Kyle closed the last document that talked about Bases and just looked forward with unfocused eyes.
He didn't need to think anymore.
It was nice not to think.
As expected, the documents talking about Bases were just as dry as all the other ones. It was just a ton of information that he had to remember.
After some minutes of just staring into space, Kyle opened the Communicator again.
'The majority of documents are gone. The remaining stuff is just about how to set up Formation Arrays and common configurations. This shouldn't be so bad.'
Kyle went through all the things he had learned in his mind, and he could already come up with a couple of Formation Arrays he could set up. He didn't really know how they worked or how they achieved their effect, but just by remembering shit and combining context clues, he could come up with some of them.
He opened the first document about setting up Formation Arrays and was immediately confronted with the simplest Formation Array in existence.
A Concealing Formation Array.
It worked by simply shoving a lot of chaotic Energy through different Nodes and Connections. Seekers couldn't easily perceive the insides of other Seekers, and Concealing Formation Arrays worked with the same principle.
Energy that was controlled by a will blocked perception to a certain degree. By creating a Concealing Formation Array, Kyle could essentially spread his will across a thin sheet of Energy that surrounded an area.
Of course, there were also different levels of Formation Arrays. For example, the easiest and simplest Concealing Formation Array could block vision, sound, vibrations, smells, and Energy fluctuations, but only to a certain point. If a Seeker knew the Minor Law of Soul, they would be able to see through the Concealing Formation Array.
There were plenty of ways to make the Concealing Formation Array better. The strongest and most advanced ones could even create an entirely separate world, but those could only be set up by Seekers in the Twelfth Realm, the Singularity Realm.
'One Base, eight Nodes, a bunch of Connections,' Kyle thought. 'I don't even need specific materials for the Base or the Nodes.'
Kyle looked away from the Communicator and summoned a small piece of metal.
He focused on the piece of metal, and the next moment, several tiny lines were carved into the metal by Kyle's Energy.
It just took a couple of seconds.
Then, Kyle fixed his newly created Base to a specific point in space and summoned a couple of metallic sticks.
He added several lines to those as well, which were called Runes. The Runes just created Energy channels that changed the Energy into something else. This was how Bases and Nodes manipulated their Energy.
He attached the newly created Nodes to other points in space and created several Connections between them, creating a complex diagram.
'That should be it,' Kyle thought as he pushed some of his Energy into the Base.
As soon as he put in his Energy, he noticed a black sphere appearing in front of him. It was impossible for Kyle to see what was going on inside with just his regular senses.
However, by really focusing, he could still feel the movement of Energy inside the Concealing Formation Array.
'It works!' Kyle thought with a bit of excitement. 'I mean, I can still sense what's going on inside, but that's because I know the Minor Law of Soul. Additionally, the Base is outside the Concealing Array, which kinda makes this pointless since anyone can see and destroy it.'
'But hey! It's the easiest one, and it works!'
After looking at the Formation Array for a while, Kyle became a bit interested. Finally, there was something he could experiment with!
'Why are they using Copperstone 47 as a Connection? Fiberglass 27 sounds better.'
Kyle deactivated the Concealing Formation Array and changed the composition of the Connections before reactivating it.
'See? It works much better!' he thought with a smile. 'It's even harder to sense what's going on inside!'
CRK!
Then, a crack appeared on one of the Connections, and the Formation Array deactivated again.
Kyle was shocked for a moment before facepalming. 'Right, you shouldn't use Fiberglass 27 in unstable environments. If anyone fights beside it, it's likely to break. Let's try Ironcore 6 instead.'
He changed it again and reactivated the Formation Array.
Yet, when he looked at it, he furrowed his brows. 'I mean, yeah, it's stable, and I can't see what's going on inside, but I can somewhat sense where the Connections are now. Ironcore 6 is a bit too noticeable. Let's go with Magnawire.'
He changed it again.
'Ah, fuck. Magnawire needs a certain intensity of Energy to become efficient, and the Concealing Formation Array doesn't use that much. Let's go with Woodfink C.'
'Whoops, Woodfink C changed the Energy a bit too much, making the Formation Array useless. What about Zincstein R?'
'Okay, this one doesn't have enough affinity with light, making the Formation Array blurry. Let's try…'
For several hours, Kyle tried countless materials, but there were always some issues with them.
That was until he tried Copperstone 46. Copperstone 46 worked really well.
'Then, I might as well go with Copperstone 47. It's a bit more efficient,' Kyle thought as he changed the Connections one last time.
When he saw how well the Concealing Formation Array worked, he smiled with pride.
'See? That shit works great! What was it that the guide told me to use?' he thought as he looked at the guide again.
Copperstone 67(47).
Kyle blinked.
Then, he aimlessly looked forward.
'Okay, I understand. These basic Formation Arrays have already been perfected. There's probably a good reason why they chose this material.'
Kyle sighed. 'At least I know WHY they chose the material now. I actually learned about the why instead of the how, for once.'
After looking at the Concealing Formation Array again, Kyle focused on the next one.
'An Iron Shaping Formation Array,' Kyle thought. 'It just cuts iron into a specific shape. It's mostly used as an auxiliary Formation Array that feeds into another Formation Array.'
Kyle built that one as well and experimented a bit.
After trying to improve the Formation Array, Kyle once more reached the point where he realized that the guide had been right all along.
However, this time, Kyle had expected that outcome. He had still tried to improve it just to see why the guide was telling him to use these materials and configurations.
For the first time since he started looking at Formation Arrays, Kyle was actually having fun.
Experimenting with the Formation Arrays and seeing the effects of his changes was actually fascinating.
It was like learning a Law.
There were several hundred basic Formation Arrays in the guide, and Kyle experimented with all of them.
The vast majority of the Formation Arrays were not very useful on their own. They were mostly just components to support stronger and bigger Formation Arrays, but Kyle was still interested in how they worked.
Kyle slowly lost himself in the world of Formation Arrays.
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