Adam's senses were incredibly sharp right now, and the whole world looked deeper and more beautiful through his eyes.
Magnetic lines stretched out in front of him, diving into the void, revealing a vast 'inner world' beyond visible light. The electromagnetic waves showed their majestic beauty. These scenes turned into data in Adam's mind, hinting that with some study, beautiful equations could be born.
After proving the existence of electrons, he finally got a key to the microscopic world.
Adam could clearly see the makeup of everything around him, except some protected by various energies.
The protective magic array was torn apart by a high-energy electron beam. Before the alchemical golem could rebuild the magic array and fix the gap, Adam placed his hand on the metal wall of the lab.
Like a breeze over a lake, his gentle touch caused ripples that spread from the small area under his palm. At the same moment, all the metal structures in the lab fluctuated unstably, twisting, tearing, and recombining into various shapes according to Adam's will.
The electromagnetic field spread out, not tearing things up but silently wrapping around him. The energy in two low-level golems' eyes went out, and their hard bodies fell apart into two heaps of scrap.
The magnetic field went from big to tiny, making ionization happen non-stop. Plasma cannons, usually needing runes, now worked with just Adam's thought.
Controlled ionized gas atoms spun, and electrons jumped and fell in a controlled chaos. High-energy beams crossed, with gamma rays ruling over all.
The magnetic field went deep into atoms, trying to control electrons and attack the nucleus but failed. Yet, failure was just for now. If Adam could dive deeper into the tiny world and if mages cracked the nucleus's secrets, Adam could one day control nuclear reactions with magnetic force.
Lots of electrons vanished, releasing huge energy. Adam used a strong magnetic field to hold and speed up this energy, about to make a powerful spell. But then, the lab's safety system kicked in, and a magic array stopped Adam's next move.
"Mage Adam, your lab's energy just went over the limit. The Tower's spirit says it's too risky and tells you to stop."
"The Tower found two damaged golems. Please pay for them soon."
These warnings reached Adam, snapping him out of his amazing moment. His deep dive into electromagnetism just showed its strength, making him feel for a second like he was the world itself.
But Adam didn't get lost in these odd feelings. He cut through his blind pride with a cold edge. He knew better than anyone that he wasn't as strong as he thought. The control he had just now was only because there were no other energies messing around in the lab.
If other mages or creatures interfered, his power would surely drop because of the energy clash.
The magnetic field pulled back like a tide, and the gathered energy melted away. The lab began to go back to normal. Avatars stood up in order, back to their tasks. Adam, after paying all his fines, cut off contact with the outside world again and dove into developing his Electro True Self.
Electrons are tiny particles. During his calculations, Adam thought his Elemental True Self might turn into something fun.
All mages he had seen, no matter their focus - elemental, mechanical, body-refining, or transcendent - had one thing in common: their true selves were huge. Being big meant holding more energy, more protection, and showing more power. No doubt, this was the way to go.
But as he dug deeper into his technique, Adam felt his Electro True Self might go the other way, getting smaller and smaller.
Eventually, his physical form might vanish, merging into an electron cloud, invisible to the naked eye.
This raised a big question, beyond Adam's current knowledge: what are the soul and mental power, really? Particles, waves, information, concepts, or something else entirely that he didn't know yet?
This was an important and interesting question. And there were others like it about elements, magic, ether - what were they made of? The Mage Network had no answers. Maybe only the wisdom of the Great Archmages could touch and solve these mysteries, yet Adam had no way to see them now.
This didn't stop the creation of the Electro True Self technique, though. The world of mages had many 'magic black boxes.' Lots of magic worked with their users not knowing why. The Electro True Self was probably one of them.
This process was tough. A whole year of calculations by Adam and his avatars filled a room with paper, but progress was tiny. The numbers were just too big. Pure math got to astronomical figures by the midpoint, let alone solving it.
Adam put the technique creation on hold and focused on bringing Earth's calculus and matrix operations to the mage world.
This pure math didn't involve energy. Just swapping some symbols made it work in both worlds. With new, more efficient algorithms, the technique's creation sped up. Every week, a new hurdle was cleared, a new equation formed. Meanwhile, Adam's existence and the runes outside his soul kept shifting toward something unknown.
Six months later, the new Electro True Self technique was complete. Its core was a complex matrix equation. When Adam found the solution, his existence changed entirely.
All the energy and knowledge in his body turned into particles, scattering and reassembling. His soul burst out, merging with the particles, becoming an Elemental True Self that couldn't be seen in normal ways.
