finally, Kyle managed to create several stable whirlpools.
"You're progressing very quickly," Mandrake said. "Wind Ether really fits you."
"The next step is to double the number of whirlpools. Then, you only have to create a connection between them and create a funnel behind your weapon. When you managed to do that, you learned Air Current. The last step would be to practice it so that you can use it subconsciously during battle. Did you get all that?" Mandrake asked.
Kyle nodded.
"Good," Mandrake said as he stood up. "The Skysand cloud should be gone by now, and I have things to do. Why don't we take a look?"