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Hocus, Pocus, Hypothesis 132
🕑 Added 2025-11-05 18:00:18 +0000 UTCOn the day of the party, Orion felt surprisingly energized. He had been spending a lot of time and effort lately improving his spell arsenal, bringing it up to standard, and he was finally starting to gain confidence in his ability to hold his own, even once they left the city.
“I just need to get through the non-light spells, and I’ll be done,” he muttered, pacing around his lab. The urge to skip it and go straight to the SDGs was strong, but he knew he would have to spend a lot of time reworking the code base before he could get to the actual forging, not to mention obtaining the necessary materials.
No, he first needed to finish his review, then he could start adding new stuff to the table.
His light spells were all finished. The last one added to the docket had been [Light Exoskeleton], but apart from a few efficiency tweaks, there wasn’t much he needed to do to improve it. The spell’s enhancement was much greater now, but that was mainly due to his extra Body stats rather than any changes he made.
The insight I gained about physical enhancement from the lizards is a little too risky to mess with now, but I might be able to incorporate it down the line.
Still, it earned him a few more experience points, and now he was reasonably sure he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by a speed-based enemy again.
I haven’t forgotten what happened on the boat to Valderun. Just because we survived doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take precautions to stop it from happening again.
What remained could be divided into three groups. First were the other elemental magics: the basic fire-making spell, the warming charm, [Wind Push], and other minor variations.
After that, he would move on to the metamagics, and finally, his own unique spells, like antigravity and the really complex stuff like [Null Light], which he had already started working on and could wait a while until he got used to what he was now capable of.
The basic elemental magics probably would never be Orion’s main focus, but he still took some time to review their formulas.
“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue at the sloppy mess. Even a single cycle with [Hypotheticism] let him know that these spells were incredibly inefficient, as they were essentially basic physical concepts forced to work as formulas.
That had been a crude approach, if an understandable one, given that he lacked a framework for what magic was in the first place, much less how to make it as effective as possible.
Still, that was no reason to leave them as they were. He only needed to run a few more iterations to start dismantling them, applying the basic principles that worked, but expanding the scope and turning even initially limited magics into potentially useful ones.
For [Warm], he decided to abandon the basic friction used to create the original version and incorporated some of his light-magic insights. He based it on infrared radiation, with a small convective aid to achieve complete saturation of an area as quickly as possible.
A proportional–integral–derivative controller, or PID, maintained the temperature smoothly without constant manual adjustments, adapting to external factors and preventing excessive spikes of mana.
Lastly, he added a guardrail to prevent the heat from surpassing the environmental flashpoint margin, which he linked to the appearance of sweat. It was somewhat simplistic, but compared to the original spell, it was a significant improvement. It used less mana, avoided hot flashes, and could even run stealthily, as long as he wasn’t being tracked by monsters with infrared vision, which, given his luck, was quite possible.
The final formula “WARM(ΔT, target) = Radiant(IR, Φ=α·ΔT) ⊕ Convective(ν=β·ΔT) ∘ AutoTune({εtarget, airflow}) ∘ PID(ΔT; T→0); METRIC={σT, dT/dt, HR_sweat}; STOP={T_target > Flashpoint_env−δ ∨ HR_sweat > θ ∨ O₂ < θ_O2}” was designed to be easily achievable both manually and through the CC or any other crystal medium. He suspected it would be a good first attempt to teach his friends at the Sanctum without exposing them to potentially blasphemous theories on light mana.
The System rewarded him with ten thousand exp, which, while not enough to reach the next level, was still a significant amount to earn in just twenty minutes of work.
Building on that success, he focused on [Ember], which, if anything, was an even more basic spell. “F = -ΔH_comb” was what he’d settled on back in the Sanctum, and it had helped him summon tiny flames—just enough to light a fire for cooking—but once again, it lacked refinement. It was simply an expression of his understanding of the process needed to create fire, with almost no control to turn it into a true ember.
“There’s also the fact that working on basic spells like this keeps giving me more ideas for higher magics. I’m not going to start working on explosive fireballs now, but if I wanted to, I’d already be halfway there. It’s just more efficient to do it this way,” Orion told himself, not even bothering to sound convincing.
[Ember] was finalized as “EMBER(seedΩ) = Ignite(T_seed,Ω≈1cm^3)∘PyrolysisGate(O₂∈[θ₁,θ₂])∘Contain(∇T≤κ, spark_escape≤ε)∘SelfQuench(wind>υ ∨ T>cap); METRIC={Odraw,∇T,sparkcount}; STOP={O₂<θ₁ ∨ T>cap ∨ spark_escape>ε}”, which not only produced a coin-sized spark that fulfilled the spell’s core purpose but also maintained constant control to prevent excessive fuel consumption. This also had the side effect of preventing it from causing larger explosions if it came into contact with volatile substances, as was common in potion-making.
A few extra safety features made sure the spell would fail rather than go wrong, even in the worst cases. It might have been a bit much, since Orion could easily put out a fire with his magic if needed, but adding a few more lines to the spell didn't matter much for mana efficiency now, given his B-rank Manipulation skill.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION!
+11.212 Exp
That done, Orion shifted to air-based spells, which would easily allow him to switch to kinetic magic. [Wind Push] was the first and most aggressive of the basic applications he was practicing today.
