Chapter 31: Lightning Simulacrum |
He placed his palm on the lightning symbol until it flashed yellow. The cutout in the wall gained an opaque barrier over it, and he waited patiently for what was to come next.
I have to give the guild credit here. They might be stingy about the allowance, but the fact that they freely give out simulacra is a near-miracle. A Senior Master—someone only below the Guildmaster and the Elders—must make these. The true value of these must be several gold at the minimum.
Cal could hear the faint sound of crackling electricity getting closer. The simulacrum was being transported to the room by means he had yet to figure out. As was common when this was the case, it was more his disinterest and neglect in his first life that caused the gap in knowledge.
He heard the crackling electricity become louder before the opaque barrier disappeared. It revealed a small, jagged, crystalline shard that pulsed with energy. It had a bright, vibrant yellow color with flashes of light flickering along the edges in the form of small bolts.
This was the lightning simulacrum.
There’s a possibility that the guild might be keeping an eye on the room… especially since I’m here. Time to act recklessly.
Cal only had the confidence to do this since he knew how high his affinity was with the lightning element. That, and he had the experience of going through the process before.
He pulled mana out of his mana core and formed an unbroken stream from his right hand to the core. Just because he wanted to act recklessly didn’t mean he would grab the lightning simulacrum without preparation.
Cal waited till he could feel mana pulsing just under the skin of his fingers before reaching for the simulacrum. He was sure anyone observing would be shaking their head in disappointment.
The sharp crackle of electricity increased dramatically before a thunderous noise shook the small room. Cal grunted in pain. A lighting surge flowed through the ideal connection he had created to his mana core in preparation for absorbing the lightning simulacrum.
This was not supposed to happen.
Smoke rose from Cal’s exposed skin as he frantically struggled to pull his hand away from the malfunctioning simulacrum. He hadn’t taken damage yet, but he could feel the mana protecting his body rapidly getting eliminated by the lightning invading his body.
What happened to my lightning affinity!?
He sensed that there were precious few seconds for him to stop a catastrophic injury from occurring. It wasn’t the damage to his body that concerned him. It was his mana core that he was panicking about.
The invading lightning was surging toward it with an intent to destroy.
Cal gave up on trying to separate himself from the simulacrum and threw himself head-first into a dangerous, last-ditch effort to save himself. This was his plan before everything went to hell—when he thought he had a decent lightning affinity—but he would have to take the risk despite having little control.
He gritted his teeth before letting the invading lightning through. He would try to absorb it and hope his mana core didn’t implode in the process.
Cal let out a low groan as he tried to keep the pain from overtaking his senses. He could feel his mana core getting battered. It was like a million needles were repeatedly piercing his body—needles dipped in molten metal to exacerbate the pain.
He forced himself to shut out the pain—unsuccessfully—and timed the next strike on his mana core. He softened the barrier around the mana core and used everything in him to drag the rampaging lightning into the core.
It could be a fatal mistake, but if he allowed this to continue, it would end in the same way, just slower and more painfully.
Cal forcefully began merging the lightning with his mana core, a brute force method of absorbing a simulacrum that was never recommended. Still, it wasn’t like he had a choice.
I have become utterly incompatible with the lightning element.
The process was painfully slow, at least relative to the ease he had been expecting. It was made all that much worse by the constant pain shooting through his body.
Cal was fighting a losing battle—it was all too familiar to how he got killed the first time.
NO! I won’t allow that to happen. Not again, and especially not to a simulacrum of all things.
He used the move of absolute last resort. It was similar to detonating his mana core—again, something he had experienced before his first life ended—but a more controlled version of it.
Instead of self-exploding with the goal of taking anything in his immediate surroundings along with him to death, the mana core released all the mana contained inside in an instant, momentarily overwhelming the lightning trying to destroy it.
It was just enough for Cal to finally make progress.
The mana core pulsed when the weakened lightning fought against being contained inside. It looked for a moment that his last gambit would fail. Then it stopped.
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Cal had exhausted himself of mana, but his mana core returned to normalcy. Somewhat.
… I really thought this would be the end.
He felt the lightning simulacrum crumble into ashes under his fingers, finally freeing him from the frozen position. He quickly put his hands on the wall to support himself.
I have felt mana exhaustion before, but not to the point where I can barely stand.
Cal took deep breaths and tried to recover some energy. He could still feel phantom shocks across his body.
I hear someone approaching.
He winced as he forced himself to stand steadily without any support. He put on a confused expression as he stared at the ashes in the cutout for the lighting simulacrum.
It could be the girl checking out the commotion, or someone from the guild making sure I haven’t lost my senses.
Cal heard the door open.
“Er, good to see you're fine… mostly,” a young voice revealed it was the girl checking on him. “Do you need any help?”
He turned to her and saw she was staring at his exposed forearms—which had been smoking copiously a moment ago.
“No,” Cal glanced at his forearms quickly. They were still smoking. “Just an element incompatibility. Nothing to be concerned about.”
