Chapter 346

“So what did you mean when you said that all sounds are vibrations?” Lexi asked once she finally had Ajax alone in his room, both of them were on his bed with Ajax laying his head in her lap as he relaxed from a stressful day. 

“Just as I said, I think all sounds are actually vibrations, each different sound is slightly different just the same as we see different colors.” Ajax was thinking as he tried to piece together how this discovery wasn’t already made. “I think it's easier to see it if you remove as much mana from the surroundings as possible.” 

Ajax’s primary theory on why this information wasn’t common despite them already putting together that loud noises produced vibrations most likely had to do with the affect mana had on sound, if every researcher was using enchanted equipment for their projects that could very well affect measurements that had to do with low levels of sound.

“You can see it in the way commoners try to soundproof rooms.” Ajax went on to explain. “They put as much padding as possible around the walls so that the vibrations don’t make it out the other side. I doubt it would do much to a sonic spell since that would also be using mana to deliver the sound.” 

“But if sound really is all vibrations how could Sonic mana be Legendary?” Lexi asked. 

This was also something that Ajax had issues with, Sonic mana was supposed to be Legendary according to the texts they had found yet if it was limited to only sound would that make Vibration mana Mythic?

“I don’t know.” Ajax admitted. “But you can also tell that all sound is vibration by looking at how it reacts. Think of an army marching, if they are just walking at their own pace the result is much subdued. If all of them are marching in step, placing their feet down at the same time the vibration builts, a large enough army could even cause the ground to shake as they pass.” 

Lexi started to mutter a spell as she threw her mind back to her grandfather’s lesson on sonic spells. As the premier researcher he had access to copies of the texts where the spells had been written down and then translated.

While she was doing that Ajax was trying his best to think how to build a tunic fork. A really easy way to prove that all sound traveled through vibrations and all the different frequencies would be to hit one tuning fork and show how that low sound gets the second one to vibrate.

As Lexi released her spells she couldn’t help but fix her eyes on the glass that sat on Ajax’s night stand. Ajax had mentioned that different sounds vibrated differently and that how high or low pitched they were could also affect the vibrations. 

The high pitch beep that Lexi released surprised Ajax yet when he leaned his head back to look at her he noticed how focused she was on the glass. With his high perception Ajax managed to see in real time how the glass started to vibrate from the sound produced by the spell.

“It really does work.” It took Lexi a moment longer to notice the vibration yet despite the beep not being loud the high frequency did get the glass to vibrate slightly. “In that case what if the translation was wrong? What if Vibrations as a whole is the Legendary mana and not just Sonic?” 

“The presence of mana and its effect on sound and vibrations makes it really hard to study.” Ajax continued to try and give out hits. “You can hardly even create shockwaves consistently because how mana affects the speed sound travels at.”

“What do shockwaves have to do with sound?” Lexi was confused by the link.

“Shockwaves are formed when something travels faster than the speed of sound.” Ajax explained. “It's why whips make that sound in low mana areas, with a low mana density the speed sound travels at is low enough that the end of the whip travels faster than sound when flicked releasing a small shockwave.” 

Ajax’s words finally made everything click for Lexi as she thought back to the one spell that her grandfather couldn’t understand why it didn’t work. From the descriptions the spell was supposed to release a powerful shockwave, yet the spell never worked. What if it didn’t work because their intent was all wrong?

What if in order to create a powerful shockwave the spell had to first create a very low mana density at the point of origin in order to lower the speed of sound as much as possible? Lexi’s mind was now running a thousand miles an hour and she didn’t even realize that she had lifted one of her palms as she started whispering the words for the useless spell that never worked. In her focused state Lexi didn’t realize how much mana she was pushing into the spell since she never had a frame of reference for it.

When the chant finished Ajax was almost thrown off the bed as a powerful shockwave was released turning Ajax’s room upside down, the doors were rattled and almost taken off their hinges and the windows didn’t stand a chance as they all got smashed and thrown outwards.

“Lexi what the fuck?” Ajax shouted in surprise as he turned to look a little angry towards his lover.

Lexi however hadn’t heard a word as her eyes were unfocused as she stared at something no more than a few inches in front of her nose. For more than a few moments her brain was still playing catch-up with everything that happened before she finally rebooted and started to process everything. 

“It worked, you were right… I… I got it.” the words came out staggered and softly yet Ajax could make them out clearly.

“What worked?” Ajax said calming down not that he noticed that Lexi didn’t intend to do what she did. “What did you get?” 

Ajax words got Lexi to focus on him for a moment and she quickly leapt to give him a hug. “The spell even grandpa could get to cast, it worked. You were right vibration and sounds it's all connected." Then in a small voice that Ajax barely heard as she leaned in with her arms going around his neck and he lips close to his right ear she whispered. “I have the Legendary mana affinity for Vibrations.”

It was now Ajax’s turn to slowly process everything that happened, his body however was much quicker on the uptake than his brain as his arms quickly went around Lexi waist and back as he returned the hug.

Ajax didn’t even get a moment to process everything that had happened as the door that had barely survived the shockwave was shattered, throwing splitters everywhere as both princes and a good number of members from the first squad piled into the room ready for battle.

“Fweeuuu ♪” the king’s oldest son whistled as he took in the room. “Must have been quite the argument, though it’s great to see that you made up so quickly.” 

“What the hell happened?” the crown prince said as he threw his brother an accusatory glare for his joking comment. “It looks like an explosion went off in here. 

Both Lexi’s and Ajax’s faces were a little red from the first comment but Ajax was surprised how accurate the crown prince’s comment was since a shockwave was exactly what a bomb going off would have caused.

It was at that moment that Anna squeezed her way past all of the high-level people gathered in the door and dashed over to her best friend's side and started looking her over. “What happened? Are you hurt? Do you need a potion?”

Lexi’s excitement redoubled in the presence of her best friend and her answers returned to the excitable drivel that had come right after she had read her notifications. “Ajax was right! The spell finally worked! I got it, I won’t be left behind.” 

Different people focused on different parts of her answer. While Anna was relieved by the fact that her friend was okay, both princes started looking at Ajax with interest when they heard he was right, the casters perked up at hearing the spell worked and Ajax focused on the small insecurity Lexi had felt about being left behind that he hadn’t picked up on until now. 

“What was Ajax right about?” the crown prince asked. 

“And what did you get?” his brother continued. 

“Sonic mana, Ajax was exactly right.” Lexi praised as she started to get her excitement under control. “I have a Legendary mana affinity.” 

No sooner had the words left her mouth that the king’s oldest son and all members of the first squad jumped into motion, some were heading for the broken windows while others took a small step back out into the corridor.

“My most heartfelt congratulations.” the crown prince said as he was also moving to herd Ajax, Lexi and Anna out of the room. “But not another word until we are in a more secure location than one with windows that were just shattered.” 

Lexi quickly realized her mistake and nodded her acceptance as all three of them were led back to the party room. Ajax and Lexi couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as they watched every single guard on high alert following their mishap.