Ch 153 – Power of Science and Magic!
"Hey, haven't you noticed anything strange?"
"What's strange?"
"It's those four, haven't they been with each other quite closely these past few days?"
"Now that I think about it, yeah. Ever since a few days ago, they've been acting quite strange."
"Yeah, yeah. I thought they were bullying Isaac, but that doesn't seem to be the case!"
"You're right, look at them laughing and smiling!"
Those were what the classmates of Isaac Deathwill murmured to one another as they looked at the far corner to the back where four students can be seen conversing with one another.
One was Isaac Deathwill, the student who took a drastic change a few days ago with his charisma causing others to feel strange emotions just from one glance alone. His mere smile made many blush profusely.
On the other hand, there was Gal Jum. He was publicly recognized as a battle maniac and would fight others whenever there was a sparring session in class, and would overwhelm the enemy with his trained body and martial arts. He was able to have such high attainment as a physical fighter due to his passion and rich background, being the son of a powerful Summoner named Gal Ryuk. A Hunter parent is essentially having an expert as your mentor. His appearance was akin to a muscular athlete, with a slight tan and scarlet red hair akin to a river of blood, his eyes were also a piercing scarlet color.
Beside them was Qian Feng, another fortunate lad who was trained with the sword since young. He was a fearsome fighter and a fearsome intellect, both a genius in the sword and with the pen. His appearance was pretty normal, with long black hair and eyes akin to the calm ocean depths devoid of light. A scholarly aura was also exuded from his presence alone.
The final one was Yokota Makoto, the son of the manager of the Treasure Heaven Branch located in Seoul. Treasure Heaven was one of the most famous and influential companies in the entire world that directly deals with nearly everything hunter-related. From monster corpses to mana crystals, hunter equipment, and potions, anything you want can be bought from them. With such a wealthy upbringing, he was able to develop an intellect surpassing Qian Feng and developed skills in all paths of creation, from talismans to potions, blacksmithing, and such. His hair and eyes were draped with a pure gold color of the purest quality, he had the air of a wealthy kid from him yet it wasn't overbearing.
But if those three were to be compared to the ones a few weeks ago, it was a difference between heaven and earth. They were crude and arrogant, but now, they were civilized and gentle. Even the fearsome Gal Jum hid his battle-hungry aura.
*RING*!
Hearing the loud ringing sound, the four had their eyes brightened with glee as they hurriedly stood up and grabbed their bags.
"Race you back home!" Gal Jum shouted and hastily ran off, causing an angry look to appear on the other three.
Clicking their tongues, the three rush forwards and ran down the hallway, leaving the others in the room to have their mouths agape and shocked.
"It's true! They're actually friends!"
"But how?! Weren't they bullying Isaac?!"
"Maybe we were just wrong."
Confusion, chaos, shock, surprise; many couldn't help but feel disbelief at such rapid change in only a matter of days. From seemingly enemies to brothers with a bond deeper than blood.
But as they were halted in shock, outside of the academy grounds were four youths running down the street of Seoul with haste. The other three behind the back were already tired and dripping with sweat, including the trained swordsman Qian Feng, but in front of them, Gal Jum was running without breaking even a single sweat.
That showed their physical disparity and the ruthlessness of genes!
They ran and ran without fail, but one can see that the four were having fun with each other with gleeful smiles and joy ringing in the air. It was the aura of youth and friendship born from a deep understanding of one another.
Finally, after minutes passed, they all gasped with deep breaths and arrived at a splendorous house of modern beauty. It was many stories tall and covered with glass windows, with a large plot of land surrounding it and hidden behind high walls.
Opening the gate, Gal Jum was the first to enter and they all followed behind him to the house in the distance after walking for more than a minute in the large plot of land. Finally, the four arrived at the entrance of the large house with their sweat already gone.
Instantly, as the four entered the house, their smiling faces instantly turned cold and emotionless with the three standing still. Isaac Deathwill walked forward and sat down on the couch in the living room, his aura domineering and cold, like an old monster who has lived for countless years.
"Gal Jum, has the materials I asked for arrived yet?" Isaac asked while metallic dust swirled around him out of nowhere, erupting from his skin.
"Yes, master," Gal Jum responded and walked forward, his appearance far from his battle maniac identity in school. Walking rapidly to his room, Gal Jum brought back a metallic ring down the stairs with him and gave it to Isaac.
Inspecting the ring, Isaac grins and puts it on with a pleasant smile, "A storage ring? And with decent quality too? Earth really has been progressing fast since their first contact with mana."
Putting his consciousness inside the storage ring, he saw a very large space containing a horde of materials inside, making his eyes glow with satisfaction. With a simple command, he watches as they land in front of him, surrounding himself with gleaming metal and precious materials.
'It's finally time to enhance my nanites.' Isaac grinned and waved his arms forward, a blue glow covering some materials and they magically floated to the air, halting in front of Isaac.
"You three, continue my training regiment," Isaac ordered and the trio nodded. Walking to the far distance, he felt the nanites he implanted in their brain activating as he saw them executing moves with such finesse far surpassing their previous skill a few days ago since he first made them his servants.
