He couldn't understand why she would build walls around a castle this deep in the sect. He wasn't even sure if a wall would do anything to stop intruders that can fly. But he didn't voice his doubts.
He felt that he was a guest in her home and he was here to seek her help, so the least he should do is not criticize her house. It is just basic courtesy.
Taking courtesy further, he complimented her house, "Nice place you have here."
She said, "Thank you. I'm glad you like it. I modeled it after one of the castles you described in your books. Can you guess what castle I copied?"
He thought to himself, "So this was my fault."
She urged him, "Come on. Guess. Guess."
"Let me give you a hint. No flight is allowed around the castle because the walls have been enchanted to suppress flight."
His eyes lit up in recognition. He said in understanding, "Is that so? I see."
The two of them exchanged some small talk as she led him to the central tower and climbed it to the top. When they got to the top, they saw a ball of violent blue energy floating in the air.
The ball was crackling and causing the air around it to pop. Small arcs of lightning were always jumping out of the ball onto the surroundings.
When the ball noticed their presence, it transformed into a humanoid figure. This figure was made entirely of lightning. They had no distinct features. The face of the figure was empty, and they were bald.
The figure said to him, "I hear that you have some questions."
Arthur bowed before replying, "Yes, patriarch. I want to know how to perfect the harmony between wood and lightning."
The avatar of the patriarch examined intensely for a few seconds before saying, "You have done well. You are already on the right path. What you need is the last push."
"What you need to do is unify wood and lightning so that they can complement each other, not just transform into each other. You need a special equation that makes 1 + 1 greater than 2."
"Maybe not exactly greater than 2. But at least better than 1. The result of this union will depend on what you hope to achieve with it."
He bowed again and said, "Please enlighten me about how to go about it, patriarch. The Life and Death Lightning Art has not been helpful to my plight."
The lightning avatar replied solemnly, "The Life and Death Lightning Art was intentionally made vague. It is meant to point out the various possibilities of the result of the union of lightning and wood. It was not meant to set a possibility for you, as that would stunt your growth and might harm you."
"The harmony of wood and lightning is not just about the two elements. You have to consider the harmony with yourself since you are the vessel for the two elements. People are different, so what works for you might not work for others. Trying to chase the harmony of another person can even lead to your death."
"Now that that is out of the way, you must know that the harmony of wood and element must come from within you and is indispensable from you. After all, it is only with your special physique that you could attempt to unify them in the first place."
"My advice to you is to find a common ground between the two elements. Find something that wood and lightning have in common. Then use this common ground as the foundation to create something new and unique."
"Don't worry too much about what that common ground can be. Just be careful with your attempts at unifying them, as any misstep can lead to serious injury. The rule of thumb is that if the common ground between the two elements is common with you, then you will have nothing to worry about."
"That is all. Good luck."
With that said, the humanoid figure of lightning reverted back into a ball of lightning. This signified that the patriarch was done giving advice. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel[f]ire.net
Arthur still had a lot of questions to ask, but he didn't want to make a literal ball of lightning angry at him. So he decided to take his leave.
He bowed and turned to leave. When he reached the steps that led downwards, a voice came from the ball of lightning, saying, "I don't think I should say this because it might be harmful to you. So be careful with what you do with this information."
"Ideally, the common ground that you find between the two elements must have something in common with your divine sense so that you will be able to control the common ground and the result of the unity of the two elements."
"I say that because the divine sense is your best means of control. If you can control the unity with your divine sense, then ideally, nothing should go wrong. You will be able to stop the reaction of the fusion even if something is wrong, and the product of the unity of the two elements will be in harmony with you."
After saying that, the ball of lightning stopped talking. So Arthur expressed his thanks and left.
When they came down the tower, Stella spoke in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry that my master couldn't spend more than a minute talking to you. He is not a harsh person. He just doesn't like talking."
Arthur shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. I found his advice enlightening and very useful. He has said all that he needed to say. Anything else I might want to hear are just accessories."
Stella held her chest and sighed in relief before saying, "That's good to hear. I was worried that I had caused you to waste your time."
Arthur smiled and said, "Far from it. I should thank you for your help."
She smiled back as she replied, "It was my pleasure."