AN: I am sorry that this update is later than I would have liked. Not long after the last update went up, my mother was admitted to the hospital. She finally got out late last night. Good news is, they have cleared her of lingering doubts that her lung cancer has returned. Bad news is that she is walking around with an oxygen tank since her copd worsened due to complications with her pneumonia and bronchitis.

I personally think that once the flare up ends, she will be able to move around without those tanks, though she may be too scared to do so. Either way it was a relief for her to find out that the doctor saw no sign of cancer or a blood clot in her lungs. She had about half of her left lung removed five years ago, to be rid of the cancer there and seems to have avoided its return so far.

Anyway, I'm sure most of you just want to read the update. So, sorry about that.

Chapter 81.2: Dating Dangerous

Night in the city was a time of whimsy, of wonder. It was like no one slept. Scott looked down from the balcony of his hotel room, and spent time thinking about the people and vehicles moving down below. In many ways, at this distance, the city was like any decently sized town from Earth. Only closer inspection would show that the people were often made different than the normal mass of humanity he had been accustomed to all of his life.

"I wonder what they would act like if they knew..." said Scott, a slight frown on his lips. The citizenry went busily about their lives, no concern in the world save for their current armed conflict with the Storm Tyrant.

The time for the board to act was well over a decade away, potentially. It was strange to him, even so. How would the people of Earth react if the situation these people faced was forced onto them instead? What if they suddenly had to fight for the survival of the human race? How would they react when they discovered that it was because a handful of people did not think the current world was profitable enough? Worse, the ones who chose to end everything due to loss of profits when money was essentially meaningless due to the fact that they lived an immortal existence.

Scott ran his fingers through his hair then took a deep breath. "How strong do I need to be to have a chance of taking down the Lords of Terror anyway?"

Leveling look a great deal more effort in this world. Constant battle only took someone so far. He had to complete missions, interact with the locals, and train. For the next few years Rhea was going to be left behind when it came to such things. Most of their time together would have to focus on completing missions. It was necessary for the possibility of buying more time, but it was also problematic.

The biggest difficulty was the fact that his profession required more attention to detail. It provided incredible capacity for growth and customization, but he literally had to build everything he did from the ground up.

"Ero will be back with us in a few weeks. Rhea's going to be here for a few days." Scott bit his lower lip then slowly nodded his head. "I need a training plan."

He had considered the possibilities before, but he had come to the conclusion that he needed a definite training regimen. Scott went back into the room and sat down at a table. He spent a short time scribbling down training ideas.

Currently, his training had been a bit haphazard. He had needed to spend time trying different methods for creating spells. Now that he had done so for the most part there were a few things that he needed to work on aside from that.

He needed to work on his physical skills, but there was also one class of magical energy that he had ignored for the most part outside of limited study in the library. The primordial magic he had access to due to events on the casual server was known in this world, but it was not the sort of thing that would be discussed at length in a book found in a public library. Scott finished scribbling down a few notes, and then looked them over. Afterward, he chose the three things that he felt were the most necessary for training.

"That should cut down on a lot of wasted time." Scott went back to the balcony and immediately began to train. He had already slept for a while, and it was only a few hours before Rhea would once again walk the land.

He focused on the lightning, the elemental spark that resided within himself. Electricity flowed along his limbs and then to the space between his palms. It moved from palm to palm in short arcing bursts. After training his magical mastery to its current level, it was easier to control the flow of the elements. Now it did not require an extreme effort to coax the energy to flow between his palms.

Scott stared into the space between his hands. He watched the electricity arcing back and forth for a moment. The easiest victory he had ever had against a machine monster other than the very first pile of scrap, had been the battle with the motorcycle. Electricity was a better deterrent against the mechanical junk piles than celestial energy. That had to be a design choice by the monster designers among the gods. Otherwise, his celestial attacks would be deadly to those critters. They were not much different than the living armor monsters he had fought before. If anything they were close cousins.

Lightning attacks, like so many others, had eluded him. However, he had begun to suspect that it was because he had failed to realize the truth.

The electricity arced back and forth between his hands for a moment while he contemplated. The patterns he had worked with to date had been designed for specific elements. They were highly useful, but the main issue for him was that they were not really designed for sorcerers. They were meant for the other magic wielders. Sure, he would gain basic patterns for developing his magical abilities, but they were just training aids.

Other professions used magic like a tool. A sorcerer existed alongside magic. He was supposed to be part of that flow. He had heard such things from Rhea on rare occasion, but most of what he truly knew about sorcery had come from his brief time with the master who had helped him achieve his current status.

"What was it that the master said about the elements ...?" Scott searched his memory. There were dozens of little tidbits, small hints mixed into the situation.

Scott took a breath then said, "Serene is Water before it flows. Fire is a furious blaze as all men know, but from small spark within does it grow. Wind be it gentle, or terrible will, always in motion and never still. Earth unchanging throughout time, unbroken, unbending, an element sublime. Lightning is the will of men, one to none and home again. Shadow exists within all kinds, a darkness that erodes all minds."

