Adrin decided to skip town altogether. The city was too cunning to his taste as everyone was trying to outdo everyone else all the time. He already knew this at the back of his mind but it only became clear when he almost got magically charmed by a lady. It was a weak excuse, there was no denying that, but maybe he would get some peace and quiet elsewhere.

The lady had knelt on both knees as soon as her skill had failed, and it was the reason he hadn’t reacted much. He didn’t know what he was going to do if she had tried something else. Trying to mess with the head was one thing he couldn’t tolerate.

Other customers were told to leave the shop after that happened. The average and the rich were chased out of the shop all the same.

At first, he thought things were going to turn violent, but to his relief, it wasn’t their intention after all. The lady was yelled at for trying to [Charm] him but he could tell it was an act.

The truth was, they just didn’t want him to sell the swords elsewhere. The master of the forge could tell that the blades weren’t made in the normal way. From experience, he could tell there was very little heat involved, but how it was made was still puzzling to the old man. The forge master also believed that Adrin was just a middleman as according to him, even a fool wouldn’t believe a young man had the ability or knowledge to forge such things.

But one thing was for sure, both swords were simply priceless. Even a normal sword would have been fetched with a high price, let alone the beautiful pattern that came with it.

It left Adrin in a huge pickle. If he was being blunt, he would just storm off and never be seen ever again. He needed the money, but not that much.

However, if the shop owner was willing to use [Charm] to get their hands on the swords, there was no reason for him to not do something more drastic. The man could order a city-wide manhunt and alert everyone in the city. Giving what they want with his terms was just a smarter thing to do. It would keep things relatively quiet even if he didn’t like it one bit.

Adrin had only agreed to sell them when they started to kowtow, begging for him to sell it. Of course, this was after the owner had reluctantly agreed to harsh terms.

Thirty percent sale revenue for both swords on top of two hundred gold coins, twenty bars of iron and ten copper ingots, and a [Storage] item. He didn’t think he was overcharging the folks, but still, it was already more than enough to satisfy his bruised ego or something. That kind of deal should hurt their greedy merchant heart enough.

He had asked for an [Enchanting] skill book, but his request made the merchant's face turn deathly pale. According to him, that kind of book was tightly regulated by the kingdom. No one could simply buy a skill book on the market without the [Templar]s knowing. Everyone seemed to wince when the class was named.

It was a long shot, of course, but this was how the people in power stayed in power. To get around this, he had specifically asked them to enchant the metal ring right in front of him.

Of course, the merchants had no way to know he had an [Inspiration] point available, and they were also too busy trying to please him. The excuse of being curious about it was enough for the people who were blinded by the huge profit they would make.

Adrin had to wait for the licensed [Enchanter] to come but it was worth the wait. Surely enough the option came up and Adrin silently added [Enchanting] to his skill list. The shopkeeper offered to buy a room in a well-known inn for him but he refused. He had made up his mind.

The next thing to tick in the list was finding a map, and so he headed toward the first dungeon while looking for a shop that might sell it. He found the supplies shop after walking for a while and both the much-needed map. It was then when he noticed somebody was tailing him.

Losing the trail was easy enough as he only needed to enter the back alley and activate the [Camo shell]. The guys who were following him panicked and ran right past him. Adrin waited for a few minutes before he made his way towards the gate. He zipped through the city’s back alley on [Roller Shell] while making sure he wasn’t followed.

Adrin disabled the [Shell] in a nearby empty back alley before he made his way towards the opening below the towering wall. There was only one guard snoozing in the middle of the day by the huge metal portcullis. People and carts filled with all kinds of goods filled the two lanes as they moved in and out in between the city layers unimpeded.

The other side of the thick stone wall was pretty much the same as the bustling town, but it gradually became less populated as it was further from the walls. Adrin continued his way towards the farthest layer of the city until he passed the next gate and met with vast farmlands.

The population in the farthest layer was sparse and he rarely met anyone along the way. It was here that he felt comfortable to begin his testing. Adrin deviated from the dirt road and headed toward an old-looking barn. It would be good enough to spend the night in while working on his project.

He might have cheat tools at his disposal, but still, building a legit mecha would still be a monumental task. Legit in his mind was something that didn’t involve magic other than maybe its power source. He wanted something which wasn’t heavily dependent on the spell glyphs or [Enchanting] to function. It was a tall order but there was a reason behind it.

There was a chance all magic stuff could be countered. Namely, anti-magic. Every fantasy would have something similar to the concept. Something that could nullify magic usage making it totally useless. It could come in the form of unique talent, kingdom secrets, or even monsters.

But caught unprepared, it usually meant a swift demise or capture, and he would rather avoid such circumstances. Although different, he already learned his lesson with the shop lady.

Regardless, a reliable mecha was a concern for a later time because he needed something usable right now. If he waited until he was able to produce such a complicated machine, he might be dead before he could even make it. This was a dangerous world filled with monsters after all.

He arrived at the barn and as he expected, it was empty and appeared to be abandoned for some reason. There were a few places where the walls were broken and the place was dusty as hell. No sign of anything had been here for a long time and broken boards were everywhere.

It was perfect. Now he just needed enough hay to sleep on.

Adrin wished he could work on his powered fist first, but he just could sit well before he got this problem out of his head. He needed to feel safe. He needed a weapon.

