Gerhard sat cross-legged on the cold metal floor of the Empty Instant Dungeon, the damaged Lasgun power pack resting in his hands. The thing felt heavier than it should have. Not physically, but conceptually.
A lasgun was one of the most basic weapons in the Imperium, but its power pack represented something far more important to him than just ammunition. If he could somehow use Mana to recharge it, then that would solve one of his most pressing long-term problems. Ammunition scarcity. Energy scarcity. Dependency on scavenging... It would be a massive step toward true self-sufficiency and his dream: limitless dak... *cough*... ammo, of course.
And that, in this galaxy, was priceless. Gerhard turned the power pack over in his hands and narrowed his eyes.
"Alright... if Mana can become an energy bolt, a shield, and an arrow, then turning it into electricity shouldn't be impossible."
He had already learned enough to know that "impossible" and "tedious" were not the same thing. In a sense, there was almost nothing that was impossible, only very, very hard to achieve.
So he began.
First, he placed the power pack aside. Trying to directly inject Mana into unexplored technology without understanding the intermediary step sounded like a great way to destroy the item... or his hand.
[WIS went up by 1]
Instead, he raised one palm and focused.
Mana gathered there slowly, white strands of the warm energy pooling above his skin. He had done this many times by now, so the first step was easy. It was similar to a Mana Arrow. What was not easy was the next part.
Electricity.
Gerhard tried to picture electrons, charge differentials, current, voltage, and the movement of energy through conductive pathways.
Electricity is the flow of negatively charged particles, called electrons, between atoms, primarily used as a versatile secondary energy source generated from primary sources such as coal, gas, or renewables. It powered modern life through circuits, where the movement of electrons generated electric current to produce light, heat, and motion.
He tried to remember school lessons, internet videos, and half-forgotten diagrams from his previous life. He imagined ions in the air, imagined potential building, and imagined Mana imitating the phenomenon rather than brute-forcing it. Understanding seemed to facilitate creating skills.
And yet, nothing happened.
He frowned and tried again.
Mana gathered in his palm. He compressed it tighter this time, trying to make it unstable, hot, and active, less like a shaped projectile and more like a restless energy source wanting to move.
A faint pop could be heard. Gerhard blinked. For a split second, a tiny blue spark had jumped between two fingers.
His eyes widened.
"Yes!" he shouted.
The excitement broke his concentration. The glow above his hand collapsed immediately, and the spark vanished, leaving behind the smell of ionised air and a big grin on Gerhard's face.
But that was enough. It could be done. Imagination seemed to be the most powerful force when it came to Mana or 'magic', if you will.
Gerhard straightened his back and started over, again and again. Mana gathered. Condensed. Destabilised. Released.
Most attempts failed, while some merely produced warmth. A few made his fingers tingle unpleasantly, and one sent a sharp little shock into his palm, making him curse and shake out his hand. His HP took a hit, but not enough to be a problem. Another caused a brief spray of sparks in the air, but it disappeared so quickly it was almost silly.
But step by step, repetition did what it always did for a Gamer. It turned fumbling into a process and eventually, into a skill.
Hours passed. The Empty Dungeon remained silent except for the occasional snap-crackle of failed attempts and Gerhard's muttering as he adjusted his approach. His mind was active, but mostly his imagination was at work right now.
"Not so explosive... let's try more directional."
...
"Less like a straight bolt, let it be free in a sense."
...
"ARGH, fuck, that hurt!"
At one point, he managed to produce a stable crackle above his hand for nearly three full seconds. Thin blue arcs danced between his fingertips like an electrocuted worm.
And finally, the desired notification appeared.
[A skill has been created through a special action.]
[Through continuous experimentation with Mana and electrical discharge, a skill to produce and transfer charge, 'Charge', has been created.]
|Charge (Active) Lv. 1
| EXP: 0.00%
| MP: 5
| A skill that converts Mana into electrical energy and allows controlled transfer into objects or targets. The more Mana used, the stronger the discharge.
Effect:
| Produces a small electrical discharge
| Can transfer charge into compatible devices
| Efficiency and stability increase with skill level
-
Gerhard stared at the window and broke into a grin.
"Oh, beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. Limitless energy, here I come."
That was exactly what he needed. Or at least, the miserable baby version of what he needed. He had the skill, but still had to try it out to see if it could charge his power pack.
Without wasting time, he picked up the power pack and held it in one hand while raising the other above it. His expression turned serious again, and he bit his jaw. Skill creation was one thing, but practical use was another.
[Charge]
Mana drained from him, and a faint crackling glow formed around his fingers. He carefully pressed that energy toward the power pack, trying to guide it into the device rather than simply shocking the casing. But that didn't work as well as he'd hoped.
The power pack twitched in his hand, and a spark snapped loudly. Gerhard hissed and nearly dropped it as the casing heated up. The blue glow vanished.
He immediately used [Observe] on the item.
[Power Pack - Rank: Common]
Capacity: 1/150 shots
Gerhard froze. Then he laughed.
It wasn't much. It was pathetic, honestly, and the casing had suffered quite a bit. But it was one shot. Only one. But he had done it. He had just recharged a power pack with Mana.
"HAHA! It works!"
