Chapter 120: Let’s Try Charging the Smartphone
“Alright… Let’s do this.”
I placed the smartphone on the table, steeling myself. After taking a breather from our sightseeing in the Commercial City, I suddenly remembered the smartphone I had won at the auction.
“What should we do first?” Rio asked, her curiosity piqued. However, I wasn’t about to just send an electric current through the USB port without a plan. In that sense, it seemed the smartphone’s time had not yet come.
“For now, I guess I’ll practice generating a weak electric current with magic…”
“That sounds about right. It’s surprisingly difficult to control the power, you know.”
The more magic power I infused, the stronger the output became. To reduce the power, I needed to decrease the amount of magic power I channeled, but once I reached a certain threshold, the magic power would actually increase instead. The amount of electricity needed to charge the smartphone was likely minimal, so I felt I needed to keep the output significantly low.
“I’ve never practiced controlling my power before…”
“…Your master was just too strong.”
We had always been on the receiving end of her restraint. The lightning magic I frequently used was the Lightning Bolt spell, which shot a bolt of lightning forward. Now, I had to figure out how to modify it for my needs.
“For now, I just need to be able to send a weak electric current from my fingertips.”
I gathered magic power in my right arm, transforming it into electricity. I was trying to focus on small amounts, but it was still quite challenging.
“This is tough…”
Rio, sitting across from me, furrowed her brow as she stared at her own hands. I could hear a faint crackling sound coming from my right arm—was I discharging electricity? I needed to calm that arm down a bit.
Oh no, I felt like I was getting a bit too dramatic here. And my arm was starting to feel tingly. Calm down, my arm.
After a while of silent concentration, I heard a loud sigh from Rio.
“How about we take a break?”
“Ah, yeah, that sounds good.”
The moment I relaxed, there was a knock at the door.
“Yes, yes?”
We were in the sweet room of our inn in the Commercial City. If someone was knocking at this time, it had to be Olivia, the maid assigned to our suite.
“Excuse me.”
As expected, Olivia entered, pushing a cart.
“I have prepared some tea for you.”
Seriously, what is up with this woman? Her timing was so impeccable that I almost suspected she was watching us all day.
“Thank you.”
She set down a plate of baked goods and steaming tea with flawless precision. Once everything was ready, she went over to Nil, who had been lounging in the corner, and offered him a snack.
We moved to the prepared seating and both took a sip of the tea.
“Ahh…”
Taking a moment to relax was truly important. My master had always been about cramming information, but I believed that taking breaks helped maintain focus.
“This is delicious.”
Rio was also praising Olivia’s tea. We both reached for the baked goods, but then a loud crackling sound erupted.
“Ughhh!”
“That hurt!”
We both clutched our fingertips, writhing in pain. While it wasn’t too painful due to the magic power we usually had wrapped around us for defense, it was still enough to make us exclaim.
“Are you alright…?”
Olivia asked with concern, but I held my palm out to indicate that I was fine.
“I’m okay. Just a little surprised.”
Nil, however, continued to munch on his snack, seemingly unfazed by the commotion.
“That’s a relief…”
“Wow, that was shocking.”
“It didn’t hurt that much, but I couldn’t help but yell…”
Cautiously, I reached out to touch fingers with Rio, confirming that nothing happened before I returned to the baked goods. The crunchy texture and the gentle sweetness melting on my tongue were simply delightful. These must be high-quality treats, considering they were served in a sweet room. I worried that if I got too used to such luxury, I might never want to go back.
Once the tea was finished, Olivia silently refilled our cups. However, after I had thoroughly enjoyed my tea, she didn’t refill it again without a word. It seemed my expressions were giving away my satisfaction.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Well then, shall we continue?”
After our break, it was time to practice generating a weak electric current again. If I got bored, I might switch to practicing Teleport, which had been more successful and had raised my spirits.
“Wait… Did the smartphone’s screen just light up for a second…?”
Snapping back to reality, I heard Rio’s voice, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Huh?”
I stared intently at the smartphone, but it remained dark. I pressed the power button, and—
“Oh! The backlight flickered for a moment!”
“Why did that happen?”
“Hmm…”
We pondered together, but no answers came to us.
“I was just practicing sending a weak electric current from my hands, right?”
“That’s right…”
I hadn’t touched the smartphone since placing it on the table. So, did that mean I had to generate electricity from a distance? I returned the smartphone to the table and tried to create a weak electric current nearby. Nothing happened.
I brought my arm closer to the smartphone, but still no reaction—
“Oh, it lit up!”
“Whoa, wait, ah…”
But just like that, it turned off again. It seemed like distance and the strength of the current were related…
Feeling a sense of accomplishment, I spent the rest of the day battling with the smartphone, and at long last, I succeeded in charging it.