Chapter 76: Lightning core
Felix Sythias’ POV (continued):
I stared at the growth—as much as one could stare at a completely mental image, anyway. I was sure now; the growth converted the mana from lightning aspected mana to neutral mana, just like how my mana pool did the same with my other mana types. Did that mean I could make my own lightning mana then, now?
No… the same feeling that told me the growth wasn’t quite done yet told me the answer was no. More specifically, not yet.
Hope began to rise up from within me. If it really worked like I thought I did, it meant I could actually learn new Aspects. It would obviously take time, but who cared about that? I could already see myself shining light on a book during night using light magic, and making my traps harder to see with shadow magic. Let alone other types of magic. What could I do with metal magic? Or even poison magic?
I shook my head. I couldn’t allow myself to get too far ahead of myself. Getting my hopes crushed again wasn’t something I wanted. Not getting a System, and then not being able to use unconventional casting had been enough, thank you very much.
With a sigh, I turned my focus back on my mana pool. I’d been so surprised that I hadn’t even paid close attention to what exactly happened with the mana within the growth. Hmm, I’d need a better name than ‘growth’. I’d think of that later, though. Time to focus.
With barely any effort at all, I used the cube to create some more lightning mana and absorbed it, this time watching it very carefully as it went through the… lightning aspected organ? Lightning expansion? Lightning core? Yeah, lightning core sounded neat. I watched carefully as the mana went through the lightning core. There, it was split up as it traveled through veins and valves, going through membranes and finally going through an especially dense part of the core, where the mana was twisted in impossible to understand ways. It was like it was being twisted in the fifth dimension. I could see where it was and when, but the twist—which was a poor name for what was really happening—happened on an entirely different axis. One I couldn’t quite sense. I could tell it was there, and that something was happening within it, but nothing more. It boggled my mind, but the result was undeniable. On the other end of the organ, the mana entered my pool as neutral as it could be.
That were a lot of new things. Things I couldn’t even begin to understand right now. I suspected I would be spending a lot of time in the library and asking the various professors questions when I got back. I’d never even heard of this fifth axis for mana. I wondered if this transformation was something linear. Going through the topics of linear algebra with Alex had me curious if I could apply it here. Maybe I could model it somehow? I’d have to talk to a few researchers about it when I got back to campus, if I didn’t forget.
Going back to the matter at talon, did the System usually take care of transformations like this behind the scenes? It certainly would be easier than growing an organ for it. I was sure I could find a book on the topic somewhere. Someone had to have been curious enough how the System dealt with Affinity Skills to research it, right?
And if they hadn’t been… well, they would be when I was done.
With that major thing out of the way, there wasn’t really much I could do in terms of lightning magic practice. Running my mana through the core in reverse didn’t do anything, just like I expected, so all I could do was wait until it was ready. Whatever that meant.
Luckily, I still had earth magic to practice. I’d need to find a rocky patch of ground first, though. A few minutes of searching later, I found what I was looking for. There was a large patch of ground near the river where the soil had been washed away, revealing the rock underneath. Perfect for my purposes.
I sat down on it and pushed my magic into the ground. I’d given it the instructions to make spikes roughly a meter in front of me. Slowly but surely, spikes began to grow where I wanted them. And this time, unlike with the dirt, they were actually sharp. Or at least, sharp enough that I wouldn’t want to step on one. Though, I’d probably be fine with my scales.
It was still too slow.
That wasn’t such a big problem with the traps I had been making so far, that only tripped enemies. But I wanted to be able to make spikes shoot up from underneath an enemy. Pierce them from below. It would be the first real attack I’d be able to do with my magic, and I was sure it was possible.
But earth mana wasn’t fast. It moved like the changing of the terrain. Very slowly. And I wasn’t sure how to speed it up. I’d only managed to do that reliably with my water mana—no, that wasn’t right. I remembered now, how I had played with my other mana Affinities. How fire mana roared and burned through my veins, how air mana flowed almost like water, and how earth mana shifted, like an earthquake. Instantaneous, and with great force.