'Braun really is meticulous, to think three geniuses would fall in my lap early on! Gal Jum, he can easily become a powerful Summoner, but he also has such absurd physical talent. Though I'm still formulating his development path, my nanites that have been passively increasing his hormones and brain activities made his strength already increase to Level 3! Even mine is only Level 2 under the passive growth brought by my nanites!'
Isaac's Level 5 Body was only a temporary increase brought by his nanites. If he were to take away the nanites that were supporting his muscles and bones, he would revert back to a Level 2 Body. So, Gal Jum having a Level 3 body in mere days was a pleasant surprise to Isaac.
'Qian Feng is also another genius. A sword genius nonetheless, I've already estimated he is already nearing Level 4 Swordsmanship and other related skills since we first met. And under my guidance and AI's help, he already reached Level 5 in his swordsmanship. By this speed, reaching Level 6 would happen soon!' Isaac laughed as he watches the three in front of him trained meticulously with robotic movements.
Having become his servants, they have gained massive benefits, especially since becoming half-undead brought what Isaac expected. Endless stamina and stamina, meaning they can train their physical skills without breaks. Their mental state is always at its peak, and they have high control over their emotions just like Vampires.
The only one falling behind was Yokota Makoto. He can be seen moving his mana around in the air meticulously, with such skill that would shock any other mages. Just from how he moved his mana around skillfully, it was already at Level 5!
'Level 5, though impressive, he would need to be Level 6 to finally start what I have in plan for him. Once I learn enough and gain enough mana to wield, I'll give him the ability most attuned to his path… Alchemy!'
What is Alchemy? Under normal circumstances, it would just be potion making and the such. Where one pursues the secrets of herbs and such to bring about magical effects. But with his thousand years of life experience, Isaac Deathwill of course has understood the deeper principles of Alchemy!
'Once he reaches Level 6 and has enough control with the help of my AI, he'd be able to comfortably control the energy that holds together the building blocks of reality! Strong and Weak Force!' Isaac shockingly revealed with a grin.
To have such pawns under him that hold such vast potential, it made Isaac have goosebumps at what kind of being Braun truly was. To have such a deep understanding of luck, destiny, and fate. To be able to trick a Goddess who—though only existing as an avatar in this world—exists throughout countless realities was terrifying to say the least.
But he moved his attention back to the chunk of metal in front of him along with the other and grinned confidently. Waving his arms, blue magic circles formed and the swarm of nanites around him glowed. They charged toward the materials like a hungry swarm of insects, destroying them quickly and rapidly while he felt the huge mana expenditure from controlling them.
His nanites were directly powered by his mana as it was the easiest way for him from before. He was still poor when he made his first batch of nanites, and mana was the only way he can transfer his orders to them. He wasn't able to make complicated interiors of the nanites, he relied on the principles of magic to create them as he was only able to create inferior versions of them since his brain wasn't strong enough to handle such precise calculations and fine details.
But now? He has an AI supporting his brain which was basically half nanites already! With ease, he felt his mana moving through the air with such skill, a combination of both his thousand years of life experience and AI! A combination of a deep foundation and a legendary equipment!
The nanites slowly started to change, from a light silver color to dark silver, almost pitch black. His eyes glowed blue, and the swirls of mana in the air were revealed to him. Shockingly enough, he saw the nanites in front of him absorbing mana and even storing them! To have such a large number of mana-storing nanites made him grin widely.
But that wasn't the only thing special about them! He could feel them not only absorbing mana but transforming other sources of energy into mana! The light from the sun, the heat from the air, they were mana generators!
Instantly, upon seeing success, he controlled them to devour the other materials and expanded in numbers! Their size rapidly expanded, from not being able to even cover his entire body to being as large as his entire bed back in his own home!
'It's time for the next step! To have a self-sustaining nuclear reactor for nigh-infinite mana!' Isaac laughed maniacally as his eyes shone with intense light and fearsome intellect.
Without stopping, he controlled the huge amount of nanite and separated a small sliver of it. Without having to feed his nanites with his own mana, he was able to exert control far above before!
The black sphere in front of him started to change with each passing second. It slowly turned from a sphere into a circular ring with a hollow inside, and all of a sudden, he can see blue sparks starting to form in the middle of the hollow ring!
Squinting his eyes, he hastily manipulated to hastily turn into a hollow sphere once more and watch as the blue light inside it start to become more intense and brighter. Squinting his eyes, he willed his nanite-enhanced mind that was far above what human brains are meant to achieve, and like throwing fuel to the flames, the burst of blue light exploded, directly turning the originally black sphere into a glowing blue ball…
"A ball of pure electricity!" Isaac laughed loudly as he willed it to near him, and it did.
Extending a sliver of his mana out of his body, it connected to the sphere, and willing it, he felt a connection forming with the sphere of blue light!
'Finally… Nigh-infinite mana is under my grasp in such a short period of time! To think I can transform other sources of energy into mana, science truly is brilliant!'
AN: This chapter has 2153 words.
Science and Magic interweave into an exponential growth for Isaac Deathwill.
(September 20, 2022 – 300th day of writing)