Chapter 27: New Friends Grey went back to his house and immediately started studying the scroll. He had to return it by tomorrow, so he had to make use of his time well. Just like the scroll he got from his mother, this one was also very detailed to ensure whoever was using it doesn’t make a mistake. Making a mistake while cultivating can be very disastrous, worse case scenario, the Elementalist dies, best case scenario was getting bedridden for at least three months. Grey studied the patterns described in the scroll and also the instructions. There were nine layers outside the body which will hinder the absorption of the elemental particles. Once one can get to sense these nine layers and break the first layer, it was a sign of entering the Collection Plane. While in the Collection Plane, the Elementalist will have to break each of the nine layers. The process of breaking them indicates the advancement in the Collection Plane. For each layer broken, the Elementalist advances a stage in the plane. The first thing stated on the scroll was to get into a meditative trance and try to sense the elements in the air. Once you are done with that, the next phase is to attract the elemental particles with the given technique to your body. Grey didn’t have an issue with getting into a meditative trance since he had been meditating for a year now, trying to comprehend the elements. He quickly entered into a meditative state, and following the instructions stated in the scroll, he tried sensing the elements. It would take an average kid a day or two to be able to fully enter a meditative state for the first time. Since Grey had already done it before, he could enter easily. He calmed his mind and was able to enter a meditative state after ten minutes. He felt many silver colored specks floating around him, it was fascinating. He became excited when he sensed them and lost concentration, his excitement disrupted his meditative state and he was forced to exit it. “Those silver colored specks must be the Lightning element” Grey said with excitement. “Hmm, how come I was only able to sense the Lightning element” Grey felt stumped by what was happening. Since he was a Dual Elementalists, he should have been able to sense both the Earth and Lightning element, but he only sensed the Lightning element with no trace of the Earth element. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦 “I’ll try it again. I got distracted quickly, maybe that was the cause of me not noticing the Earth element” Grey quickly decided to try again. He calmed his mind and entered a meditative state once more. This time, when he sensed the silver colored specks, he tried to focus more to see if he could sense the Earth element. Unsurprisingly, he faintly started sensing the Earth element around him. Due to the fact that his talent grade for the Lightning element was higher than the Earth element, he could only sense the Lightning element first. Only after completely focusing his mind was he able to sense the Earth element. The other reason he was able to quickly sense the Earth element was due to the fact that he was sitting on the Earth. Since an Elementalist had the advantage when they were in a place where their elements were abundant, Earth Elementalist basically have the advantage over other Elementalist since battles were mostly carried out on the ground. After sensing the elements, it was time for Grey to try out the next phase. If he can successfully attract the elements to his body and break through the first layer, then he would have successfully broken into the collection plane. He followed the instructions, but there was no result. Although the time given to him by the Academy was shorter than the one given to the rest of the children, he felt since he was given a better technique, he wouldn’t have a problem in entering the collection plane within these ten days. The next day, Grey went over to the Lightning Hall to return the scroll back to Blake. When he got there, he saw Eight students from the Lightning Hall, they were all around his age with only two looking slightly older. When they saw him, they immediately focused their attention on him. They hadn’t seen him before and students from the other Halls rarely comes to the Lightning Hall. “Hello, I’m Grey” Grey introduced himself to them when he noticed them approaching him. “Hello, I’m Alice” One of the girls in the group stepped forward and introduced herself. “Are you new here?” Alice asked. “Yes, I just completed my admission yesterday. I came over to see instructor Blake” Grey answered. “Oh, you’re a student of the Lightning Hall?” Alice asked again. She wanted to confirm if Grey was a student of their Hall also. Although students from the other Halls rarely came to their Hall, doesn’t mean they don’t come at all. “Yes” Grey replied with a smile. “Haha, then we are brothers” A boy in the group suddenly spoke up with a laugh. Grey shifted his attention from Alice and stared at the boy who just spoke up. “That is Reynolds. Students of the Lightning Hall are united since we have the least number of people” Alice introduced the boy who just spoke. “You can call me Rey” Reynolds said smiling while stretching out his hand. Grey shook it with a smile also on his face. Grey and the group got along well, and he got to know the names of everyone in the group. “What Plane are you in?” Reynolds suddenly asked after they had talked for a while. Since they were all in the same Hall, knowing each other more wasn’t bad. “Actually, I only just started cultivating” Grey said with an embarrassed smile. When the group heard this, they looked at each other. Clearly not expecting this answer. “How come you only just started cultivating?” Alice asked with surprise. Grey told them of how he was unable to awaken his element the first time and was only able to do it after four years. They were all also surprised since Grey was a Dual Elementalist, they knew how rare the Lightning element was, being a Dual Elementalist and having the Lightning element as one of your elements was stunning. “Oh, so that’s the reason. Anyway, you can easily catch up since you’re a Dual Elementalists” Reynolds encouraged Grey sincerely. Grey didn’t expect they would treat that like it was nothing. He suddenly felt being in the Lightning Hall wouldn’t be as boring as he thought. They talked for some time before Grey asked to be excused, so he could go over and meet Blake. Only after Reynolds asked of what was his house number before he allowed Grey to go. Grey went over to Blake’s office with a smile on his face. He felt great since he got to have new friends. When he got to the office, Blake was sitting lazily at his desk. Grey returned the scroll over to him. Blake asked him repeatedly of he had completely memorized the pattern, only after Grey had assured him repeatedly did he collect the scroll. Although he was given an order by Chris, he didn’t expect Grey to completely memorize it in a day. He only told him what he was told by Chris, but he had no problem with Grey holding on to it for another day if he couldn’t memorize. ‘Since he has memorized it, doesn’t that mean that he had already been able to fully enter a meditative state?’ Blake asked himself while Grey was leaving. After Grey left the office, he went over to Klaus’ house to check on him. After talking for some time, he immediately went back home to once again start meditation.