Lira sipped her tea, then swirled the cup—letting more water trickle in. though she wouldn't normally keep the tea bag in, this knew way of drinking demanded more flavor to be constantly added.
She sat in the library where Lock had originally given her the pulxed cup. It had been three months since then, and Lira had recently finished her current projects.
Well, perhaps not finished, but she had gone far enough that the topics had become less interesting. So she brought her attention to the pure pulx, as well as the color that separates the pulx.
She wrote something down in her letter:
"The identification of the pulxed cup has led me to some of, if not my greatest discoveries. Did you know that pulx are separated by color? Through my research, and prolonged use of the perceive pulx, I have discovered hints of color in each pulx type.
Whenever I use any subsection of the power pulx, I find hints of purple within it. I suppose that is not an accurate description. It is like a faint light that gives off a very dull reflection. Honestly, without my perceive pulx, it would have been impossible to spot.
Nevertheless. I believe the different colors to match up in this order:
Pure pulx = White. I should mention that this was the most frustrating pulx color to find.Breaker pulx = Black. I find this to be fitting for what the Breaker pulx does.Space pulx = ?. Considering there are no space pulx users or items, I have had to postpone this one's discovery. Though you have stated I am capable of this pulx, a week is apparently not long enough to use this pulx, even accidentally.Perceive pulx = Yellow. I had caught this color by accident when using it myself.Crafter pulx = ?. I couldn't find any color associated with this pulx. Considering its nature however, I question if it even has one.Time pulx = Silver. This one was by far the hardest color to gather. My professor interestingly enough has an affinity for time pulx, and was able to give me answers.Power pulx = Purple. As previously stated.
This nearly concludes my research in this area. Nevertheless, I hope to hear from you soon.
From Lira Thorne."
Lira had been hoping to discover each color before contacting him again. But she couldn't bring herself to wait any longer.
She'd already given her results on aptitudes. From interviewing every student, professor, and even a few outsiders, Lira had found that aptitudes were determined by three main factors.
They were utterly obvious, Lira thought in frustration.
The first being one's size, though she found this to have a small effect on the outcome as Lock had said. The second however, personality, had a large effect.
She had found that the main reason most were capable of the power pulx was because most people enjoy simple control. And the pure pulx—second most common—was because people in general seem to be chaotic.
The third factor was heritage. That one seemed just as influential as personality traits, Lira thought.
Lira stayed at the corner table until the tea bag lost its flavor. She could have gotten another one and stayed—she had enough thoughts running through her head to justify it. But she wanted to mail the letter she'd written for Lock.
After she finished that, she made her way outside the school's perimeters, picked up a newspaper, and began to read. She had paid for monthly subscriptions for articles regarding pulx research, or incidences that included pulx outcomes.
She skipped the headline, not even giving it a glance. They never had anything interesting there anyways. She flipped through one page after another. Then paused on one that read:
"Pulxtellers recently discovered the difference between the Cleave, Dismantle, and Separation pulx, three of four subsections of the core Breaker pulx. While the Dismantle pulx cuts through solid objects, the Cleave pulx cuts through mana itself.
Interestingly enough however, the separation pulx seems to have an effect on internal aspects. Pulxtellers found this to be the most puzzling of all subsections of the core Breaker pulx.
Lira clenched her fists in frustration. The Pulxtellers were only "discovering" facts Lira had already known about.
Sometimes I feel like the world is just trying to catch up with me, Lira thought, sighing. Not out of arrogance, but frustration at the fact that she had to be the one finding answers. She did enjoy the role, but she felt as though no one else appreciated the laws pulx abided by.
She shook her head, she couldn't be pulled into the Breaker pulx, not yet anyway. She had new projects.
Skimming through it all, she found the addition to be a waist. She was about to throw it away in a street trash can when something caught her eye. It was the headline.
Disaster in Marshe, Lira read. The city of Marshe has been largely obliterated by a recent, unexplained event, resulting in a devastating loss of life and widespread destruction.
Hundreds of fatalities have been confirmed, with thousands more sustaining injuries, many of which are critical. Local medical facilities are overwhelmed, prompting urgent appeals for assistance from hospitals in nearby cities for personnel and supplies.
Preliminary assessments indicate that approximately seventy percent of Marshe has been destroyed, leaving the majority of its infrastructure in ruins. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
There was an image taken from an Orlar photographer. It depicted a maelstrom of lighting that reached the clouds. Lira stared at the newspaper, questions running through her mind. The amount of people flooding into the city suddenly made sense now.
And the earthquake, Lira thought, could that have been what caused it?
There had been an earthquake several days ago, it had jumbled up everything in her dorm room. She hadn't been outside for the event, but she had nearly broken her pulxed cup.
What she couldn't believe however, was that seventy percent of the entire city had been brought to rubble. She'd visited the city on one or two occasions, and small wasn't a word she'd use to describe it.
The fact that so much mana had been released left Lira with more questions than she could handle. She shook her head. Re-reading the article. But she hadn't misread it. That's when a thought occurred.
Could this be a cause of the pure pulx? She thought.
Though the article claimed it to be lighting, it was impossible for a simple power pulx to be used at such a magnitude without an unreasonable amount of mana. Or the chaos pulx, Lira thought.
She quickly opened her notes, slipping into an alley to avoid getting bumped into.
"The pure pulx," her notes read, given the name 'Vizure' to users, use pulxes in what I believe to be in their truest form.
