Lightning magic is overpowered!

"Sh*t!"

This is bad. Am I going to get caught?

From the sounds, I heard there should be three people. I can't understand what they are saying. But they are coming closer to the altar.

If I get out now, they will surely see me. But if I stay it will be bad too. Mom will call me unfortunately I can't get a connection in here. I don't get why but there is no connection in the perimeter around the church. It won't be easy to explain why she couldn't get me with her call when I was supposed to be at home.

While I was thinking, three people get closer to the altar. Only with mana-enhanced hearing, I could understand what they were talking about.

"Hey, Ben are you sure this is the right place?"(Person 1)

"It must be. This is the exact location boss gave."(Ben?)

"Hoh! The Church that took its name from the legendary Saint Dahlia. This place should be a century old at least. It is poetic that relics of past are the dumping ground of the future."(Person 3)

"You talk too much August. Let's just get done with this mission. I wanna go home."(Person 1)

Saint Dahlia? Where did I hear this name before? Also, is this church is century old? At least at that! I want to think but first I have to get out of here.

"We have to find some kind of stone. It should be blue and radiates energy?"(Ben)

"What?"(Person 1)

"I don't know. Boss doesn't know either. All we know is that brat hid it here."(Ben)

They are looking for the mana stone! And the way they spoke only gives me bad vibes. But they are unsure about the energy, so they can't see the mana but perhaps feel it? Then why they didn't find me yet? I'm so close to them and my backpack is packed with liquid mana and mana crystals. The only thing in between us is the stone altar. Altar...

I gathered mana in my eyes and focused on the stone altar. Oh! There is a thin film of mana covering the altar. No, not the altar but the stone is made of! I can use it later.

From the sounds, I hear they are searching around. They are three people and possibly can feel mana. So, I can't escape without them noticing. Then should I make their escape? How to do...

I can't control mana streams in the air, I can control only the mana inside of my body. And I have only lightning magic. There is a lot of trash that can be ignited. But lightning isn't only about destructive power. How can I use it to scare them enough to run out of here?

Wait, I can slightly control the mana inside of the mana crystals. I can work with this. I take out a small crystal from my backpack. It was barely fist-sized. I hold it with my left hand. I gathered some mana in my right hand and move the altar a little bit.

I created five lightning sparks on my right palm. I can hear the cracking sounds it makes. Creepy. I take a deep breath. Now is the dangerous part. I hold the crystal with my left hand and sparks with my right. In a fast motion, I send the sparks into the crystal and threw to crystal from the little gap of the altar.

*Crack!!*Bzzzzzzzrrriiiiooough!*

It made a horrible sound. But before the sound, there was a blinding white flash! Still, if they can feel the mana it doesn't change anything.

Jason said that there was a ghost rumor about here. Thank you Jason for giving me a good idea. I gathered mana in my throat. I didn't try it before so I hope it works.

"LEAVE!"

I finally did my first spell!

A loud and hoarse voice came out of my throat. Right after that, I vomit blood. Something shattered in my throat. But it worked! I hear them running out of the church. I pushed to the altar and get out. Many of the trash has already turned to ashes. It is a good thing crystal didn't explode. Mana works with intent. My intent wasn't strong enough the make it explode. Hell, it only consumed a small amount of mana.

I seriously need to get better at controlling the mana. If it was any less effective, they might have come to me instead of running away. I can't risk it if something like this happens again.

There is nothing left to do here. Just that, I should gather some stone from this altar. There might be more people who can sense the mana. I need the hide the mana batteries. I collected some and quickly left the church. Unfortunately, I needed to break some of it to collect.

Lightning magic is overpowered! And there is so much I can add to it. Well, not now but after mastering mana control, it will be possible. Maybe adding another element will be good too.

I went home without stopping on the way. Before leaving I completely closed the passage under the altar. I don't plan to go to church for a while. One of those three, Ben, said that he had a boss. I don't know the details but it is good to be sure.

After I arrived home I immediately go to my room. Take a box and place everything in my backpack to box. I will hide the box under the bed for now.

Now, my throat. It almost healed. Mana healing is fast but consumes too much mana. If I want to be a mage I have to solve this matter. I already have a very little amount of mana reserves and this alone is a problem for me. After all, I might have to face people soon. Why? Because of what happened today. I want to be sure that I will have the power to protect myself and my mom, at least.

Honestly, I don't want to fight against other humans but... I know that not every human is innocent and kind. Some of them really deserve to die. But if it comes to that, can I take a life?

About fifteen minutes later mom called.

"Did you get any better, sweetheart?"

"I'm better now, mom. Don't worry."

"Do you need anything? I can stop at the market on my way home."

"I don't need anything. I'm fine already."

"Fine, make sure that you won't burn the house."

"I would never!"

"Fufu! See you at home."

"See you at home, mom."

Now, it is time to practice! But this time I will try a different type of magic or different element? Both, I think. This time I will practice water element. With lightning magic, I can turn mana into sparks. But when it come to the other elements I couldn't do it.

Then an idea comes to my mind. What will happen if I inject my mana into the already existing water. Can I control it? If this works I will have a way to better my mana control. Let's go, water magic training!

Water might seem weak compared to other elements. But in this human world, water means life. So, in theory, if I can control water I can control life, to a certain level. I mean just imagining the blood bending gives me goosebumps.