I remembered thinking it wouldn’t be all that useful, since it didn’t really allow me any significant degree of detail in my creations. I wouldn’t be able to make a complex house, for example. Maybe a wall at most. Or… spikes.
A grin overtook my snout as I settled back into my mana. This would be difficult, but doable. With effort, I told the mana to create spikes one meter in front of me, then released it. The mana surged forward, almost instantaneously, and dug into the earth, where it promptly made spikes outside of my designated spot, right beneath my left front talon.
I yelped as the stone spikes slammed against what was effectively my hand. I jumped backwards, glaring at the protruding rocks. With the mana being spent, the spikes were already looking fragile, and with a single swipe, I broke them off and launched them into the river with an angry grunt. Then I finally looked at my talon.
It was mostly fine. The spikes didn’t get through my scales, so no blood. But one of the scales was cracked. Not much, not enough to be an issue, but it was cracked. There would probably be some nasty bruising beneath that, too. I’d have to visit one of the healers later, before I went back to our tarp.
I looked back down at where the spikes had been. A grin spread on my snout. If they could crack my scales, they’d have no issue getting through the hide of any monster we’d face this week.
Now I only needed to figure out how to aim them properly.
With a sigh, I sat back down, ready to try again. Then I paused and stood back up. I didn’t want to know what would happen if my next set of spikes emerged right beneath my hindquarters, where some of my squishiest bits were. I shuddered at the thought of one of the sharp stones penetrating into my slit, tearing it—nope, nope, nope, nope. Not going to think about that. Another shudder ran through me and I looked back down at my talons, stood up as far as I could, then lifted one talon off the ground. Any more and I’d fall over, but at least I now only had three points of contact with the ground. The rest was high enough I wouldn’t hit them.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I’d need to be very careful while practicing this.
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Alex Sandclaw’s POV:
“—and for that reason, you shouldn’t eat wild mushrooms unless you have a poison resistance Skill, a forestry survival Skill, or really, really know what you’re doing. One wrong bite and you won’t need to worry about getting back home alive anymore. At the very best, you'll have eaten the Spotted Lich mushroom and get to return home as an undead.”
I listened to the assistant tell us about foraging food in the forest. So far, the most important thing I’d picked up from this entire lecture, was that the forest was dangerous. Eat the wrong leaf? Dead. Eat the wrong berry? Dead. Eat the wrong mushroom? Dead. Drink the wrong water? Also dead. I’d thought the thing you had to worry most about were the monsters. I was wrong.
I made a vow to never again enter the forest without a good supply of food with me. It wasn’t worth the risk. I’d rather worry about the monsters than whether any particular berry might kill me.
Then again, I’d rather not worry at all.
The lecture continued for a while until it was finally time for a break. There would be an hour before the next lecture began, which would be about making fire the mundane way, as well as a few examples of using Skills in creative ways to get a fire started. I was looking forward to it.
But until then, I’d have to find a way to spend my break. I wasn’t all that interested in just hanging around and I didn’t know where Felix had gone, so I decided to go and find Tiki, instead.
It didn’t take much searching. She was practicing her bow at the small range they’d set up. By the looks of it, everyone else had left for the break.
When I got there, she was busy, so I sat a small distance away to watch her shoot. It was remarkable how accurate she was. Despite being almost seventy meters from the targets, she managed to hit them in the center over and over again. The only thing stopping her from hitting her own arrows was that the target was enchanted to pop the arrows out, letting them fall to the ground. I didn’t doubt for a moment that she would be able to shoot accurately much further.
Her speed suffered, though. She was still fast by all means, but compared to when we were fighting, she was taking at least four times as long. It made sense, though, as it wasn’t often that an enemy was over seventy meters away. Maybe only at the start of a fight, after which the monster would either run towards you, shrinking the distance, or run off.
