Chương 457: B7—Chapter 37: Fusion Point

Bolstered by my success with fire, I jumped back into practice after only a few hours of sleep. The next affinity on my list was Wind. It ranked just below Water and Fire in strength and was usually one of the easier ones to handle. Flying was second nature by now, but it still required one mind split. One part of my mind stayed connected to the wind, keeping me aloft, while another guided the direction and speed.

Now, I had to add a third split to maintain warmth and a fourth to control and strengthen the connection to Wind through my channels. It sounded simple enough in theory. In practice, as always with magic, some surprises were in store for me. The first surprise came the moment I took off. My wind channels were already part of the process, their lines glowing faintly in my inner sight as mana flowed through them in time with the air currents.

The sensation was smooth and natural, as if my body and the wind were breathing together. I knew that already from my practice with Storm Breath in Zindor, and it made sense. Flying had become almost effortless by now, more instinct than technique. I barely had to think about the lift anymore. Only the steering still needed my attention, and that felt more like adjusting a thought than giving a command. The second thing I checked was trickier.

When I used wind instinctively, without hesitation or conscious thought—like when flying—the channels came online on their own. But when I tried to ask the wind for help or tugged at the connection, nothing happened. The channels stayed still, as if the act of requesting separated me from the element instead of linking me to it. It happened again and again. When I created twisters or tried to blow away branches and debris. When I did it on instinct without thinking, my channels engaged.

When I did it by tugging on my connection to the Wind instead of letting the mana flow naturally, it worked, but it was clumsy, like trying to move a limb that had fallen asleep. Just to be safe, I kept the twisters small. The squirrels had been jerks for throwing acorns at me, but I still didn't want to suck them into vortexes and throw them Spirits know where. Still, once the pattern became clear, fixing it was mostly a matter of patience.

At first, I had to stop before each action and consciously push mana through the wind channels, testing how it felt when they engaged. The difference was obvious. When the channels stayed dormant, the air barely stirred. When I got them active, everything reacted faster and more smoothly, almost as if the wind were anticipating me. I repeated the process again and again, adjusting the timing, feeling out the rhythm until the activation became easier. Soon, I no longer needed to pause.

I could engage the channels while shaping a gust or forming a small current, and the response came instantly. The mana pulsed in time with my thoughts, flowing outward the moment I intended to use it. Within an hour, my wind channels joined in almost automatically with every use of the affinity. I still had to focus a little, intentionally syncing the movement through the channels before each attempt, but it was coming together.

Water and flight already worked on autopilot, flowing without effort or conscious thought, and I knew Wind and Fire would soon follow. Good thing too. Even with all my progress, I didn't have enough mind splits to dedicate one to each element forever. Yeah, need to practice more splits. When I checked, I wasn't surprised to find that Wind now also showed [Master]. When I practiced in Zindor, it hadn't progressed despite the channels being engaged, but now it did.

After some thought, I concluded it was because the connection back then wasn't guided by me or based on understanding. Now it was. It was the only explanation that made sense. And if I was wrong, it didn't matter. What mattered was the [Master] tag and the feeling of achievement. But, alas, not all surprises were pleasant ones. Lightning was still stuck at [Medior]. I fired a few bolts to see if my channels would engage in the process, and they did.

Whether it was regular lightning or the red variant, my channels activated on autopilot. The difference was clear, though: red lightning drew more mana through the fire channels that connected to the lightning mesh, while regular lightning used more of the wind ones. I stared at my Personal Information, completely at a loss. If my channels were already part of the action, why was Lightning still marked [Medior] instead of [Master]?

Wasn't [Master] supposed to indicate that I had learned to engage the channels, not just the elemental connection itself? I even looked up at the sky and asked, "What am I missing?" Of course, there was no answer, and I didn't even know where to start looking for one. I had read plenty of wizard books by now. Between my studies for the original ritual with Rue, the two years with Lis in London, and the occasional reading during my travels whenever I felt strong enough to tackle another one.

Altogether, I'd gone through more than fifty books, some of them focused specifically on affinities. Yet not a single one mentioned anything about engaging affinity channels as part of the process. So finding an explanation for why the level hadn't risen, even after mastering that part, didn't seem likely. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I hovered in the air above the mountain, keeping myself warm with the Fire element and thinking about the new conundrum.

It felt great to have most of my affinities at [Master] finally, but Lightning still sat there at [Medior] like a personal insult. I replayed what I had just tested. When I shot regular lightning, most of the mana went down the Wind channels. When I shot red lightning, most of it went down the Fire channels instead. In both cases, the channels engaged on their own, and they did it cleanly. That part was fine. My body handled it without strain. So why was Lightning still not [Master]?

