Chapter 17: System's Magical Magnetism

Elio smiled in satisfaction as he retrieved his lance from the training target. He had hit ten shots in a row dead center, surpassing his personal best. His aim was already quite good, but he still had one problem to solve.

While the high-level magical lances he would need to defeat the fourth-level monster were not disposable, once embedded in the target, if they didn't knock the beast out of the air in one blow, they would become unusable until retrieved

The two privileged families carried at least eight lances each time, relying on that number of hits to eventually fell the beast. But Elio had no way to afford eight top-level magical lances, and though the families had dozens, he couldn't borrow any without revealing his plan.

He would have to find a way to recover his single lance after each throw without needing to fly himself to reach the monster. Von Lucien had told him even level 4 air control was not near enough to lift a person, and the mana cost would likely be too high once possible. As he prepared to return to his quarters that evening, Elio pondered this dilemma. Suddenly, a faint glimmer caught his attention.

He stopped and curiously examined the small pieces of the mechanism that propelled the lance on launch: a nickel cylinder housing compressed oxygen as an explosive charge. Von Lucien had explained to him how to make it and how to charge it with mana. Something on the metallic surface was glimmering strangely in the evening sun. Elio rubbed it with his fingers and the glow intensified.

"But what...?" he muttered, squinting his eyes. He moved the cylinder up and down in front of his face. The glow seemed to dance and oscillate in a pattern. Additionally, the nickel fragments appeared to be attracted by some type of force.

Intrigued, Elio sat on the ground and began examining that strange phenomenon in more detail. Over the next few hours, he tried different movements and positions, carefully observing the behavior of the glow. Gradually, he began to discern some of its properties.

The glow was more intense when the nickel moved in certain directions and weaker in others. It also seemed to be affected by the presence of some objects more than others. Objects like stones or wood didn't seem to have any effect, but the metal of the lance definitely altered the glow significantly.

Elio frowned thoughtfully. This went beyond simple light and shadows. There seemed to be some invisible force or field acting on the nickel. But what could it be? He had no idea, since his knowledge was limited to magic and teachings about monsters and challenges. Could it be something similar to the interactions of oxygen and hydrogen in sacred flame and holy water? Was nickel not only able to cool and coat things?

In that isolated world where they lived, with barely a hundred years of history, there was no mining, no plants, no animals, and no conventional education. They only knew magic and some scrolls that God had given them, though the latter were controlled by the families... This strange phenomenon with nickel was completely new to Elio, and for some reason, it didn't seem to be recorded in any of the public scrolls either.

Determined to unravel this mystery, Elio spent the next few days dedicating every spare moment to experimenting with nickel. He tried different shapes and sizes of the metal, combined it with other methods like mixing the oxygen and hydrogen he could control with his magic. And little by little, he gained more clues about that almost invisible power.

To his surprise, he discovered that the field acted differently depending on the movement of the nickel and its proximity to other materials. Sometimes, the nickel was attracted to other metallic objects, almost as if being pulled by an invisible string. At other times, it was violently repelled, as if opposite forces were pushing it away.

The strangest thing was that his oxygen and hydrogen magic seemed to alter or intensify this invisible field. During one of his practice sessions, Elio controlled a stream of air charged with hydrogen particles and made it swirl around a nickel rod. To his amazement, the field grew more intense and the glow much brighter, even got some sparks and it hurt a bit when he touched it.

That night, Elio gazed at the nickel in fascination, his mind whirling as he tried to understand exactly what he was witnessing. He knew there had to be a logical explanation, some fundamental principle of magic he had yet to discover.

Suddenly, an idea began to take shape. What if this invisible force acting on the nickel was the key to solving his dilemma with the lances? If he could understand how to fully control it, perhaps he could make his lances return to him after being thrown.

With renewed determination, Elio immersed himself even deeper into his experiments. He would observe every detail, try every possible combination of movement, wind, and his magical abilities. He would uncover the secrets of this force of nature, and find a way to channel it to defeat the fourth-level monster.

