27 Molecular Retrofit

A Skill Holder shouldn't be able to manipulate Ether without using the magical energy stored within their Mana Flame, but this new Skill Root I created actually broke that silent 'rule'.

I felt that my intimacy towards External Energy had heightened through the Spacial Radiance hovering above my hand, allowing me to manipulate all kinds of Ethers in a small 'territory' around my physical body effortlessly without needing to have gone through any specialised training beforehand!

I may not be able to learn Spell Circles to help manipulate Mana and Ether anymore now that I have formed my Skill Roots. However, what I've gained as a result far exceeds what I've lost!

Although the area I could manipulate Ether wasn't that big, the precision of my Ether Control had risen tenfolds. This in turn will definitely allow me to create more complex magical weaponry...!

I looked at the Warlock Hand I wore and used it to inject Sun Mana and Moon Mana into my physique. Then I observed as the Sun Mana that returned to my body was absorbed into both of my two Skill Roots: One storing it into the Moon Mana within my flesh while the other half stored into the glowing sphere of psionic light above my palm as Ether.

I felt through my Spacial Radiance that I could actually store Ether of all forms into it endlessly unlike my other Skill Root that was tethered to my body as seamlessly as my own shadow...!

I repeatedly injected Moon Mana into my body by absorbing the other Mana Charges I stored within it a few times in succession. That until my body could no longer hold anymore extra Moon Mana.

I looked at the resplendent sphere above my hand and tried to return it to my body, but failed after experimenting a few times due to its unusually high magic density. Looks like I'll need to train a little in manipulation my Skill Root before I can control it.

Not only was I unable to create a second Spacial Radiance but I also couldn't return it where my Mana Flame had been located previously. The only thing I can do is accept its existence.

From what I can tell, I COULD just waste some of the Sun Ether within the sphere if I wanted to return it to its most inactive stats as a 'Sun Halo'... Even though that wouldn't be productive in any way...

I looked at the Sunshine Sword in my hand once again and sighed. It was only after pondering for a good minute did try to use another Skill that seemed to originate from my subconscious mind.

[Variant Combo: Molecular Retrofit]

The sword in my hand shattered into numerous rays of golden energy and merged itself with the modern weaponry inside the briefcase I had placed in front of me. The artillery cache lit up as the hot weapon components within started shining resplendently.

The prototype 'Pistol' I had put back into the cache also flew into air along with the box as rays of Sun Mana (and Ether from my Spacial Radiance) covered all the individual weapon components I made for different types of firearms and made the float. The various modern guns and grenades I created with such hard work dismantled into tiny parts!

Well... it's not like I'm unable to understand the specifics of my own powers since Skill Roots worked like Innate Abilities. The only thing I'm not liking is... seeing all the weapons I took years of effort creating... suddenly being dismantled as if my diligence meant nothing... It tortured my fragile and weak heart to see them all dismantled this way~!

The parts that were hovering in the air sorted themselves into a thick wall of metallic and sometimes even synthetic plastic components, but it seems those parts weren't enough. I reluctantly took off my Warlock Hand after looking at the floating weapon components hovering in the air.

I covered Warlock Hand in the Sun Attribute of my new Skill and joined the components of the modern era's hot weapons in ways people of Earth probably wouldn't have ever been able to imagine!

I casually pointed at the mystical glove within the centre of the maelstrom of levitating components after everything was set and sent the 'Will' I'd always used to control my magical energy into it.

The Self-Adjustment, Mana Charge, Mana Release and Spell Customisation Spell Circles that were embedded into my Warlock Hand glowed lightly as they were extracted into floating circles of magic.

I looked at the Magic Circles with a pondering expression on my face as I gestured my hand. The four Spell Circles that were extracted from my Warlock Hand started to all hover before me.

I may not be an expert on drawing Spell Circles but I'm sure I could disassemble and reassemble what I've got using the knowledge I learnt from my strict magic lessons over these ten years. After all, my mother would be disappointed if I couldn't...