The girl stared at him doubtfully. “If this is what you look like after a few seconds of trying the lightning simulacrum, maybe it would be wise to wait for a friend before you try the water simulacrum.”
That was a few seconds!?
Cal thought little of the time that lapsed while he fought desperately. But it felt like minutes had passed at the minimum.
“I’ll think about it,” he replied noncommittally.
“… Alright,” the girl sighed like an exasperated parent before closing the door.
Cal listened to her footsteps getting further from the room until he was comfortable letting go of the facade. He hissed in pain and fell toward the wall, catching himself in time to stop his face from meeting it before sliding down to sit on the floor.
How did I suddenly lose my lightning affinity? It was never the best, but neither was it so bad the lightning simulacrum would be affronted enough to attack me.
He flexed his stiff fingers and shook his head in disbelief.
The entire point of using a simulacrum instead of trying your luck with the natural element was the sharply reduced level of danger. I might as well have attracted a true lightning storm instead of what just happened.
Cal tested his mana core, carefully drawing out the minuscule mana that had recovered, not wanting to exacerbate any issues that might be lingering after the recent stressor event.
That was a mistake.
Cal bit back his groan of pain when lightning sparked across his skin. It disappeared when he left his mana core alone. The lightning hadn’t been fully absorbed.
Alright, then. I’ll just sit here and wait.
He glanced at the door, fully expecting the girl to reappear when he hadn’t finished in the next few minutes. It would have been ideal if he could just take the water simulacrum back to the Northern Wastes and proceed on his own time, but the way a simulacrum worked made that impossible.
The moment one was exposed to the environment, there was a very limited time it would remain functional. At the thirty-minute mark, it would be considered a waste product.
However, the decay would start within five minutes of the simulacrum’s exposure. The best time to use it was within seconds of exposure.
Lamenting a well-known fact won’t change that I must stay here until I can attempt to absorb the water simulacrum. Even if this causes me to stay—
The interface abruptly came to life.
Lightning Simulacrum absorbed.
You can now access the lightning element.
Your affinity is…
…
…
No lightning affinity detected.
You are restricted to lightning spells that require no affinity.
Simulacrum absorption has activated an ability of [Farmer (Special)].
Trait choices available. Choose one.
[Lightning Aura] - You are surrounded by an aura of lightning that matches the strength of your [Tier] level. It is possible to manipulate the aura within five feet of your body. Limit 1 use per day. Duration of the trait is 30 minutes.
[Lightning Rod] - You are able to draw in ambient electrical energy to temporarily boost your physical attributes. The higher your [Tier], the more energy you can absorb safely. Limit 1 use per day. Duration of the trait is 4 hours.
[Volt Surge] - You can boost your affinity to lighting. The level of boost depends on your [Tier] level. Limit 1 use per day. Duration of the trait is 1 hour.
Cal could feel his mana core finally settle—which was fantastic—but he was more interested in the traits offered.
He hadn’t been surprised that he had no lightning affinity. It was all too obvious with how he had nearly had his mana core destroyed by trying to absorb the lightning simulacrum.
It didn’t matter if he was reckless with how he started the attempt. That should have never happened unless his body actively rejected lightning—something he hadn’t even considered possible.
As for the prospect of using lightning spells, that was out of the question.
All elemental spells require some affinity, which means there are no lightning spells I can use. This makes the traits offered even more surprising. It might even be better than the rewards offered when I became a [Neophyte].
Cal’s eyes were constantly drawn to [Volt Surge]. Increasing an elemental affinity wasn’t unheard of, but it required constant use and diligent practice for even a minute increase.
That wasn’t possible naturally since he had no affinity, but [Volt Surge] would eventually let him regain that. However, it would be a slow, drawn-out process since the trait’s duration was only one hour per day.
It could take nearly a year before his natural affinity increased. And even more until it increased to a point where it was actually helpful in enabling access to more powerful spells.
It would be better to take the trait’s description on its face. As long as my [Tier] is high enough—and it’s increasing rapidly—I will have an affinity that will make it easy to use any lightning spell for one hour daily.
[Lightning Rod] was the least appealing trait for Cal. Increasing physical attributes wasn’t his priority, though it was undoubtedly useful. However, where was he supposed to find ambient electrical energy?
I would have to depend on the rare storms in the Celestial Order’s territory. There is no point in choosing a trait I can use only a few times a year.
That left Cal with [Lightning Aura] to consider. It seemed weak and severely lacking compared to [Volt Surge]. However, he kept thinking about the reason for the short duration.
Surely, the trait with the shortest duration must be the most potent. Still, I can’t see how an aura can be better than a temporary increase of my lightning affinity… unless the manipulation of the aura is more extensive than I think it is.
Cal wasn’t in a rush to choose a trait, but the next few minutes of contemplation led him to a choice he was increasingly sure of.
He slowly reached out with his finger to select his choice, but his thoughts had already jumped to the future.
The absorption of the water simulacrum should give me another trait choice… I really, really hope I have a natural affinity with water.
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