The pool looked still and serene, and it was not filled with water, but some kind of liquid that had a really high density as well as great surface tension. When Professor Atkinson and Dolores walked into it, their feet were not submerged at all. Instead, they felt like they were walking on the surface of an inflatable playground.

“How - how does this pool work?” Professor Atkinson asked while trying to stomp the surface of the liquid in the pool, yet no matter how hard he tried, no parts of his body were able to sink into the liquid.

“As you might have guessed, the name of this spring is called the Spring of Knowledge, kinda natural and kinda cliche.” Bethemox smiled: “In order to get submerged, you need to display your knowledge and wisdom to the pool through meditation. The pool will evaluate your capacity for knowledge and your wisdom, absorb the information and bless you with knowledge and inspiration in return. ”

“And in that process, the pool will absorb our knowledge and wisdom, making it a greater source of knowledge and inspiration for others?” Dolores sat down on the surface of the pool and asked.

“That is correct. ” Lin’Er said: “And this is the reason that we guard this temple so carefully with this many forces. It is one of one of the few unbroken connections we have to the past. Even the information and memories of powerful and fallen voidborns of old, connecting us to the history prior to the rupture. It’s just that this knowledge is weighted, and was buried deeply with other information and knowledge.”

Bethemox sighed like an human old man: “That’s true and all, but no one’s ever able to dig that deep - there’s simply too much information and memories buried in it. It’s one thing to dip one’s limbs in for inspiration and knowledge, it’s another to find such old information.”

Professor Atkinson and Dolores both sat down on the surface of the liquid, and just like Bethemox said, the liquid’s surface tension did not break at all, and their bodies did not get submerged even one bit.

“Now, calm your mind, make peace with what questions and confusions you may have.” Bethemox said: “Then, ask the answer of the pool.”

Something with the shape of a scythe lit up from within Dolores’ cloak, then the pool rumbled and bubbled from below, the surface broke and swallowed Professor Atkinson and Dolores whole.

------------------------------------

“Good, good, don’t concentrate too much on the energy of fire and ice. But in the process of burning and freezing.” inside the underground training room with the time speeding properties, Josephine Wong was sparring with Thomas and Aimee, who were actually giving it their all in their magical attacks.

Bright bolts and arrows of fire with different colors shot from the palms and fingers of Thomas, while ice shards and spikes were shooting out of Aimee’s. Neither of them had chosen a weapon yet, for they had yet to see anything that spoke to them or caught their eyes. Josephine Wong was not using any weapon either, and was only using her hands to fend off the energy attacks unleashed by her two students, while occasionally shooting out bolts of purple energy to push her students back. 

Neither Thomas nor Aimee had much experience with this kind of sparring. And Thus for the first few rounds, both of them were knocked on their butts and backs. Each hit from the purple energy bolt was like an especially fast and impactful bean bag shot from the mock guns they used during field drills, which didn’t leave any visible wounds on their bodies, but still hurt. When they checked out the spots on their bodies hit by the purple energy bolts, they could see slightly swollen bruises, just like what would happen if they were hit by real bean bag rounds at close range.

“Thomas, you keep on firing! I’ll try something!” seeing that both their energy attacks did not accomplish anything they were hoping for, Aimee said to Thomas: “Cover me!”

The next moment, an ice scimitar appeared in Aimee’s right hand, and the flow of magical power flowing inside of her body received an instant heavy jolt. Aimee lunged towards Josephine Wong with a string of afterimages behind her and holding the ice scimitar in her right hand.

Josephine Wong’s eyes opened slightly wider, and she conjured a small purple round shield of Xen magical energy just in time to block the scimitar attack. The scimitar’s ice edge cut into the purple energy shield about an inch and created a few cracks along the dent, which brought a smile on Josephine Wong’s face.

On the other side, Thomas took advantage of the time and opportunity bought by Aimee and created a short fiery arrow between his palms. Just when Josephine Wong thrust her energy shield and pushed Aimee to the side, the fiery arrow was launched from Thomas’s hands aiming at Josephine Wong. The fiery arrow expanded in size as it shot through the space, making a sound barrier breaking boom and leaving a trail of sparks behind in the air.

“Clank!” the small round energy shield shattered when clashing against the fiery arrow. The fiery arrow was deflected and shot up to the ceiling of the room, but still left a small burn mark on the back of Josephine Wong’s right hand.

“Good! Let’s take a minute.” Josephine Wong let out a wide smile and made a “pause” hand gesture: “You’ve made great progress with your training. And I believe you’re ready.”

“Ready? Ready for what?” the fiery arrow cost Thomas a lot of energy, and he already fell on the ground after the arrow was launched. Aimee was in a much better shape, though the previous burst of physical power did cause her some muscle strain.

“Ready for a breakthrough.” Josephine Wong smiled: “But for that, we will need an open space, some fresh air, some bath water and a couple of sprinklers.”