This shouldn't be any different from before I reincarnated on Sphera, sitting at home all alone and playing with my collection of antique and modern guns... Wait, I wasn't a loner. A gun enthusiast usually likes to admire weaponry in peace...

After making up my mind, I stood up and looked through my drawer. There was something I forgot I could use in this situation. I think father gifted a book regarding Spell Circles structures a long time ago... Now where did I- Ah, found it!

After I had looked through my things, the alarms I set up lightly chimed. This gave me no choice but to stop what was doing as I turned towards my door. Some of lightly chiming bells I set up had already fell to the floor, but I didn't mind. I gestured my hand to cancel the Spell I used before retrieving all the bells.

"Big Brother, can I come in?" My little sister politely asked with a cute voice.

I looked at the weapon components that were still floating in mid air and the book regarding Spell Circles in my hand for a moment with a conflicted expression. However, it didn't take long for me to come to the decision that I didn't need to hide this kind of 'normal event' from Merilin.

She isn't the type to spill secrets anyway...

And yeah, I'm calling this a 'normal event'. There were a lot of supernatural things seem to be just a regular occurrence in a magical world like this. That's why I casually walked over to my room's door and opened it, only to see something shocking! Unlike usual, Merilin wasn't wearing her adorable-looking maid clothes but instead wore a luxurious mystic robe fitted with a unique crest!

Why is she dressed up? Did I miss something...?

Meh, it doesn't matter. It's just a change of clothes...

"You look nice in that." I complimented since it was the natural thing to do.

"Thank you." Merilin blushed happily.

She exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the maelstrom of components after walking in. As she looked towards the floating dismantled weapons, the glowing orb of light, and the Spell Circles I extracted from Warlock Hand in midair. There seemed to be stars in her eyes as she stepped closer to them.

"Wow~ What are those things? Isn't that the present Dad gave you?" She asked curiously as she poked at the glove but I stopped her before she caused an explosion. Some of the materials in the air couldn't be touched due to their sheer volatile nature.

Why is that my luminous sphere that was filled with Sun Ether or the marbles of mimicked elemental attributes floating around me didn't seem to surprise her? This is weird... Even though I think of this kind of event 'normal' considering past phenomenons I had created through messing around with magic.

I don't know whether I should be happy or sad... It's something has to do with my Skill Root after all! I might not show off much but I like it when others (like my family members) praise my magical skills!

"Mother was expecting Father to buy me something and Father was expecting Mother to buy me a gift. My 'real' present will probably be gifted later I suppose..." I replied while shrugging my shoulders.

"Then who bought you that?" She pointed at Warlock Hand and asked in confusion. I'm probably the only person in the world who is so open with her when it comes to 'secrets' I usually kept to myself.

This wasn't due to me being taught to never lie to my siblings... The reason I would even think of telling her anything was because my cared for her. There were no need for any secrets concerning magic.

"Mark did of course! Although he looks like a fool on the outside... It seems on the inside at least... He's actually really a nice guy...! Yeah... I think... Maybe... Probably..." Actually, after seeing that new side of him back then, I don't exactly know anymore.

It now almost feels like he's always hiding secrets...

"Brother, you're staring to act strangely again. I didn't know you could actually praise..." She looked at me in shock before making expression of genuine surprise. Why is she looking at me like that?

"I praise you a lot, don't I?" I decided to use my ultimate 'bending rivers to save a nation' technique to change the subject. Taste one of the greatest skills I mastered after many years of evading blame in my past life! There is nothing that can stand up to this!!!

"But that's just me, I'm a special girl so you HAVE praise me a lot~" She joked before winking at me.

An expectant light arose within her eyes as she started to stare holes into my body. It seemed as if she has worked hard to gain something in order to be deserving of my sincerest praise.

"You've been admitted to a Magic Academy?" I asked as I finally recognised the crest, which had a flying dragon engraved into it, on her little robes. A thoughtful expression appeared on my face as I realised what she wanted me to notice.

