Chapter 241: A Spell to Edit Code?

After rushing out of the tent, Magna left the camp entirely and found a quiet spot with no one nearby.

He intended to try the spell again, but first, he needed to make sure no one would get hurt if it went out of control.

"Now, what should I try it on?"

Last time, he had used it to move that massive rock, so he guessed the spell needed a target. Looking around, however, he found nothing but a wide stretch of ground covered in ash.

Well, the ash-covered ground was still something he could target.

With that decided, he checked his mana. He currently had 95%, which wasn’t much, but it should be enough for an experiment.

He pointed his finger at the ground and began making the sounds needed to manipulate his mana and form the pattern.

His mana moved rapidly through his channels as he pictured it forming the spell pattern. Once the pattern was complete and its exit point reached his fingertip, he released the mana gathered within it.

Green light immediately poured from his finger, just like the first time he had cast the spell. It fell onto the ash-covered ground, quickly forming words.

<System.Override>

<Access.Granted>

<World.Edit>

Feeling a little tense but mostly excited, Magna watched the words spread across the ground.

Seconds passed, then minutes. His excitement slowly gave way to confusion as the words continued glowing without anything else happening.

"So? Is this all?"

He was beginning to wonder whether the spell did anything besides create glowing green text when the ground suddenly trembled beneath his feet.

The soil and ash began to shift. Before he could understand why, he was rising with them, as though something beneath the ground was pushing him upward.

He instinctively jumped into the air to avoid whatever was happening below him.

Looking down, he watched the ash-covered ground rise a little farther before finally stopping, leaving a small mound behind.

He landed beside it. "What exactly happened?"

Unable to tell what the spell had changed, he reached into the mound and scooped up a handful of ash.

His eyes lit up.

He tossed it aside and took another handful, then another. Finally, he pushed his arm into the mound. There was no solid ground beneath its surface, only more ash.

’Did I just create more ash?’

With that possibility in mind, he checked his mana reserve. It had dropped by 3%.

That seemed rather expensive for creating a little ash, but before worrying about the cost, he needed to confirm how the spell worked.

He raised his finger, pointed directly at the mound, and cast it again.

Green light flowed from his fingertip, quickly forming the same words.

<System.Override>

<Access.Granted>

<World.Edit>

This time, the words spread around the mound of ash.

Magna started waiting again.

Seconds passed, then minutes. He deliberately avoided imagining any changes, simply watching the mound to see whether the spell would do anything on its own.

Nothing happened.

Once he felt sure it was waiting for him to want something, he finally spoke.

"Turn it into proper soil."

The mound immediately began changing color. Its gray surface turned brown before his eyes.

"Did I just rewrite the ash’s data?" he muttered, staring at the soil with wide eyes.

Now he was certain of the spell’s actual power.

It let him edit code.

That excitement faded a little when he checked his mana. The change had cost him another 5%, despite creating too little soil to even fill the back of a truck.

Still, it was a terrifyingly good spell.

With enough mana, he could turn all the surrounding ash into soil, or even a sea. Taking his imagination further, perhaps he could even turn the ground itself into sky.

The only limits seemed to be his imagination and mana capacity.

"How did that Stonemen chief even learn a spell like this?"

He was sure it couldn’t have been a coincidence. Unfortunately, Rhadak was dead, so there was no way to ask him.

With no answer to be found, Magna put that question aside and focused on the more urgent one.

How could he use this against the Desolation?

Perhaps it could work as a debuff, weakening the monster. He might be able to turn its liquid body into something heavy enough to stop it from moving.

The spell seemed capable of it. The problem was how much mana such a change would require.

He was sure it wouldn’t be as easy as turning ash into soil. Besides, even if he had enough mana, he still needed to get close enough to use it.

He could barely endure the monster’s aura. Whether he could reach it with the spell was another question entirely.

For now, he could at least test whether editing a living being cost more than changing lifeless ash.

The only available target was himself.

He pointed his finger at his own body and cast the spell again. Green light covered him, forming words as he considered a change that wouldn’t hurt him.

"Make my hair 50 centimeters longer."

A second later, his hair began to grow.

His messy, dirty black hair spilled over his shoulders, continuing down his back until it reached his waist.

The spell had worked exactly as he wanted. But when he checked his mana, he found the difference he had suspected.

This change had consumed 9%, leaving his reserve at 78%.

His hair weighed almost nothing compared to the soil he had created, yet the mana cost was nearly double.

That was only his hair. If he tried changing another part of his body, would even all his remaining mana be enough?

He thought over the results, comparing the cost of editing his body with the cost of changing the ash. As he considered what that difference might mean, more ideas and possibilities began filling his mind.

Finally, his eyes lit up again.

He had a very good idea.

He just didn’t know how much mana it would take.

There was only one way to find out. Bending his legs, he jumped into the sky with all his strength, heading back toward the camp.