A week has passed since my arrival in Skyblue City. Everything has gone better than expected—my students were genuinely happy to see me return. Shawu isn’t a bad teacher; she’s just very different from me. Her teaching style is a bit more aggressive than usual.

  My classes have gone wonderfully. I’m a completely different person from last semester—I’ve improved in every possible area. My professors are teaching me differently than my classmates. I’m treated like a final-year student, and in some cases they’re even having me practice more advanced things.

  The most important part is my cube. The stress of breaking and repairing itself again has strengthened it more than expected. I’m ready to improve my last pseudo-law, and I feel prepared to attempt learning a new pseudo-law or even a new Law. I’ll go with the former for now—I’m still not sure which new pseudo-law to learn, so I’ll take my time researching in the school’s massive library.

  I sit cross-legged in the center of my personalized training dome. My mind is calm and clear, my body better than ever, and my cube ready to take another step. Once I complete this new milestone in my personal objectives, all that will be left is to gain a few levels to push all my abilities to rank IV.

  I focus on the electricity moving through every part of my body. The sparks don’t harm me in the slightest—they make me stronger and faster. My mind accelerates alongside my body, my brain reacting more quickly. The electricity around me seems to dance chaotically, yet it’s under control.

  The dance of electricity has good coordination, moving between dangerous chaos and perfect order. Each serpent-like bolt coils around my body before being released; all the mana responds to my thoughts and will, ready to defend me and pulverize anyone foolish enough to attack.

  I focus on everything electricity means to me. I use my Imra to press the electric mana as far as possible—the pseudo-law is the foundation of it all.

  It feels as if a puzzle is taking shape inside my cube, each piece aligning perfectly where it belongs. The pseudo-law transforms as my ideas organize within the puzzle; the meaning of electricity and the way I use it guide each piece until the final one clicks into place.

  My body jolts with an electric surge, every fiber feeling electricity flowing in a different way. Now it feels like it’s truly part of me—not an extension I could control, but a new limb. This is the same sensation I’ve felt whenever I improved my previous pseudo-laws.

  The sensation of growing power is slightly intoxicating. A few seconds later, everything settles down. My body, mind, and cube slowly adapt to the new feeling; the surge of power calms, and I become myself again.

  The notifications in my mind tell me my efforts have paid off—the omnipresent voice has just spoken.

  “Congratulations! The Electricity Pseudo-Law has transformed into a Law!”

  Happiness bursts through me as I read the notification. I’ve been tangled up in this for many months; at last, I’ve freed myself from a burden I’d been carrying for so long.

  My eyes focus on the other notification. The names of Laws usually differ from user to user. Cases where they share the same name are rare, and even then the Laws most likely don’t function the same—at best, they’ll share some similarities.

  “Law of One’s Own Rhythm: Electricity.” That’s the name of my new Law. It sounds perfectly tailored to me. I’ve treated electricity as an impulse to my rhythm almost all the time, and I’ve even established a different rhythm in its defensive use. I like it.

  I let my body drop to the floor. It’s time to plan the next step—seek a completely different new pseudo-law, one much more aggressive and rooted in my fighting style, or try to obtain a new Law from my affinities.

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  Many people focus solely on obtaining the same type of Law, only changing its function and usage. I could focus on finding a new Ice Law, gravity, life, or death; I could even focus on sharpness. My style leans heavily toward cutting attacks—I always use swords to fight, whether at close or long range.

  My head starts to ache from weighing the options. Unable to decide, I pull out several books I previously gathered from the library, all focused on Pseudo-Laws, Laws, Law Applications, and the like. Each book presents a different perspective; they’ll help me better understand the pros and cons of each option, and I’ll follow my instincts once I have the necessary information.

  The sound of the door opening makes me turn. I see Brendu enter with a container in her hands. Is she bringing food? How late is it?

  “Your face says it all—you don’t even know what time it is.” The princess’s voice makes me blush slightly. She’s right; I completely lost track of time while reading. The topics were interesting enough to pull me deep into the world of books—the more I read, the more I enjoy it, as long as it interests me.

  “I’m sorry… I made you come all the way here to see me, and you even brought food.” I apologize sincerely.

  “It’s nothing, don’t worry. I know you well enough to know what you were doing. Now put those books aside and eat something.” She sets the container on the table, gives me a kiss, and heads to the small bed beside me. Brendu usually spends the whole time sitting or lying down on her phone while I train; she trains with me every day after classes.

  “Thanks. Have they ever told you you’re the most beautiful princess in all of history?” I smile as sweetly as I can.

  “I know—I’d be mistaken to think otherwise.” She winks at me and blows me a kiss from the bed.

  She congratulates me on improving my last pseudo-law; Brendu jumps off the bed, and a big kiss is my reward. I decide to ask her for advice about my new situation—I’m sure she knows far more than I do. She’s been studying much longer and has had access to better information.

  “I can’t recommend one option over the other—each is a world of its own. A new pseudo-law focused on something new will help you, just as a new Law of an already acquired type but with a different approach would.” She rests her head on her fist as she thinks.

  “I have two poison-type Laws. They might seem similar, but they’re very different. One focuses on spreading poison as fast as possible, consuming everything around you until it exhausts you, while the other is more lethal, designed to accelerate your death. Both are useful in different situations and against different opponents.” She shifts her head to her other fist.

  “I’m not the one to tell you which option to choose, but I can give you small bits of advice as you move forward.” She smiles softly. “I’m not a walking library, love, but I’ll help you however I can.”

  “Thanks, sweetheart. When I’m done eating, we can go back home—I’ll keep reading there.” If all I’m doing is reading, I can do that in the apartment.

  The days passed, and the number of books I read kept increasing. Every two days I went back to the library to get new ones; all of them were interesting and educational. Each author had a different approach—some similar in certain points, others completely opposite. It’s hard to decide when there’s nothing truly wrong with any of the options.

  After reading so many books over the past two weeks, I’m down to three options. At least I’ve narrowed them as much as possible—at the beginning I had more than fifteen, and all of them were tempting.

  Two of the three options focus on obtaining a new Law from a different perspective. I’m seriously considering acquiring a new Ice Law. By far, it’s the affinity I’m most comfortable with, and although I use it in almost all my constructions, lately it feels like it’s fallen a bit behind in raw power.

  The second option is a new Law of sharpness. I fight with swords all the time, and my constructions also tend to be sharp. It would be a massive boost to my power if all my cutting attacks were enhanced.

  The final option is to acquire a completely new pseudo-law or Law. The problem is that this option splits into three more choices.

  The first is destruction or something similar—an additional boost to any of my attacks. Its effect does exactly what the name implies: it tries to destroy everything around it.

  The second is a mental option. It could slightly enhance my cognitive processing, allowing me to react faster or make better decisions at critical moments. The boost is very small; most people obtain something like this at the Emerald rank, but in my case it’s a bit different—my electric affinity creates good synergy.

  The last option focuses on the sensory. My Personal World is, in my view, my most important ability. I haven’t died countless times thanks to having it active—I was very fortunate to acquire it, and enhancing it would be a good choice.

  This last option would also strengthen my gravity magic if I take the right path. Gravity is focused on areas similar to my sensory abilities.

  I’ll take a few days to rest, let my mind make the decision calmly, and follow my instincts when the time comes.