Chapter 29 - Infectious
The ski suddenly darkened. Wind follows along by blowing strong. It's a sign of a coming storm.
But as someone who knew what was actually going on, I know that this is not a sudden coming of storm. No, this is a weather catastrophe that started because Master Alphonse managed to reach enlightenment from the little bit of hint that I provided him.
Master is currently inside the gazebo which is surrounded by earth and metal spears, or well, giant spike-like form close to a spear while we are outside the metal-earth giant spike forest.
We are inside a makeshift structure which is built by having earth pillars in 4 corners and the wall and roof are made with metal chain link structure so we can see outside without worrying about any accidental electric discharge coming our way. Although this makeshift structure looks flimsy, it is an ultimate protection against electricity according to modern Earth's technology. That's right, this structure is, albeit makeshift, a Faraday’s cage.
The chainlink wall and roof are actually connected on all 5 sides as the bottom one is unnecessary. The 4 earth pillars on the corners are just to give better support for the fence so it won't fall. So once an electric discharge hits it, the electric current will be spread evenly across the wires and the lethality of the electric discharge becomes considerably mitigated.
Well, that's the theory I know of back on Earth anyway. I don't know whether this cage is strong enough to neutralize mana enhanced lightning. But that's where my turn comes. As the theory goes, electricity will go the way with less resistance. And to increase resistance is to either use an electric resistant material or by lengthen the path. Using materials is impossible right now so the only way I can do it is by lengthening the path for electricity to move.
And how to create that path? Well, by magic of course. And what should I use to make the path? I do have an easy-to-conjure-by-magic conductor, don't I? Yes, it's water. A cheap and easy to use substance.
And then here comes the next problem which is how to lengthen the track. Well, the easy answer is to stack spiraling tracks so the formerly straight track could extend by tens or hundreds or even thousands times longer.
*CRACKLE! *BOOM!
The first lightning had fallen. There's no time. Or rather, even if I want to make a watery maze like a knitted sweater, my mind capacity is still not enough to process all that. So I just make a water pillar every 30 degrees to form a full circle which needs 12 pillars and join those on top and create the spiral track up there. I hope this is enough.
*ZAPP! *CRACKLE! *BOOM! *BANG! *BZZT!
The lightning strikes are ramping up. And there's even one that hit the cage. But the cage managed to nullify it. But I can see that the impact of the lightning strike caused a slight wave of vibration that caused the earth pillar to drop a small amount of debris. The makeshift Faraday's cage shows great resilience but that falling debris is still a red flag for me.
"Rocky, Clay, keep strengthening the cage. I don't know how much stronger the lightning could become!"
"Aye aye, sir!"
"Anyone else, support me in maintaining the water dome!"
"Aye aye, sir!"
The situation has been pretty hectic that I almost forgot about the other 3 that exist inside the cage with us. And a certain assertive brunette immediately asking for my attention without fail.
"Hey, can you at least let us go first? I know that you tried to help and you are not directly touching us but at least give a little care to our princess' dignity here! And she is also getting scared because of the lightnings! Close the dome shut!"
As the gentleman I am, the least I can do is to release them from my ungentlemanly hold. So I just release my control on my shadow.
*Thud! 2x
"Ouch!" 2x
As I am holding them in a prone position, the twin guards successfully plop to the ground after I release my hold on them. And well, as expected of twins, they sound so alike.
On the other hand, there is one more person I am currently holding that I release in a ‘gentler’ manner. Err, scratch that quotation mark. Princess Isabella is trembling and her face is pallid blue. It seems that the rumors about her having a phobia against lightning are true. This is not a good time for petty pranks.
Well then, what should I do now? If I can I would just hug her and let her feel safe but that is not very appropriate. Too many red flags to do that.
If I can do mind magic then I could just cast calm on her to extinguish her fear but I'm not. No, this is not the time to think about what if. I need to focus on what I can do.
