Instead of visualizing the Energy Bolt, Nick thought about taking a different approach. After a minute or two, he closed his eyes and began thinking.
From what he could gather, Energy Bolt was a spell that shot out spheres of magical energy towards the target. Basically, it was shooting magic in the form of a bolt or sphere it changes according to the wishes of mage if the power individual is enough.
To do that, a mage had to use their magical energy to form a sphere and shoot it out. First, use mana to form a solid of magical energy and then shoot it out using mana too. Simple enough.
If one didn’t use mana to shoot it out, how could they expect a strong blast? After all, just the magical energy sphere wouldn’t be nearly as destructive. It sounded like a magic but Nick believes there is a clear connection between how magic works and how technological gadgets work.
Working on this theory, he imagined himself holding a gun. From this gun, he shot out bullets, and these bullets were Energy Bolts.
So, in Nick’s psyche, there was a perfectly working gun right now. A gun made of mana shooting Energy Bolts propelled by mana equivalent of gunpowder. Nick knows that he could not create something from the magical energy with his level but he can still imagine and imitate the effect of the desired material.
After about ten minutes, he sensed something.
Before checking his status, he first opened his eyes and began sensing the mana flow inside his body.
“Guess it’s time to conduct some experiments. Experiment 1: Magic Control.”
As Nick whispered to himself, he tried to control the mana flowing inside his body. He tried to manipulate the shape and flow of mana. Ten minutes later, his efforts paid off. He managed to control mana to some extent. He was not familiar with it but he believes that considering that he has no formal education in controlling magic he is still good.
Nick could see mana covering his hand. It was white, like gas or air, and seemed powerless.
Nick did not stop there. He tried to control the mana that was floating on his hand, but he failed. He needed more meditation and knowledge to control mana at will. At the same time he believes that he needed more practice and familiarity with magic to control it better.
After he ended the experiment, he looked at his status.
[Name]: Nick
[Status]: Level 1 (Imper Level Mage)
[Strength]: 1.0
[Intelligence]: 1.6
[Magical Abilities]
Life Siphon (Proficiency: 10%)
Energy Bolt (Proficiency: 50%)
Nick smiled after he saw the results. Soon, he heard footsteps approaching his room and saw a man enter his room. Nick did not expect to see this man so soon. At the first he thought a mage guard came to his room or Elena came to his room for a purpose different than conducting experiment
The newcomer was none other than Marvian, the guy who Nick he didn’t approve of slavery. After Marvian entered the room, he showed a thoughtful look and started talking.
“There are different kinds of mages. Namely; Dark Mages, who symbolize the bad; Light Mages, who symbolize the good; and lastly, Neutral Mages. These mages are also responsible for shaping the country or empire they live in. Because of the power and authority they have ordinary empires and countries have no chance to interfere or stop the mages, Long story short the fate of an empire in the hands of the mages”
Nick looked at Marvian and said nothing. He didn’t know Marvin’s intentions. What did he want? Did he suspected himself ?
Whatever the reason was, one thing was clear to Nick: he could, under no circumstances, trust a human mage of this world. At the same time, he couldn’t show his displeasure to Marvian as he was weak. The reason for his distrust came from his old world experience which he means earth and second reason for distrust again he has no power to protect himself or say anything or oppose something for the time being.
Marvian understood Nick’s worries, so he gave him a gentle smile. It was easy to see that Nick did not wanted to talk himself.
“I want you to understand a few things. This Blue Tear Empire we live in was shaped by Neutral Mages.
“This means that the authority here doesn’t care if you are evil or good. So, mages here have nothing to fear even if they did something somewhat evil.
“So, as long as they do the acceptable stuff like keeping slaves or experimenting on them, no one will stop them. You have to understand that I’m a Light Mage.
“Well, at least I try to be a Light Mage. Anyway, I’m a Light Mage, but I’m a powerless mage. I have no power to stop stuff like slavery on my own.”
After Marvian was done with his speech, he turned his back to Nick and left the room after dropping one last statement.
“Remember me, I’m Marvian Armster! Believe me, in the future, we’ll meet again in a different place but on the same standing.”
After Marvian left, Nick started thinking about what Marvian just said.
The knowledge Marvian casually gave out was important to him as he wanted to understand this world.
“It seems there are Dark Mages, who will use every means to get power and strength. Light Mages, who will try to do good and stop Dark Mages from abusing their power.
“These two sides are easy to understand, Black and White. The true mystery is the Neutral Mages.
“Compared to Dark Mages who are dark and Light Mages who are Light, they can only be classified as being grey. They can flip on any side, evilest of the bunch or kindest of the bunch. They are seemingly the most dangerous of them all.”
Nick also carefully thought about how Marivan described himself. He said that he was someone trying to be a Light Mage.
From this, Nick could conclude that the rate of improvement differed between Light and Dark Mages.
It was an elementary conclusion. Compared to Dark Mages, who didn’t shy away from torture, human experiments, and human sacrifices to gain power, Light Mages had to remain pure. Of course, their rate of improvement would be lower.
Nick took a deep breath and whispered to himself.
“If things are like this, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more Dark Mages than Light Mages. Humans are dishonest and selfish creatures, especially when their own interests are on the line. Once a human tastes the drug called power, nothing can stop them from going to extreme lengths to get more of the same drug.
“If humans are allowed to do as they pleased without any repercussions, they will do stuff that will make even the devil frown.”
Nick sat on his bed and rested for a while.
All that meditation and visualization had tired him out. At the same time, he had to soon clean the courtyard,
Despite being tired, he wanted to examine the magical remains before sleeping. However, his aching body and heavy head begged to differ.
All that hard work was bound to wear him out. If he wanted to do this for a long time, he had to rest and then experiment.
“I need to grow strong quickly. I don’t know if the next experiment Elena will perform on me will kill me or not.”
