Ascension of the elder

"Righty ho, we are going to start an experiment."

Looking through the book once again Kyle decided to use 2 glyphs, 1 which has been used extensively this being the barrier glyph and the other being the shock glyph his mother used as a prank.

The barrier glyph created a wall of mana which could block incoming mana attacks but couldn't do any physical damage. The shock glyph if combined should make the barrier like an electric fence, lightly shocking those who get close. Kyle thought this would be useful for hunters because if they could deploy this barrier in the field it would keep lower level beasts from raiding hunting camps during the night and improve the survivability of new hunters in low ranked areas.

To start Kyle needed to ensure he could create the arrays, this wouldn't be normally possible until people reached level 5 and started to specialise in their paths. Kyle didn't think about this and Miranda didn't question her lord and due to his kindness and insight, had started to have a little bit of idol worship going on.

Concentrating on what he needed to do and looking for a means to produce the array Kyle found a mention in the book of 'array projection'. This is a means where the array master produces the array within their spirit realm and them projects it into the world using mana as a medium. This is a high level skill which is only mentioned in the book as a reference and a target for juniors to reach and they are not expected to be able to do this until they are at level 8. Even then some array masters cannot do this as the requirements are extremely taxing and was again related to the purity in the nodes of the master.

Kyle's mother was currently unable to use this skill as her node clearance and control is too low due to having to dually cultivate sorcerer and mage techniques at the same time. There isn't a unified cultivation for the paths so Maria was using 2 techniques separately which meant she was progressing much slower than those people who focused on just 1 path.

Kyle had a few advantages over other array masters, first was the power of his soul which allowed him to create the array much faster than others which meant less strain on his concentration and mana, also with his soul sight he could see the array he was creating within his realm while others had to project their memory of the array with utmost concentration so that there were no mistakes. This is also why a lot of array masters would have an array in cast metal or have it engraved and then channel their energy into the array to produce it.

Kyle not knowing any of this dove into his spirit realm and began creating his first array. The core glyph was created with ease but as he began on the control glyphs the array failed. Normally Kyle should have suffered a backlash when this failed but due to all his nodes being cleared this was dispersed to the point he suffered no adverse reaction.

Looking back on his mistake Kyle realised he had misunderstood what one of the control glyphs purpose was meaning when it was produced it didn't function properly. Kyle reckoned this was why soul energy was used in addition to mana, as the same glyph could represent different functions or concepts depending on the interpretation of the master who produced it. The array master must fully comprehend why each glyph was used and using soul energy to input this intention in the glyph it would function correctly.

Kyle conjectured that due to the function being determined by intention the glyphs are themselves superfluous, but by using a language as the base it was easier to input the needed intent in the array. Dismissing this line of thought Kyle once again focused on his task and restarted his practice.

Trying and failing again and again Kyle only succeeded on his sixth attempt. Kyle was unhappy with how many times it took him to produce the array and thought that maybe he had no talent in this area, however if his mother heard this she would either want to kiss his feet or slap him around the head as it took her close to 200 tries to produce a simple array which only had 5 control glyphs whereas Kyle's first array needed over 20 control glyphs. It must also be known that Kyle's mother was considered a prodigy as most array masters take between 300-400 tries on their first array and all start by using cast arrays on their early attempts.

Once the array was stabilised Kyle released the array into the air. With the range Kyle had set the Barrier covered him and Miranda and grew to a five meter diameter and lasted for five minutes before dissipating. Kyle could have made the array last longer but it wouldn't serve any purpose. To make an array last for longer he would have to supply more mana to it or apply it to a conductive substance with a mana source attached.

Kyle then began to practice the shock array which after his first attempt at the barrier array which was considered amongst the most difficult low level arrays, was much easier to produce. The shock array when activated created a static field around Kyle. Miranda was a bit too close to Kyle when he activated the array and received a little jolt. She looked at Kyle with a wronged expression on her face.

"Sorry I wasn't expecting the field to reach so far."

Kyle tried to apologize while explaining as Miranda was currently his most useful and faithful helper. Miranda on hearing and seeing Kyle's apologetic look lost her sour expression and just responded.

"It's okay I know you didn't mean it."

Miranda was still too young to realize that as a noble and possible leader of the city, Kyle had no reason or need to apologise to a commoner like her. Even though Kyle had memories of being a noble his previous life was far longer and he always treated people with respect if he was given it in turn.

Concentrating once more Kyle began to focus on how to merge these 2 different arrays. He could think of a couple of different ways to do this. Maybe he should overlay one array on top of the other or he could create a new glyph to do both as he found that intent was the most important thing in producing an array.

In the end Kyle just decided to go simple and in the centre circle where the control glyph should go he drew a line down the centre of it to separate the two glyphs and when producing the control glyphs for both he wrote them on either side of the circle. This first attempt when released failed. The barrier was raised but rather than being a shock barrier, it cast the shock wave out from the barrier in a visible wave of electricity. Fortunately this was cast out from the barrier sparing Kyle from receiving Miranda's look again.

Kyle knew this should work as his intent was correct but he was missing something. Pondering on this he was quiet for a few minutes, until Miranda decided to ask what was going on.

"Master can I help, I know I'm just a commoner but it may help to talk if you're stuck. At least that is what my mum says."

Hearing this made Kyle smile to himself.

"Really my mum says the same thing. I'm struggling to get these 2 arrays to work together. I can see they are working independently and they are both working when put together but they don't want to mix with each other."

Miranda began to think about what Kyle said.

"Maybe it like cooking, some ingredients don't want to mix so you have to add another ingredient for them to mix properly."

Kyle smiled at Miranda's ideas, comparing arrays to cooking. However as he thought about this he realised that it was rather apt. The array was working like oil and water and would need another element to merge together.

"I'm a fool! Thank you Miranda I think you've given me a clue."

Grabbing Miranda's hand again Kyle thanked her profusely for her input as this may be what he was missing. Miranda was happy seeing Kyle's joy and only realised he had taken her hand again after a few seconds making her turn red again.

Kyle for his part didn't think too much about it and after a little while let her hand go and went back to work. Miranda was slightly disappointed when he dropped her hand but was then confused by her own thought and just decided to not worry about it and let it fall to the back of her mind.

Kyle once again began working on the shock array, when the array was laid out he created a space in the control glyphs in line with the divide separating the 2 core glyphs. At both of these points at the top and bottom he put the glyph for 'merge' and the direction he intended the glyphs to run was from the 'barrier' to the 'shock' and back to the 'barrier' in a circle with no breaks. This was so that neither 'shock' or 'barrier' could override the other and both would function while the mana lasted.

Finally ready to try his new array, Kyle projected the array and activated it. The barrier went up and then distorted slightly as the shock began moving through it. Seeing that it had worked and was holding up Kyle was ecstatic. Now comes the final test, moving towards the barrier, Kyle tensed himself and finally reached out to touch it.

When Kyle's hand came in contact with the barrier, a small pop was heard and Kyle hissed a little bit. The shock had worked, it wasn't really painful and was as intended no different than a standard static shock. Kyle had only hissed due to the expectation of pain but to him now it meant almost nothing, but he had done it. This new array was the beginning and with this new means of array creation it meant he had something the array masters guild would be desperate for meaning he should be able to get what he needs most which was time.

The array eventually dissipated leaving a happy Kyle and a surprised Miranda standing in the room. Finally Miranda came back to herself and looked at the window letting out a shout.

"Master we're late for dinner your mother won't be happy!"