Elemental abilities were the most commonly used of the powers available to those in Grand Heavens Boundary.
After all, compared to other, more elusive laws, the elements were far more easily accessible.
Affinities were assigned by birth, and aside from some special cases, they were the determiners of one's path from that point forth.
How could just anyone be born close to a Higher Law?
There were so few spatial practitioners, life practitioners, yin practitioners, or illusion practitioners in the universe that Damien's party suddenly became an anomaly that made no sense whatsoever.
But this could just be amounted to Damien's luck and propensity towards the hypertalented.
In terms of people he'd met throughout his life, those who resided in this universe were mostly elemental practitioners, including great geniuses like Atticus.
The commonality made elemental research something the universe was greatly advanced in. The amount of information on how to progress, the different paths one could take, and several other factors was astonishing.
Damien was now trying something that hadn't been done before, but this research was still highly valuable to him.
The Void Flame, which evolved from his previous Sunfire when he combined it with a Heavenly Flame, was something he attained through his means as a Celestial.
Meanwhile, his lightning was acquired even more unnaturally before it was twisted into something completely different through the devouring of a force as esoteric as Heavenly Lightning.
The Azure Dragon's water abilities were the same.
Damien had little to no understanding of how to go about comprehending the base elements naturally, but he trusted his intuition.
The first step was to create them, to find the affinities.
Controlling them with the Void was the final step he aimed for, but strangely enough, it was also his starting point.
The light balls floating on his hand were created through the Void. They were the most basic forms of the elements he wished to comprehend, dumbed down to the point where a classless practitioner could grasp their usage.
'Hmm…'
As he watched those balls floating on his palm, he removed excess elements like lightning from the equation and suppressed his unique variants so they would return to their base forms.
'It's all about harmony. I can just use the same principles as always to decipher them. It's a matter of balancing five instead of two.'
It was easy to have a difficult comprehension session where nothing was gained. This was the most common ending for such practice anyway.
But since when was Damien someone who procrastinated?
He wasn't going to patiently wait for comprehensions to come to him.
The only beneficial part of building the fundamentals after becoming an expert was one's knowledge.
The knowledge they gained from their time training, and the intuitive processing they could do because of the experience they possessed.
Damien had long since understood the concept of harmony, a close relative of the "Universal Flow" that had been following and guiding him his entire life.
Space and Time existed on equal and opposite planes. They were the same, yet so far separated.
Life and Death would refuse to cooperate when they met, clashing and creating conflict, but Damien brought them together to form their true nature as Samsara.
What was different this time?
The five elements had a cycle of their own, and when more variants and different types of elemental laws were added, this balance never broke, it merely changed its proportion.
Damien played around with the light balls, changing their configuration several times.
Light and Darkness had far more value than their peers, so when they swirled into the circle, everything was shaken.
The light balls of other elements shrunk under their umbrella and created a secondary cycle, almost like a moon orbiting a planet with Damien as its sun.
Lightning was a variant attached to Fire in the same way Ice was to Water. Meanwhile, Metal held status equal to Wood, but tended to be excluded from more conventional systems due to the rarity of the affinity.
It was fun to watch the light show. The way these elements reacted to each other when he tweaked them, the minute aggressions and joys they showed when in contact with their peers; the more he gazed at this tiny representation of what he was trying to create, the more it looked like—
'—a galaxy.'
It wasn't quite that big yet, but at its current size, it wasn't strange to call it a budding galaxy, a collection of planetary systems.
If its higher counterparts were added, wouldn't this puzzle fit his description perfectly?
It was wonderous how many patterns existed in this world.
All things were created equal. At the very base of all of these elements, weren't they the same? Weren't they all pillars supporting the universe's flow?
Nothing was different.
'That's right. Nothing is different.'
Was it supposed to be difficult to comprehend?
He thought so at first, but now, his mind was in a different place.
Damien sat down and concentrated, dismissing the light balls he was holding.
'I understand the base concept. Now I need to go one by one and seize control. First off…'
'Light.'
His wife was a Valkyrie. He was more than familiar with the element already.
It was better for him to comprehend light and darkness first, so the creation of their umbrella wouldn't later disrupt his efforts.
'Light, huh…'
He thought of Elena, of the mana she possessed.
His mind unconsciously delved into the world of his memories, and his All-Seeing Eyes activated to their fullest capacity.
Despite him viewing a moment from the past, he was still able to analyze Elena's mana as if she was standing right in front of him.
'Wow…'
Her path in Life Laws was extremely impressive, almost blindingly so, but she hadn't been slacking in her secondary element either.
'She focused on speed and attack power since she already has Life Laws to take care of support. This is good.'
It was better for him to comprehend strength-based powers as well, but he had no desire to copy his wife's path.
'Hmm…no, I shouldn't forget my purpose. I want to build these Laws to support my growth first and foremost. My goal should be a reflection of nature.'
Rather than a light that overpowered the darkness, he needed absolute harmony.
And that…
'That's way easier.'
Damien stopped thinking and got to work.
Light and Darkness, a very, very small piece of Yin and Yang that manifested in the universe to give it life. They could be considered subsidiary elements of those Higher Laws, as they were formed as a product of their influence.
When Light and Darkness came together, they created shadows.
That was the path Zara once attempted to walk.
Unfortunately, the Nox blood in her veins stopped her.
The Demonic Providence she possessed did not allow her to continue developing positively in the Light path, forcing her to enhance her darkness to its greatest limits.
She overcame its influence on her mind, but its influence on her body was nigh-absolute.
But Damien had seen it before.
She'd done it flawlessly, turning her original shadows into their base components to create spectacular displays of battle.
'Good. A basis.'
That was the end of the comprehensive segment of this current task.
There was no need to think anymore, because Damien knew exactly what to do.
He gathered his mana, using Zara and Elena as references while adding several thoughts of his own about balance and flow into its nature to morph it.
Magically, mysteriously, the mana changed, its original spherical form becoming shapeless as it was stretched about by his influence.
Time passed.
Only around 1 hour.
Did he need more time than that?
A murky grey energy sat in his hands.
When he opened his eyes, he pulled his hands apart, and with their motion, they grey separated into black and white.
Light and Darkness.
These two affinities could now be added to Damien's list.
