Chapter 42：The Flashbang Circuit (1/2)

A few seconds later Mack's vision returned completely to normal.

He looked at the circuit on the ground and pondered.

If he was really going to use that, he needed a way for it to be smaller.

He cleaned a patch of soil and redraw the circuit but now removing the propulsion runes.

The circuit became a bit smaller.

Mack repeated the same process as before. Dropping blood on the lines and activating the rune using his thumb.

And just like before when the circuit activated a blinding light came not even a second later.

”Yeap that looks better. Now let's do it in a small version.”

The smaller a circuit was, the more precise the lines needed to be. Any involuntary movements could ruin a rune. Any hesitation, a trembling hand, or even a heavy breath could affect the drawing.

Mack practiced for hours and hours until he felt satisfied with his precision.

”Time to get real”

Mack grabbed his dagger and with his right hand started carving runes on the backside of his index finger, even over his own fingernail.

The runes on the finger formed a circuit responsible for the flashbang itself.

Mack cleaned the cuts and could see that the rune circuit looked good.

Then, with his left thumb, he touched the back of his index finger, more exactly where the fingernail of his index finger was.

The runes on his index finger blinked. But nothing happened.

Then Mack started to draw another circuit in his left palm.

It was the Essence compression circuit.

Mack went 'all in' with the multilayered idea. The three attack circuits he devised used the same principle behind them.

Essence Compression.

But the Essence compression circuit was too big to be drawn every single time with other circuits. So he chose to carve only once, using his entire left palm for that.

Five minutes later, the Essence compression circuit was carved.

It looked like a spider web in the middle of Mack's left palm. With tentacles extending to his four fingers.

And just like before, he cleaned the cuts to remove excess blood and quickly touched the tip of his little finger.

The runes blinked once, but nothing happened.

But a smile bloomed on Mack's face. It worked.

Mack looked at his left palm and observed each minimal detail of the runes he carved.

He now had two more perpetual circuits in his left hand.

Mack extended his arm to the front and opened his hand.

If one looked at Mack now, they would think he was practicing some martial art and giving a palm strike.

Well.... they would not be incorrect.... just that... Mack moved his thumb finger and touched the tip of his index finger.

Then, like magic, the three circuits connected with each other. The timed activation circuit on his thumb, the flashbang circuit on the back of his index finger, and the Essence compression on his left palm.

They connected with each other and the timer circuit that blinked at each second now activated the other two.

~flash~

A blinding light came from Mack's left hand.

But this time it looked several more times strong than before. As if the sun itself was in front of Macks's hand.

The flashbang circuit was activated with success.

Mack's mouth went a gap. The output was several times stronger than the ones carved on the ground.

And this time he didn't become blind. The light was only projected to the front of his palm and his own hand protected him from the light.

Mack removed his thumb from the tip of his index finger, and the light stopped.

He now had tested two important things.