Soon, she’d fired the last arrow in her quiver, which struck the target just ever so slightly off-center.
“Do you want to help me collect the arrows?” she asked. She had noticed me arriving earlier. I nodded, so she turned back to the field. “Range clear!” she shouted, then started walking forwards, motioning me to follow.
“What was that for?” I asked. “You’re the only one here right now.”
She shrugged. “It’s a good habit. If I stop doing it when no one’s here, I risk forgetting when I’m not alone. That’s a good way to get an arrow stuck in your back, or worse, a fireball.”
I nodded. It made sense.
We walked down the field and collected her arrows, after which we found a nice secluded bench to sit down at. I took out some bread and cheese and we ate lunch while we chatted.
“So, how are you holding up?” she asked between bites. “With all the monsters, I mean.”
“Better,” I said. “Knowing I can shake the monsters here off like they’re particularly big bugs helped a lot. Having you two, and especially Felix, here helps a lot, too.”
She took another bite and smiled. “That’s good to hear. And for what it’s worth, you do look more relaxed than when we arrived,” she said, then her smile turned to an evil grin. “I’m sure having spent some time alone with a certain someone helped a lot with that, too.”
I choked on my sandwich and had to cough for a full twenty seconds before I could speak again. “What?” is all I managed to say.
Instead of elaborating on what I was certain was an innuendo, she asked a different question. “How’s that going, by the way? Your budding romance, I mean.”
I thought about my answer for a moment. “It’s been great so far. A little awkward at times while we figured stuff out, but we try to talk about it when possible, so it’s been mostly smooth. Like when we got back to our room and had to figure out a new sleeping arrangement, or if we’d keep it as it was—we chose the latter, by the way. It’s only been a few days, though,” I said. “I’m optimistic, but not stupid. Things might change once that new relationship energy fades off. But as long as we keep talking about any issues we face, I’m sure things will be fine.”
She smiled again. “I’m glad to hear it’s going well. I know I’ve made a lot of jokes and such about it, but I really am happy for you two. You make a cute couple and I hope things will keep working out.”
I averted my eyes and scratched the scales behind my ears in embarrassment. “Thanks, I hope so, too.”
“If what you’re saying is right, I think you’ll be just fine.”
I smiled, then shook my head. “Thanks. But that’s enough about me. How are you holding up? Have you figured out whether Alfred did it yet or not?”
She sighed. “I’ve talked to him about it, and I’m even more sure than before now. While he denied it, his body language told a different story. All shifty and guilty, like he’s hiding something. He is not a good liar. There’s sadly not much more I can do right now. At least, nothing I can do right now without breaking like a dozen rules and even more laws, and I don’t particularly fancy getting kicked out of the Academy. If he did do it, the investigators will reveal it. I don’t believe for a moment that he’ll manage to out-Skill them.”
“I don’t know much about the investigators,” I said, “but I do know the school takes these things seriously, and that the investigators are probably high-leveled. If he did it—which wouldn’t surprise me—they’ll figure it out.”
“I hope so, though it’s probably too late to matter anymore.”
I cocked my head at her. “How so?”
She shrugged, though her tone wasn’t nearly so casual as her body language. “He’ll have used all the reagents already to make whatever he wanted to make by now. So even if they prove it was him, I’m not getting those reagents back. And while I could easily buy more, it would be a hassle. Ingredients and reagents for alchemy are tightly controlled and even low-level stuff requires a bunch of paperwork.”
I winced. “That sucks. Maybe Felix and I can help you with that when we get back? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
She nodded. “I’d appreciate that.”
We chatted for a little longer until we’d finished lunch—which took quite some time considering all the talking we did. Then, since we had some extra time before I had to go, she let me shoot a few arrows with her bow. It was fun, but I sucked at it. Tiki was jealous of my scales, though. She had to wear a special arm covering to protect her skin from the bow’s string, while I didn’t.
After that, I headed back to the next survival class. It was time to learn how to make a fire.