Chương 40: 1.2.18 - A Different Kind of Devil

The worst of the summer sun was yet to come, but the heat this morning was still bearable. I had slept in a lot later this morning, probably because my mind needed it more than my body after the ordeal yesterday. I decided to just work in the clearing a bit further away from the orphanage, the same spot I had upgraded my Spark to Lightning Bolt. I had deemed this spot lucky when it comes to learning new spells. Even for a man of science, I could not help but to be a little superstitious when it came to magic.

Additionally, the trip to the grotto and subsequently getting back would eat into time that I could use instead to research my spell. I figured what I would be doing today would be safe enough that I did not need to hide out in the forest. I needed to change how my Electro Perception worked — it worked closer to how night vision goggles or thermal vision now — I had to look in the direction I wanted and it would pick up most things that had an electrical signal or if something had enough static electricity.

I needed to change it to something more like a 360° bubble, and with the ability to at least approximate relative position and speed. Almost like Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, except I did not want to look like I was wearing contact lenses all the time and veins popping up on my temples every time I activated the spell. I had thought about a few potential frameworks I could start with during breakfast this morning. I would need to test them one by one and make adjustments on the fly.

Destruction was my forte, the finer arts were not. I started with the simplest permutation, which was just a combination of two runes. Sphere Rune combined with a Sense Rune. I held the spell matrix for a few seconds and nothing happened, the spell fizzling out to nothing.

"Ok I guess I was too optimistic if I thought that would work". The most basic form of Electro Perception only worked off the Sense Rune but channeled through my eyes, which was naturally a sensory organ. I thought maybe just weaving the Sphere Rune into the spell form would have been sufficient. I had expected this, so I moved on to my second permutation. I added an Anchor Rune into the mix, but anchoring it into my eyes instead.

However, I also added a few Step Down Runes to tune down the signal so I would not accidentally blind myself. Though with healing magic, I was sure there would be some remedy if I did accidentally fry my own eye balls. I released the spell form in my mana core and suddenly I saw a white flash and I collapsed on the ground holding my eyes.

"Ahh fuck! Still too much!" I mentally cursed, I should have stepped it down way more. Everything was currently white and for a moment I thought I had accidentally blinded myself. I had to wait a good 15 minutes before my vision gradually returned.

"Fuck, was this how it felt to eat a flash bang in the face?" I wondered before I went back to the drawing board. It took a while but I stepped the spell way down and cast it again. However, the result was the same this time. While I was not blinded for 15 minutes, it still felt like a flash of light was released in my eyes. Perhaps my eye was not the right sensory organ to tie the spell to, as it was meant to receive light photons from one direction only.

No wonder Hyuga Clan needed their special bloodline to use their Byakugan. Maybe I should anchor the spell directly to my primary visual cortex. But I definitely needed to change the spell structure and use additional Operator Runes and Transform Runes to change the input data. I immediately threw the third idea I had out the window as I would likely just give myself a blackout based on the results of the second permutation.

"Haih~ Back to the drawing board I guess". I guess the spot was not so lucky after all. Over the next few days, I experimented with several various combinations, and each time I always made sure to step the signal way down and only release a trickle of mana to test the spell form. It seemed that I had the right idea as I started to get flashes of images in blue overlapping with my vision.

I had to tweak it several times before I found the combination that briefly gave a flash blue that gave the closest representation of what I saw with my eyes. The main runes were still the same. Sphere Rune to shape the area in which I want to perceive the information. Sense Rune indicating the intent of the spell. Anchor Rune, to anchor the input to my Primary Visual Cortex. They were then supported by a combination of Mesh Rune, Oscillation Rune, Echo Rune, and a few other minor runes.

This was by far my most complicated spell form and if you asked me, it should deserve a Tier 5 rank if I did manage to upgrade it. When I finally managed to cast it, there were some very blurry images that I could sense. I felt almost like the Weave wanted to ping me to inform me of my upgraded spell but it never really came.

"Hmmm, is it because the images are still too faint I wonder...". Since I was technically only sensing ambient static and it was usually too low for my eyes to even pick up once it exceeded a few meters, I needed a way to amp up the static electricity.

"Maybe..." I looked at my hands, and decided to just cast a Lightning Bolt at the same tree trunk I abused more than a year ago. I kept the new sensing spell form on, and for a brief moment everything lit up, clear but like I was looking through an ultrasound. There was some depth but everything was blue, overlaid by the section that I was looking through my eyes like normal.

However, after a while everything started to fade away as the residual lightning mana in the air started to dissipate until it was like before. Maybe what I needed to complete the spell was some output to discharge lightning mana but at the low level to the surrounding. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I decided to cast it as a separate spell instead of adding it into the spell form first.

