Zane calmed his raging mind to focus on the spell at hand. Unlike the Mana Shield Spell, the Magic Bullet magic circle did not disappear; it floated before Zane, waiting for his command. With a thought, his mental energy activated, and the spell continued firing concentrated mana that took a physical form.
"One spell can fire 32 shots before I need to recast it, and I can only fire one bullet at a time," Zane noted. Any attempt to use this spell as a fully automatic gun failed, forcing him to summarize that he hadn't found the correct method, or he might need an entirely different spell.
As a methodical individual, Zane had a plan for this training session, and the first one was just a test to see if he could cast the spell and its overall power. For his next act, he needed to know how many spells he could use with his current reserve mana. The result revealed he could cast the Magic Bullet 6 times, the Mana Shield 3 times, and if he uses a combination of the two, he can only cast the Mana Shield once and the Magic Bullet three times.
"By the time the second shift arrives, my mana reserve should have increased, but the question is by how much?" Zane thought. Knowing his power and limit could be the key to his survival, so he takes this data quite seriously. As such, he has decided to conduct a second test the night before the shift.
"Now, let's test the shield integrity," Zane murmured to himself. He cast a Mana Shield and placed the semi-transparent wall in front of the Century Bob dummy. Zane then calmly observed as he unleashed a barrage of Magic Bullets on the wall, waiting to see how long before the defense breaks.
"It took 25 Magic Bullets before breaking. With such an ability, I could probably be safe from a gun, right?" Zane thought. The idea of acquiring a gun and trying suddenly manifested in his mind and refused to leave. However, now was not the time, so Zane continued his test.
The pocket knife he always carried with him stabbed the Mana Shield, but no matter what, it could not penetrate. Another test subject was a stick, a metal rod, and a large rock thrown with immense force. To say the result was satisfactory was an understatement.
"If only I could cast this spell instantly," Zane contemplated. His highest casting speed so far is only 6.78 seconds, which is more than enough time for a gun to kill him countless times, or for even a person wielding a knife to get to him first in a five-meter distance. However, now was not the time to be thinking about such things; he was nothing but an Apprentice Mage with no teacher or guidance — he didn't even know if his kind could instantly cast spells.
"The next focus should be on hitting the target," Zane thought. The longest distance of his spell was 10 meters, but for now, Zane started with 5 meters, trying to hit the Century Bob dummy with every hit. Over the next few days, he'll increase the distance and challenge himself to hit certain areas. But for now, he'll settle for just hitting the target.
After a few hours of shooting, it was late, so Zane headed home. Fewer people walked around at night, so he did not have to worry about sensory overload — and it also helped that his previous training had granted him the ability to control himself to a certain extent. On his way home, he was thinking about the algorithm he had come up with earlier today. If he spends the night, it should be ready by tomorrow morning.
"With the perfect optimization, I can probably reduce the casting times to a sub-5 seconds," Zane analyzed. He rushed home, showered, ate something he bought on the way, finished his second meditation, and immediately started programming. The process was effortless since he had created his own programming language in middle school and perfected it throughout high school, college, and prison.
Upon completing and launching the program, the algorithm showed him the fastest way to move his fingers to engrave the spell model. Zane used to draw the circle, then the geometric shapes, and finally the runes, but now he knew how to do it in one motion, without stopping unless required. The preliminary tests already showed great promise, but it was late and time to sleep.
For the next few days, Zane's schedule was established: he practiced early in the morning, worked, and practiced in the afternoon. Day by day, he slowly meets the expectations he set for himself. He hoped things would remain peaceful until the day of the shift, but life always throws a curveball when you least expect it.
Thursday, July 28, three days before the second shift:
"No need to worry, Ma, I've made some money and can buy food," Zane said as he walked into his apartment. "Alright, see you in a few days. Love you too."
As he sat down at the table to eat his food, Zane checked his account. He was only 60$ off to make this month's rent, and with three days still left in the month, he felt reassured. However, because of his title and the need to eat 5,000 calories a day, his food bill has increased drastically recently. At first, Zane didn't care about the effect of the title, but over the past two weeks, he realized the many advantages of having peak, Olympian-level athletic abilities.
His focus was better than before; he was less tired and had abundant energy—even after an entire sleepless night of coding. His stamina was off the charts, which was why he could practice spell casting for hours. More importantly, his hand-to-eye coordination and his surgeon-like hands made casting spells easier. Now, he understood that no title was useless. So, even if he had to spend extra money, he ensured he fed himself quite well and still exercised daily.
Ring! Ring!
Zane stopped eating his eggs and glanced at the phone in his hand; his body paused for a few seconds before slowly putting it on the kitchen table. He stood and headed to a hidden compartment under his bed to retrieve a flip-phone. The number was unknown, but he never expected to identify it in the first place; he knew what was going to happen next.
"Hello!" Zane calmly answered.
"I will send you an email and password, which will contain the link to your next assignment. Once it's done, throw the burner away, and someone will give you another one." The person on the other line did not wait for him to answer before cutting off the call, and a few seconds later, the phone received a text.
Zane was remarkably calm as he reminisced about the Lion Pride. They are one of the largest gangs on the East Coast, but few people even know they exist. And that's because they are nothing but the foot soldiers of a group of real estate tycoons. These people tasked the Lion Pride to ruin low to middle-income areas — usually black and brown neighborhoods — with drugs and violence, forcing all the residents to sell their lands for a low price before rebuilding them into luxurious, often all-white, estates.
Meanwhile, the foot soldiers of the Lion Pride are sacrificed during these gang wars, receiving very little for their efforts. Their leaders, on the other hand, get to live a lavish enough lifestyle. And even if they get caught, nine times out of ten, the charges will be minor, forcing them to spend a few months in prison before they are released. After that, they either move to a new location or change states to start it all over.
Zane clenched his fist and thought, "With my current strength, I can probably eliminate all of the Lion Pride's squad one by one as long as I plan things slowly. But there is no need to endanger myself. The longer this drags on, the more powerful I will become."
As long as he cast the mana shield before taking action, Zane was confident he could take on most armed squads of the Lion Pride. However, he would never put himself in danger until he has a large enough mana reserve and learn to instant cast.
Time was on his side. In just a short two weeks, he had turned from a powerless human to an Apprentice Mage who had mastered two spells, both of which can be effortlessly cast within five seconds. His mana reserves even showed great improvement in the past three days.
Zane glanced at the flip-phone and thought: "This phone call is a reminder. The world is about to change; a new order will be built with the arrival of extraordinary powers. So, why should I allow the threat of laws stop me from using my skills to acquire resources?"
Without hesitation, he dialed the auto shop to call out of today's shift before logging in to his computer. Of course, he did not immediately click the link but entered safety mode to prevent his IP from being tracked. The task the Lion Pride wanted him to achieve was to create a program to bypass a firewall. Zane was not surprised, as two of the three tasks he performed for them involved hacking and corporate espionage. Recently, these guys seemed to be trying to become legit and enter the hotel business
"This shouldn't be an issue," Zane nodded after reading all the information available. Other programmers had tried before, and this file contained their attempts. With this information as a basis, Zane was confident he could finish everything in a few hours. And he was right; twelve hours later, he finished his program, tested for bugs before sending it in.
He felt sticky from sweat and hungry, so he ordered food before hopping into the shower. By the time he finished his hygiene routine and nourished his body, he received a confirmation email from his offshore Swiss bank account stating that a $3,000 transfer had been made.
"The information they're going to get with my program is probably worth millions, but they only gave me 3 grand," Zane thought, shaking his head. Regardless, this money was timely, as it allowed him to do something that might increase his chances of survival during the next shift.