After days and sleepless nights of relentless testing, the patterns began to make more sense to Elio. He developed a strange sixth sense that allowed him to "perceive" the invisible field surrounding the nickel. He learned to manipulate it, attracting or repelling the metal through precise combinations of movements, winds, and magical charges. The only problem was that it only worked at a maximum distance of 1 meter...

♢♢♢♢

Elio was so absorbed in his training and experiments with nickel that he barely noticed how much time had passed. It was only when Kriz, Brok and Ren confronted him that he realized how distant he had become from his friends.

"Can you tell us what the hell has been up with you lately, Elio?" Kriz's voice sounded like his mother Lena's, but laced with frustration. A tear welled up in his right eye, Kriz was a good actor when it came to nonsense and jokes. "You've gone weeks without talking to us...You promised you'd help us prepare for the third level challenge!" said Kriz emphasizing a melodramatic tone in his voice.

Elio blinked, abruptly pulled from his absorption. He looked at his companions making ridiculous faces… But he realized he really had been ignoring them and a pang of guilt hit him when he saw their feigned annoyed expressions. "I'm sorry, friends, it's been… a complicated few weeks."

"Complicated?" Ren snorted. "More like it seems you've been completely avoiding us. What has you so absorbed? It's way worse than your lance thrower months."

Elio hesitated. As much as he appreciated his friends, he wasn't sure he could openly tell them about his plan to face the fourth level. He feared the information might accidentally leak out.

"It's… a new project I've been working on," he finally said, carefully choosing his words. "A possible strategy to help Von Lucien."

Brok raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Strategy? What kind of strategy requires locking yourself away for hours playing with scraps of metal?"

Elio's jaw tightened. Had they been spying on him? Before he could respond, Kriz intervened with a snort.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if you want to cover those balls in a metal coating. We're your friends, Elio, we won't judge you no matter your tastes. Buuut do you remember the promise you made us?"

Elio shifted uncomfortably, his eye twitching at their damn stupid balls joke again. But the promise he made them, he remembered it perfectly, of course.

After overcoming the third level challenge, he had assured them he would help prepare them for when they wanted to beat it too. But the months passed and between his lance training and experiments with his magic and nickel, he had completely neglected that commitment.

"You're right, but not about the stupid balls thing… I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "I've been so focused on my own training that I've lost sight of everything else. But from now on I'll focus on helping you, I promised."

His friends relaxed a bit at his words, though they still looked skeptical. Elio vowed to redouble his efforts to make up for his neglect. He couldn't let his obsession with the fourth level alienate him from living his life.

At that very moment, a messenger approached in a hurry. The young man looked flustered, as if he had been running.

"Soldiers! I have an important announcement from the Families," he panted, saluting Elio and his friends. "It has been decided to support the preparation of 10,000 soldiers for the third level challenge."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise at those words. It was certainly unusual for the families to organize something on such a large scale, and what a timing…

The messenger caught his breath and continued: "From each of the 1,000 god's punishment towers, ten level two soldiers will be selected to challenge the third level monster. Those who accept will be provided with a disposable fire sword as support."

A heavy silence fell over the group as they processed that information. Even though a free sword was a heaven's sent gift, Elio frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy. Something about that announcement didn't sit right with him.

"A… fire sword?" Kriz was the first to speak, letting out an incredulous laugh. "Is this a joke? Are they really going to give 1000 points to each soldier who participates?"

"It's strange," Brok muttered darkly. "We all know the families are very stingy. Why would they do something like that?"

The messenger shrugged. "I have not been informed of the reasons behind this decision. I only have orders to deliver the announcement."

Elio remained silent, his mind whirling. Could the breach situation be that bad? No, that didn't make sense. First they'd make them contribute more points per day, right?

Suddenly, a dark thought crossed his mind. Only 40% of soldiers attempting the third level would succeed. Maybe he'd need to discuss his father's strategy with the Summoner soon.

"I have to go see Von Lucien," he announced abruptly, startling his friends. "This doesn't smell right to me."

Kriz frowned in concern. "Don't you think you should wash up then, before going to lic... see the Summoner?"