The Martial Unity

The receiving of messages was easy, but transmission was a bit more complicated.

“The domain will need to be able to transmit signals, which means that I will need to have guidelines on how to produce the needed signals,” Rui murmured. “What is the best way to produce the kind of electromagnetic activity that elven brains are evolved to produce?”

There were numerous principles of physics that Rui could rely on to produce electromagnetic activity, but the simplest one was to alter the electromagnetic activity of his own brain to match that of the kind of signals that elves produced.

According to the elven research data that he had obtained, elves had much greater brain activity when communicating with nature.

It was sort of like how Martial Apprentices had much greater brain activity while fighting because the cognitive endowments that they had received were only available in combat. The elves appeared to have something similar in regards to their brain activity.

It was distinctly different from the brain activity of his brain, as well. While his was much brighter, the signals didn’t match, causing him to unable to be able to actually communicate with trees.

“I will need to have a small domain around my body,” Rui murmured, deep in thought. “Something that can alter the signals that my body sends to match that of the elves. I will need a domain that serves as a… filter.”

A domain that served as a transformer or converter was more accurate.

By relying on temperature, pressure, permeability of the medium, as well other variables, he could alter the signals that escaped his brain, changing them to become more like what the elves released.

“A dual-purpose domain with the function of receiving and transmitting signals it is,” Rui decided. “Now to scour all the possibilities and figure out which one was the best.”

For this, he used the Eye of Prophecy.

The powerful technique helped him figure out what was not optimal, allowing him to cut out countless possibilities with a single glance, without needing to do something as cumbersome as simulating each and every technique.

It drastically cut down on the time and energy needed to use the Forge of Creation, allowing him to whip up and refine his technique at a great speed.

In a matter of minutes, he was already ready.

“Flora Interfacer.”

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook as Rui’s two-fold domain spread, occupying heaven and earth around him.

The outer part of the domain spread a great distance, capturing all kinds of data from nature that he fed into the Tapestry of Nature.

The inner part of the domain, however, allowed him to pass on his will to nature.

He emerged from within the Mother of Nature as he beheld the Forest of War, illuminated by the light of the afternoon Sun.

RUMBLE!!!

The Forest of War shook, quivering as Rui’s message spread across it.

“Join me.”

RUMBLE!!!

The Forest of War roared as it tried to fulfill his will.

And yet, it couldn’t.

Rui frowned. “Why…? It should be working just fine. The technique is perfect. It passed on my will to the trees.”

Mother Alicia, stunned into silence, broke out of her reverie. ’That’s because you’re not communicating the right messages.’

Rui’s eyebrows furrowed as he turned towards the giant tree.

“What am I doing wrong? My Tapestry of Nature system of thought and the Nature Interfacer allows me to convert my will into messages that they can understand.”

’The problem is with your will,’ she explained. ’This is another reason why harmonization is important. It helps you understand exactly what signals lead to what outcomes. Your system of thought appears to let you understand what nature is communicating to you and how to communicate your will to nature, but it does not let you understand what you need to communicate to nature to get it to do as you please. The manipulation of nature is an art form that you will cannot rely on past data for. After all, the commands that elves give to manipulate nature are not universal. Each person’s manipulation of nature is unique to them.’

Rui grew thoughtful as he pondered her words. “Then…What will I need to do to learn what signals will trigger what actions? Trial and error?”

’Partially, but you will need to develop a relationship with nature,’ she explained. ’As I said, each person’s relationship with nature is unique. You cannot mimic other people’s signals because their signals only work because of their unique relationship with nature. You will need to develop your relationship with nature and find out what you need to communicate to nature to get it to act in a certain way. This will indeed take a lot of trial and error, but you will understand nature to an even greater degree than you currently do.’

“…Fine,” Rui’s eyes sharpened with determination. “If that’s what it takes to gain the power of nature manipulation, then I will do it.”

He hadn’t expected to be easy, even with his gifts, but it had proven to be a substantial challenge even for him. He would need to get down into the weeds, literally perhaps, and understand what he needed to communicate with nature in order to get it to listen to him.

It was like cultivating a relationship, making for an apt analogy and accurate description of the process.

He couldn’t even imagine how long it would take to fully harmonize one’s mind and soul with nature and simultaneously build a deep relationship with nature. It was no wonder that the elves only had a hundred or so Mothers of Nature despite living for a long, long time.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to bother with the harmonization part and could focus exclusively on building a deeper rapport with nature and understanding the causality between himself and nature.

The Tapestry of Nature was the foundation of this process.

It allowed him to understand what nature whispered.

Now he needed to understand what made Nature move.