CHAPTER 140: CLOSE CALL

But he didn’t even need to. Immediately Aegis sensed his intention to ask, it instantly displayed the performance mode version of his status panel, trimmed down to only show the necessary. Along with preemptive spell suggestions.

PREEMPTIVE SPELL SUGGESTIONS

Attack Path 1: Spell Barrage and Versatile Utility

Fire Arrow: 39 KB – Primary attack for rapid fire barrages.

Basic Flame Spell: 10 KB – Ignite obstacles to cause chaos.

Basic Wind Gust: 7 KB – Disorient foes or clear debris.

Basic Water Spell: 9 KB – Douse fires or create slippery surfaces.

Basic Earth Spell: 14 KB – Trip enemies or create barriers with prepped earth.

Total Memory: 79 KB (22 KB free)

Use Case: Balanced loadout for versatile combat.

Attack Path 2: Piercing Lethality and Utility

Ice Spear: 80 KB – Precision strike for high-damage single targets.

Basic Wind Gust: 7 KB – Quick distraction or knockback.

Total Memory: 87 KB (14 KB free)

Use Case: Focused on lethality. Pierce enemies unaware.

Attack Path 3: Slicing/Cutting and Basic Utility

Water Jet Cutter: 68 KB – Cutting attack for armor or barriers.

Basic Flame Spell: 10 KB – Ignite flammable targets.

Basic Wind Gust: 7 KB – Redirect or destabilize enemies.

Total Memory: 85 KB (16 KB free)

Use Case: Tactical mid-range combat.

Attack Path 4: Close Combat Domination

Fire Arrow: 39 KB – Primary attack for rapid fire barrages.

Galestrike: 33 KB – Close quarter compressed wind strike.

Total Memory: 72 KB (29 KB free)

Use Case: Close Combat and midrange versatility.

Attack Path 5: Full Power Blast

Compressed Fire Fusion (Reduced 49% of max power): 101 KB – High damage area of effect explosion.

Total Memory: 101 KB (0 KB free)

Use Case: Maximum single spell power.

"Damn..." Zephyr looked at all the preemptive spell suggestions. They all made him feel a tingle of excitement. His hands were literally twitching to fight someone, anyone at all.

But it was a shame Komi was in no shape for it at the moment. He’d just have to make do with practicing alone for now.

Looking at the spell suggestions, he was first surprised he didn’t see an all out fire arrow barrage, his register memory could take two fire arrow spells at once for just 78 KB.

But after thinking about it he realized that it was redundant.

In the span of a second, the amount of fire arrow spells he could spam into existence was only limited by his speed of thought.

Yeah, he could have double the amount of barrage fire arrows in that single second if he fit in two, but it just felt like a waste of space.

He could do other things with his remaining memory... just like the first attack path Aegis suggested.

It was the one he had loaded in memory presently, and he could see himself coming to like it as his favorite.

It was very versatile for everyday use. It gave him a good level of attack power for any moment while also giving him the versatility of having all the normal utility spells at the blink of an eye.

And when it was time for combat, he could spam fire arrows continuously anywhere within his 10 ft effective range, while also using the utility spells for support.

The rest of the attack paths were also very straightforward.

For Attack Path 2, he could use Ice Spears to target vital points or for instant surprise kills through the heart within his effective range.

Water Jet Cutter in Attack Path 3 could also be used for slicing and piercing in the same way too.

But Attack Path 4 was a different thing. It was another attack suggestion that piqued his interest... Close Combat Domination. That was something he could get behind.

He could see himself using Attack Path 1 as his default, and then using this as his close quarter choice.

Spamming fire arrows repeatedly would cater to anything long range, while he could also use Galestrike to enhance every of his strikes in close combat.

And then lastly, there was the compressed fire spell. It was basically the maximum his register memory could take. And it was only for dire scenarios, or situations where he simply had to go all out while not having enough time to cast the spell to full power.

In fact, he could even use it as a starter in situations where he had slightly more time. He’d start with the spell already up to 49% and then build the rest power from there.

It was just too good.

One had to know that this was all just with 101 KB of memory. How would it be when he evolved to Tier two with one more fresh untouched mana node?

’The possibilities...’ Zephyr grinned widely.

"What’s with the stupid look on your face?" Zephyr was suddenly jarred from his fantasies as Komi spoke.

He turned to her, wiping the goofy look he had on his face previously, instead, his gaze burned with eagerness. He stared at her like she was a delectable meal ready to be devoured.

Komi, who was previously walking to Zephyr in the middle of the training room, halted abruptly. A cold shiver went down her spine as Zephyr stared at her so intensely. "Wha—What’s wrong with you?"

"Komi," Zephyr started towards her. "How are you feeling now? Better? I can see you’re walking just fine now," he walked towards her with a caring smile plastered on his face, and his voice taking on a weird soothing tone.

"S—Stop! Hold it right there! Wh—What are your intentions?! What are you planning to do right now?" She held a hand up and started walking backwards.

"I just want to ask you something, Komi." Zephyr started to laugh. "What’s with the overreaction? I didn’t know you had it in you at all." Zephyr held both hands up in surrender as he laughed.

"What are you thinking?!" Komi huffed, "I already know what you want anyway. And I’m not fighting you," she waved a finger at him. "You must have learned something new so you want to test it out on me."

"Guilty as charged." Zephyr grinned without shame, causing Komi to scoff lightly.

"Well, whatever you learn favors our cause anyway..." she muttered, looking at his gleaming eyes waiting for her to ask the question he wanted to hear so eagerly.

She sighed in resignation, "So, what is it you wanted to sh—"

Poof

A small flame suddenly appeared next to Komi’s head within the same instant she was speaking, causing her to flinch sideways reflexively, her instincts kicking into action.

Her heart rate had jumped so high within that instant.

It had been too abrupt.

She couldn’t even muster any words for a few seconds, running through multiple scenarios of how she thought Zephyr might have done this... but none seemed to click at all.

She hadn’t sensed any disturbance in the air whatsoever and she hadn’t even felt any sense of danger that would tell her that a spell was prepared beforehand.

It just... suddenly appeared.

A deep, and slightly fearful frown was etched on her face as she finally relaxed slightly from her alert stance.

"How did you do that...?" She asked Zephyr who was smiling gleefully.

"It’s a secret..." he winked at her playfully. "I just wanted to see how it worked on a real person, and it seems it works really well," he looked very satisfied with the results.

Komi kept silent for a while, before attributing what Zephyr had done to his status as a Pathfinder and... whatever else he was.

She sighed lightly, shaking her head, "But still... why did you choose to cast the spell so close to my head?"

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Astrl