Chapter 167 – Lightning Invocation

Chapter 167 – Lightning Invocation

“The Lightning Invocation is both an attack spell and a support spell.

The lightning it summons isn’t ordinary lightning formed from thunder elemental force, but rather heavenly thunder imbued with the essence of natural law — within its formidable destructive power lies a sliver of vitality.

As an attack spell, it’s more lethal than ordinary lightning magic. Moreover, like holy light magic, it deals bonus damage against dark creatures.

As a support spell, when used in small, controlled doses with precise force, combined with energy specialized for the Lightning Invocation, it can be used to temper the body.

The only drawback is that using it for body tempering is extremely painful, and it must be used in conjunction with healing methods.”

Amisha continued her introduction: “I mostly use it as attack magic. Casting it requires specific hand seals and an incantation.”

As she spoke, she put away her Wand, then formed hand seals with both hands while chanting: “Mother of Lightning, Father of Thunder, descend your divine power swiftly, aid me in banishing pain — boom, boom, boom, boom!”

The sky above the training grounds abruptly shifted from clear to overcast, and a bolt of purple-black lightning as thick as an arm crashed down with a thunderous roar, striking a large boulder in the distance. The rock instantly shattered into pieces.

The destructive power was truly staggering.

But Mo Lan was more curious about the incantation Lady Amisha had recited. It was spoken in the witch tongue, but why did it mention the Father of Thunder and Mother of Lightning? Since the Divine Descent Era, the Continent of Valen had no beings referred to as gods, let alone any Father of Thunder or Mother of Lightning.

Earth, on the other hand… had similar legends.

“Oh, that! The Father of Thunder and Mother of Lightning are the honorific titles that the otherworld where the Lightning Invocation originated uses for the laws governing lightning. The people of that world liked to personify natural laws and revere them as deities,” Amisha explained.

It sounded even more like Earth now. Although Earth had no transcendent beings, it had plenty of legends about gods and immortals. “Headmistress, what’s the name of that otherworld?”

Amisha: “The Minor Arcane Realm.”

“The Minor Arcane Realm!” Mo Lan had thought it might be Earth.

Perhaps it was a world with a culture similar to Earth’s.

Mo Lan thought to herself.

“By the way, Headmistress, what does it look like when the Lightning Invocation is used as support magic for body tempering?” Mo Lan asked.

Judging by its attack power, the Lightning Invocation could be made into an offensive magic card just like Bone-Clinging Fire. She needed to also evaluate its supplementary body-tempering capabilities.

“Well… I’ve only tried it once myself. The transcendent beings from the Minor Arcane Realm use it much more frequently.”

Amisha recalled her own experience using the Lightning Invocation for body tempering and truly did not want to try it again. Seeing the curious look in Mo Lan’s eyes, she tentatively suggested:

“How about… I demonstrate it on you?”

“Me?” Mo Lan immediately recognized a trap when she heard one and shook her head at once. “I’ll pass, Headmistress. This is your own spell, and even you won’t use it on yourself — do you think anyone else would want to buy it?”

“Of course people would buy it! Valen is full of transcendent beings with poor magical talent who try all sorts of methods to temper their bodies. And those ascetic practitioners would definitely love this too,” Amisha said confidently.

These people had little energy at their disposal to begin with. Spending a large amount of permanent Mana to buy spells was something they’d be reluctant to do, and even if they bought them, they wouldn’t be able to cast large-scale magic. But spending one-time Mana to buy a card with magical effects — that they’d certainly be willing to do.

“But if you don’t demonstrate it, it’ll be very hard for me to design the card!” Mo Lan said.

She needed to at least understand the spell’s functions before she could create a prototype card. “How about we just not sell a body-tempering version of the Lightning Invocation card?”

“Absolutely not!” Amisha gritted her teeth and decided to personally demonstrate after all.

She rolled up her sleeves, formed the hand seals and recited the incantation again, this time summoning a thread of lightning no thicker than a strand of hair and directing it to strike her own arm.

Though the lightning was only as thin as a hair, it made Lady Amisha’s hair stand completely on end, and her entire body began to tremble. The arm that had been in direct contact with the lightning now had an egg-sized patch of charred, blackened skin.

Mo Lan could even smell the aroma of roasted meat!

“Wait — Headmistress, when you said ‘tempering the body,’ you meant striking yourself with your own lightning?”

Amisha didn’t answer. She was clenching her teeth so hard she didn’t dare open her mouth.

It hurt too much. She was terrified that the moment she opened her mouth, she’d cry out in pain, and that would be far too embarrassing.

She hurriedly cast Healing Magic on herself, treating not just the wound but her entire body, which had sustained a degree of damage throughout.

The charred skin on her arm quickly healed and scabbed over. Once the scab fell away and the pain subsided, Amisha let out a sigh of relief before finally answering Mo Lan:

“Using lightning to temper the body — of course it means striking yourself! However, the heavenly thunder summoned by the Lightning Invocation inherently carries vitality. Each time you channel just a little bit to temper the body, even as you sustain injuries, that sliver of vitality nourishes the body and enhances its resilience. It’s painful, sure, but the benefits are considerable. Besides, what body-tempering method isn’t painful?”

“Then why don’t you use it regularly, Headmistress?” Mo Lan asked.

Amisha swallowed hard. “I have ten thousand ways to study magic and slay enemies from a hundred paces away. Why would I put myself through that kind of suffering?”

The real reason was that she was afraid of pain!

“So? Would you like to buy a Lightning Invocation and experience it for yourself?”

Mo Lan shook her head repeatedly.

Setting aside the fact that this otherworldly spell certainly wouldn’t come cheap, Lady Amisha had made a perfectly valid point!

Sorceresses had unlimited magical talent potential, but physical prowess was not their strong suit.

She hadn’t even mastered her magic yet — what was the point of tempering her body? Rather than working on her weaknesses, it was surely more efficient and rewarding to develop her strengths!

Unless magic could no longer help her advance further, or unless a more convenient and efficient body-tempering method became available, she would choose to temper her body then.

“I knew it!” Amisha wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Those powerhouses renowned for their extraordinary physical prowess were all born strong — the Dragons, for instance.

Those who tempered their bodies through training not only achieved inferior results, but it was also grueling work. Only those with poor magical talent would resort to such methods.

“So, can it be made into cards?”

“Yes.”

Mo Lan designed two more prototype cards — {Magic Card – Lightning Invocation} and {Magic Card – Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering} — and even assigned them different tiers.

“Headmistress, do you have any other otherworldly spells? Even with the tiered system, just Bone-Clinging Fire, Magic Waterbed, and Lightning Invocation won’t produce nearly enough cards.

The variety is too limited. They’d be fine for selling individually in the card shop, but if we want to launch a card pool, the selection is far too narrow.”

“Yes, yes, yes! But while the spells themselves have special origins, their effects don’t compare to these three. They’re highly substitutable — many of Valen’s existing spells can achieve similar results,” Amisha said.

Mo Lan: “They don’t necessarily have to be extraordinary. As long as they belong to you, they’ll work for filling out the card pool. The Bone-Clinging Fire, Magic Waterbed, and Lightning Invocation cards can serve as the card pool’s flagship offerings — their value won’t be low.”

Amisha then demonstrated all the other spells she had acquired from otherworlds, one by one.