Wicked! Could Downs Really Be a Genius?

I taught you the physics concept of voltage, and you went and comprehended [Electric Claw]?

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

You are absolutely the worst... the most wicked batch of students I've ever taught!

Lein stared speechlessly as Downs waved the crackling claws in his hand like he was showing off treasure. The way he looked like a child with a new toy made him seem exactly like Wolverine after getting Adamantium claws.

Downs excitedly raked the ground a few times. After the Electric Claws passed over it, crisscrossing parallel claw marks immediately appeared. Not only did they sink more than ten centimeters into the earth, but they were also covered in scorch marks.

If one did not look closely, even an experienced hunter might mistake them for traces left behind by some lightning magical beast on a rampage.

"Master! Master! Does this mean... I passed?" Once the excitement faded, Downs jogged over, looking nervously at Lein. It was obvious that he longed for his master's praise.

After flipping the table in his heart in fury, Lein cursed inwardly while keeping a solemn expression on his face.

"Hah! That's it?" Lein slapped the "blackboard," making the entire wall tremble. "The concept of [Voltage] can be extended into no fewer than a hundred thousand applications. You've only mastered one tiny application and you're already pleased with yourself. You still have a long way to go."

He truly was not making that up, nor was he deliberately exaggerating.

This was physics, not magic!

But to Downs, it sounded like the principles of voltage could be extended into a hundred thousand kinds of magic.

Downs's still-immature heart was immediately shaken once more, and a feeling of looking up at a towering mountain arose within him.

Master Lein truly deserved to be called the strongest Archmage in legend!

Amid his shock, he clenched his fists, his blood boiling. He could not wait to master even stronger Lightning Magic and draw closer to the master he regarded as practically divine!

Downs's expression turned solemn as he bowed. "Master's reprimand is correct. I was too shallow-minded."

At that moment, Lein stopped putting on a stern face. Instead, he took Downs's blackened right hand and sighed. "Your hand went numb just now, didn't it?"

"Ah!" Downs had not noticed until Lein mentioned it. At first, he had thought it was simply an unavoidable effect of magic, but upon paying closer attention, it really was numb and prickling with pain.

This [Electric Claw] thing could hurt its user too?

Lein looked at his blank-faced disciple and was completely speechless.

Before it could claw anyone else, it would electrocute its owner to death first. Was its defining trait self-destruction?

Fortunately, the kid's injury was not serious. Perhaps he truly had the rumored lightning resistance. Only the skin around his nails and fingers looked charred; the flesh itself had not been harmed.

After helping Downs treat it a little, Lein wordlessly changed the lesson plan.

He slapped the blackboard. "We'll pause the lesson on electrical principles. First, we'll have [Electrical Safety Training]."

"Master, you're so good to me."

"No! I just don't want to watch you die in front of me. If you really want to die, die as far away as possible. Don't let me see it." Heaven knew that Lein meant every word from the bottom of his heart. After accepting Downs as his disciple, Lein felt that this suicidal idiot would scare him to death sooner or later.

Downs thought, As expected, Master is soft-hearted beneath that sharp tongue!

"Master, woo woo woo..."

"You're a grown man, why the hell are you crying? You really are the worst batch I've ever taught!" Lein could not help but curse.

Downs was probably a masochist. The more Lein scolded him, the happier he looked.

Perhaps it was because he could keep improving in such a short time.

Progress was a kind of positive psychological feedback.

When one could feel oneself improving, all the hardship, frustration, and pain one had endured would transform completely into the sweetness of victory at the moment of success.

As a fine young materialist, Lein truly did not think much of this enlightenment-based approach.

Lein habitually started piling on armor for himself again. "There is a limit to a person's ability to comprehend. Some people can still accept new things and learn new knowledge and skills even when they are old. Others will stagnate once they reach a certain point. If one day you can no longer continue learning, don't blame me, and don't blame yourself. It will only mean that your talent goes no further."

"Ah?" Downs cried out softly.

You got lucky with this wicked nonsense once. Could you really take the crooked path every time, comprehend the trick on your own every time, and keep leveling up?

Lein was the first one who did not believe it!

Standing with his hands behind his back in the gusting wind, Lein naturally carried an unfathomable air about him. "A master is only someone who guides you to the door. As they say, 'A master leads you to the door; cultivation depends on the individual.' I've brought you in. What you ultimately learn will depend on your own Comprehension."

Downs nodded vigorously. "I understand, Master! But I think that until the day I die, I will never give up."

"..."

You really have it out for the South Wall, don't you? You have to smash through it before you'll turn back?

Lein felt like he was about to be angered to death.

Fine!

Anyway, I've made myself clear beforehand. If you bite the dust someday, it won't be my problem.

Thus, after Lein taught him a set of electrical safety Rules, Downs unusually raised a question. "Master, does that mean that as long as I find an insulator, I can block lightning?"

"That's right! But insulators are not absolute. Against a stronger electric shock, they can still be broken through." Lein looked at the now-clear sky and noticed that it was already late morning. "All right, that's enough for this morning's lesson."

"Master, what are you going to do?"

"Fish, of course! Otherwise, what are we going to eat?"

With that, Lein patted his butt and left, leaving Downs standing there, still wanting more as he muttered to himself.

"Even if Master doesn't say it, he definitely hopes that I'll become an Archmage. Even if I can't shatter stars like a god in the future, I at least have to be able to call down heavenly lightning with a casual gesture like Master. Otherwise, how could I be worthy of being Master's successor?"

"As for comprehending magic, Master said that it isn't something persistence and talent alone can achieve. Others can comprehend a hundred thousand spells. I... I'm a little stupid, so maybe I'll start with a hundred?"

"Master said that air is also an insulator, but Wind Element is not merely air. Then if I let the air block things on the outside while controlling the Wind Element from a distance, wouldn't I avoid getting electrocuted?"

Once the thought occurred to him, Downs immediately acted on it. He closed his eyes and began his self-taught version of [Meditation]. Faintly, he resonated with the Wind Element in the surrounding atmosphere, continuously imagining, Wind is wind, lightning is lightning. Wind and lightning are two different things.

This method of relying on mental intent was a little too idealistic.

In fact, progress was extremely slow at first. Until, at a certain moment, the mass of air floating a meter in front of him suddenly gave him a strange sensation, as though its bones had been pulled out, leaving only its skin.

Although it was not his own body being pulled apart, Downs could still feel the vague magic power within him being forcibly split into two kinds.

The feeling was rather unpleasant!

Yet Downs continued to grit his teeth and persevere.

"Master said that everything depends on comprehension! This must be comprehension."

Under the blazing sun, the mutation of the magic power in Downs's body left him numb and itchy all over, mixed with stabbing pain, as though hundreds of ants were biting into his flesh.

If it were Lein, he would probably have regarded this as a magical version of qi deviation.

Yet Downs persisted, determined to separate the Wind Element into ordinary air and the so-called [Thunder Element].

He gritted his teeth and held on, his gaze resolute.

Not long after, Lein, who was fishing by the Cold Pool, suddenly received a notification.

[Congratulations, Host. Your Eldest Disciple has independently created a level 2 Protection Magic (Lightning and Arrow Shield)!]

Lein's Kryptonite Dog Eye widened. "No—way—"