It was a basic Discharge Rune but outputted through my skin, supported by a Sustained Rune. The moment I started discharging lightning mana to my surrounding, I could see with increased clarity. However, I did not receive a different spell register for my troubles as the Weave probably categorized this as a variant of my Lightning Bolt spell. PIAK- FWOOSH A dried twig suddenly sparked near me and caught fire.

"Fuck, that scared me." I quickly stomped out the fire and threw the stick into the river. I stopped casting the spell and made some adjustment. I reduced the output this time, and mentally prepared myself so I would not be frightened again. I was worried for nothing as the second cast with the Step Down Runes allowed the lightning mana to reach a state of equilibrium where the dissipation was similar to my output. I waited for a moment to see if anything would catch fire.

Meanwhile, the clarity of my sensing spell increased. It was as if a blind person were suddenly given glasses that gave them vision akin to a 4k display. It was disorientating at first but I got used to it enough that I could stay on my feet. The problem with this setup was that I could sense my core starting to drain. The spell's mana usage was above what my passive regeneration could support. Technically, I did not need such a high fidelity for my sensing spell.

I just needed to roughly know the size, the velocity, as well as the trajectory of the object that was approaching me. I did not care whether a boulder hurtling toward me had many cracks or had a polished surface. I just needed to know that it was big, it was fast, and that it was going to hit me. So I just needed a level of output that would allow me to sense my surrounding. I adjusted the spell to step down further and only released a pulse every few seconds.

When I felt that the mana from my core stopped draining and started recovering, albeit slower than usual, I stopped adjusting the spell form. It was inevitable that there would be some baseline level of consumption as long as I kept this on. I attached this set of runes as a parallel branch to the earlier spell form for the sensing spell and cast everything again.

This time, I finally felt something click into place as I felt the notification from the Weave — once again thankful for the existence of this learning tool. [Your spell leveled up 'Electro Perception' Tier 1 Level 10 -> 'Electrolocation' (Tier 2) - Level 1] [Your spell 'Electro Perception' has been upgraded to 'Electrolocation'] [You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 200]"Ahhh great, if it's not Lightning this then it is Electro that."

I could not help but comment on the Weave's lack of creativity at coming up with spell names even though I was thankful for its existence. I mentally pulled on the Weave to bring up my status.

Status Core: Lightning Affinity (Perfect) Core Stage: Yellow Stage Level: 2 Mana Core Capacity (MCC) Progress to Next Level: 1, 339/2, 500 Core Mutations: - Lightning Brain - Lightning Adaptation Spells: - Electrolocation (Tier 2) - Level 1 - Lightning Bolt (Tier 2) - Level 5 - Lightning Infusion (Tier 1) - Level 6 Soul Mutations: - Adaptive Soul - Nature's Constitution - Myelin Insulation"Hell yeah!! My second tier 2 spell!" I pumped my fist into the air.

I mentally focused on the spell and pulled up the description. Electrolocation: Assist with sensing and mapping of nearby objects — living or inert — by emitting a field of static charge in a radius and reading its disturbances within close range. Registers objects that carry no electrical signature of their own. Resolution and range scale with level. I dismissed the status window and focused on the sensation of the spell.

Everything appeared to be in some dull blue outline around me, overlaid with colors where I looked with my eyes — which was honestly a weird sensation. I needed to practice more with this spell to get used to it. It was still disorientating whenever I moved and I felt like I woke up with a hangover with the sensory overload. Good thing that the baseline mana usage was low enough that my mana regeneration could support keeping the spell active so that I could practice.

I briefly mused about the similarities to Daredevil. So this was how Matt Murdock saw through his echolocation. Maybe I should give myself a similar nick name. Though he embraced the name given to him by his bullies to overcome his trauma. I had no such inspiration to draw from, fortunately or unfortunately.

"Hmm, maybe I can be the Lightning Devil. Hehe" I chuckled to myself for a moment before I paused. The horror of what just happened dawned on me slowly as my eyes widened.

"NOOOOOOOOO~!!!" I screamed. I began weeping at the tragedy.

"My naming sense is starting to be just as bad as the Weave's" I had to take a moment to mourn the death of my cool naming sense before I could work on integrating my new spell with my Lightning Brain mutation next. Kestoria POV"Owh" the ball she was supposed to catch bounced off her head as she was spooked by a shrill cry that came from the direction of the forest.

"What's that?" Kes asked with a worried look, afraid that it was some beast coming out of the woods.

"It's probably just Ash, don't worry about it." Thal said nonchalantly as she picked up the ball.

"Here Wyn, it's your turn. Wyn??" Thal looked at Wyn with a puzzled look.

"I scaaaared" Wyn ran to Thal and buried her face in Thal's skirt while hugging her.

"Tsk~ I'll need to have a word with Ash" Thal grumbled as she brought the girls into the house. A/N: I only post on Royal Road and Patreon. Might consider SpaceBattle in the future. If you're reading this anywhere else it means that the work was stolen from Royal Road.