I floated there and thought it through. Warmth from Fire, lift from Wind. Both were running at the same time. No problem. I could keep myself in the air and comfortable. My mind was split, holding both flows steady, and neither fought the other. That told me the affinities themselves weren't the problem. Lightning, though, was different. When I used it, I was not pulling both elements together. I was choosing. Regular lightning used Wind and barely touched Fire. Red lightning used Fire and barely touched Wind.

Lightning was acting like two separate tricks rather than a single combined ability. Maybe that was it. Maybe Lightning only counted as [Master] if I could make it use both at once, the way I was doing right now, keeping myself aloft and warm at the same time. Equal pull, not one leading and the other tagging along. I took a slow breath and tried to picture the process. Wind channels for motion. Fire channels for heat. The lightning mesh sitting between them, waiting.

Until now, I had let either Wind feed it or Fire feed it, depending on which version I cast. I had never actually tried to push both in together on purpose. Well, I actually didn't even know that I was engaging those channels and how, but that was besides the point. The important part was the duality of use, rather than a single one. I split my mind one more time, and piece by piece, started shaping the flow in my head. I brought mana through the Wind channels and held it.

I brought mana through the Fire channels and held that too. I didn't release anything yet. Just kept both streams active simultaneously, side by side, building pressure in the Lightning channel mesh without letting it discharge. It felt unstable, almost buzzy. My skin prickled, and the tiny hairs on my arms stood up. The air around me began to taste sharp and metallic, like it was full of ozone. I could hear a faint crackle in the silence. That was new. I focused harder, keeping the amounts even.

Not more Fire just because Fire liked to surge. Not more Wind just because Wind liked to run ahead. Match them. Keep them level. Force them to meet in the middle before release.

"Okay," I said.

"This has to be it. Work together or stay Medior." I held that balance, right at the edge of discharge, and aimed. The air thickened around me, buzzing with tension. When I released it, the bolt that shot out was thicker than usual, bright and wild, branching into dozens of smaller streaks as it tore through the air. It wasn't the familiar white of regular lightning or the deep red of the fire-infused one. This time, it glowed a sharp, electric blue. The moment it struck the side of the mountain, the world erupted.

Dirt, stones, and splintered pieces of trees blasted upward, scattering in every direction. The boom echoed off the cliffs, rolling like thunder through the valley below. I quickly reached out with Wind, catching the flying debris before it could rain back down. Pebbles, chunks of bark, and clumps of soil hung weightless for a moment before I guided them gently to the ground. The last thing I needed was to crush one of the squirrels still lingering nearby, watching me with morbid curiosity.

Their chittering rose to a chaotic chorus the moment the blue lightning struck, a mix of alarm and outrage. As soon as the echoes faded, they bolted. The whole furry audience scattered through the trees, fleeing in every direction with angry squeaks and indignant tail flicks. The forest fell silent again, and I couldn't help but grin. They were absolutely hilarious. And cute. That one had been a bit too strong, but it was good to know I had that kind of power in my arsenal.

There had been a few times when my regular Lightning hadn't been enough—like with that jerk we got the first flying sword from—and this might come in handy next time. The thought gave me an idea. I raised a hand, gathered mana, and released another bolt. This time, I switched it mid-channel to red, then back to white, and then, feeling bold, poured in a little more power and shifted it to blue. The sudden surge hit me hard. My vision dimmed at the edges, and a wave of dizziness rolled through me.

Mana: 270 / 14, 000 Wow. The flight and heat had drained some mana, but not much. Lightning had always been expensive, especially the red kind, yet the blue version took it to a whole new level. My mana bar looked like it had been mugged.

"Expensive son of a bitch, aren't you?" I muttered at the fading sparks in the air. Not that it could answer, but it felt good to say it anyway. The thing had earned the scolding. Powerful, yes. Useful, definitely. But with a price tag like that, it was a weapon for emergencies only. Two bolts had eaten through more than eleven thousand mana. That was the kind of spell you used when you either wanted to end the fight instantly or die dramatically trying. But at least I was right.

Lightning had finally earned the [Master] tag. Annoyed at the price or not, it definitely deserved a victory twirl. I spun in the air a few times, added a couple of loops just because I could, and threw in some fist pumps for good measure. It wasn't the first time a small idea had opened the door to major progress. Malith's magic circle had done the same, leading to the breakthroughs with my looting spells. But this one felt different. Bigger.

Like I'd just stepped onto a whole new level of control rather than just discovering a slight improvement. Yeah, magic practice was awesome.