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What amazing thinking... If you look at it like that, then there is really a number of different things shadow and light can do. Perhaps even shadows or reflections of the other elements...

Now Ryugi's head was going. His brain was thinking. What else did he not fathom about his own elements? How much had he limited himself by not experimenting with them more fully? Could fire...actually be cold? Could light really be dark as well? What else lay hidden from view behind his preconceived notions of his elemental powers?

Fire was more than just flames. It was heat, it was burning passion, it was the spark of life, its power could be amplified by emotions. Light was the living force that flowed through all things. It was the light that gave brightness and color to the world, it could heal the wounded and sick, strengthen bodies to incredible levels, and it could be reminiscent of the other elements like a reflection.

But now was not the time to be pondering what other things he could do with his elements, he had something to try first. He moved off to the side of the road near a large rock, presided over by a large willow tree. He sat down, and moved out his hands. He moved them into a position similar to one where he would be holding a basketball between them. He was ready to begin...

Alright, here goes nothing...

And he started to gather and put forth the energy from the positive energy plane. His hands glowed for a moment, and a warmth would seem to flow from within his hands as a ball of energy took shape. It was about the size of an over-sized softball, and glowed white, tinged light blue by the purity of the person wielding it. It shimmered and slowly began to turn golden as more and more energy was placed into it.

Ryugi's face was still calm, but it was determined. His hair swayed slowly as a soft wind picked up around the glowing orb. Then, his eyes snapped into focus, his jaw gritted, and his hands twitched inward slightly as the glowing ball suddenly shrunk and its radiance increased to the point where it was the purest, whitest white one could imagine, and Ryugi had to squint from the brightness.

...Alright... Its compressed. Now I'm going to add more... You might want to stand back a bit, Max. I don't know exactly what I'm doing, and this much energy could be unstable.

The brightness intensified more as Ryugi's face suddenly looked more stern, and a bead of sweat dripped down his face. Now, Ryugi may not have needed to put as much energy into the ball as he was, but he was certain that in order for it to be used in battle, it would need to have plenty of energy behind it. In that case, he wanted to see if he could make something battle level.

The energy ball quivered a bit, expanding a bit before being compressed further. The sphere shrunk to the size of a golf ball, before expanding to baseball size, then back to golf ball size, and expanding out to softball size. Its radiance stayed constant however, a blinding brightness from the high concentration of raw positive energy. A final surge of control from Ryugi pushed the ball down to the size of a golf ball, the sphere quivering as a halo of sorts began to take up a form around it.

Warmer, lighter, brighter, more pure, more energy, these thoughts raced across Ryugi's mind as the aura of light around the ball quickly pulsed pink for a moment then back to white. More energy, shifting the ball to the purest white it could, and trying to force it beyond that, pushing it further. The aura pulsed to pink and quivered, flashing to white, to pink, to violet, to pink and back again.

And then, with a final surge of energy and force from Ryugi, his body glowing from the energy he was using to force the light to be lighter, breaking its boundaries, the sphere of energy pulsed to the purest white one could imagine, as swirls of black tendrils spun around it and were sucked into the center, before the whole mess finally stopped. The wind died down, the energy around Ryugi faded, until the only thing that was left was a softball sized sphere.

The sphere was unlike anything Ryugi had seen before. The inside was white, pure white, but the shimmering halo of an aura around it was black. Purity surrounded by a black and violet glow. It looked very different from Max's violet orb of energy, which had been violet with white light seeming to emanate from it. Ryugi could only stare as he watched the ball shimmer.

This... There's so much energy in it.

Ryugi's red eyes sparkled as he closed them, allowing the fields of arcana flow over him, his energy senses trying to read every facet of the sphere as if it were a fine gemstone. He could feel the slight imperfections in it, and he corrected them, each one making the orb easier to maintain despite the level of its energy contained within.

I can feel it. Its so pure I can't explain it, but at the same time, its almost like it isn't there at all, like it shouldn't exist.

It was truly a paradox. Something that shouldn't be, was. Something purer than light, something so pure that it was actually forced to take on the characteristics of its opposing element simply to exist. It was...

Amazing... Simply amazing Max... And this is only step one?

Something so fantastic and it was only the beginning? What else could there be hidden within the shrouds of light and dark that were present in Ryugi's hands?

Ryugi listened intently as the secrets of the elements were laid out and explained in a way that he'd only been able to grasp in parts before. Light and dark were completely reliant on one another to exist. Positive could not exist without negative, and thus, the two were heavily related to one another. It made logical sense that something so far gone from the normal conventions of how the system worked would have strange side effects as the universe moved to balance itself out. Something HAD to exist to fill the gap.

