LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 161: Chaotic Pulse (2)
Kyle sat cross-legged on the bed with the spell book spread before him. The room was silent and he was ready to begin learning the first spell.
[Do you want to learn the Tier-1 spell: Lightning Bolt]
[Cost: 10 Skill Points]
[Yes] [No]
Kyle didn't waste time to select the second option the moment the notification lit up on his screen. Even though he had enough skill points to learn it at a tap, he already had plans on how he'll spend it.
Kyle let his fingers trace the text and diagrams of the spell as he began reading.
"So, I need to draw in chaos energy, but not control it directly?" Kyle made out from what he read. "I have to pull it into myself without taming it, then release it like a pulse."
Every other spell Kyle had learned required careful control of mana and molding it with his will. But this spell required him to let the energy remain chaotic.
He turned his gaze to the final diagram, a representation of the spell after it was released: it showed a swirling circle surrounded by ripples expanding outward, like stones disturbing still water. That illustration made something click in Kyle's mind.
"The energy isn't supposed to be clean or smooth—it's supposed to spread wildly, like a shockwave," Kyle murmured thoughtfully. "Not like a straight blast. Okay, I think I get it."
With that, he sat up straighter and rested his hands on his knees, closing his eyes. He called forth his mana, feeling the familiar warmth rising from his core. It flowed easily, responding to his will, but this time he hesitated.
"I can't use my usual method," he whispered to himself. "No clean pathways. No shaping."
He reached deeper, past the surface of his mana core and began trying to draw out his chaos mana as instructed by the book. It didn't happen immediately though as countless minutes passed with Kyle trying to draw out the mana with the right intensity.
Many more minutes passed as Kyle experienced failure after failure, his body was already drenched in sweat due to the effort he was putting into drawing his mana and Kyle's efforts finally paid off when he felt it.
He recalled the book's description of the pulse—a wave, expanding outward without form or structure. Kyle concentrated, picturing the diagram clearly in his mind.
With a sharp exhale, Kyle released the chaos energy.
A faint invisible tremor passed through the room causing an almost invisible shockwave to burst outward from his body. It didn't do anything to the surrounding but Void could feel its effect.
He was in the process of drawing in mana as he cultivated, but the moment the wave passed through the room, the mana had scattered that instant and had caused it to dissipate into the air once more.
"What the hell?" Void couldn't help but scream in anger as it wasn't pleasant for one's cultivation to be interrupted in such manner, as it could easily lead to a backlash.
He glanced toward Kyle to find him sitting on the bed with his eyes opened, reading something displayed on his status screen.
Void's eyes gleamed with excitement at that moment and immediately used [Lightning Dash] to zip toward the bed so as to confirm whether his thoughts on what it is was correct.
[Congratulations! You have learned Tier-1 spell: Chaotic Pulse]
——————
[Chaotic Pulse (Lv 1)]
[Releases a wave of invisible chaotic energy within a 5-meter radius. All spellcasting and mana channeling within the radius are disrupted, increasing the time required for spells to be cast and raising their difficulty.]
[Cost: 10 MP per second]
———————
The smile on Kyle's face grew brighter as he read the the notification.
"This is amazing!"
"This is amazing!"
Kyle and Void said at almost the same time, both having the same thoughts towards the new spell. The two stared at each other for a brief second before breaking into laughter.
"Good job," Void broke congratulated Kyle. "You learning that spell means I get it too."
Kyle remembered Void's skill, [Clean Slate] that ensured that they shared skills among themselves. It now made sense to him why Void was so happy too.
"I can't wait to try it out!" Void said, his tail wagging like an excited smile.
"Yeah, feel free to do so," Kyle said. "Meanwhile, I'll try learning the second Tier-2 spell. I'll join you later, buddy."
Void turned to dash out of the room but stopped in his tracks. "You keep at it, boss. I'll master this one before you even figure out the next spell."
Before Kyle could respond, Void used [Lightning Dash], leaving behind a crackling streak as he zipped toward the door with the purpose of visiting the training area down stairs, but before he could leave the door he remembered an incident that happened moments.
'On a second thought, I'll stay back and cultivate some more,' Void declared inwardly with a mischievous smile.
***
Kyle had returned his attention to the spellbook. His mind was currently churning at different ways to use the new spell to its best ability but he had to suspend those thoughts.
Even though he felt like joining Void in the training area and testing out the strengths and the limits of the spell, Kyle knew that he could still learn another spell so it wouldn't make sense if he didn't.
"Focus," he muttered to himself, brushing aside the temptation. "I'll rather test out two new spells when I'm done."
He flipped the page, and as he had guessed, it actually turned this time. Last time, it had refused to turn no matter how hard he had tried but it it had easily flipped over this time, betraying the previous time.
Kyle flipped to the end of the opener spell and tried going to the next but once again, it refused to budge.
"Probably because I learned the first spell," Kyle said, nodding in understanding. The system must have some mechanism for unlocking spells only after mastering the previous ones. Shrugging, he decided not to dwell on it and focused on the new spell description before him.
[Do you want to learn the Tier-1 spell: Chaos Whirlpool?]
[Cost: 10 Skill Points]
[Yes] [No]