Casual Heroing

Spells have polarity. They can form their own special electromagnetic field, as you demonstrated.

“Therefore,” I whispered, “we could use polarity to mimic electrons. We get a bundle of them, polarize them massively, run them through a plasma lens, and boom—we have low-cost gamma rays. Although, the energy will depend on the precision of the plasma density.”

Again, not that simple. But that’s the gist of it.

And that’s where we started.

And we had to make some massive adjustments down the road.

As you can imagine, accelerating electrons is not that simple. It’s not just about stacking anti-matrixes and so on. It involves the overall shape of your ‘electromagnetic field.’ And I’m using air quotes because it’s not a proper electromagnetic field as described by physics. Basically, half of this is science, while the other half is pure imagination. And someone is not taking that very well.

This could mean that I had wasted years upon years doing stupid research, whereas I could have been sitting in front of a tree observing the movements of the leaves to become a [Naturomancer] instead. I was so proud of my Omnium Compendium… magic has humbled me once again.

Yeah, Lord Juler feels like he wasted his entire life.

As we try different compositions, embellish the [Light] matrix, repack it inside three other such matrixes, and so on, we finally find a configuration that could work. Now, it’s highly unlikely that it will be anywhere near optimized. Why? Because it’s all guesswork at this point. But that’s the beauty of magic. It’s not an exact science. I mean, few branches of science, apart from maths, are actually exact science. But magic reminds me of what Socrates said. Both Juler and I now know nothing. And we are good with that. But we get some hints here and there.

After realizing all this stuff, I can feel it on my skin that I’ll be leveling as soon as I rest. But, as you know, there is no rest for the wicked. Plus, I don’t really want to rest. Why? Well, because we are changing history here, that’s why.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I know how strong this new thing is. Maybe even too strong. It’s so incredible that it’s like playing a video game in real life. Even if you were a good person, wouldn’t you kill someone every now and then just to have fun, just because you can?

Whatever.

So, we took that, put it through a scrambled-egg, life-ending, plasma-popping matrix, and…

I had arranged a sheet of [Light] and aimed the gamma rays at it. It disintegrated. The sheet was carefully manipulated to be in a semi-existence state, half-matrix, half-real stuff. And it basically just exploded.

I am too old for this new era.

After that short comment, both Lord Juler and I stayed silent for a while.

We had to use a materialized sheet of ‘heavy’ [Light] to deviate the ray. This basically allows us to use the Bremsstrahlung radiation to create gamma rays. That’s when your particles hit something very fast, and the impact makes the gamma rays.

Listen, it took so much time to sketch out the overall process in its basic form that I have no idea what time it is. But this is it. We have to improve, build the guide, and so on, sure. But this is it. By the way, this was the radiation that was supposed to make the [Light] ripple and not explode.

With the recent discoveries, making a ‘guide’ for the technique would be quite easy. The same principles could be used to make an effective MRI clone. This is…

Insane. An era changed by a [Light Mage]. Like the legends say.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that to happen, to be honest. One day, Lord Juler. It only took one day. I mean, not that I’m complaining, but it feels…”

Anticlimactic.

“Yep, baby. Very much so.”

One day to uncover one of the darkest techniques of magic. If used incorrectly, it could slaughter entire cities without them even knowing. I could just randomly plant tumors inside people’s bodies in a strategic location. I could make brain vessels hemorrhage with a delay of weeks. This is the perfect assassination tool because it would be nearly untraceable. Plus, considering that no one knows about it yet, it would be impossible to pin me down as a suspect.

“I really need a ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ speech here, Lord Juler.”

I had already explained the concept to the man who, sadly, always took me very literally.

With great powers, Joey Luciani, comes destruction. Not responsibility. How you aim such destruction can make you a [Hero] or a [Calamity]. Mauser, the most disgraced [Hero] of the Vanedenis, was an incredibly gifted man. He brought necromancy to great heights. However, he felt that his way was the right one. Even while committing atrocities. Whatever you do, it doesn’t matter if you think it’s right or wrong; it will only matter what people think of it. Huge massacres could benefit the world, and inaction could ruin it.

To better express myself, child, whether you like it or not, you will affect people’s lives. That’s certain. You just uncovered magic that was either long lost or never existed. Right now, you are still very green, and you will attract malicious bastards from all over the world. Your flame – as I have already witnessed in many others – could be snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Or you could lose yourself. So many things can happen. What you need, however, is to keep the same attitude you have had until now. Help wherever you can. But also know that you can kill now.

And killing is a responsibility.

Whom you kill will decide whether or not you are on the right side of history.

“Joey Luciani?”

I hear the same humanoid voice that had previously come to tell me to rest.

“Yes?” I venture, still dazed by Lord Juler’s words.

“It’s time. I’ve come to fetch you to bring you to the arena.”

Huh.

Right.

The duels.