So many things were uncertain about magic. Of course, this wasn't magic. This was elemental control. Magic was a term used to refer to something seeming to happen with no reason at all, something unexpected that someone created without the normal processes of their body. Incantations, invocations, chanting, spell writing, even runes were all forms of manipulation that lead to the core of the elements of the world. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Dark, these elements were present in every living thing, and in every non-living thing.

What Ryugi did, what Angaran dragons did, was simply form a connection to the elements that were already present within themselves, and use their bodies to pull forth more of that element from its natural source, the various elemental planes and realms. Ryugi's key traits were his purity and his passionate drive to fight for what he believed in. It was a common perception to believe that those traits were given to him through the use of his elemental abilities, but this was not the case. His strongest personality elements were fire and light, and thus, when he began to train his body to call on them, they were the easiest to find and make use of. They flowed the most freely to him compared to the other elements, and thus, he'd learned to make them a part of himself, and to wield them.

Yes, they do. All Angaran Dragons have some form of elemental manipulation. It comes to them naturally during their Time of Awakening.

Where was Maximos heading with all of this? What purpose did the mirror hold in all of this? So many questions, so many answers! Max had tapped into another of Ryugi's great interests. Elemental manipulation and experimentation had always been something that fascinated him. The concept that one could wield an element of the universe as a part of themselves was impressive to him, and he was always wondering about how the elements worked together. He knew this experience would be one that would aid him greatly in his quest to better understand his own elemental workings, as well as assist him in understanding the very nature of the elemental universe itself...

Ryugi awkwardly gripped the mirror as he balanced the ball of Light Dark in his other hand. If he'd looked graceful before, he certainly looked awkward now.

The elderly man hauling the cart smiled and shook Maximos' outstretched hand with a warm accepting smile.

Of course, kind Maximos. I'd be pleased to assist ye. Anything making this much of an elemental stir must be mighty interesting to watch!

The man wheeled his cart off to the side near Ryugi and nodded in greeting, before taking up a position near Maximos.

Well, just lemme know what ye need. I'm ready when ye are.

Ryugi grinned and positioned the mirror under his armpit, gripping it there as his opposite hand reached out and turned into a fist as orange energy quickly surged along its length and turned into a fiery palm as fire elemental energy roiled around the extended limb, separated from the mirror and the Light Dark that Ryugi held in his other hand, still under control, still focused.

Of course, Max. Accessing elements while keeping another under control is all a part of dual elemental combat. I'm ready for it when you are.

The elderly dragon grinned as well, and looked to max, letting him know that he was as ready as Ryugi to get this hullabaloo on the road as well.

In an instant, Ryugi snapped into action. The flame element on his arm swirled around it until his palm moved outward as if he was trying to make something stop, and a simple fireball flew from his palm. Ryugi hadn't made a fireball like that since he was younger, playing with his inner fire as he learned his abilities. It was almost ironic that he would be learning something new now with that very same technique.

At the same time, the elderly man slowed with a dark golden energy before a clod of earth, rich with rock, soil, and plant material shot forth up from the ground to collide and mix with the fire element that Ryugi had just launched.



Then, just as Max had said, he would wait until Maximos had unleashed his own attacks before he would press the mirror and the Light Dark together, and wait to see what happened...

Ryugi was stunned. It was as if the experiment had just just shown Ryugi the very creation of the universe from nothing. He was almost certain he had felt himself cease to exist, and then, just as quickly, it was as if he had been completely reborn. It was the universe itself shutting off the paradox of negation and opposites, and preventing an infinite loop of powerful elements from cycling out of control. The system effectively restarted, removing the elements that were out of flux and then working to repair the damage before any real harm was to come to pass.

The system was so powerful, and yet at the same time, Ryugi saw the whole fragility of the system as well as Max's simple motion of sheathing Ankokuko caused the area around him to waver with distortions. Seeing all of this with his own two eyes, feeling all of this with his own body, reminded him of just how fragile the universe and the planes really were. If someone were to somehow manage to hit all of reality like this, and then attack with another attack...

Ryugi shuddered a bit. He didn't want to know what could happen. The thought shook him to his core. But then he heard Maximos speak once more. Something about glass for another mirror.

And he grinned.

Sometimes, max, I wonder if you don't have all of this stuff planned out beforehand.

He'd chuckle and walk over to grab his things, already wondering of the possibilities of his new-found knowledge.

Ryugi would continue to walk with his friend, until his brain started to ponder a host of different things. He'd just gotten himself a new ability, but he also wondered how exactly Max knew so much about the way the world used elemental energy. It wasn't exactly broadcast to everyone, and it made him wonder.

Say, Max, how do you know so much about elemental planes and energies?

It was an honest question. Ryugi was curious. Perhaps Max knew more than he let on? or did he have a hobby Ryugi didn't know of? Either way, he had to wonder.