Chapter 72: Experimenting

Chapter 72: Experimenting

Cal wasn’t sure what he was trying to achieve here, but the image of what he assumed it would be like was pretty ‘awesome,’ as Seris would probably say.

He took one of the spare pickaxes from the storage room and stood outside the bounds of his field. He needed the specialty of the Northern Wastes—the hard surface layer—to test this out.

Cal held the pickaxes with a fully extended arm before activating the [Trait].

[Lightning Aura] activated.

It was the first time he activated [Lightning Aura] since the incident with Tarn. And it was the first time he consciously did so since he tested [Lightning Aura] and wrote it off as a failure.

A hazy pale glow surrounded his body, and it was eager to listen to his commands. It reminded him of what he had done to Tarn. If he could have the precision to target Tarn’s mana core, what he intended now should be simple.

Cal didn’t dawdle and directed it into the pickaxe’s handle.

He flinched when the handle splintered in his hands before exploding dramatically. The bits of wood that were lucky to survive and somehow still had enough structural integrity to act as a handle burst into flames.

“Gah! Damn it!” Cal threw the ruined, flaming pickaxe away from him before rubbing the splintered wood off his body. It was nowhere near strong enough to injure him, but the sudden heat was enough to mark his robes.

It looks like I’m still an idiot about the lightning element's effect on other materials. Channeling it into wood was even dumber than testing it on the ground.

He had a mocking sneer—at himself—as he stomped on the charred handle to put out the fire. The poor handle couldn’t hold its structure anymore and crumbled in the process, leaving the pickaxe’s metal head behind.

“Good thing I’m going to get more equipment delivered tomorrow,” Cal muttered, picking up the metal head.

He still had [Lightning Aura] activated, and it was reacting to his irritated mood by sparking around randomly. It would make for an intimidating sight if he spared enough mana to turn the aura from the weak white to a furious yellow.

Of course, he wasn’t going to waste his limited mana on theatrics right now.

Cal directed [Lightning Aura] into the metal and finally got his expected result. The hazy white aura dimmed when the pickaxe head flashed a bright yellow before settling into a blazing hot red.

The lightning he was channeling into the metal superheated it just below its melting point as yellow sparks occasionally arced around it. He had never seen anything quite as threatening.

Cal's first instinct had been to drop it, fearing the hot metal damaging his hands, but [Lightning Aura] protected his body from such issues. He was reminded of how Tavia had casually played with a nearly molten ball, and he now understood how it didn’t hurt her.

I have to tell Orrin to make me a few tools that are all metal.

He stared at the molten-red metal in his hands before he decided to proceed with his original plan. The missing handle would make it a little awkward, but it wouldn’t be difficult to just.

Cal gripped the pickaxe’s head where the handle used to be attached and swung it down to the ground with significant force. He knew that the ground would absorb most of the lightning, but he still expected the small point of the pickaxe’s blade to cause visible damage.

The molten-red tip sank into the ground like it was made out of butter. The usually harsh sound of metal impacting the surface layer was gone, and the molten-red pickaxe head continued to sink into the ground with ease until he was forced to let go. The ground obstructed him from keeping a grip.

That was when it started to go wrong. He should have known it would go out of his control when his mana was no longer connected.

“... I can safely guess that you want me to do this,” Cal muttered before lifting the pickaxe again. He wasn’t sure why she was more excited than he was about this, but he wouldn’t ask questions about something going his way.

Heh. Nibbles wouldn’t be so happy if she knew there was a bribe that she missed.

He broke up the surface layer starting from the hole Nibbles made. He left enough of a barrier so the water wouldn't flow directly into the hole until the pond side was dug open. It didn’t take long before he realized that simply digging a shallow channel wasn’t enough.

For whatever reason, the pond increased in depth every time he added water, so it made sense to make a channel with a fairly significant depth.

Cal hooked the pickaxe onto his back and took out the last spare shovel in the storage room.

You have gained [Uncommon Shovel] as equipment. It will be designated as your third alternate.

He shoveled aside the broken-up surface layer before making quick work on the digging. He only had to deal with soft dirt underneath, so it wasn’t a hardship.

Several minutes later, he was standing beside a six-foot-deep channel leading to the hole. The only thing blocking the water from rushing in was the thin barrier that still separated it from the pond. This brought up an issue he hadn’t thought about.

If I break it up, the water will push the debris into the hole. It might block the connection to the tunnels.

Cal scratched his chin as he considered the best solution to this. Asking Nibbles to clear up any blockage was an option, but he would rather not ask for help wherever possible. She had already done more than enough with making the tunnels.

He started at the area where the pond met the thin barrier before pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. There was an easy solution to this. Something that would have made his digging unnecessary.

Cal pointed his palm at the thin barrier and let his mana sink into the spots that he intended to remove. It was slightly more challenging to grasp it since two distinctly different materials were involved—the surface layer and the soil underneath—but his attempts at creating a new spell to sense minute differences paid off handsomely.

He clenched his hand and swiftly yanked his fist up in one motion. The thin barrier crumpled into a tight, several-foot-wide dirt ball as it was lifted from the channel.

The water immediately rushed into the new space and poured into the hole.

The pond's water level dropped initially until the hole was filled, and then he couldn’t see any significant change. The tunnels were too small for the water level to fall at the previous rate.

However, he could sense it.

As the water slowly filled up a tunnel, the area near it became a bright spot to his senses. The mana the water contained didn’t allow him to sense anything clearly at the skill he possessed at the moment.

Soon, the entire field would be in that state.

Cal smiled as he let the dirt ball drop to the ground. Nibbles had dove into the ground the moment the hole was filled—likely to check the tunnels—and he would be just as diligent by ensuring the pond had adequate water.

He cast [Rainfall] over the pond. He supplied the spell with mana until the water level reached the top of the channel. It would spill over if he continued past that point. Surprisingly, it took nearly all of his remaining mana to fill the pond to capacity.

This is another task to add to my daily checks. Hopefully, the crops will be able to draw from the water soon. I will be free to leave the field for long periods without that restriction holding me here.

Cal changed his clothes before walking to his meditation hill and hopped onto the peak. He would continue after his mana core was refilled.