Chapter 168: Spell Calculations On The Fly
Its maw snapped shut like a chrysanthemum, but the prize it had expected to snatch out of the air was still out of its reach.
It let out a mad groan, dropping back down to the ground as Zephyr looked on.
His heartbeat was drumming in his ears at this point.
How had he done that?!
The wind speeds of the sandstorm presently were nowhere near something he could manage to wield to that extent.
He had simply thought of floating higher, and in that moment he had felt he could do it. He had felt the currents. Felt the flow... instinctively.
And his mana node had gone to work... making minute calculations and corrections to actualize his intentions.
It was his ALU!
Zephyr realized it was his ALU.
There was no way the previous him would’ve been able to pull something like that off without having an ALU to make the minute calculations required.
He had thought his ALU’s function would mainly be combining spells... but it seemed its calculation functions were not limited to that.
It had effectively used the right amount of wind magic at every millisecond, reacting to the wild, unpredictable flow of the wind around him to actualize his will of floating higher.
If that was the case... Then he could still make it out of this dire situation alive.
Just as he thought this, his HUD status panel brought up a list of spell suggestions based on his newfound control.
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PREEMPTIVE SPELL SUGGESTIONS
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Primary Attack Path :Wind + Sand Based Attacks.
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Amplified Wind Blast : Use the storm’s natural energy to manipulate and focus the existing hurricane-force winds into a powerful, concentrated blast of wind to attack the enemy.
Sand Spear : Use the abundant sand particles and shape them into a directed, high-velocity piercing round of sand to attack the enemy.
Hurricane Shield : Weave a protective vortex from the surrounding winds to deflect projectiles and deflect the worst of the storm’s force while maintaining a small, relatively calm area at the center for follow-up casting.
Note : Requires precise calculations. May be beyond current ALU calculation capacity...
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Secondary Attack Path : Static Discharge Attack.
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Chain Lightning Discharge : Harness the massive amount of static electricity generated by the sandstorm from the friction of sand colliding at high speeds.
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"Fuck yeah!" Zephyr yelled into the thundering sandstorm as he guided himself through the air, weaving through currents like a fish in water.
’Which attack path should I go for first...?’ he thought as he stared below for any sign of the monstrous worm’s lunge.
He still felt a sense of danger, so he knew it was still after him.
"That thing is like a big slab of watery mass." Zephyr mused. He could feel the static charge that was in the air. That attack path appealed to him more. It was easily accessible and seemed like something that wouldn’t take too much of his ALU resources to actualize.
One had to bear in mind that his mana node was already making calculations to keep him afloat stably. So if he needed to attack, it should be an option that wouldn’t tax him too much.
He sent his intention to his mana node, feeling the static in the air outside his mana barrier begin to build up as he flew through the air.
’I’m moving too fast...’ he frowned slightly, slowing himself down by coasting on ’weaker’ currents to be able to better manage the static flowing past him in the air.
The air began to buzz, lighting up with small sparks as he streaked through.
The small sparks started to turn into full blown cracks that traveled through the air like a web of snakes, lighting up the darkness of the sandstorm with an azure blue light.
The flashes became more incessant, with lightning streaking through the air every second now... all converging on his moving position like a beacon...
But Zephyr wasn’t satisfied.
This wasn’t enough. The power wasn’t enough.
He wanted something that would pack enough power to end the monster in one strike...
So he kept building even more... charging up the air even further... feeling his mana node begin to strain at the constant calculations, influencing the static in the air to become charged as he moved...
Till the point where Zephyr’s mana barrier started to glow with a constant light of being charged by lightning.
It morphed from its colorless state to a rapidly hotter orange plasma as the exterior liquefied from the heat of the lightning converging around it.
"Damn!" Zephyr’s hair stood up in alarm as even behind the mana barrier, he could already feel the deadly might of the charged electricity streaking right outside.
He reinforced his mana barrier, trying to build up the power even more...
Until he knew he couldn’t go further anymore...
He needed release.
And just like clockwork, the monstrous worm reared its head again, lunging straight at Zephyr, who didn’t bother to evade at all.
He channeled every web of lightning, from every corner of the charged sandstorm, directly to a single point... and let it loose...
For a brief moment, there was a lull of silence... until a deafening crack that overshadowed the roar of the sandstorm tore through the air.
A thick, blinding pillar of lightning streaked down at the monstrous worm like a god’s vengeance... ionizing the air and flash-turning the flitting sand in its path into molten glass.
It thundered down at the monstrous worm, striking its head and pushing it backwards like it had physical weight.
It seared through the creature’s flabby body, sizzling every liquid and fat within an instant... lighting it up like a glowing orange bulb that cut through the darkness of sandstorm visibly.
The monstrous worm’s entire body convulsed violently, even all the way to the rest of it buried underneath the sand. It let out a pained, guttural shriek that Zephyr felt more than heard.
He had been flung backwards from the shockwave of the impact despite being a distance away.
He had only just stabilized, only to see the havoc he had wreaked.
It was a terrifying display of natural force... way beyond what anyone in his Tier, or even a few Tiers above him should ever be capable of.
"Fuuck!" Zephyr whispered partly in fear, and partly in excitement. "There’s no way it’s surviving that..."
The bright display dimmed after a few seconds, before disappearing like nothing had ever happened. Only the shriveled up, falling mass that was once the monstrous worm being the only tell of the intense show of energy.
Zephyr floated in the air with his heart pounding, riding the now weakened sandstorm currents to a higher height and circling around the battle site to prevent himself from being carried further away.
He had done it.
He took a deep, shaky breath as the air buzzed with a low after-static.
The creature was dead... and he was safe.