One Last System

"Elder, with all due respect, but I cannot answer that question yet," I said, bowing my head towards the man.

If there was anything that this world changed about me, it was how easily I could either honestly or fakely pay my respects.

'I would never bow to some randoms back on earth,' I thought while raising my head and turning my eyes to the other of the masters. "Elder Elwin, could you please explain the truth about the dual cultivation to us?"

I posed the question before Ackhart could take my refusal personally.

"Dual cultivation means clashing Yin and Yang oriented spiritual energy so that natural energy will be created in the process," he said.

For a moment, the room turned silent. Not even the spectators of the meeting that the boss of the auction hall didn't introduce dared to break it.

"I'm sorry, but that we know," I muttered, raising my head and scratching my chin as an uneasy feeling took over my soul.

'Is that all he knows?' I asked myself, pretty worried about such a possibility.

The entire idea of exploiting dual cultivation relied on my ability to turn the dual part of it into a single one. By doing so, I could turn it from cooperation into a ware like any other.

"Master, with all due respect, but I need to understand what are the qualities of Yin and Yang energies," I said, forcing myself to appear confident. "I need to understand those forces as deeply as possible."

I kept my eyes on the man, looking for any marks of uneasiness that would hint at the man's reluctance to share his knowledge.

But there were none. Rather than that, Elwin smiled and stood up from his chair only to approach the table occupying the better half of the room.

"They are not forces per se," he said, grabbing one of the feathers and tapping its point against the wood of the table. "Just like you don't call water vapor and ice a force, they are just water. In a different form with different uses, but a force nonetheless," he said.

'That's quite an interesting way to look at it,' I thought, instantly running down this new idea through what I already knew.

But it didn't take long before I arrived at a sudden conclusion.

'It can't be that simple.'

One of the few bits that I knew for sure about dual cultivation was that it didn't produce energy at all. It was the obvious result of the statement that one needed to supply their dual cultivation with pills or other resources in order for it to be effective!

"Then, what exactly happens when people dual cultivate?" I asked.

I could only hope that approaching the topic from a different angle would bring forth some more details that I could use.

"This is where our water similarities end," Elwin smiled before raising his hand and running it down the smooth skin of his bald head. "During dual cultivation, you are not producing more energy. But you are refining it instead."

Once again, the room turned silent. But as much as I wanted to understand this reaction, I had no clue what could be the cause.

"Isn't this in opposition to what most of the dual cultivation sects claim?" Ackhart asked with an uneasy expression on his face.

I could likely learn a few funny or maybe even important details if I kept on listening to the whispers that ensued. But my mind was overwhelmed by another line of thought.

'No, let's not ditch the water idea,' I thought, lowering my eyes and rubbing my chin. 'The only difference between the vapor and ice is the speed at which the water particles oscillate.'

The whispers around me continued... but I didn't pay them any mind. I could feel that I was onto something.

'With water, when two groups of particles of different temperatures meet, their inertia events out,' I thought, imagining the process in my head. 'But in dual cultivation, the mana actually ends up more refined...' I continued to lay out the concepts one by one.

This was a pretty complicated topic. One that I could never grasp by attempting to solve it in its entirety. That's why the first step to understanding it was to simplify it.

'Wait, could it be?'

Suddenly, my mind emptied out.

The answer to the problem I was stuck at was just so damn simple that I couldn't really believe I missed it for so long!

'With vapor and ice, the vectors of their innate speed events out. But what if they cannot be described as the opposite when talking about mana?'

By collapsing all three dimensions that the space consisted of into a single plane, the particles' inertia could be described as a singular vector. The only difference between ice and vapor would be the length of a said vector.

Yet, for the math of such an example to make sense, those vectors also had to have the opposite direction. Otherwise, instead of evening out, they would add up.

But what if I expanded such collapsed dimension... to a proper plane? What if a vector of magical energy could be angled away?

"What if yin and yang are just the names for the different spin of the mana in a dimension we can't perceive?" I muttered to myself, not realizing that my voice leaked out.

"Arthur?"

'Assuming that this idea is right, then it would all suddenly make sense,' I thought, stunned by the discovery.

By assimilating the mana, one was introducing a spin to it. The spins that men and women introduced to their inner energy were opposite but neutral in terms of the energy itself.

But when clashed, the vectors would combine, making the mana spin in a way that humans perceived as condensation of the energy.

"Arthur?"

'If such idea were to be correct...' I thought, instantly coming up with a quick way to verify it.

"ARTHUR!" The boss of the auction house shouted, finally forcing me out of my stupor.

"Huh?" I shrugged, surprised by the sudden volume of the voice. "What's wrong?"

"You were muttering something to yourself for a while," the woman explained with a strange look on her face.

Only now did I realize that the room had already calmed down and that everyone's eyes were locked on me.

"Ah, I think I just got a certain idea," I said with a small, shy smile. "Master Elwin, could you elaborate on what does it mean that the spiritual energy is more refined?" I requested, forcibly changing the topic.

I already drew a lot of attention to myself by calling for this meeting. It wouldn't be wise to give those influential people any more reasons to keep their attention on me.

"Huh?" the bald man only shrugged in surprise. The stares of the spectators remained on my face, hinting that I had just said something that I shouldn't. "It's easier to assimilate or use it," the man explained as if it was something obvious.

'So I was right,' I thought. 'Or at least, my way of approaching this topic is correct,' I fixed my own thoughts, killing the arrogance initially contained within.

The truth was relative. My way of explaining the phenomena could be as correct as someone's else. The only difference would be how easy it would be to grasp the concept using my approach instead of a different one.

'If the combined vector of yin and yang spins brings mana closer to its usable spin, it will all make sense,' I thought. 'This would also explain why there one always uses more mana than it would be manifested in their spell,' I thought, connecting the dots one after another.

"I think I got it," I finally said.

My mind was in a weird state where I felt as if everything had fallen right into its respective place. As if every dot of my question connected with a line of an answer.

A smile crept upon my lips.

"Now, I finally know what questions I need to ask you, Elder Ackhart," I said, ignoring the puzzled stares of the spectators.

"Yeah?" the man shook his head, clearly confused by my act. "What is it?"

The smile on my lips widened.

"Do you think it's possible to retain the ve.... retain the yin or yang quality of an energy by enclosing it within a formation?"