His laughter echoed through the empty chamber, making it a rather sad sight, as he laughed with himself. After all the failed attempts, that single point of charge felt absurdly satisfying.
Naturally, he tried again. And naturally, it went badly. The second attempt failed completely, charring the casing more and damaging him.
The third produced a spark and no gain.
The fourth increased the pack to 2/150.
The fifth caused such unstable feedback that the charge slipped away almost instantly.
By the tenth attempt, Gerhard had learned several important things.
First, [Charge] worked, and he was gaining EXP by using the skill. Second, it was horribly inefficient, probably because he lacked understanding or the power pack functioned differently than a 21st-century electrical appliance... Hmmm, curious.
Third, the skill clearly needed a compatible medium or a lot more practice to become truly useful.
And fourth... The power pack seemed to "accept" the charge better when he matched the flow more carefully instead of forcing it all at once. That made sense, in a way. He wasn't filling a bucket, but feeding energy into a mechanical appliance that was a bit more complicated than that.
Which meant this would become easier as his control improved — and likely also as [Mana Control] and [Charge] levelled. His general mana-based skill growth had already shown that repeated use refined both efficiency and effect over time, and he simply gained a better understanding of all his skills.
Gerhard exhaled slowly and looked at the power pack in his hand as if it were a treasure relic. For what he had planned, he needed this. Being a mage was not really his goal, but he wasn't going to ignore his advantages, especially not this early on.
This changed things. Because if he could recharge one power pack with Mana, he could eventually do it efficiently and far more quickly. And who's to say that all he could recharge was the power pack of a lasgun? What about the Hotshot Laser Power Pack, an alternate form of power pack used for hot-shot las weapons. Some trade-offs for the increased power are a bulkier pack that is more stressful on the gun. They are also more expensive to make and harder to charge.
If he could do it efficiently, he could eventually sustain las-weapon usage. And more importantly, didn't have to change power packs mid-fight.
And if he could sustain las-weapon usage... Then the Orks were going to have a very bad time one day. At least, if he manages to get his hands on a Hot-Shot Lasgun, or uses [Creation] to make far more powerful Lasguns. Which actually seems more likely.
A second notification appeared not long after several more attempts.
[Charge level has gone up by 1]
|Charge (Active) Lv. 2
| EXP: 3.17%
| MP: 5
| A skill that converts Mana into electrical energy and allows controlled transfer into objects or targets. The more Mana used, the stronger the discharge.
Effect:
| Produces a small electrical discharge
| Can transfer charge into compatible devices
| Charge conversion efficiency slightly increased
| + 1% Stability
-
Gerhard nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Let's grind."
And that, more than anything else, was what mattered. A normal person would have looked at a skill that barely managed to charge a power pack by a handful of shots and called it unimpressive and even inefficient, since the durability of the power pack sank gradually.
But Gerhard was The Gamer; he knew better. Everything started out weak. Everything became monstrous if you grinded it long enough.
He sat down again, placed the power pack in front of him, entered meditation for a moment to recover Mana, and then opened his eyes with a small, dangerous smile.
"Alright then," he muttered. "Time to abuse the mechanics again."
.
.
Gerhard broke out of the Instant Dungeon. It had been a few days since he was here. For a moment, nothing happened; the Underhive was silent. That silence was never comforting in an Underhive, however. Because something was always watching.
The air smelled like rust, rot, toxic chemicals, waste and something far worse that he didn't want to identify. The tunnels of the Underhive stretched endlessly around him: collapsed hab-blocks, broken pipes, piles of scrap and remains of bones that had accumulated for centuries. Nothing was welcoming here, and it reminded Gerhard why he preferred the Instant Dungeon.
Gerhard wore the Flak Armour vest and helmet he had assembled from salvaged parts. It wasn't perfect, but it would help. Thanks to the Gamer system, he didn't have to wear it physically, but could don it in the status window.
Flak armour was designed to disperse impacts, shrapnel and heat energy rather than direct armour-piercing hits, making it standard protection for Imperial infantry.
He had his sword at his side, ready for close-quarter combat. The lasgun, which he managed to make usable again, rested in his hands.
He exhaled slowly, steeling his nerves. He had to leave because he wanted more resources for his [Creation] skill. Eventually, he would become self-sufficient, but not yet. He needed new blueprints for his skill.
"Alright… let's see what the rest of the Underhive looks like."
His Danger Sense tingled faintly. He brought up his status window.
------------------
|Name: Gerhard
|Class: The Gamer
|Level: LV6
------------------
|HP: 600/600
|MP: 350/350
------------------
STR: 30
VIT: 20
DEX: 17
INT: 35
WIS: 16
LUK: 2
------------------
|Points: 0
|Money: 0
------------------
His MP pool had increased to 350 thanks to his higher INT. He had dumped 10 SP into his INT stat to gain more Mana to work with. He didn't like it. Gerhard never understood why people in fanfiction always used their stat points right away. Training should come first and foremost, increasing stats, and only later, if you use them.
But it was essential for Gerhard right now. If he didn't, he would have to spend weeks, if not longer, to make the skills somewhat useful, and even then, unforeseen circumstances could kill him either way. Preparation was key.
"Good."
More Mana meant more spells, more shields, more survivability. Now he needed EXP and resources.