“Alright, so it says here that I can use Lightning Generator, Bolt, and Cloak, as well as Charge and Grand Skewer. I don’t really know what these might end up doing, other than Generator probably letting me Generate Lightning by walking or something.” I told Render my options, although they’d put a strange emphasis on the word ‘Choices’ so maybe that’s what they’re actually called, and we spent the next few minutes in contemplative silence.

Whilst Render was thinking, I decided to take a few seconds to find a comfortable position on the ground so that I could get a bit of a breather after that whole… ordeal.

Hmm, last time I used Bolt so that I could get some more levels in that, so maybe this time I could do the same thing? What else could be good to get a bit higher? Generator is pretty fundamental, although I haven’t actually noticed much of an improvement with it at higher levels, and Charge is pretty important to my overall ‘build’. I’m definitely not doing Grand Skewer, that one’s usefulness is pretty questionable.

“I don’t believe there can be much benefit from Lightning Generator or Lightning Bolt. Whilst Bolt could grant you improved sudden movements, it would likely come at the cost of long distance travel. Generator simply has little to offer that is not likely to be provided by another Skill. Cloak could be a good option if you wish to create a toggleable buff Skill, however I am unsure of the exact mechanics of the Skill’s function so it could be something slightly different. Likewise, I know little of Charge and Grand Skewer so the advice I can give on those is of little worth.” Ah, I see. That actually makes sense.

“That’s fine, you’ve given me a lot to think about. Hmm, I don’t know how I feel about a toggleable buff to be honest, I feel like it’s just not really adding anything new is it? So it’s between Charge and Skewer then?” Render nodded but didn’t speak, which I took as a hint to continue talking, “I actually understand Charge pretty well. It basically creates these channels that I can push Mana through, and somehow that makes them pull in the ambient Mana in the air. As far as I’m aware, Grand Skewer just makes my Lightning get stuck in people and constantly push them back. Not sure how that works exactly.”

“I see, those both have a lot of potential here. The whole process of Evolution is difficult to predict and tends to vary from person to person, however there are certain rules that every Evolution seems to follow. The main one being that the Evolved Skill will always make use of some parts of the sacrificed Level. This makes it simple to guess as to what the Evolved Skill may be, especially for particularly narrow Skills like these two. In this case, I believe that Charge will either allow for more efficient travel or give the Skill some kind of empowering effect for your spells. Grand Skewer is likely to make use of its ability to push physical matter, so it may increase the speed of your movement, however there is also a chance that it will change the focus of Lightning Steps entirely to focus more on physically attacking the opponent. For you, the best option may be Charge, since both of my predictions seem in line with your own interests.”

Yeah, that sounds about right. The last sentence, that is, I don’t have a clue about everything else. I’ll just go ahead and defer to Render’s knowledge and go from there.

In an attempt to simplify the decision, I decided not to see it as choosing between Charge and Skewer, but as choosing between the potential Evolutions that Render described. So, effectively, I could have a chance at either efficiency or stronger spells, or a chance at either faster movement or melee attacks. Honestly, that may have made things a little too simple.

There’s no chance in all the hells that I’m going to try to become a close range attacker at this point. I’ve grown past thinking that I’m smart, but I still know that a Mage is better off far away from their enemy.

“I think I’ll be taking Charge then, I don’t think getting close to my enemy suits me.” Even though I kind of did exactly that against the Skeletons, I should really have kept my distance a bit better there.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Evolving [Lightning Steps] With [Charge] You Have Created The General Skill [Charged Lightning Stride]

Usually, when I gained a new Skill, I didn’t actually feel any changes or new sensations or anything like that. But this time, things were slightly different. Somewhere in my mind I felt something like a toggle, similar to the one for Scorch Affinity- yet different. Instead of just being between ‘off’ and ‘on’ it seemed like there were two ways the Skill could be used.

Experimentally, I tried to switch the Skill a couple times, but it didn’t seem like it had any kind of passive effect. Next, I tried to use Lightning Steps- or Charged Lightning Stride, as it was now called- in the same way as before.