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Let's break it down to the smallest details first. What is a phobia? A phobia is an overly reaction of fear. And as logic could not supress it. Then it should be an illogical fear towards something.
Then what is fear? Fear is a natural mechanism for all living being to avoid things that could endanger their existence. So with the presence of fear, living beings would not approach the things they feared.
In the way of biology, it is known that fear cause an increase in adrenaline and cortisol production. Those two are hormone which would affect the mind…
That's it!
I can use mana sense to get rid of the excess adrenaline and cortisol in Isabella's body to help her calm down. And no, taking away all adrenaline and cortisol will affects her badly. Taking too much is the same as taking too little in this case. After all, those two hormones have their own use in humans body. Which I forgot. I know that adrenaline has body strengthening effect as there are that famous skill called adrenaline rush in the games back from Earth.
Anyway let's try it immediately.
As this is a first for me to manipulate hormones, I think I should do direct contact so my mana sense would not burden me too much. And a slight comforting touch can also help Isabella calm down.
With that in mind, I immediately place my hand on the crown of her head and gebtly pat her. I have put her in the ground gently while I am contemplating about taking care of her phobia. And I mean really gently without any pranks or causing her harm.
Even when I brush her hair gently, I can still feel the shaking in her body. I understand that feeling when your mind want it to stop but your body does not listen. I used to have anxiety back on Earth which was the cause of me becoming a recluse. But then again, thanks to that, it creates the opportunity for me to binge read novels and cultivate a wide range of knowledge which become my weapon now in this isekai.
Anyway, that phobia causes Isabella's body to reach chemical imbalance. And my work is to bring that balance back!
“It's okay, Princess. That lightning won't hurt you. It is just loud with no bite”
"Uuu *sobs* but I can't help feeling scared of it *sobs*…”
"It's alright. I'm here to protect you now, Princess. So let's take this chance to conquer your fear!"
“Conquer *sobs* my fear?"
It is easy to find the concentration of adrenaline and cortisol in a human body as the place it is produced is the same even in this isekai, in the adrenal glands above the kidneys. I manage to detect a great amount of something secreted by the glands. I don't know what that something is but I bet that is either adrenaline or cortisol. Oh wait, there are two somethings secreted in great amounts! Bingo!
So what should I do with these hormonal substances? Taking these out of her body is too troublesome. Ah, I forgot I could 'devour' things. I'll just devour… let see… 60 to 70% of it should do the trick.
"Yes, we need to conquer your fear. Don't you want to conquer your fear, Princess?"
"*Sobs* Yes! Of course I want to! I also want to be a great magician like grandfather. But…"
"Okay, let's stop there. Never say negative things about yourself because it could turn into your own shackles. First let's calm yourself down. Take a deep breath. Slowly, slowly, you are doing good, Princess.
Isabella starts breathing slowly and deeply. And with each breath cycle she does, her trembling gradually calms down and her panic dies down.
"Good. Have you regained your calm? Now, let me tell you how people usually conquer their fear. The first one is to understand more about the thing you fear"
"Understanding more about lightning?"
"Yes. There is an old saying that the strongest emotion from mankind is fear, and the strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. Your ignorance is fueling your fear about lightning”
"I'm scared because I don't know? Then what should I do to know more about lightning?"
“Well, the closest and easiest one to do that right now is to look closely at Master’s enlightenment. I feel that you could learn a lot if you open your eyes and ears. And of course it is scary to look directly at the beginning. So you can start by examining how the cage neutralizes lightning to make you feel safer first. Don't think of them as enemy, princess, it is us who should master our relationship with the elements”
There's also another way to overcome fear and that is to do shock therapy directly with what you are fearing. But well, I better keep quiet about it for now. Isabella is now courageous enough to watch lightning sparks that are being repelled by the cage.
Meanwhile, Master's enlightenment process gradually becomes even more violent. Lightning keeps falling down on the vicinity creating pot holes in the previously beautiful garden. Webs of lightning are running everywhere on the ground. Only the area surrounding the protection cage is untouched by the destructive lightning.
