The Essential Question

Though using color to identify elements was a little too superficial, from a human perspective, blue represented the water element and white represented the light element. These were things that had been verified in practice.

And so, within the six-colored luminous mist before him, Benjamin saw the shadow of the elemental plane.

Could these things... be elements?

Benjamin tried to release his mental power and respond to the emotions there. Unfortunately, he found that he seemed to have a hard time doing that now. The him who had entered this world was already in a spiritual state—how could he release any more mental power?

Moreover, every time he left reality and entered those strange otherworldly spaces, he seemed unable to control his own actions very well. Like now, he could only control his mist-like self as it drifted about. He could not emit a similar hum to convey his emotions.

But if these luminous mists truly had something to do with the elements...

A thought suddenly flashed through Benjamin's mind.

At this moment, he had completely turned into a cloud of luminous mist. He controlled his mist-like body and slowly drifted, eventually taking on the form of an Affinity Rune.

Thump!

The instant he turned himself into a rune, a low sound suddenly rang out, as though it had sounded from within his heart, making his entire being shudder. Pressure surged toward him from all directions, and a sense of danger abruptly rose within him.

What was happening...?

At that moment, he sensed a friendly emotion from the luminous mist around him. Yet at the same time, he felt his consciousness beginning to collapse, as though it were about to be assimilated by the mist.

Frightened, he quickly dispersed the rune and returned to his previous drifting state. The instant