"They said I'm a really smart girl! Mom and Dad looked really, really happy for me~!" She fiddled with her fingers while practically glowing in content towards her great achievements in magic.

"Good girl!" I unhesitatingly praised without holding back and rubbed her little head. A proud giggle left her lips as she pridefully showed off her talent without holding any back! I'm very proud of her!

"You've made grandmother proud." I laughed with similar pride in my heart.

Our eccentric grandmother was considered to be stronger than even the Duke of the Swordwick Household! I don't know if it's true or not but I've heard she was awarded the title of a Lightning Archmage due to her extremely high mastery over high-tier Spell Circles and Ether Control.

The reason I'm unable to figure out if the Duke is stronger than her or not is because there seemed to be something about his Skill Root that makes me feel as if he's hiding a few of his trump cards...

Ha! What am I thinking? Even if the Duke is a strong swordsman, there's no way he's stronger than my grandmother! She's a monster who is on an entirely different level from a mere Noble like the Duke!

"Big Brother, what are you doing?" She finally asked. It seemed she wasn't too surprised with my ability to make things levitate. Now that I think about it... It's probably not surprising considering how many Spells I had at my disposal... A 'mere' Levitation Spell is nothing in my talented sister's eyes...

Has she already forgotten that only C Rank Magical Talents and above could use Levitation Spells? Even the Weightless Breath Wind Art couldn't allow me to fly in the air telekinetically! There's a fine line between 'floating' and 'telekinetically levitating'!

"I'm upgrading my Warlock Hand." It wasn't like I was destroying Mark's memento so I wasn't embarrassed to reveal my intentions. It's not like I couldn't put it back together later...

'Upgrading...?' Her eyes seemed to ask as she looked at the floating Spell Circles in the air, not understanding how I would do so. I smiled at her while showing her the spell-book in my hand.

"From what I read from this book father gave me: Spell Circles are hard to understand and inscribe, so it should be impossible to upgrade my item through normal means. However. my method of 'upgrading' is a little different from the what is usually done by Magic Blacksmiths." I pointed at the the illustration on the page that explained the basics of Spell Circles and started to explain my Skill Root's special effects.

She probably doesn't know much about Spell Circles yet so I went over the basics to make sure the explanation I was giving on my new Skills were as informative and easy-to-understand as possible.

"There are two crucial components that create a Spell Circle, the Inner Spell and Outer Circle. For magicians, an Outer Circle is the foundation while the Inner Spell is the seed implanted into it which allows the Spell to form." As I spoke up to there, I pointed at the Spell Circles levitating in midair before poking the four of them one at a time.

Once I did so, the the Spell Circles disassembled into two pieces in the air: The Inner Spell and Outer Circle. The former looked like a complex symbol of energy while the latter were simplistic 'frames'.

"Wow~ Big Brother is so awesome! Can you teach me that Spell as well?" She asked with eyes that lit up as bright as the sun. My mouth opened, but I didn't know how to respond to her high expectations

I already knew that she'll be disappointed by my answer...!

"There's something I want to ask about first." I spammed 'blending rivers to save a nation' since there was no reason not to! I don't want her to barrage me with questions after all...

"Please do~" Merilin said excitedly as she thought of my 'upgrading magic'.

"You're not going to be attending the Drakeyol Kingdom's Mage Academy for now, right? Why have they made a uniform for you?" My smile vanished as I thought it this important fact.

"Brother is right~ I'm going to be attending the Mage Academy!" Although these words sounded cute when she spoke. That didn't change the fact that I was extremely agitated by her response!

Too many things have happened to me today and this incident was the last straw that broke the camel's back...! There's no way I wouldn't believe there's some motive behind this as well!

The fear caused by figuring out that I was under brainwashing previously kicked in as my face distorted. The result was the corner of my lips uncontrollably twitched in response!