Nick continued to try different ways to improve the ‘Energy Bullet’ spell. The addition of ‘Fe’ (knowledge) and ‘Sound Barrier’ for breaking (imagination) boosted the energy bullet’s power by over 20%. Although the increase in time taken could be counterproductive in some instances, Nick considered the 20% difference a noteworthy increase in his mind.
“The imagination of ‘Sound Wall Breaking’ may be a good addon as well. I will add this knowledge to the algorithm and see how the power changes.” He then changed the formula accordingly.
‘Energy Bullet’
‘Addon’
‘Control the mana’ + ‘Form a bullet from the mana’
‘Imagine the bullet shoot from a weapon.’
‘Imagine the bullet creating a spin before shooting towards the target.’
‘Imagine ‘Sound Barrier’ to break.’
“Knowledge – the energy bullet is filled with particles of ‘Fe’ aka ‘Iron Element.’
“Knowledge – the sound or sonic barrier is the sudden increase in aerodynamics or other undesirable effects that aircraft or other objects experience when they confront the speed of sound. When an aircraft first approaches the speed of sound, these effects are seen as constituting a barrier, making acceleration difficult or even impossible. The term sound barrier is still sometimes used today to refer to aircraft reaching supersonic flight. Flying faster than sound can produce a sonic boom.
In dry air at 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound is 343 meters per second (about 767 mph, 1234 km/h, or 1,125 ft/s).
After Nick filled out the ‘knowledge’ of sound breaking, he whispered.
“Activate.”
As the word fell, the algorithm and formula closed and at the same time, System gave a prompt to Nick.
“User has created a spell ‘Sonic Bullet’. Would user want to list this spell on the system page?”
Nick thought a little bit and accepted System’s proposal.
“List the spell.”
Following the instruction, the spell ‘Sonic Bullet’ almost instantly appeared on Nick’s page. He now wanted to try the power and effect of ‘Sonic Bullet’.
He pointed his finger at the stonewall and thought about the words ‘Sonic Bullet’. Within less than 0.2 seconds, a bullet made of pure magical energy and some iron parts manifested at his fingertip. Nick shot the bullet at the stonewall. A piercing sound resonated in his head and the bullet sped towards its target.
“Boom!”
The bullet hit the stonewall and cracked a 50 cm diameter in the wall. It went through more than three meters before coming to a stop. The energy consumed for using ‘Sonic Bullet’ was negligible and Nick could use this spell within seconds. It was formidable enough to even break through his magic shield spell ‘Blood-Iron Magic Shield’.
The speed of energy bullet was faster than a sniper bullet, but at the same time, the targeting ability was easier as Nick only needed to have the target in view. There was no chance of missing a stationary target. The only exception would be if the target’s speed to dodge was faster than the speed of sound, or a rival of sonic speed itself.
“With this upgraded spell, I have more power in my hands. From here on, I need to create a movement spell.”
Nick inhaled deeply as he sat on his chair and started deliberating. The reason why he wanted to work on a movement speed was painfully obvious — he was slow. Maybe in comparison to ordinary humans, his endurance and speed were topnotch but against a warrior who wielded magical energy, he was still an easy-to-beat opponent, at least in his current magical level.
Nick had learned this the hard way when he was hit by an arrow from a low-level undead creature. The poison at the time, that had made him amputate his own arm, also made him realize the need for healing and cure-type spells. In short, there was much to do to survive the brutality of this world.
As he was still thinking, one of the most regular visitors to his office, Rabial, knocked and came in.
“Epsilon, I need to investigate an event in the Anderium Forest. This is something that involves a necromancer according to our information. Would you help me? One more pair of hands would be advantageous.”
Nick reflected for a bit and answered.
“Yes, of course.”
Nick followed Rabial as the two left his office. The reason why he had accepted Rabial’s proposal was simple — he may have a strong, supernatural ability to create spells and different kinds of things when it came to the matters of using magic. However, the reason why he had lost his arm back in the Anderium Forest was due to his lack of battle experience. Had he been experienced, he would have anticipated attacks from any being with long-range ability as well, not presenting himself as a gullible target.
He wanted to venture into the forest with a trusted, powerful mage and gain experience in magic battles, apart from also seeing a first-hand view of the life of a mage.
After walking for five minutes, Rabial and Nick come to a steel door. Rabial looked at Nick and candidly informed.
“Sorry, you do not have the privilege to see the full glory of the Werfur Anderium City as you are a human. We will instead, use this magical gadget to go aboveground.”
Nick expected this. If he were in their shoes, he too would not allow a human mage with weird, genius power to galivant around the city at will. He could be a spy or worst, and hence caution was wise. The Werfurs gave him protection, a home, and a paying job but for the time being, at least before he finished a project, they would not give him their trust this willingly.
The steel door opened to a compartment of some kind; Rabial entered, and Nick followed.
As the door closed, Nick felt a sense of elevation. This was completely like an elevator on Earth but used magic instead of electricity. At this time, Nick deeply understood that when it came to the extent of magical research and the use of magic, the Werfur Race surpassed humans. While this was his firm thought at the moment, it might not be true as well, because Nick had not seen many mages or mage cities in this world yet.
Creating an elevator using magical energy was not a simple feat for any race that did not see technological progress. It was after all the key reason why Nick’s ‘knowledge’ was important and worked well in this world. True it came from a different universe with different laws, but in the present backdrop, it was to Nick’s advantage.
After about 10 seconds, the elevator halted, and the steel doors opened.