I can feel that the energy in the surrounding area is still ramping up. Master is still not yet reached his peak yet.
And I suddenly felt a great tremor deep in my soul. I could see that everyone inside the cage was looking in Master’s direction wondering what happened. What was happening? Why did my soul feel a jolt like that?
And my question got answered soon after.
A giant human figure made of lightning suddenly appears and grows bigger and bigger As time passes. 4 meters, 5 meters, 6 meters and still gets bigger. That should be Master’s enlightenment phenomenon, right? I feel like looking at a real god of thunder at the moment.
He might as well be the thunder god as Master is the strongest person I know that wields the lightning element.
The lightning figure keeps on growing until it reaches 10 meters tall. Or around a 3 story building. And then, the random lightning discharge suddenly stopped like someone erased it out of reality. The sky is getting clear again and the catastrophic thunderstorm just now feels like an illusion if not for the ruined garden proving that the thunderstorm indeed happened.
Did master manage to control lightning now that only the giant lightning figure left? That is indeed what I am talking about before Master has his enlightenment. So it seems logical to learn how to control lightning better.
Bzzt!
“Ouch!"
My hand that has been staying on Isabella's head for a while now suddenly got shocked by electricity. Did she shock me because I forgot to take back my hand?
… … No, she is in a trance…
… … and if I'm not wrong, my mage squads and the twins guard are also in a trance and showing signs of creating their own phenomenon…
God damnit. Enlightenment is actually infectious! It could influence other people in the vicinity to get enlightenment too. That's why Isabella also gets small enlightenment after she watches my enlightenment process. But Master’s enlightenment is far stronger than mine that influenced even the twins who just study magic in depth today.
What should I do? Master’s phenomenon might be under control for now but there's no telling when it will turn wild again. And if everyone inside the protection cage got enlightened together, in such a narrow space, I don't know what harm it would do.
And when I am still in a dilemma, I see the cage surrounding us slowly turn into dust. Oh merde, that's right, Rocky and Clay are also in an enlightened state so the cage has its power supply cut off and crumbles back to dust.
Well, it gave me the answer I needed, in a way. To distance everyone from one another! There's no other way. But still, I need to place everyone as far as I can from Master’s phenomenon. Especially for those phenomena that might attract lighting like metal and other electric charge points. So Clay and Isabella will be in the furthest back while Rocky and Lily will be in the frontline. I never heard about ice being conductive so I hope I'm not wrong about it. Wait, plants also attract lightning, right?
There's too little time and too much to think of. I need mind acceleration ability as my number one priority next. Anyway, the number of people here is just equal to the number of tentacles I have so then…
“Summon tentacles!"
I grab everyone around me and stretch my tentacles to the furthest in a half circle behind me. I notice something wet hitting my tentacles in the last second so I immediately exchange that wet source to the furthest back category. I can feel 2 unfamiliar elements within my tentacles which are fire and water. That must be the twins’ affinity. That's kinda neat I have to say.
And after I finish evacuating everyone, I use my shadow to be the starting point of my tentacles and have my tentacles block my front. This will be my defense in case Master’s phenomenon went wild again.
Also, I have been holding back this overwhelming sense of drowsiness that has been weighing on my consciousness since I felt the jolt in my soul. This should be the enlightening infection that has struck everyone. I have been holding on to make sure everyone’s fine but I am at my limit. After all, I have done all I can think of in this short period to minimize any damage.
I really need that mind acceleration technique. Bullet time is a staple for basic superpower after all. I should consult Master after this.
And so, I let go of my self control and let the enlightenment enlighten me once more.
And that is how the event that would be called the descent of the thunder god in the future happened.
And it doesn't take long for that rumor to spread as the entire capital city witnessed the giant lightning figure. Sir Alfonse Thunderweb fame shot through the sky once again.