His first instinct was to expand the formula to produce more output. That was what he had seen many others do with wind magic, and while it wasn’t necessarily a bad approach if it was their main method of attack, it wasn’t what he wanted it to do.
No, the rare times when [Wind Push] was useful to Orions were when he needed to clear an area of debris quickly or deliver a precise, if blunt, blow to an enemy.
That was why he added an underlying impulse (Δp) to shape the spell into a cone of air, a Laminar Bias and Shear Limiter to prevent it from dispersing too quickly. Finally, an Exclude function stopped the spell from affecting items outside its immediate range, and a Backflow Clamp aborted the cast if the spell ever rebounded, as wind tended to do when it hit a solid object with enough anchoring, like a wall.
Two more iterations were assembled and then torn apart, until he achieved a result that met his specific needs.
“WIND_PUSH(J,cone)=Impart(Δp=J;volume=cone)∘LaminarBias(ω→0)∘ShearLimiter(τ≤τ*)∘Exclude({self,allies,fragiles})∘BackflowClamp(β); METRIC={Δp,ω,τ,drift}; STOP={backflow>β ∨ collateral>ε ∨ Δp_out<η}”
Orion pointed his fingers, pulling from the Local Field just enough to run through the formula for real this time, and was satisfied to find it worked exactly as in his simulations.
A cone of air slammed into the lab wall with enough force to knock over a troll, but still cut off completely before affecting anything else in the room.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION!
+9.800 Exp
With a satisfied nod, he turned to the last spell he planned to work on for the day. [Clean Air] was not something he had adapted from any specific spell, as he had yet to be taught it, but he developed it after observing his mother work on her potions, especially the protections she put up.
The brews he’d been taught at the Sanctum were only moderately dangerous, and unless someone deliberately went out of their way to mess them up, they likely wouldn’t release toxic fumes. But that was definitely not the case for Asteria, whose potions could kill a person with just a breath, even if that wasn’t the intended effect.
Such was the concentration of mana and reagents that even the byproducts could be harmful.
Thus, the [Clean Air] spell.
The initial version only handled fumes, but he quickly started adding more parts, including filters for spores and bacteria. Viruses were probably beyond him at this stage, at least for a spell that would be constantly running in the background while he was out adventuring. Still, he was hopeful that the convection effect would reduce any exposure.
Thinking about it, it was pretty foolish to go into that cave without preparation. I mean, mom was there, and she could have healed just about anything, but it’s not a good habit to develop. This will be useful.
A few more iterations allowed him to add controls for humidity and oxygen levels, though this was more out of thoroughness than any real need, since he was fairly confident his body was now resilient enough to operate in very poor environments. Finally, he added a function to keep sound muffled inside, which he could toggle off at will.
He probably didn't see himself as particularly stealthy, but even he knew that sometimes, being discreet is smarter. That’s how "CLEAN_AIR(zone)=Flow(zone)→{Cyclone(κ)▸Electrostatic(χ)▸UV(UV)}⊗Adsorb(VOCs; ζ)⊗HumidityClamp(h∈[h₁,h₂])⊗O₂Guard(≥θO2)∘NoiseMask(≤ψ); METRIC={PM₂.₅/₁₀, particles, VOC, h, O₂}; STOP={O₂<O2 ∨ h∉[h₁,h₂] ∨ UVleak>ε}” was created.
The difference when the spell went online wasn’t very significant, but that was because the embassy’s wards were already doing much of the work to keep the air clean.
It was still noticeable enough that he smiled with pride as the System pinged him again, finally rewarding him with the level he had been chasing all day.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION!
+12.500 Exp
Level up!
“Damn, that took a while.” he complained, although he knew it wasn’t really true. In the second tier, many people could go months, if not years, without earning a level, although this was more common toward the upper end of the tier.
Right now, Orion was still adjusting to his newfound power. Soon, all the easy wins would be achieved, and he’d be back to working hard.
That didn’t scare him, though. It simply meant he had to push himself even harder, and fortunately, he had several projects that were capable of doing just that in the works.
“Orion!” he heard from outside and sighed. Zania had taken care of everything for the party, but he still needed to check that everything was in order.
Just because the girl was an opportunist and wanted to sleep with them now that Asteria didn’t need to stay as Yue’s apprentice, it didn’t mean she could be trusted.
“Coming!” he yelled back before taking a moment to put his lab in a loose semblance of order, and deciding that fixing kinetic spells would be his next priority. They promised to be the most useful of all, and he didn’t doubt they would become some of his favorites once he got the hang of using them smoothly.
Once he finished, he left the lab and found the fiery redhead waiting with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, she didn’t enjoy being made to work for others. Too bad. She pissed outside the toilet, so now she has to clean it up.
“Let’s go,” he said instead of addressing her annoyance, and although she rolled her eyes, she still dutifully followed him out of the embassy and into its gardens.
There, the spatial magic released its hold on them, allowing them to walk at a more normal pace. “Is everything going well, even with the added seat?” he asked.
Zania nodded, “Of course. I am a prodigy; setting up a garden party is nothing compared to some of the rituals Elder Yue assigned to me.”
Orion hummed, not answering, but he couldn’t help but make a noise of surprise when he saw the space she had prepared.
“Told you so,” she said smugly, and for once, he wasn’t annoyed.
Comments
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapter.
