CH 5 What Is The Proof I’m An Internet Veteran? I Like Beating Little Kids In Arguments!

The water sphere around the Hushclaw’s head trembled violently. The surface rippled and tightened as though trying to burst forward.

Ren gritted his teeth. He couldn’t let the Spell collapse before the monster died. Creating a new Water Bullet wouldn’t solve the problem. The issue wasn’t the sphere of water itself. It was the Spell—the underlying Domain—rejecting how he was using it.

He tightened his control, forcing the sphere to remain intact.

The Hushclaw thrashed weakly inside the water prison.

Just before the Water Bullet broke free to launch itself, the monster’s movements stopped.

A notification appeared.

[Level 3 Hushclaw killed.]
[355 days lifespan gained.]
[600 EXP gained.]

Ren released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and let the water sphere shoot forward harmlessly into empty salt plains. It flew straight and fast. As it was apparently meant to.

He stood and walked carefully to where the Hushclaw’s body had become visible. Using the knife Freya had given him earlier, he harvested the soft and flexible segments of the exoskeleton, some usable meat, and extracted the Core. He worked efficiently, minimizing noise.

Afterward, he collapsed a mound of salt over the corpse to dull the scent and slow decomposition. He packed the meat into a thin storage pouch Freya had provided.

He returned to his original position. His Mana Zone had remained active during the entire process. No new voids had appeared within the radius. Freya had been kept safe.

He sat down again and summoned a Water Bullet in front of him. This time, he simply held it in place. The spell began to quiver after barely ten seconds.

What do you want? Ren asked silently.

The Water Bullet wanted to fly fast! It wanted to shoot forward like the bullet it was!

But a bullet is just a projectile. We can keep bullets loaded into a gun without shooting them, Ren countered.

The Water Bullet didn’t care about technicalities! It was a Water Bullet, so it would fly like a Water Bullet!

Ren felt the corner of his mouth twitch. He tried being patient. That patience thinned after they went back and forth for several minutes.

You are a Bullet! Not a Quickshot that needs to unload as soon as it gets loaded! he said.

But Water Bullet—

Shut up! Which bullet is shot the instant it’s loaded? The Spell description doesn’t say that either! he jabbed a metaphorical finger into Water Bullet Spell’s metaphorical forehead.

The Water Bullet did not care about the status description! It was Water Bullet and it would fly like a Water Bullet—

Stop whining like a child. Do you see other Spells acting like this? Shouldn’t I be the one complaining? Your performance is so bad, he countered.

He decided to escalate. If logic didn’t work, he would out-stubborn it.

The Water Bullet is strong! It just needs to fly and it would show its true worth!

Strong? You complain about being held, but your power doesn’t increase when I hold you. That’s pathetic! he said.

What does that mean?

Take a slingshot, or a bow for example. The longer I pull and hold, the more force builds up. I held you for a full minute earlier and your damage didn’t increase at all, he explained.

Bullets are different from slingshots and bows!

Bullets aren’t fired the instant they’re loaded either. Yet you are complaining! If you want to insist on flying quickly, then increase your power while I hold you. Otherwise stop complaining! he said.

The two kept bickering. They were not speaking in words, not truly. The Water Bullet was not alive. It did not possess thoughts in the human sense, and could not converse. But at Level 2, it could push back when its conceptual identity was being violated. Like right now.

Ren, however, had grown up arguing on the internet. He knew how to push his nonsense until opponent’s nonsense collapsed.

For several minutes, he mentally cornered the Spell, hammering it with illogical but persistent demands. Unlike the Domains of Class, Physical Stats, and Elements that were older, the Water Bullet Spell at Level 2 was only a child. It was facing him, a veteran internet trash talker, someone who had names like “Strongest Keyboard Warrior in the West”, “Troll Master”, “King of Ragebaiting.” There was no way the Water Bullet could win the argument. He verbally beat Water Bullet Spell to the point it would’ve started crying if it had real body.

After five minutes, he finally won his argument.

A new notification appeared.

[Water Bullet Spell has been modified.]

[Water Bullet]
[Rank: Normal]
[Level 2]
[Description: A tightly compressed sphere of water fired at high speed. Carries a sharp, rain-clean scent. Effective range: 10 meters. Impact force: can dent light armor.]
(New) [Modification: For each second the Spell is held, its damage increases by 1% up to ten seconds.]

Ren grinned, seeing the proof of his victory.

Now, he could hold the Water Bullet for up to ten seconds and increase its damage by ten percent before firing. If he exceeded ten seconds, it would still destabilize. That was acceptable.

More importantly, the Spell no longer resisted being held for that duration.

He tested it.

He summoned a Water Bullet and held it steady.

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One second.

Two.

Five.

The sphere remained stable. He could feel a subtle increase in internal compression.

At ten seconds, he fired it. The impact against a distant salt mound was noticeably stronger.

Ren nodded slowly. If he needed to suffocate an enemy, he could still do so by repeatedly replacing stationary spheres, as long as he fired each one within ten seconds. The Spell would not protest, unlike last time where it started complaining and did not allow the new Water Bullets to be stationary.

Modifying a Spell is harder than leveling it, he thought, wiping the non-existent sweat from his forehead.

[Spell Modification] was different from leveling up a Spell or increasing its rank.

A spell’s foundation could be seen as a small piece of paper with spell’s information written on it. As the spell’s level increased, the paper which was its ‘foundation’ increased in size. That was why Spells became stronger upon leveling up. However, after the paper’s size increased, it now had an empty area on it where nothing was written. Writing something on this new part of paper was called [modification]. It granted new modifiers to the Spell.

Of course, as seen with Water Bullet Spell, modifying a Spell was no easy task even if it had leveled up. It was possible that the Spell would reject your modifications if you told it to do something too outlandish. Like telling a Water Bullet Spell to create Black Hole. In these cases, the Spell would modify itself over time as the awakener used them more and more.

After completing the spell modification, Ren meditated.

Five minutes passed, and new notifications came.

[EXP: 600 → 0]

[Stats: 1 → 7]

Ren opened his Status.