Spirit's Awakening: The Path of Lightning and Water-Chapter 397: Volt Engine

The final competitor stepped up to his platform, placing a hand on the inscription-sealed tarp covering his construct. The containment runes pulsed once before dissolving, the fabric disappearing into nothingness, a neat trick in which the mana bonds broke the thin tarp into microscopic pieces before turning them to dust with the overcharged lightning running through the material.

A metallic framework, sleek and polished, sat at the center of the platform. Unlike previous constructs, which bore visible inscription arrays, this one had no external runes, no obvious mana conduits, nothing that betrayed what its function was meant to be at a glance. Its frame was composed of three interlocking rings, hovering independently of each other, spinning at irregular intervals, their motion both deliberate and chaotic at once. The core, suspended in the center, was a sphere of shifting liquid lightning, its surface moving as though alive.

Ilyara let out a low whistle from her announcer area, "Alright, you’ve got everyone’s attention with that flashy display. Let’s hear it, Raiven Dynros!"

The disciple, Raiven, gave a short nod before addressing the judges. "Elders, this is what I call—the Volt Engine."

The judges remained still, watching the construct closely.

Rlyis was the first to speak, ignoring the flashy unveiling and treating it the same as she did with every other contestant, "Functionality?"

The disciple lifted a control device, what looks like a small palm-sized stone with runes engraved onto physical buttons in the center. "Unlike standard constructs, which are designed with predefined roles at the moment of conception, the Volt Engine will be the future! It adapts dynamically. It can serve as a defensive system, an offensive artillery unit, or a support relay—all within a single engagement."

Eno stepped forward, arms crossed. "Hmm. Explain that, and while you do so, also go over the materials you made this out of and where you sourced them. I can sense and pick apart what’s present, but I’d like to hear you explain it for the audience and the Sect Master."

Raiven smiled at getting the most words out of Elder Eno yet. He eagerly activated the construct with a single press of the control device.

The three interlocking rings shifted, their motion synchronizing as the liquid lightning core in the center pulsed gently. As the construct came to life, patterns of runic inscriptions emerged dynamically across its surface, reshaping and adjusting in real time as if drawn by liquid flowing metal.

Raiven reached into his magic pouch, retrieving a sleek, data tablet, turned on the holographic display and handed it to Eno. "This contains the full schematic breakdown, material composition, rune architecture, and core stability calculations I’ve made. I also included energy efficiency reports, reaction speeds, and theoretical stress tests based on simulated battlefield conditions."

Eno raised a brow as he took the tablet, quickly scanning the interface. The other Elders leaned in slightly, intrigued by the extra preparation.

"Good," Eno muttered, swiping his fingers through the projected blueprints. His eyes flickered with interest as he studied a particular material listing. He exhaled through his nose and gave a short nod. "That’s quite the spectacular choice of alloy you used."

Rlyis glanced at Eno, trying to read over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Raiven answered smoothly, "As Elder Eno requested the explanation, the construct’s framework is made from a Tempestium-Lyrric Alloy. A blend of Tempestium, a naturally occurring volatile metal found within deep storm-craters where particularly nasty lightning strikes occur, and Lyrric Steel, a pliable conductive metal harvested from a mine managed by my family in a small island off the western coast. I believe it’s a fairly common metal, but I’ve become quite familiar with it due to my family’s business and growing up so close to it."

Elder Sarrin’s expression barely shifted, but her tone sharpened as Eno and Rlyis were still pouring over the data and whispering to each other, "Tempestium? That’s unstable by nature. How are you maintaining a liquid state core without compromising durability?"

Raiven, anticipating the question, "The trick lies in the precise thermal stabilization properties of the alloy I’ve created. Tempestium is unstable at normal temperatures, but when paired with Lyrric Steel, it retains a liquid form at a controlled mana-charge threshold. Putting it simply, as long as lightning mana is charged and circulating through the construct’s core, the alloy remains malleable, allowing the runic engravings to be rewritten dynamically in real time."

A flicker of realization crossed Eno’s face. "That’s brilliant." He handed over the tablet to Rlyis for further study, and for the first time, he looked genuinely impressed. "The issue with traditional constructs is that once an inscription is etched into the metal, it’s locked in place unless we completely rework and reforge it. This new method and alloy combination allows for the reweaving of runic pathways without permanent structural alteration. Quite ingenious."

Rlyis tapped the tablet, scanning the schematics. "If this alloy reacts as described, it would explain how your construct is able to shift between operational modes seamlessly. However, your claims on almost nearly every type of battle-ready construct being in one construct seems a bit dubious. We’d like a demonstration, if you will."

Raiven tapped another rune on the control interface, and the surface of the Volt Engine shifted instantly. The shimmering Tempestium-Lyrric Alloy, kept in a liquid state by its charged lightning mana flow, began moving like flowing mercury. The once-invisible runic formations etched themselves in real time, lightning-infused symbols forming and solidifying across the construct’s surface.

Raiven wasted no time, raising a hand and launching a concentrated lightning bolt toward the construct.

The moment the attack closed in, instead of forming a static barrier shield, the new pathways guided the incoming energy into an absorption sequence, the metal drinking in the attack. The moment the energy was captured, the runic etchings shifted.

A fresh pathway—one that hadn’t existed a second ago—formed across the surface, redirecting the stored charge into a controlled dispersal. The absorbed lightning wasn’t just neutralized—it was recycled and expelled outward in cascading waves.

