The Flashbang Circuit

A few seconds later Mack's vision returned completely to normal.

He looked at the circuit on the ground and pondered.

If he was really going to use that, he needed a way for it to be smaller.

He cleaned a patch of soil and redraw the circuit but now removing the propulsion runes.

The circuit became a bit smaller.

Mack repeated the same process as before. Dropping blood on the lines and activating the rune using his thumb.

And just like before when the circuit activated a blinding light came not even a second later.

"Yeap that looks better. Now let's do it in a small version."

Then Mack started to draw the same circuit several times on the ground, each time smaller in size until he could fit it in a finger.

The smaller a circuit was, the more precise the lines needed to be. Any involuntary movements could ruin a rune. Any hesitation, a trembling hand, or even a heavy breath could affect the drawing.

Mack practiced for hours and hours until he felt satisfied with his precision.

"Time to get real"

Mack grabbed his dagger and with his right hand started carving runes on the backside of his index finger, even over his own fingernail.

The runes on the finger formed a circuit responsible for the flashbang itself.

Mack cleaned the cuts and could see that the rune circuit looked good.

Then, with his left thumb, he touched the back of his index finger, more exactly where the fingernail of his index finger was.

The runes on his index finger blinked. But nothing happened.

Then Mack started to draw another circuit in his left palm.

It was the Essence compression circuit.

Mack went 'all in' with the multilayered idea. The three attack circuits he devised used the same principle behind them.

Essence Compression.

But the Essence compression circuit was too big to be drawn every single time with other circuits. So he chose to carve only once, using his entire left palm for that.

Five minutes later, the Essence compression circuit was carved.

It looked like a spider web in the middle of Mack's left palm. With tentacles extending to his four fingers.

And just like before, he cleaned the cuts to remove excess blood and quickly touched the tip of his little finger.

The runes blinked once, but nothing happened.

But a smile bloomed on Mack's face. It worked.

Mack looked at his left palm and observed each minimal detail of the runes he carved.

He now had two more perpetual circuits in his left hand.

Mack extended his arm to the front and opened his hand.

If one looked at Mack now, they would think he was practicing some martial art and giving a palm strike.

Well.... they would not be incorrect.... just that... Mack moved his thumb finger and touched the tip of his index finger.

Then, like magic, the three circuits connected with each other. The timed activation circuit on his thumb, the flashbang circuit on the back of his index finger, and the Essence compression on his left palm.

They connected with each other and the timer circuit that blinked at each second now activated the other two.

~flash~

A blinding light came from Mack's left hand.

But this time it looked several more times strong than before. As if the sun itself was in front of Macks's hand.

The flashbang circuit was activated with success.

Mack's mouth went a gap. The output was several times stronger than the ones carved on the ground.

And this time he didn't become blind. The light was only projected to the front of his palm and his own hand protected him from the light.

Mack removed his thumb from the tip of his index finger, and the light stopped.

He now had tested two important things.

The flashbang circuit worked.

And the timer circuit indeed worked as he expected and tried to activate everything he touched with his thumb at each second. Even in his body.

This way Mack would not need to wait three long minutes or even more to activate a circuit using his will.

He could press his thumb over another circuit, and that circuit would be activated.

Mack pressed his thumb against the tip of his index finger again, and light shinned once again.

"Finally! I have one useful spell! Can I call this a spell? It's a runic circuit after all."

[Indeed the method of activation you devised is quite unique. And also the fact that they are carved in your body makes you able to use them in a different way too. Not only that, but they will use the Essence in your body that is several more times denser than the current environment. So the power will be far greater]

"Hum hum, but what should I call them? They are not spells and not runic circuits either."

[I think a fitting name for that would be Runespell]

"Runespell? that's sounds good.... I think."

"Ok, I will call it that way for the time being."

Mack knew this way of using runes was specific for him to use. He combined the properties of the warlock blood with runes and his freak body to produce his own path.

But Mack also knew the endgame was to have a stronger will. With a stronger will, he could do much more without the need for runes.

But time was short. And he had to think of a different way for the time being.....

Mack tested the flashbang runespell a few more times and fell happy with his progress.

But now he had more tests to do. He needed to know if the two others circuits were good to use too.

Mack fixed his gaze on the rune circuit by his side.

It was the one that should produce an Essence Blast.

He wished that it would work.

This way he would have a long-range attack that he could use.

Mack did a cut on his index finger again and started to drop blood over the lines of the circuit.

And just like before, he crouched by the side of the runic circuit and pressed his thumb on the activation part.

~blast~

Mack felt a strong wave of air passing by him but nothing more.

"Eh?"

"That was too weak. I was expecting something like a bullet firing or something?"

'Right! I don't have a target! it's not like the fireball circuit that I can see it because of the fire. Essence has no color or other aspects in his natural form."

'But how I test it? It's pointing to the sky. After all, its carved on the ground.....'

Mack looked at the cube a few meters from him and a crazy idea popped into his mind.

"Hahahha that would be fun to see."

Mack raised himself and walked to the cube .

He grabbed the sides of the cube and raised it over his head. This was a used cube. Only the shell was there without any Essence inside, so it was very light.

With the cube over his head, Mack walked back to the rune circuit.

~tuk~

And dropped the cube right above the part of the circuit responsible for firing the blast of Essence.

Mack then crouched and put his left thumb on the activation rune from the circuit.

~pooof~

A muffled explosion came from the cube and Mack saw the cube raising from the ground a few centimeters.

"hummmmm..... not what I was expecting...."

But then Mack raised himself from the ground and saw something he would not believe.