"To control lightning like a limb, one must first teach the body to speak in volts."
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Kai hunched over his workbench, a single copper wire held delicately between tweezers as he squinted through a cracked magnifier lens he had made from old smithing googles he found near the smith shop.
Outside, the sky churned with the promise of snow again during this winter season. How he wished for summer already. Inside, the soft whirl of his workshop's ventilation crystal buzzed like a lazy wasp.
The Arc Boots were a success, for the most part. Functional, efficient, flashy, but they still required manual control.
Too slow.
If he wanted to fight, dodge, and move at the speed of thought, he needed something else. Something deeper.
Something wired in.
He tapped a small copper ring against the side of his Interface Band and opened a fresh blueprint log. He has come to realize that he could use this band for more then just stats and vitals, he could save blueprint or concepts HE created not his system Blueprint.
[Concept Design – Sparknet v0.1]
Purpose: Create a distributed node system linking muscle nerves to lightning constructs via micro-rune circuitry
Function: Reflex-speed interface with constructs (boots, gloves, weapons)
Materials Required:
Micro-inscribed copper disks (x4)
Insulation gel (x2 vials)
Pulse conductor thread (x2 rolls)
Skin-safe mana glue
Lightning Node Sync Rune
Minimum Rune Accuracy: 95%
Installation Sites: Base of spine, wrists, ankles
Kai cracked his knuckles and exhaled.
"This is going to hurt, isn't it?" he muttered, already knowing the answer. "Well no pain when creating a tech future for a place that never even heard of A/C or Heater."
[Blueprint: At current pain threshold rating, discomfort probability is 83%. Please do not faint on your own floor again.]
"That was one time," he grumbled. "And it was a surprise arc to the kneecap, not my fault."
He started with the disks, each no bigger than a button. Carefully, he engraved the Lightning Node Sync Rune onto their surface, using his finest needle under a lens enhanced with a light-reflecting rune he saw and studied at the smithy, they used it on their googles for when dealing with the forges. The new rune itself was simple in shape but crazy sensitive to pressure. One wrong tremor, and the copper would crack.
It cracked.
Twice.
Kai swore under his breath, reset, and finally finished one disk with a 96.2% rune accuracy. He did a little victory pump with his fist, then winced as his wrist spasmed from focus strain.
Three more disks followed, each taking longer as fatigue crept in, but he finished them without additional failure. He then carefully strung pulse conductor thread from each disk to a central junction node roughly the size of a silver coin.
This would be installed at the base of his spine, connecting the Sparknet like a second nervous system.
The irony wasn't lost on him: he was voluntarily wiring lightning into his actual nerves.
Once assembled, he unbuttoned his shirt, retrieved the vial of insulation gel, and began smearing it along key points on his skin where the disks would sit. It tingled at first, then burned like mint set on fire.
He took a deep breath, affixed each disk one by one, then anchored the junction node to the small of his back with a wince.
The Modular Interface Band buzzed.
[New Construct Detected: Sparknet v0.1]
[System Note: Warning – direct nerve interfacing engaged.]
[Risk Level: High | Benefit: Reflex latency reduced by 67%]
A tiny tremor ran up his spine as the disks activated.
For a terrifying moment, Kai's legs went numb.
Then the sensation flooded back, accompanied by the awareness of new channels of energy. It wasn't like feeling mana move in his mind. It was external, lightning circuits piggybacking on real nerves, whispering commands like phantom thoughts.
He lifted his hand and triggered a spark from his fingertip.
It flared out instantly, faster than before. No effort. No focus.
Just intent.
His jaw dropped. "That… is awesome."
[Blueprint: Reflex latency test successful. Response time improved. Integration with Arc Boots possible.]
Kai slipped on his Arc Boots, once they made contact with the Sparknet disks on his ankles a jolt went through his body. Not one of pain, one that felt like his body extended, got stronger. Jumping a little up and down in place he smiled then he sprinted forward, this time letting Sparknet fire the movement reflex through his legs. The boots jolted with energy, propelling him forward so fast he almost lost control.
He stumbled, face-first, into a snowbank.
Muffled cursing.
Then laughter.
He sat up, shaking snow from his hair.
"Totally worth it."
Tuning the Sparknet was next, it was made but not perfect not to him, always fine tune your constructs.
Over the next few hours, Kai ran tuning routines:
Rapid stop-start sprints to test nerve lag
Muscle resistance tests using weighted gloves
Lightning-triggered jump reflexes (some of which resulted in spectacular landings in the snow)
He tracked each result meticulously, scribbling performance logs into his journal with half-frozen fingers.
"Jump reflex: improved. Left knee still lags by 0.2s. Possible grounding issue."
"Right boot surge delayed—check capacitor lag."
"Sparknet now routes correctly through lower back, but too much voltage fries glute circuits. Do NOT repeat."
His Interface blinked again.
[Lightning Affinity Integration: 8%]
[Stat Gain – Agility +1 | Mana Control +1]
[XP Gained: +10]
[Total System XP: 70 / 150]
He paused, panting, and stared at the glow of his lightning sparking between his fingertips.
The arcs now shimmered silver-violet, deeper and more vivid than just a day ago. Occasionally, when his focus peaked, faint golden rings danced near the tips.
There was a long pause.
Then Blueprint answered—almost thoughtfully.
Lightning Color Spectrum correlates to Integration, Stability, and Specialization potential.
Pale Blue: Wild and untrainedWhite-Blue: Basic control establishedSilver: Stable discharge, nearing elemental refinementViolet: High-precision control; rare among normal cultivatorsArc-Gold: Indicates elemental upgrade path or latent specialization (e.g., Chain Lightning, Magnetic Pulse, Arc Constructs)
Kai raised an eyebrow. "And I'm already brushing into violet?"
[Blueprint: Affirmative. Your integration is accelerating due to methodical testing, physical adaptation, and Sparknet augmentation. Caution is advised—Affinity Saturation may occur before you're ready.]
"...Wait, what's Affinity Saturation?"
[When an element becomes so dominant in your system that it destabilizes other disciplines. You'd be like a living lightning rod—with all the drawbacks.]
"Noted," he muttered. "So if I want to survive long enough to invent Arc-Gold underpants, I should pace myself."
[Wise choice.]
Kai flopped down onto a moss-covered boulder near the edge of the clearing. The air had shifted less like storm energy and more like winter breath. His circuits buzzed pleasantly beneath his skin, and he could feel the Sparknet pulsing in rhythm with his thoughts.
This was progress. This was control.
For once, he wasn't just reacting to this world's rules,he was rewriting them.
As he gazed toward the tree line, something flickered in the corner of his vision.
A shadow moved quick, deliberate, and silent.
He stood slowly and moved to where he saw the movement.
Nothing there.
No noise. No footprints. Just the wind whispering through the frost-bitten brush.
But his Sparknet flared.
Instinct warned him: he was being watched.