Different sections of this pulx include, raw energy, transformation, amalgamation, absorption, and chaos. The 'chaos' section is where my interest is mostly peeked, as it contains pulxes that are still being discovered today. This is without a doubt the most diverse of all core pulxes.
Based on gathered data, it is clear that pulxers generally stay away from this type, as its after effects, on both the targets and the users themselves are unpredictable.
Despite chants guiding the pulx, it still finds ways to act out erratically. This is quickly made clear to those who have trained in this type, as they have thought themselves in control, only for the pulx under their "control" to act erratically, often injuring themselves or unintended targets.
However, I have reason to believe, based on the data mostly recovered from the great hero king Halcome, the only man to have mastered this pulx, that if one were to master this pulx, they would be quite formidable."
"Unpredictable after effects," Lira said to herself.
She brought out a pen, and began to write:
"The word 'chaos' is generally known as unpredictable. However in ancient mythology, it is said that chaos is unlimited power. Could it be that the chaos pulx creates a random effect with a random amount of mana?
The other forms of the pure pulx—raw energy, transformation, amalgamation, and absorption, are equally curious.
Raw energy is obvious, creating raw energy. But could it produce more energy then what is initially put in? Similar in simplicity is absorption. This pulx has actually been utilized most of all subsections of the core pure pulx.
Transformation however, is another story. Could transformation pulx shift one pulx into another? Could that have been what formed the lighting pulx?
"Combining different pulx often has effects no one can predict," Lira said to herself.
"Lira?" a voice sounded.
Lira flinched, looking up to find John, the man who owned her favorite café, staring at her with a befuddled expression.
"Oh, John," Lira said, quickly rising to her feet. After situating herself, she spoke further, "what do you need?"
"Nothing," he responded, "I was just curious why you were hunched down in an alleyway."
"I just needed to think without bumping into anyone."
John tilted his head, "you know you can always come by, Nia loves when you come."
Lira shrugged. Nia was John's three year old daughter, and the two often spent time talking about pulx. Though she was only three, Nia could already perform a competent chant for the water pulx.
The girl could perhaps even become a chantless some day. Which is another project I need to add to the list, Lira thought.
She stood up, then followed John to his café. Once seated she continued her thought process.
"Amalgamation suggests the combination of two things," Lira wrote. "It is well known that the amalgamation pulx can merge two different objects. Metallurgists have been doing so for centuries.
However, what if the amalgamation pulx could combine two different pulx to create a brand new pulx? Some might be confused, do we not already do this? I believe not. In some occasions, two pulx are used to create a different effect that many would think possible. However, this is simply two different pulx interacting with one another.
So my theory is that the seven core pulxes may not be seven forever. In the same way that two metals can be merged to create a new one, two core pulxes could be used with a similar effect.
"John?" Lira asked.
"Hm?" John replied.
"Can I get another cup?"
John didn't reply, but brought over an empty cup a few moments later. Lira nodded in appreciation. He'd gotten used to her strange questions ages ago. It was actually quite nice to have someone who knew your quirks.
She lifted up the new cup next to her pulxed cup, then took off her glasses and used her perceive pulx. Specifically the mehr pulx. Through her reflection in the cup, Lira could see her eyes turn from their regular light amber, to a greenish hue.
The mehr pulx, had shown itself to be the most useful and most compatible pulx for Lira. It enhanced her eyes to see even in the pitch black, but it also let her see incredible detail. Though she had to remove her glasses to use it.
Looking intensely, the regular cup gave no sign of color, but she could find a soft purple hue rolling off the pulxed cup. The purple was lighter than it should be however, which suggested that a pure pulx had been added.
It was fascinating.
Lira set down the pulxed cup, keeping hold of the other and reached for her notes. When she did however, she knocked the cup from the table top.
She pounced, but her pulxed cup shattered on the floor. Lira gasped, setting down her cup and kneeling down next to the one that shattered. She felt a sudden sense of exhaustion press on her.
She picked up a piece, devastated, until she noticed something. There was a red hue coming off her. She paused, inspecting it. Red? She thought, what's red? She gasped again, a slow gasp that indicated realization.
Lira sprung up to her feet, stumbling a bit, and grabbed the other cup. When she looked closer, it was letting off the light purple hue her pulxed cup had. They swapped places, Lira thought, half stunned, and half exalted.
Lira squealed, "I used the swap pulx!" she shouted.
The other patterns at the café looked at her strangely, but Lira paid them no mind. This explains my sudden exhaustion, Lira thought.
"I didn't use an incantation," Lira continued, "which means my connection is either stronger than Lock thought, or this is a unique situation."
Lira quickly wrote down her thoughts:
"I have successfully used the swap pulx, one of two subsections of the core space pulx. Though I don't understand how or why, I achieved something very few have been capable of doing.
Though what Pulxtellers say is true. They had mentioned that space pulx is the most difficult pulx to experiment with. Not only because it is the rarest, but because it takes a ridiculous amount of mana. Indeed, my mana pool has been severely emptied
Though that's not all, I have discovered that the color for the space pulx is a beautiful red. I can't say I understand why, and with my current projects being underway, I am unable to research further for now. But rest assured, I will come back to this point."
Lira grinned, though the sudden loss of mana depleted her stamina. She set her head down on the table, determined to continue the space pulx after she woke up.