Chapter 7

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007 - Lightning Magic: Thunder

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It has been raining a lot lately. It’s the third consecutive day. The season is moving towards summer, so there’s a lot of rain, but at the same time, the heat is increasing.

The discomfort index rises with the humid summer temperatures.

“Mrs. Shal, do you need any help?”

“No, thanks. Magic tools are delicate. That’s why you must never enter the room where I make them.”

“I understand. If that’s the case, I’ll prepare the meal.”

“That would be great.”

Jun did the cleaning and meal preparation for three days, except for Mrs. Shal’s workshop.

Since Mrs. Shal isn’t the type to clean meticulously, the house became quite clean over the three days.

“I’m off then.”

“Okay, be careful.”

Finally, it was sunny, so Jun went to the forest.

“Hopefully, there won’t be many big mosquitoes today...”

After the rain, big mosquitoes hide under the leaves.

It had rained for three days, so they might not come out for a while.

As expected, he didn’t encounter any big mosquitoes that day.

Before going to bed, Jun thought about how to find big mosquitoes after the rain.

He remembered that he had Enhanced Hearing Level 1. The wing sounds of big mosquitoes are distinctive and can sometimes be heard from a distance.

However, Enhanced Hearing Level 1 consumes 120 CHSC points. He couldn’t obtain it because he had used most of his remaining CHSC points to get Intermediate Wind Magic: Tornado.

“I need to keep hunting big mosquitoes from tomorrow.”

The next day was sunny.

“Alright, I’ll hunt a lot today!”

Jun entered the forest with determination.

Big mosquitoes are often found near trees with dense leaves and tall, lush grass.

Having learned this from his recent hunts, Jun focused on such areas.

However, he was careful not to venture too far from Mrs. Shal’s house, as there are dangerous monsters out there.

Fortunately, he quickly found a cluster of big mosquitoes.

He threw his net, caught all the big mosquitoes, and crushed them.

The squishy sensation from the bottom of his boots was unpleasant, no matter how many times he did it.

After crushing all the big mosquitoes, he extracted the magic stones. The process of extracting the small magic stones was also unpleasant due to the big mosquitoes’ bodily fluids.

“Disgusting, but this is part of my training.”

That day, he crushed 12 clusters of big mosquitoes.

In total, he caught 422 big mosquitoes, earning 782 CHSC points.

He obtained Enhanced Hearing Level 1, consuming 120 CHSC points. As he was about to close the skill acquisition screen, he noticed something.

“Huh...?”

There was a new lightning magic.

【Consumes 700 CHSC Points】

- Lightning Magic: Thunder - Active Skill - Consumes 20 Magic Points - Attack Power 150 - Range - Randomly triggers electric shock - Duration 8 seconds - Cooldown 30 seconds

He wanted it, but it consumes 700 CHSC points.

“It’s just enough, but... what should I do?”

For now, the Air Cutter and Tornado wind magic were sufficient. He wasn’t even using them.

Still, he wanted the lightning magic. After all, it was a magic used by past heroes.

Even Jun, who grew up in the countryside, knew the story of that hero.

The hero, who used powerful lightning magic to fight against vicious monsters, demons, and even the demon king, was featured in children’s picture books.

Jun’s house had a picture book about that hero. Since it was the only book they had, young Jun read it many times every day.

Being able to use the same lightning magic as the hero he admired would boost Jun’s confidence.

Unconsciously, Jun had already obtained the lightning magic, Thunder.

“I... I got it...”

When Jun returned home, he told Mrs. Shal about the lightning magic, Thunder.

“Wow, you even obtained lightning magic. That’s impressive.”

Mrs. Shal said that there aren’t many users of lightning magic. That’s why the hero who used it was revered and even featured in picture books.

“So, Jun can now use two attributes.”

“Two attributes?”

“Wind magic and lightning magic. It means you can use two types of elemental magic.”

Some monsters have resistance to wind attributes, and some have resistance to lightning attributes.

Therefore, being able to use two types of attributes increases the range of combat options, Mrs. Shal explained.

“However, the more I look at it, the more unbalanced your abilities seem.”

Mrs. Shal chuckled as she checked Jun’s stats.

His strength remained at 9, even at level 0, while his intelligence was at 65.

Even for a magic user, such an unbalanced ability value is rare, she said.

Throwing a net requires strength, but it’s not a big deal. Even without a skill, someone with average strength can throw a net.

Now, every CHSC point is precious. As Mrs. Shal put it, it’s time to concentrate on capital.

He could allocate CHSC points to strength when he had some spare or when it became necessary.

“Maybe I should increase dexterity a bit? But the magic consumption for Thunder is 20 points, so maybe I should increase magic power...?”

After some thought, he increased dexterity.

He had heard from Mrs. Shal that dexterity affects the accuracy of magic.

The next morning, Jun was restless. He was eager to use the Intermediate Wind Magic: Tornado and the Lightning Magic: Thunder.

“Muhahaha...”

He went outside with a suspicious smile.

Mrs. Shal, watching his back, said, “I hope he doesn’t get hurt.”

“You have to use it once you get it. Hehehe.”

He hadn’t tried the Intermediate Wind Magic: Tornado yet. Now he also had Lightning Magic: Thunder.

Thinking about it made him want to try it out. His heart raced with the desire to test it.

He entered the forest and listened for any big mosquitoes.

He heard a buzzing sound, but it was quite far away. He wouldn’t have heard it without Enhanced Hearing Level 1.

He headed in the direction of the sound. Being still inexperienced, he was a bit off in his direction and had a vague sense of distance.

“There!”

He found a cluster of big mosquitoes, as usual, swarming black.

“Huff... Thunder!”

It takes 8 seconds to activate. Those 8 seconds felt very long.

He counted the seconds by feel. Recently, he could count up to about 10 seconds with almost no error.

However, at 20 seconds, there was some error. He still needed more practice.

After 8 seconds, it happened.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

A thunderbolt, accompanied by a deafening sound, struck the surrounding trees, devastating the big mosquitoes.

Even Jun, who cast it, was momentarily blinded by the intense light.

“Wow... I’m sorry.”

The power of Intermediate Lightning Magic: Thunder was so overwhelming that he instinctively apologized. The sight of the forest’s trees being split and the ground scorched was truly awe-inspiring.

Steam rose from the trees and the ground.

Fortunately, the trees were still green, so there was no fire, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh... there are no big mosquito corpses.”

After a while, he realized that the big mosquitoes had been completely carbonized, leaving no trace. The magic stones were also destroyed.

“The magic stones were carbonized too...”

He was once again amazed by the power of Thunder.

He didn’t get hurt, but he couldn’t tell how many big mosquitoes he had killed.

However, he had already completed the basic CHSC verification.

Next, he would test the Intermediate Wind Magic: Tornado and confirm its power. That was important. So, he would turn a blind eye to the slight destruction of the forest.