New Attribute Learned: [Minor Law of Fire]
Concentrating, he let a tiny spark ignite between his palms. The small flame danced, crackling softly, alive with energy and intent. He tilted his hands, and the spark leapt upward, evaporating into a wisp of smoke that smelled faintly of burnt oil.
A grin tugged at his lips. The sparks were weak now, but they were his to command. Carefully, he experimented, creating tiny arcs of fire that hissed and danced over his fingers, feeling the mana flow with every pulse.
Satisfied, he shifted his focus. The real work waited: dogs. More experiments. The pickup rumbled as he navigated around the main building where the robots did most of their work. His eyes scanned for the familiar shapes of the demonic beasts.
Outside, the compound was eerily quiet. The robots had already done their grim work; the carcasses of dogs lay scattered near the main building, broken forms on the gravel. David drove closer. It wasn’t pleasant work, but it was necessary.
He moved quickly, gathering the crystalline cores from the fallen creatures. Each one pulsed faintly; with his magical abilities developing, he almost felt them through the monsters’ bodies.
Back at the main building, he laid everything out on the workbench—tools lined up like surgical instruments, the humidifier humming quietly in the corner. One by one, he crushed the cores, their crystalline structures snapping like brittle ice. The powder glittered faintly under the fluorescent lights. He tipped it into water, stirred until the liquid shimmered with a faint glow, then funneled it into the humidifier’s tank.
A mist began to spread through the room, carrying with it the condensed essence of the shattered cores. David sat cross-legged on the cold floor, breathing deeply, letting the energy seep into him. His body drank it in, mana threading through his veins until he felt full. There was still a lot of the “charged water” left, but he felt the mana in the air was quickly evaporating; it was worth leaving it in liquid form for the next recharge.
David stepped out into the parking lot beside the main building, feeling the weight of the afternoon sun on his shoulders. The pickup truck he had commandeered stood idle. He leaned against the hood for a moment, closing his eyes and letting the hum of the world settle around him. A slow grin crept over his face.
"Alright, let's see what you can really do," he muttered to himself. Sparks danced along his fingertips, small threads of energy that hummed and popped, their blue-white glow reflected in his eyes. He focused, drawing the electricity out, shaping it, testing the boundaries. With a sudden surge, the sparks shot forward in miniature bolts, skittering across the pavement like tiny lightning storms.
He laughed aloud, exhilaration lifting his chest. “So that’s it, huh? This is probably how the damn system wanted me to grow.” He shook his head, half amused, half irritated. “Would’ve been nice if it came with a tutorial, though.”
After an hour of rigorous practice and a recharge with the humidifier filled with crystal-infused water, he felt the surge. The air itself seemed to hum in recognition.
New Attribute Learned: [Major Law of Electricity]
The bolts became faster, more precise, and, it seemed to him, more cost-efficient.
A pair of demonic dogs skulked near the building. David’s fingers twitched, lightning arcing from his fingertips in brilliant streaks. The beasts were obliterated before they could bark or leap, their scorched remains smoking faintly in the evening air.
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He walked to the corridor leading to his computer and reactivated the guard robots in the sector near the parking lot where he had trained; he had powered them down earlier to test his powers. Yet the numbers gnawed at him: four crystals converted to mana to launch one lightning bolt.
“The math isn’t on my side,” he muttered, pacing between rows of machines. His fingers tingled with residual energy, a reminder of power too precious to waste. “But maybe… maybe my reserves will grow. Maybe mana will regenerate on its own eventually.”
David walked with his eyes narrowed, deep in thought about his mana reserves and the panther's strange third eye. If he could refine it properly, maybe he could extract enough mana to fuel more than a single lightning bolt. He decided to make a quick trip to the city to bring some supplies back to the headquarters while waiting for the panther, then moved to the edge of the dome to watch for its emergence.
He waited, watching the horizon, the air shimmering with heat. Finally, a familiar shadow slinked from the edge of the dome. The panther emerged, its skinless body glistening, the third eye pulsating with strange light.
With a deep breath, David summoned two lightning bolts. The first smashed against the panther’s protective shield, splintering the pulsating barrier with a crackle and flash. The second surged forward, aimed at the monster’s head. It struck, and it looked like it hurt, but the panther was still alive. David gritted his teeth, pulling out his pistol and firing a shot to finish it off.
He clicked his tongue in frustration. He couldn’t kill it even without holding back, using his entire mana reservoir.
“Dammit,” he muttered, dragging the panther’s body to the car.
Back at the building, he experimented relentlessly, trying to crush, slice, heat, and dissolve the core in various ways—nothing worked. He wandered through the office, frustration mounting with each failure. Then, in the marketing department, he stumbled upon a hydraulic press. David froze. It was completely unexpected. For a fleeting second, he remembered a viral ad their company had made, something about a press used to crush knives. How it was related to their business, he had no idea.
He dragged the press back to the workbench, carefully placing the panther’s eye beneath it. With meticulous precision, he crushed the eye, watching it fracture and yield its energy. He dissolved the fragments into water, filling the humidifier once more. A deep exhalation followed as the machine whirred to life, spreading a fine mist of crystal-charged vapor through the room.
David closed his eyes, letting the mana seep into him. He estimated the charge—enough for three lightning bolts, roughly 1.5 times the volume of his usual mana pool.
A smirk tugged at his lips. "Finally… progress."
He returned back to his office after a quick lunch. The soft glow from the monitors illuminated the room. Lightning and fire had served him well, but a gnawing thought clawed at his mind: were these the most efficient ways to kill the creatures lurking in the dome?
He mentally called for his status screen:
Name: David
Level: 7
Magical core: F-
Abilities:
- Sleep Resistance (Lv. 8)
- Rage (Lv. 1)
- Mana Perception (Lv. 6)
Attributes:
- [Major Law of Electricity]
- [Minor Law of Fire]
Staring at the list, he couldn’t help but frown. Lightning was fast, fire destructive—but only so much. Was this really the best way to kill the monsters?
He leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes tracing the scattered crystal shards and discharged cores around him.
"Maybe I’ve been too narrow-minded," he muttered aloud. "Electricity is fast and I still need to power up fire Major Law to see its potential—but there has to be more. More laws to exploit. I can only cast two lightning bolts… there must be some magic that’s more efficient."
He stood up, letting his gaze sweep across the office. Now, where should I start?