Beyond that, charged particle cannons and plasma cutting seemed to rely on magnetic fields generated between his own cells. When used, Energy Field was released, and the magnetic field was integrated into that domain as well. "From now on, I can openly call myself a magnetic field powerhouse," he said with satisfaction.
He also had passive skills like electromagnetic shields. Anything judged as damage would be blocked, whether released automatically or actively, and he had not yet tested how tough it would be if multiple shields overlapped. The heaviest change was ecological transformation, though the speed was slower than he expected, as nothing obvious grew while he stood there.
He started thinking about it. Planetary forms produced forests and plant-based creatures after transformation, but he was a mix of three. He wondered what kind of thing would emerge, something that could fly into space, live on sunlight, and fire beams. Fearing the scale might be too extreme, he decided not to use it yet, especially since Otherworld still hid many old monsters.
He chose instead to test his current level. He began with gravity manipulation, casually lifting several mountains, and then tested particle attacks powerful enough to punch through two mountains. Standing in a battered basin afterward, he concluded that his strength had increased by about a factor of one, with more growth expected later.
His output was much higher, and with enough energy, he could use Corona Beam like a basic attack. Gravity control could now lift objects close to a hundred million tons, and particle control let him ignite volcanoes at will. Crystal proliferation had also improved greatly, allowing him to grow extremely hard crystals that were no longer easily destroyed at the level of Shard.
The range and precision of Energy Field had increased a lot, and interestingly, he no longer needed to use Magic to gather elements. Simply thinking was enough, with almost no consumption beyond mental effort. "No idea why," he said, "the elements that once scared me stiff now behave like obedient dogs."
He had also discovered something new. At his fingertips appeared a faint substance, glowing softly yet casting shadow at the same time, blurring everything around it. He was not sure whether to call it an element at all.
He remembered that after defeating opponents at the level of Shard, he usually consumed their souls. Instinct told him not to consume the innermost point, but the outer layer, which seemed to be memory, dissolved immediately when eaten. It did not mix personalities or cause any Rend-like splitting.
Recently, he found something deeper within that layer. It was rarer and had no definite form even at the microscopic level. Its use turned out to be simple but strange, as it could show fragments of the past or future like a documentary.
He could only watch as an observer and could not change anything inside. He tentatively defined it as light and dark, simply because that was how it looked. Since it was new and not well understood, he decided it would be best to bring it back and let others examine it.
"Icelis, help me grab the newspaper."
In the morning, Fei'er Li set down ten breakfasts. One was for herself, and the other nine were all for the Teddy Bears. The food in the northern part of Rohn Empire was similar to what she had eaten in her past life in the West, and after more than ten years she was used to it, though she still missed rice now and then. That kind of food could only be found closer to Paraten Empire.
Recently, she had taken a small break. One reason was to study those strange spells, and the other was simply to go take a look around the Edward Family. She might also need to return to Rohn Empire later and find a chance to return her notes to that mentor.
"...The newspaper."
Icelis went straight to eating, while Fei'er Li slowly ate and read the news at the same time. When she saw a certain report, she frowned.
"...Third Legion Commander Ludwig suspected of treason, defeated by Second Prince Louis leading troops? Then the Forbidden Ancient Relic was detonated, with heavy losses to the First through Fourth Legions..."
"The combat zone is currently sealed due to Ancient Curse contamination. No one is allowed to enter..."
"?"
Fei'er Li froze for a moment, feeling her mind searching for keywords. She raised her hand and summoned the Pure White Book, then quickly began flipping through it.
From a certain page near the back, the book contained text written in a language that did not exist anywhere on the continent. When Fei'er Li had just arrived in this world, she had written down all the plot and settings she could still remember. Many parts had since been revised and scribbled over.
She flipped to a page in the section about the Three Great Empires. "Found it!" She pointed at the page. "The one who only appeared as background, Paraten Empire's Second Prince Louis!"
She continued searching through the related plot notes. In the original story, this prince did not end so fortunately. On the surface it was a rebellion by the Third Army Group, but in truth it was a weakened Evil God from the collapse of the Divine Kingdom trying to revive.
Four Ascendant Hall level beings, nearly twenty at Gold Rank, countless elite troops, several hundred thousand soldiers, plus tens of millions of civilians were all slaughtered by the revived Evil God. Five full army groups were wiped out, in a battle everyone thought would be easy. It became the first meal after the Evil God awakened.
There was no ability to resist, and they did not even see the true form of the Evil God. Its followers crushed them directly, leaving almost no survivors, and those left were either dying slowly or had gone mad and turned into new sources of pollution. After that, this Second Prince also died as expected.
She could not help wondering if the author had something wrong in the head. The whole world had a doomed atmosphere, and once the the Lord plotline began, Paraten Empire fell into conflict from internal and external pressure. With the heir gone, the royal family fell into chaos, and the loss of elite forces made the upper levels of Faris Empire start having ideas.
Then came the southern armies pressing down. At the same time, the empire was tearing itself apart over succession, and before anything settled, another Inverted World Tree appeared at the border battlefield. Two Evil God incidents in such a short time was a major disaster, and Paraten Empire almost followed the Elves into total ruin.
It could be said this prince was one of the key triggers for a long chain of disasters. Still, things were not entirely bad, since the other two empires were in similarly terrible shape. Later there would be restored radiant gods, an ancestral dragon of hatred, and demon lords taking turns appearing, dragging everyone down to the same level of misery.
"We all have a bright future," she muttered with a dry smile.
"Hiss... so what exactly happened over at Paraten Empire? A Evil God trying to revive just vanished like that..." Fei'er Li could not make sense of it.
It was a good thing, but she was more confused than relieved. Even a half-dead Evil God should require someone at least at Icelis's peak level just to hold it back, and only barely. Anyone below that level would just be torn apart by its passive pollution and would not even qualify to fight.
Could it be that some hidden master had popped out from a corner of the continent and slammed the Evil God back into its coffin? "Hiss... should I go over there later and take a look?" She hesitated. "Wait, maybe not. That place is too dangerous, even the Teddy Bears would not save me."
Who knew if she would run straight into trouble.
"Crunch crunch... Hm? What are you worrying about again?" Icelis looked at her and knew at once. Before, she had just sighed a lot, but now she often looked confused or slightly unhinged.
"Looks like I cannot even trust the last bit of toilet paper," Fei'er Li said. "It is one thing for some details to change, but even background disasters like this are different. That is worse than toilet paper."
She sighed, but since this was ultimately good news, she still felt a bit happy. She really wanted to change that awful future, but for over ten years the timeline was still far away, and her abilities were limited. At best, she could only plan small things in advance and build some connections.
Those huge background events either happened too early in the novel timeline, were too large for her to affect, or lacked clear details. After all, it was just a novel. It could not possibly provide perfect information. Seeing good news like this made the once bleak future feel a little brighter.
"After breakfast, go wash the dishes. Then let's head out. We need to check on the Edward Family first."
"Why is it me again..."
"Because your ability is convenient."
A deafening roar shook the area, not only in a physical sense. The surrounding spatial structure also wavered under chaotic rules. Dense, transparent shard-like pieces of broken space fell away, creating countless void Cracks, followed by a shrill cry.
"Enough! No! My space!"
"Heh... very energetic."