Might be on hiatus for exams n holidays. If there's radio silence over the next few days, assume zombies have eaten my brain and instead books were crammed in as replacement. Thanks for understanding.

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Chapter 92: Breakthrough.

An entire day of pressing together balls with disks without any new insights left Crule extremely frustrated. He had never taken a class in physics or had any prior knowledge on the universe and how it works.

He never had the chance to really get the normal education children had. But in his world, he didn’t need such education. It was a past where he could get by fine with just power alone. There was power and wisdom, but never intelligence. He didn’t need to know how black holes were formed or that humans can store sugar in their bodies via glycogenesis.

Things like that ever truly bothered him. But now he realize his lack of general science knowledge came back to haunt him. Perhaps if he understood more about the universe from a scientific perspective, breaking through wouldn’t be so hard.

Actually back in the previous time line, during the time he lived with Shin, he actually did attend a sort of bonus class for people who are too old to attend the simple education system. There he learned the basics like simple arithmetic, social studies which involved the history of their civilization, and simple science like states of matter and forces.

He basically had primary education down before he stopped. Luckily, his teacher back then gave him some text books to further his education by himself but Crule never bothered with them.

To this day, they remain untouched in his spatial storage.

Crule looking deep into his memories trying to find any hints of a break through suddenly remembered those text books.

The cave was far too dark to read them though, but thankfully Crule carried on him a portable flashlight that ran on energy. Things that ran on electricity never worked properly in the wild and this flashlight was an invention of Brigid.

He took out a book labeled “The Atoms and you” and began reading. It was by far the thickest book he had. The book was made for older people to learn so the information was not spread out evenly for a gradual learning experience. Instead it was packed with as much information as one can take in within each chapter hoping to cram the knowledge into the read’s head.

Crule read fast hoping to gain insight. He learned about what makes up the universe, the Atoms. He learned what the atoms are made of, the protons electrons and neutrons. He learned about quarks and leptons, and the structure of atoms. It’s like opening the door to a whole new understanding of the universe around him.

Realizing how much he have read, he put the book back in storage and tried to digest the sheer amount of information he just read.

How does his power work with the structure of the atoms? Since he cannot destroy the particles nor does it convert to something else, just what is he missing? Nothing puts fun in fundamentals like trying to figure out how it all works.

He once again began to put balls of aura into disks of aura.

[Crule]: Just how does this stupid thing work…?

Does his powers truly defy the laws of physics? Does it truly changes the fundamentals of how everything works in the universe? And if it does, how hasn’t it had an extremely detrimental effect on the universe around him?

Questions swarmed his head but answers remained hidden.

He had to look further in.

The book stats that things within an atom are never fixed in place. They exist within a probability area. Perhaps his power involves tempering with that probability? But what would that do? Make the electrons fly away? Just what is this empty space between all the stuff that makes up an atom? The book shows pictures of atoms as spheres since the electrons fly around it to form a kind of sphere anyways.

One may expect the book to be bad science but the writer isn’t a physicist so why bother? How does Crule’s energy affect the atoms is what it all comes down to.

To answer that question, Crule had to know what the energy was and how does it behave.

Looking deep into himself at the raw energy stored within his body, he just observed, hoping to find clues.

The energy behave in strange manners. At times it behaves like waves of light, other times it behaves like water. How does something that behaves like light affect atoms? Are they super charges electron particles that hit the atom and somehow affect its shape? Or does it act like water and comes along like a tidal wave that pushes everything aside?

Then it hit him. Why can’t it do both?

His power hit the thing he is affecting like an electron particle thus upsetting its balance. Then it behaves like a tidal wave and sweeps everything aside. But where does it push everything to?

Perhaps it could be explained with his spatial storage. Does his power actually work in such a way? Does it first knocks everything off balance to make it easier to move aside into his spatial area?

So many questions. But he had to test it in order for it to truly be considered an insight.

He opened his spatial storage and kept it open. While keeping an eye on what happens inside of it, he used his aura to consume a part of the cavern wall.

The inside of his spatial storage flashed a little as it looked like it destabilized and reverted back to stability as quick as it could.

[Crule]: This…

He didn’t know where the matter has gone, but it certain has gone somewhere. That somewhere seemed like it was connected to his spatial storage.

Suddenly this insight seemed to clear many things up.

Who knew just by reading a text book on atoms that he would gain so much.

Suddenly a ball of light descended upon him. It was like the universe saying, “Yep, that’s totally how it works, good job science man!” *sarcasm* Kind of like how someone just gave up trying to explain to an idiot how things work and just left them to accept their claim to be true.

Because in this world, truth is just what a majority of people believes is right. Since Crule thinks it is right, it’s the law now.

He realized a little later that there was a lump of energy gathered in his body. It was different from the others as it was very stable. He allowed it to flow through his body and to his amazement, an eight gate was formed from the energy. It was not like his other seven gates as those had to do with courses in a meal. This gate, was called Atomos as if seemingly named by the heavens.

Crule could feel had he nearly full control of his energy. Before it was like trying to control water using a tube. Now it felt like he could control the water like a part of him.

He could only imagine what establishing the ninth gate would result in. But to do that, he required more than just an insight.

Looking down at his wristband, a sudden change was made to his status page.

It seems he leveled to the mid-eighties.

[Crule]: I see…it’s no wonder Brigid is so interested in science. It seems she realized how to establish the eighth and ninth gate far easier than I did.

Either way, he didn’t compare himself to the monster loli alchemist anymore. He was still happy he finally had a breakthrough and one that he didn’t achieve in the old time line.

[Crule]: Hahaha, this is great.

Feeling stronger than ever before. It seemed he now has 200% of his original power. This was without Famina handing down her final blessing.

[Crule]: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I can’t wait till that bastard Chaos show his face to me now.

With a sinister grin, Crule started find his way out of the cave. It was finally time to leave.

As if waving goodbye, a stalactite fell from the ceiling and his the lake creating a strong enough ripple to form a wave tide.

[Crule]: Thanks cave!

He waved back at the cave as he left through the tunnel he found yesterday. The wind was flowing through it and Crule assumed it lead outside.

If anyone had saw him now, they would have thought isolation had made him insane.