Lightning arced as I took what no longer seemed like an awkward leap, and was now a confident and long stride. Actually, that makes it sound like I was moving faster with it, but that was distinctly not the case. With some weird synergy between Fast Thoughts and Battle Meditation it was trivially easy to see that my new speed was significantly slower than the old one, it was hard to get any exact numbers but I was reasonably confident that I was now only 2 or 3 times faster than my movement speed before the Skill.

“Dang it, I’m so much slower now,” I returned to Render, more to complain than get any advice.

“Is there not more to the Skill? I noticed that your gait was much less,” They paused as if trying to think of the right words, “practical, could it be more optimised for your mode of travel?”

“I don’t know, but there seems to be another mode so I’ll just have to hope that it makes up for this.” Seriously, why can’t Skills just only get stronger with no downsides? Wouldn’t that be nice?

I sighed and flipped the toggle, feeling cautiously optimistic but unsure that the new aspect would be worth the loss in speed. As I began to walk, I immediately noticed a problem. The speed boost with this mode was completely gone, in fact, it seemed like I was actually moving slower than my usual walking speed.

My leg felt like it was being held back by some invisible strings, or more accurately, clearly visible bands of Lightning. The bands seemed to stretch into the air behind me, stretching around in a strange spiral pattern that I was eventually able to place as reminiscent of the one used by Charge itself. Somehow my movements didn’t disturb the spiral’s shape, and it hovered behind my back like some bizarre halo of Lightning.

“That is certainly interesting, I have seen a few Skills that make use of a similar pattern. I presume this is the effect of Charge?”

“Y-yeah, it looks about the same.” Talking was difficult whilst focussing on eeking out every last bit of Strength from my legs. In response, Render just hummed and seemed to become lost in thought.

Which was fine by me, because it meant that I could finally take my first step (or Stride) with my new Skill. As I did so, Mana seemed to get pulled along the bands of Lightning only to gather in a ring around my feet, shifting to take on the Lightning Affinity similar to my own personal Pool somewhere along the way. I was ecstatic at finally making progress, but that quickly dimmed when I noticed that the ring of Lightning seemed to be slowing my movements as well, making the next step just that much harder.

Gods, am I gonna end up increasing my Strength because of this Skill? Why in all the hells does a Skill that’s focused on magic need a physical stat to use?

I considered trying for another step, but eventually decided against it. It would probably be best to get an idea for the what this does to my spells at just one step anyway, assuming that that’s even what it does.

“Hey, Render! I’m gonna test out an unbuffed Lightning Bolt! Can you tell me if you notice anything notable about it?” At my words Render broke from their musings and nodded, turning their head to examine the Bolt the moment it formed in my hand.

I held it out towards a tree and, without Charging or taking a Breath, let the Bolt fly. Immediately, the Lightning Mana at my feet was pulled along with it, gathering into a stream of arcing bolts that zapped randomly and uncontrollably in all directions, almost becoming as thick as my torso and certainly being much longer. The Bolt hit the tree with no effect beyond the black charring that I’d expected, but the mass of Lightning slammed into it a moment after.

It blew outwards in a shockwave around the impact point, blowing a huge chunk out of the unfortunate tree that I had tested it on, but also burning a significant number of the leaves around it. Thankfully, none of the leaves fully caught fire, but it would probably be a good idea to make sure so that I don’t become the cause of a major incident.

“Well, that was-” I winced as the tree I hit finally gave up the ghost and tipped over, blowing dirt and chunks of wood everywhere, “That was a bit more than I expected”

“Erm, yes. I believe that it may be worth investing in ways to use this ability more easily in combat.” Render’s voice had a strange metallic tint to it for the first few words, but that quickly faded as they regained their composure. Odd, but not important right now.

“Yeah, maybe a bit of Strength would be nice, huh?”

I’m not doing whatever weight training those warriors do though, that Skill is bad enough.