18 Elemental Control 2 (1/2)
The class was silent. After all, most of these students had thought they would just begin with an introduction to the course. They didn't realize that the class would already begin. No one had read the materials for them. Of course, there were exceptions. Xander had read the books for this class as well, and could answer it based on what he understood from the book, but that would put him to the limelight.
He waited for others to raise their hands, and after a few seconds, a few hands rose up, and his was one of them.
Amelia pointed at a girl.
”Yes, you. You are?”
”Maryann Dykes, Miss. Amelia.” Maryann replied calmly, her voice steady. Maryann was the same as Faykes, who was at Elite-4 stage. She was younger than Faykes, being 15 years old. She hasn't decided which pseudo-spells to select for her seeds because her elements were giving her quite a problem; they were opposing elements of Ice and Fire.
”Ok Maryann, so what is an element?” Amelia asked her. Maryann quickly responded, her voice even, and her speed not fast nor too slow.
”An element is a general representation existing anytime, everywhere. For example, the fire element. The fire element is produced through many ways using chemical and biological processes. One can say it is the combination of oxygen, fuel, and energy, which is the form of heat, one would produce fire.”
At this point, another voice sounded in the classroom.
”Maryann, according to your line of answer, the ice element is also a general representation. If ice element is a general representation, then the ice cubes we make at home by freezing water can be said to be a product of the ice element, and not necessarily the ice element itself. But the thing is, the ice element is not a reaction to something, it is something physical, unlike fire element which is classified as a reaction and considered intangible, like energy.”
”What do you propose then?” Maryann wasn't flustered or angry, but curious at the perspective her classmate had.
”My name is James Corde, and I think an element is simply a particle that exists in a different dimension to ours. These particles, like the table of elements that we have, are the link to creating chemical, biological and physical reactions and processes. For example, the water element; although we have the chemical structure of water, is water simply just that, H2O? One can consider hydrochloric acid as a combination of 3 elements: Air, Corrosion, and water. Although their chemical structures are made up of molecules, these molecules exist in our dimension. I believe this idea holds some ground because there are numerous research papers published concerning the inter-relationship of the physical to the elemental domain.” James said proudly, acting like an intellectual amongst a group of commoners.
James was from the Corde family, who are renowned to be descendants of nobles.
Before he could even revel, a snort interrupted him, followed by a feminine voice.
”James, your thinking is quite limiting to the term 'element'. Let's go back to your example, hydrochloric acid. if it is a combination of 3 elements, does that mean if I remove the air element in a hydrochloric acid solution, it would stop being hydrochloric acid? Does that mean it wouldn't evaporate? If I remove the corrosive element, does that mean it would be like normal water, not damaging you the slightest, making you able to drink it? Without the water element, it would become a corrosive gas? They had made a study relating to the removal of the element particles in a certain area where they made the acid. Do you know the results? They were still able to produce the acid! Mind you, this was done in an area forcefully devoid of elements. They did a similar study, this time, looking at one of the naturally devoid of elements, or deadspots, located at a hillside. They began doing chemical reactions, even biological processes such as cell replication in vivo, and they all succeeded.” A girl who looked like she was 17 years of age spoke all this in rebuttal to what James just said, a bit scornful at his dumb response.
Before James could even retort back, Amelia clapped her hands twice, causing everyone to stop and be silent. Amelia smiled at them again.
”Everyone, your ideas do hold some truth, but there are things these ideas fail to encapsulate. First, Maryann: general representation is true, yes, but that is generally only true for the element particles in the earth and air series. Second, James: the idea that elements are in another dimension is false, as it has been proven that they exist in the same dimension as ours. At the same time, it doesn't mean that if you mix these elemental particles, you would cause them to react and form into a compound; these aren't molecules that are reactive to one another, or even inert like our table of elements from chemistry. Those elements, like oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, when you mix them in their purest states, they begin to react and produce products and precipitates, as well as energy lost. Can you notice the problem here?” She asked, looking around the class.
Seeing no one raise their hands, she wanted to answer but then she saw someone raise his hands. Upon seeing who it was, her eyes twinkled as if seeing a gem.
”Yes, you. What's your name?”
Xander smiled and replied, ”Xander Cloverfield. The main problem with the theory James had was that the physical elements in chemistry follows the law of energy conservation. From the materials + energy to the product + precipitate + energy loss, both sides must be equal in terms of energy. The problem with elemental particles is that they don't follow this law of energy conservation. Since we can say, for example, water element is on a higher series than the ice element series, meaning water element particles can actually produce ice element particles, where do they get the energy to produce the ice elements?”
Xander raised his hand, and showed a clump of water element particles transform into ice element particles. The class was astounded; even Amelia was a bit surprised. She knew what Xander just did, but she was surprised to see someone at the Elite class do it.
”Here, you can see the transformation water element particles to ice element particles. The energy of the water element particles is the same level as that of ice element particles. Now look at this next example.”