Eno’s eyes slightly dulled with dampening enthusiasm, "Absorption, rerouting, controlled discharge… Not bad, and a round-a-bout way of doing it, but I can make a device for this exact purpose right now. This isn’t exactly doing everything you just mentioned."

Without hesitation, Raiven adjusted the construct’s array with another button press.

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The previous runes dissolved back into liquid metal, erasing themselves completely. The Volt Engine shifted its framework, the inscriptions rewriting themselves into an entirely different form as the conductive alloy restructured its own mana circuits.

Within less than a second, the construct used its stored and charged lightning mana to discharge a focused bolt of lightning, a standard [Lightning Bolt] at peak Spirit Transformation stage, lancing across the field to strike a target dummy.

But rather than expending its full charge in a single attack, the runes rewrote themselves again, dividing the next attack. Instead of a lone strike, it launched multiple arcing discharges, striking additional dummies with pinpoint precision immediately after.

Eno raised an eyebrow, "Did you record the average transition time between the two modes?"

"Less than 0.6 seconds between form changes, Elder."

Elder Sarrin maintained her mild hostility, crossing her arms, "That seems about right from what we just witnessed. Do you have other modes to back up your initial claims?"

Raiven glanced toward the judges, "I do, but I think it’s best that I just show you proof of its capabilities and transitions in a rapid fire mode. I’ll be initiating a manual override to conduct a stress test," he stated confidently. "This will push the Volt Engine through rapid, continuous function transitions, demonstrating its ability to rewrite inscriptions dynamically without degradation without the necessary one-by-one testing."

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His finger pressed against a red button hidden behind a sliding panel on the palm-sized device, activating the override, and then pressing the first three rune buttons in a row.

The Volt Engine reacted immediately. The shimmering Tempestium-Lyrric Alloy shifted violently, the existing inscriptions melting away into raw, unformed material.

Then, they began to rewrite themselves at full speed.

Instead of shifting smoothly between the predefined functions, the construct’s liquid metal surface reshaped again and again, forcing adaptation at an extreme rate to the entire list of predefined functions and modes. The Volt Engine cycled through its operational modes continuously and at its most rapid pace, testing how quickly and how accurately it could restructure itself under strain.

Offensive. Defensive. Support. Back to Offensive.

Each state held only long enough to execute before dissolving into the next, the inscriptions flowing and reforming like waves upon the surface.

As the speed of the cycle increased, the mana circuits adjusted dynamically, maintaining power distribution without faltering or causing overload. The alloy held steady, refusing to destabilize despite the constant rewriting. Rlyis, Eno and Sarrin were able to mostly follow the runes rewriting themselves and confirm that the transition from each state only occurred once the rune pathways seemed "set" in the sense they could activate if necessary, before they transitioned to the next mode.

The process continued this way for a full minute before Raiven finally issued the command to cease all transitions.

The Volt Engine slowed, its inscriptions returning to a neutral state, though faint ripples of residual mana flickered along its surface, as if it were still waiting for further input.

The coliseum remained utterly silent.

Elder Eno exhaled slowly, watching as the construct settle. His spirit sense already picked apart the construct and answered the unspoken question that seemed all too ridiculous. There were no signs of any system degradation to the structure or loss of the alloy present.

"I’ve reforged countless and endless numbers of metals and materials in my long lifetime so far. This is the absolute first time I’ve seen a construct had it’s array lines rewritten that many times without any sort of defects or flaws that need to be corrected or additional metal added to reforge the piece," he admitted, his gaze still locked onto the Volt Engine. His voice was not dismissive—but measured, cautious. "Every construct, no matter how advanced, should suffer function decay under that kind of strain, yet yours remained stable."

Raiven gave a short nod. "The Volt Engine doesn’t fully overwrite its arrays the way traditional constructs do," he explained. "Instead of permanently engraving a new function, it modifies existing sequences, altering only the necessary lines while keeping the foundational structure it rests on remains intact. That’s why the transition time stays low, and why it doesn’t degrade or have any loss even under stress."

Elder Sarrin’s gaze flickered between Raiven and the construct, "And what if an external force disrupts it mid-transition? These devices will be juicy targets once the Abyss figures them out."

Raiven answered without hesitation. "That will eventually happen, so I’ve devised them to compensate to prevent unnecessary loss of the actual constructs. The runic layering doesn’t shift all at once—it’s programmed to transition in modular steps, allowing for localized adjustments instead of a full writing. It’s just so fast that you don’t notice it’s not writing everything at once. If, for example, a strike landed in the middle of a transition, the construct would lock its function mid-state rather than collapse or explode entirely from instability. This will hopefully save on costs, losses, and help bring the constructs back online faster and continue their use."

Rlyis let out a thoughtful hum, crossing her arms. "Which means it’s more stable than I initially assumed."

Eno gave a slow nod, stepping forward. "The real brilliance here isn’t just that it can rewrite itself. It’s that it does so without needing an external reforging." He exhaled, rubbing his chin as he studied the construct once more. His mind was spinning as the wheels in his brain turned on how to get this to work for some of his and Rlyis’ projects. "That alloy is what allows it to function at this level. The system itself is impressive, but the material—it’s what’s making this even possible."

Raiven acknowledged the point. "Yes, thank you for the compliment Elder Eno."

A weighted silence followed as the three judges shared a glance.