"The master said that a true sorcerer had to be what he was and speak his mind in a clear and simple manner until he knows enough to be silent." Scott tasted the words for a moment then made the tiny spark of lightning arc between his hands.

Scott watched the lightning arc for a moment. "One to none and home again... Lightning is the will of men ..."

He tilted his head to the side then his eyes widened slightly. "A true sorcerer has to be who he is... Speak his mind until... What if... ?"

Realization struck the man like a sledgehammer to the face. "Could it be so simple?"

It was possible that he had fallen for a verbal trap. He had thought that the master had meant something else, but what if he had literally given him the key to all sorcery!

The sorcerer watched the lightning arc between his hands once more. "One to none and home again... Lightning is the will of men..."

Scott did the one thing he had not thought to do before. Instead of try to will the lightning or any element into place, he spoke up and said, "One to none and home again... lightning flow between my hands..."

Perhaps he had imagined it, but the next arc of energy seemed to flash brighter. Scott decided to try a slightly different tactic. He envisioned the lightning stopping between his palms to form a ball of brightly shining light. "Lightning flow from one to none. Do not fail to stun someone."

It was a terrible rhyme, but the result was a brief flash of light that did in fact stun him a little. Scott blinked his eyes rapidly, momentarily flash blinded. Despite the spots in his vision, he could not help but laugh. "I think I'm on to something!"

After his vision cleared up, he tried again. This time he left out the part about stunning someone. Instead he merely chose to create a little rhyme that that was designed to generate a bright flash of light.

The resultant flash of light lit up the area like a flashlight going on and off. "There's no way this can be so simple!" exclaimed Scott happily.

He had spent his time studying patterns, like a mage, but the truth was that his power was fundamentally different. He had more in common with a monster than a mage. Animals and monsters used their magic by instinct. Monks and sorcerers were supposed to be closer to magic than any other caster class. Only those individuals with racial benefits could claim otherwise and still follow a different path.

"I'm supposed to be a twilight sorcerer, a master sorcerer. Yet, I failed to realize just what I really was..." said Scott.

Patterns were great things to study. They can provide insight into the way in which mana and the elements worked together. Yet, the truth was that they were meant to provide mages with a means of using magic. As a sorcerer, Scott was supposed to be part of magic.

The exultant sorcerer quickly gleaned his memory in search of the knowledge and hints the master had left him. There were many such tidbits to consider. In order to master his magic, a sorcerer must master himself. It was the sort of teaching one might expect from a martial arts movie, but it had real applications.

A sorcerer was magic. It wasn't something he used, it was part of him. It was like his arm or his leg.

"One to none and home again. Lightning is the will of men..." said Scott softly.

Scott lifted up his right hand, palm up. The power, the real power, was there all along. Developing it would be a constant act of self-discovery. The more he mastered himself, the more he could master his magic. It was not the magic. It was his magic.

He thought carefully on what to say, and how to say it. His words needs to be confident and possibly a bit dramatic to make certain that he was not acting in a manner too casual to effectively change reality. It did not take long before he felt that he had the words. "I am the light that illuminates the shadows. Let no darkness survive my presence."

A crackling sound emanated through the air at a point roughly one foot above his upraised palm. The crackling sound intensified. Scott suddenly felt a sense of weakness roll throughout his body, but he had expected something like it to happen. He was burning his mana at an incredible rate while focusing on the creation of his chosen power.

"I am the light that illuminates the shadows. Let no darkness survive my presence." he said once more, this time with greater confidence.

Sweat began to pour down the side of his face. For the first time in this world he was attempting to create magic in the true manner of a twilight sorcerer. Even this simple feat was extraordinarily draining. There was no pattern, no safety net. Scott now attempted to warp the very nature of existence to effect the change that he wanted, not as a mage would do it, but as a pure unadulterated act of will.

He repeated the words once more. His breath became measured. His body began to calm itself. It would take time and focus to create the change he desired. It was entirely possible that it would not happen now, but over the course of the next few minutes ... it did happen.

A crackling ball of brightly shining elemental lightning hovered above Scott's palm. He was the lightning. The lightning was he. Scott raised up his other hand and willed the mystical ball of radiant death to arc through the air. He shifted the energy within himself and captured that lightning above his other palm.

He held the manifestation as long as his concentration and mana would allow. It faded away as though it had never existed only a few minutes later.

Thoroughly exhausted from his triumph, Scott could only smile while he leaned heavily upon the balcony rail. Patterns were good. They would teach him a lot, but now he understood more about his true nature. Sorcery was hard work. It was the art of will merged with the flesh. Unlike a mage, he would have to be able to unleash his spells at a moment's notice while actively engaged in physical combat. He would rarely have the luxury of standing around at a distance while chanting like he had just now.

Scott sighed heavily, a smile upon his lips. "I wonder what Rhea's gonna say about this?"