Without any energy, everything returned to the soul. Magic, runes, and ether moved around the Electro True Self. At that moment, Adam became a level-three mage.
...
"Master, you got stronger," the devil said right after Adam opened his lab again. He rushed back to flatter, "You must be the quickest to hit level three."
Adam just glanced and kept checking the contracts the devil brought. Finding no traps, he signed off. The contract lifted, then a silent golden flame made it vanish.
The devil then shifted gears, "Uh, Victor left a message. He says radio wave research is going well. They've made magic and alchemy items. The towers in Mordo Tower send messages well. He wants you to check the joint lab for any tweaks."
Adam was interested. Radio waves could be used not just in this plane but also in the void. Advanced beings from other planes might use radio waves to communicate. If this was true, they should modify and amplify the receiving magic array and set it up in the void. That way, they might capture the existence of other planes more effectively.
Adam ordered the devil to stay and watch over the ether incubator nurturing new avatars, and then he shifted his consciousness to another avatar.
Adam had cut off contact with these two avatars. He thought the lab would be in Mordo Tower, but he found himself in Meyer City. Also, there were more than two parties in the joint lab, he saw members of the Rex Consortium.
Victor noticed the change in the avatar's state right away and said with a smile, "Adam, you're here. I must say you've surprised me again. This thing called radio waves is unexpectedly useful."
Victor didn't focus on Adam's increase in strength. Below the transcendent level, mages didn't have clear bottlenecks; as long as they were not utterly devoid of wisdom, the rest was just all about accumulating energy.
Victor showed Adam around the lab, reintroducing the experimental results.
Victor was amazed by the convenience of wireless communication. The Mage Network had similar functions, but permissions played too big a role, making it hard for lower-level mages to contact higher-level ones directly. Plus, since Mage Network communication involved exchanging soul vibrations, some mages were resistant to it.
Radio waves, however. was different. Pick a frequency, and anyone can chat instantly. Everyone in the lab had set up this magic. They all chatted using magic nowadays, having much fun.
It wasn't too hard. With everyone's brains put together, they've got it done almost perfectly. Adam didn't see anything to tweak after looking around. After the tour, he got a magic receiver from Victor, and then he left his avatar and zipped back to his lab.
After tweaking the receiver, Adam asked the Tower for a bit of space in the outer void. The mage world zips through the void non-stop, so this spot was like a patch stuck right on Mage World's crystal barrier system. Not easy to get, but the Tower said yes to Adam right away.
So, on the huge crystal barrier system, Adam set up his own radio telescope, starting to scoop up and sift through all sorts of signals from the void.
For five years, Adam checked out the mission board for some explorations but only found small-fry stuff, not worth his time. So, he just focused on enhancing his powers and waited for the telescope to capture something rewarding.
In the sixth year, they caught a signal worth a look. After cracking the code, they got bits and pieces of something big. So, a new plane way out in the void popped up for Mage World to see.
...
After enhancing his devil wand a second time, Adam got all set, made a deal with the Tower, and whooshed off through a fuzzy portal to some far-off unknown void.
This mission's Plane was even further than the Dragon Plane, making the portal jump a bit of a gamble. But with a grip on radio basics and a big leap in power, Adam found the new world faster than before. After three years of wandering, a massive world loomed before him.
It was way bigger than the Dragon Plane, with a thick, strong crystal barrier system shimmering like metal, showing its origin was in its prime.
Hidden as Electro True Self, Adam even saw mighty transcendent beings breaking through the crystal barrier, wrapped in some unknown energy.
Adam couldn't see them clear, but he could tell they were from two different races. Adam didn't dare get too close but thought one kind looked kind of familiar.
After a year of watching, Adam mapped out where these transcendent beings hung out. Then, careful not to get too close, he zipped as a beam of electrons to the other side of the crystal barrier and stuck to it, quiet as a whisper.
"This feels...metallic?"
Adam was curious, but he knew this was not the time to dig in. A strong crystal barrier meant the origin had strong senses as well. One extra second there, and he could be spotted.
Adam anchored a spot in space, then ripped open a rift scroll. With a faint magical glimmer, the crystal barrier twitched, and Adam slipped into the Plane.
Electro True Self made him stealthier, but even so, Adam felt a vast presence sweeping through every inch of the plane.
A sound wave shook his soul, and Adam merged as data into the strange plane for the second time.
