Lightning

'Welp, there's not much I can do on that front. Best I focus on what I can do.' I stepped away from the Impact machine and then took a deep breath.

I thought back to when I had used the Unlock Crystal, recalling the sensation I felt when I had all the knowledge on how to manipulate Lightning.

If I were to divide manipulating an Element into steps, step 1 was knowledge, step 2 was imagination, and step 3 was output. And of course, you needed to practice.

I focused on Lightning; what Lightning was, why Lightning was, all the profound notions that I had received in that split second, but I couldn't remember much.

In the end, however, I was forced to sit down and research all facets of regular lightning, so that I could attempt to use Lightning.

The range of information and data that my bracelet held was so much more vast than the information Earth had, meaning that there was so much more to learn about lightning.

I learned things about lightning that I had never heard of on Earth, and I was sure that that information wasn't even on Earth.

I also learned about the formation of lightning —how, due to the particles in the atmosphere attracting one another, alongside a build-up of electrons, lightning would form, striking the area.

It was only a matter of how much information I would remember.

I studied the topic for hours, then took an hour-long break to watch the universe's version of 'YouTube', before testing myself, and then repeating the process.

I had found the universe's version of 'YouTube' during my stay at the hotel, the infinite boredom of waiting for my money to grow had led me to explore the vast reaches of the universal internet.

About 20 hours later, I was somewhat confident in my knowledge of lightning. I had sort of accomplished step 1.

I stood up and took several deep, calming breaths. I moved my palms within a foot of each other and envisioned Lightning surging between them. I felt inside myself for where my Energy lay, trying to use it to create Lightning, but I couldn't feel anything.

Nothing happened at first, but soon I began to feel a connection. The Energy I felt within my body was thin and feeble, like a small pond, and hidden deep inside me, giving me trouble when attempting to utilize it.

I tried to think of a solution to my problem, and came up with the idea of envisioning the entire process, from Energy to Lightning, as training, to feel my Energy.

Closing my eyes, I shifted the mental image inside my head from creating Lighting between my palms, towards a pond that connected to a river. The pond, I envisioned it by my heart, and I envisioned the river splitting into 2, heading to each arm. 

Imagining the water flowing into my palm, I made it shift into Lightning. after, I forced it to exit my hand, but nothing happened.

I kept the mental image up, ignoring outside myself. My entire focus was on feeling what was inside me, the power that lay dormant, untapped.

Still, however, nothing happened.

I shifted my thinking. If mental envisioning didn't work, I would have to try another image or another method.

This time, I tried to think of my Energy as what it was. I gave up on analogies or anything like that. 

I imagined that deep inside myself there was a chasm of power that was untapped. That I reached inside and drew it out.

For some reason, that simple thinking clicked within me, and my Energy moved.

I held onto that feeling, guiding the Energy with my mind —I thought of making Lightning.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then I heard a crackle.

I opened my eyes to see electricity in between my palms. The electricity tingled my palms; a useful side effect of the cheat I had consumed was instant immunity to the element I gained.

I watched the blue energy as it disappeared and appeared in different spots between my hands.

"HAHA, HAHA!" I started to laugh out loud as I saw myself doing the impossible for the first time. Previously, I had seen others do it, and that was shocking, but when I did it, it was breathtaking.

All the preparation that I had done for this, the 8-month journey I had been on —none of it had been enough to prepare me for the exhilaration I felt.

After the initial euphoria wore off, I moved the Lightning within my palms and then thrust one palm forward.

CRACKLE! BOOM!

The electricity shot forth becoming a bolt of Lightning, and smashed against the wall with incredible force.

Smoke filled the area where it landed, and once it cleared I saw a burn mark on the wall. However, it quickly disappeared, the wall regenerating itself.

I felt the Energy inside me, measuring it. I had about half left after that attack, and I had only been using it for 20 seconds. This was the downside of having one cheat without the other. My Energy capacity was tiny.

I looked around the room, searching for another, useful thing. Next to the door was a panel. You couldn't see it when you entered the room, but it was there.

I walked over to the panel and examined it. There were only 2 things there, a screen and a panel to place your hand.

