"Did you just hold a matrix for 10 seconds?" She sounded bewildered, her face showing emotions uncharacteristically.
In the entire decade of her experience as a warrior, she has never seen this happen.
How could one pre-fire their spell?
Or was he simply that fast in conjuring and casting a spell?
But that speed was almost at the level of the likes of Pope, not some young adult.
Neither of the conclusions made sense to her.
"14 seconds, actually." He corrected her.
She walked up to him at an inhumane speed and grabbed him gently, "How? How did you do that?"
"It's based on the concept of a closed conservative system, sister." He started explaining, "Basically, if energy is moving in a closed, isolated system, in an equilibrium, with little to no change in the power or velocity, it doesn't lose much energy, like it would if it stayed constant."
As he finished his explanation, he noticed Eve was frowning while wiggling her fingers around her ears.
"What was that again?" She asked, confused.
'I guess no one in this backward period would know about loss of energy and prevention.'
It only made sense that she couldn't quite catch that.
He thought of an analogy and began explaining again.
"Okay, imagine this," He started, and Eve nodded.
"Imagine a spinning top," He made a shape of a top with his hand, "If you just put it on the ground, the balance would be tipped by even the slightest of change and fall."
"But if you rotate it, it stays balanced."
Eve's face suddenly turned grim.
It was as if she were witnessing something horrifying.
Raven thought she was surprised by this and made that face.
But he misunderstood.
"So basically, after you form the matrix and start moving it in a closed, isolated loop at a constant velocity, it would keep moving on its own after the initial push, and barely lose its edge over time."
Eve fell into deep thought.
And he didn't stop, "So, when you need it, just fill it with mana and fire it immediately."
"Of course, how perfectly you control the loop determines how long the pre-fired matrix lasts. I think mine-"
"Raven!" Suddenly, he heard the grim tone of Eve calling him out, which made him halt in his tracks.
"Yes? Do you have more questions?" He asked her, thinking she might still be rough around the edges.
"It's not that I don't understand, Raven," She said. "I couldn't hear it at all."
If this were a normal human being, he could probably just think she wasn't paying attention, or he was moving fast for her.
But it was Eve they were talking about.
She wasn't a mage, but rather a warrior.
Like most of the people in this world.
And a warrior's physical abilities and senses were at a level he couldn't even begin to comprehend.
So, it was indeed very concerning that she didn't hear what he said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I think I have an explanation for this," She answered, sounding a bit hesitant, "But I had never actually witnessed this myself."
"Just tell me already."
"Say a single summarized line of the thing you were explaining to me." She asked, just to be sure.
"Alright!" He nodded and began.
"■■■■■■■■■■■■"
"You can stop," She said again, "I am sure of it now."
"I had only read this in books before, but it's actually creepy when you witness it."
"Oh my God, just tell me already." It was gnawing at him like crazy, as she was playing around it.
"Divine Curtailment." She finally answered, "Whenever the Gods themselves don't want a piece of information to be shared, the mode of information turns into a gibberish noise that the other couldn't understand."
Gulp!
Raven's forehead immediately broke into sweat.
Gods themselves?
'Does this mean 'He' can see him?'
'He' was obviously being referred to as Solis.
But the way she was putting it indicated that it was a prerequisite condition that was triggered here.
And thinking about it made sense, too.
If a God can pull him from a modern world, it also means they had information from there.
He couldn't be the first one to come up with this.
And he wouldn't be the last.
But one thing was sure, this was being extremely classified by 'Them'.
'Information being suppressed by the Gods themselves, huh?'
The mere thought of this was scary.
Hiding something this basic only meant they didn't want us to progress.
Or at least were looking for a proper timing.
He relaxed for a moment and asked, "Does this mean I shouldn't speak of this to anyone else?"
Eve nodded.
"Yes, you were saying something I wasn't supposed to hear," She answered, "If they realize what's happening, they might try ways to get that information in ways you might find… unsavory."
'Experimentations, huh?' A shiver ran down his spine.
He could interpret what she wanted to say, but couldn't say it directly.
"If someone does understand what you are saying," She apoke again,
"That means they also know this piece of information." He finished her sentence.
Eve nodded.
After a brief moment of silence, she changed the topic, "Anyways, a brief about you today."
His eyes shone excitedly.
"It's horrible," Her words were like cold water being washed over him.
"At least the warrior part of you is." She finished her sentence, "You should practice that a bit more."
"But, your main focus should be to become a mage." She said.
"I already am!"
"Good," She nodded. "Another thing, your attacks were all aimed at vital points."
'Old habits die hard.' He thought.
"Because I knew you could block it." He defended himself.
"It's not a bad thing, per se," She waved it off, "It's just situational."
He nodded in understanding.
"Here!" She took out a handbook and handed it to him, "This has more information on the job as an Arbiter. Read this after our training finishes."
He nodded again.
"Keep training that instant pre-fire spell on your own."
"And finally,"
He perked his ears for the last part.
"Brace yourself for the training."