An anti-anti-magic weapon, or in the longer term, a weapon that still could work if anti-magic existed. One powerful enough to gain leverage against skill-powered people.

But first and foremost, his own [Lightning Flux] skill. The key to this was the combination between spinning [Shell] and [Metallurgy].

He made two hand-sized thin cylinders of slightly different [Metal Shell]. The magnetized [Iron Shell] would spin while the [Copper Shell] beside it would remain stationary. Aligning the magnetic domain was trivial by using [Metallurgy] as the planet itself would help to create it. Unlike the ancient technique, he could align the magnetic domain without much effort.

What was left was casting the third [Metal Shell] with his other hand and spinning the [Iron Shell] to build enough electric change. It took a while before he could feel it on his skin. The hairs on his hand stood up as enough negative charge built in the specially designed [Copper Shell].

Adrin slowly brought his hands together.

A bolt of lightning leaped from one [Iron Shell] to the other with a flash of light when it was close enough. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

Lightning Flux acquired.

Lightning Flux [Level 1], +8% Lightning Affinity.

||

Elemental Affinity discovered.

Lightning Affinity [28%]

“Goddammit, yes!” Adrin cheered as he dispelled the [Shells].

He activated the skill and an arch of lightning jumped between his hands. He no longer needed to use the [Shell], and for some reason, the flash created by the unnatural lighting was significantly less bright. A crazy idea came to him similar to the blue flame, but maybe could only be done with [Air] element-based skill.

Nevertheless, it took him some time to celebrate his success before all the excitement escaped him. Adrin played with his self-made [Lightning] until he was satisfied. He learned that he only could use it at the melee range and still needed the [Bolt] spell to make it ranged.

Now for the next phase of his crazy plan. It was time to make use of the combination of [Shell], [Metallurgy], and [Lightning Flux] to weaponize his skills. He had to choose the simple option and he liked simple things.

All he needed was two long [Metal Shell] and it's metal projectile. The next step was simply gathering enough mana to turn into electricity by using [Lighting Flux].

Of course, the whole thing was very basic as hell right now, but he made it only for proof of concept. He had to know if Lorentz’s force worked here too.

That’s right, he was trying to make a magitech Railgun.

It would be ideal to have a target, but he didn’t want to accidentally hit anything but monsters. It also would be better to have large caliber bullets which would have greater stopping power. A blunt head would serve him well if he wanted to keep the peace, but for this test, he only used a small-caliber bullet.

He knew he was pushing the boundary of [Shell] spell glyph as the spell had failed a few times while in the [Spell Scribe] space. It took him hours to figure out that he didn’t need it to have a physical form as it only needed to conduct electricity along the rail and nothing else. It was already past midnight by the time he had a working experimental magical Railgun.

Adrin headed outside to take a shoot in the dark and took a stance and prepared for the expected recoil. A thumb-sized metal bullet hovered in front of his palm as he aimed. The best target was the sky past the outer wall.

Adrin gathered mana from his surroundings as he prayed to the physic’s God. He built up the charge until the electricity began to jolt wildly on his arm.

A loud bang echoed as he took the shot. The bullet broke the sound barrier.

His jaw would have dropped to the ground if he was a cartoon character. The railgun had worked as he had suspected, but he wasn’t that surprised by the proof of the theory.

Adrin was stumped by the announcement that came after that.

Primordial Element detected.

[Magni Flux] skill acquired.

Magni affinity acquired, Magni affinity at 45%.

||

Recalibrating Lightning Affinity.

Lightning Affinity at 59%.

||

Recalibrating Metal Affinity.

Metal Affinity at 73%.

||

Tier 3 class unlocked - Primordial Mage.

‘Did I just get a magnetic-based skill after generating electromagnetic fields? Should I turn into a villain now?’ Adrin mused with a smile.

“Are you sure about this God?” he joked to himself and opened his status.

Name: Adrin || Age:17 || Villager [level 5]

Life: 50/50 || Stamina: 100/100 || Mana: 20/?

||

Select a new class [5].

||

Inspiration points remaining: [1]

||

Strength: 6 || Intelligence: 16 || Agility: 5

Willpower: 17 || Perception: 3 || Dexterity: 5

Endurance: 4 || Vigor: 5

||

--Affinity list--

Metal [73], Crystal [54], Lightning [59], Magni [45]

||

--Ability list--

Bodybuilding [3], Arithmetic [5], Melee weapons [1], Spearfishing [1],

Marksmanship [1], Mana Sense [5], Crafting [2], Cooking [1],

Farming [1], Lascivious [1], Mathematics [1].

||

--Skill list--

Hack [1], Throw [1], Aim Assist [2], Sneak [3], Metallurgy [3],

Crystal Meld [2], Mana Meld [6], Spell Scribe [2], Enchanting [1],

Lightning Flux [1], Magni Flux [1].

||

--Spell list--

[Cleanse], [Shell], [Candle], [Torch], [Fireball], [Bolt]

In hindsight, he should be running away too because of the loud sound he had just made. Adrin used his [Roller Shell] and fled from the spot. He was lucky because the final layer was vast and had a lot of places he could hide.

‘So much for a good night's sleep,’ he chuckled.