I put my hand on the second piece of machinery, and instantly my entire being was suffused with Energy. 

For a good 10 seconds, my body was pumped full of relatively pure Energy. Due to it not being the purest, I leaked excess Energy, so a process that should have taken 2 seconds at most took 5 times as long.

The body naturally absorbed Energy from the universe, in fact, everything did, but it was extremely slow. The process that took me 10 seconds artificially would have taken a day or 2 naturally. And that was with the least amount of Energy possible.

I really needed that cheat.

After the machine gave me enough Energy, I removed my hand from the panel, and a number appeared on the screen.

//

500 UC

//

I had to pay 500 UC for the Energy I had bought. I also had the option of letting it build up a tab, but I wouldn't be able to leave unless I paid. However, that was the least of my concerns, as it was highly probable that I wouldn't be leaving for a day or 2. Although there was no food or water in the room, my newly awakened body should have enough strength to survive a week without water, and a month and a half without food.

I strode back to the center of the room and began to play with my Lightning again.

---

ZAP CRACKLE ZAP-

As I had predicted, it took me somewhere between 1 to 2 days to get used to my power. About 10 minutes into the process, I realized that it was inefficient to keep walking to and from the center of the room and the panel, so I stayed next to it.

I was lying on the floor, watching universal 'YouTube' bloopers and memes to pass the time. I didn't know why I was doing that instead of training or leaving the room, but I was.

A short hour later, I finally got up. I turned to my right to pay the bill for the Energy I had used, and my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

//

197,000 UC

//

I knew that the bill would be large, but that was rather extreme. 

Originally, I was extremely inefficient with my Energy usage, lasting only 40 seconds with constant use, but I had gotten better throughout my time in the room. I had managed to boost the length of time I could use it up to 2 and a half minutes, which, considering my Energy pool was very good, but I knew I could do better. I felt that, if I perfected it, I could reach maybe 4 minutes.

Anyway, at the beginning, I had been paying 1,000 UC for 40 seconds of training, but a couple of hours in, I was paying the same amount for more time. If I took into account the amount of money I paid, I had trained my Lighting for about 5 hours. I think. I was not very good at math.

The time I spent not messing about with Lightning was time I spent training my physical body or watching and replicating videos on different stances. 

I had eventually perfected the stance to throw a single punch and had tested my full Impact.

171.

I don't know why, maybe I was innately stronger, but for some reason, I had scored higher than Alexander.

Either way, it was a good thing, so I didn't put much thought into it.

I reluctantly paid the bill and left the room.

The sound of the door closing behind me brought all the eyes in the common room to me. I scanned each person that was working out in the room and saw how their eyes sparkled.

'Fuck.'

I bolted from my standing position toward the elevator, and everyone reacted in kind, trying to catch me.

Being the weakest one there, it was only a matter of seconds before they caught me, and I hadn't even made it a tenth of the way to the elevator.

'I guess I can put my training to practice.' I thought.

Besides Light, Lightning was the fastest Element, because of physics and stuff, so if I managed to do what I was about to do correctly, they wouldn't even see me leave. I hoped.

I moved my Energy throughout my body, attempting something that I had yet to perfect in training.

From the limited research I had done, I thought that imbuing Lightning into my muscles to make them contract faster and give me more of a boost, alongside my nerves, to help me react, that it would be possible to go faster.

I envisioned lightning coursing through my muscles and nerves, about how it would affect me, and then it came to fruition.

The Lightning cracked and popped inside my legs, tickling me from inside, but I ignored it.

My speed picked up incredibly quickly, and I was running at double my original rate. However, I was not quick enough, and my control of Energy was not refined enough.

In the instant after I had achieved my goal, more than 6 people collapsed on me, pinning me to the ground.

Unfortunately, I was too weak to resist.

Within the next minute, Connel appeared in front of me. He crouched down so that I wouldn't have to strain my neck to see him, and then spoke.

"Unlucky, newbie," He stood back up, addressing everyone in the room. "But it's time to PARTY! WHOO!" 

'''WHOOOOO!'''

Everyone screamed with happiness at his words, except me, who knew it was going to be another long night.