This was completely different from learning new spells from the library. This new rune set was embedded in him. It was a part of him.
A gentle energy caressed Adam's soul and Adam could only describe it as the "in-between of ether and inert ether."
Energy permeated through Adam's damaged soul and the "wounds" he suffered were healing at an unnaturally fast rate.
"This must be... the world affirming my knowledge."
Adam's body was suspended in the air indefinitely, and he couldn't help but feel great joy and euphoria flooding through his body. It was different from the drug-like haze when he was about to be promoted to an antimage; it was sunny, joyful, like the sun was caressing him.
After a short while, his wound was healed completely. He predicts that if he continues researching on electricity, he'll be a qualified mage in no time.
However, Adam suppressed this desire. He simply verified the existence of an electrical current.
Through his experiments, Adam found that magic is a non-attribute, but all-powerful medium, used to harness and manifest any elements that can be conjured. The room was like a circuit, and the ether-rich environment formed an electrical field. Adam simply conjured some electrical currents to form electrical energy, and the air and magic instantly ionized to form a conductor. Just like that, an electric current was generated, of which dissipated into nothingness. It emitted light and heat, and was extremely powerful.
This is the principle of apprentice-level electric magic, which is essentially the application of static electricity.
With his knowledge, however, Adam would not be willing to only use static electricity in order to become a mage. He regarded the results he had just obtained as a small step towards a bigger goal. Now that his soul was healed, he was ready for more experiments.
Oh. He can't.
Not only did he suffer major physical injuries, nothing was left intact in the room after his experiment.
A loud knock sounded outside the door, "Adam, are you okay? Open up!"
Adam's body was unsuspended from the air and he fell to the floor in a splat. Pain washed over him, and with a simple scan, found that his body was heavily injured.
James breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Adam open the door. As for his injuries, he wasn't surprised.
"How could you... forget it. I don't know what kind of experiments you were conducting in here, but it's too dangerous. Did you know the laboratory almost exploded?" James sighed, then turned to look at Frank. "Could you take a look at him as well?"
Adam stretched out his hand and placed it on Frank, absorbing the electrical currents away from his body. Frank was immediately better, and quickly cowered behind James, "What the hell is going on? When I touched the door, I was blasted backwards, and my whole body was numb... it was as if I had no control over my body!"
Adam glanced at him, and the sound of crackling electricity could be heard. James and Frank immediately erected their psychic barriers and were put on guard.
"This is what I've done. Call it static electricity."
Adam did not explain further, as they weren't researching electricity.
The two didn't pry further either. All they knew was that Adam must have achieved something remarkable.
...
Seven days later, the devil was drowning in wine and felt a call in their soul. They held the wine glass in their hand gingerly, choosing to ignore the call. Before they could continue sipping on their wine, a sharp-pain tore through them and the wine was spat out of their mouth.
"Garfield, what's wrong with you?" a female apprentice asked.
She was incredibly worried for "Garfield." She had developed a great impression of this unfamiliar apprentice before her, and it would be a shame if something bad were to happen to them. After all, not many apprentices are this charming.
The devil gave themselves the name "Garfield." With their innate ability to deceive, the devil snuck into the female apprentice's heart. They can't really do anything to her, but they still enjoy this feeling of being fawned over.
The pain was getting unbearable, but the devil smiled, "My two ladies, I'm sorry, but I have to take my leave. See you next time."
The devil had anger boiling in them. They believe they saved Adam from imminent doom from Peter's magic, and wonders if Adam was even grateful for it.
The devil slammed open the laboratory door and yelled, "Even if I am your servant, shouldn't you at least express some gratitude and let me have some fu-"
With a single glance, the devil was put in their place.
"Sorry."
With a quick mutter, the devil put on a flattering expression and approached Adam, "My great master, your wish is my command."
Because Adam had severed the connection between them, they couldn't perceive Adam's health anymore. After direct contact, they found that Adam was fully healed! The devil prayed that Adam would take ill and succumb for their freedom, but now, Adam was fully healed and stronger!
Fearing that Adam could hear their thoughts, they whispered, "Master? Master."
"To what extent have you mastered your negative energy?"
The devil remained silent, fully knowing that they used their negative energy for fun.
"I'm... okay with it."
Adam smacked the devil across the room and walked towards their limp body, "I'll give you three days -- master your negative energy, or suffer the consequences."
After Adam had incorporated the set of electric runes into his soul, he finally understood what James meant when he said that his affinity would appear after incorporating his own knowledge.
After that day, despite Adam not doing anything, his meditation method gradually became electric!
The electric runes were trying to commune and interact with his meditation runes, so the original meditation runes were affected.
He was immediately attracted to this change and began to devote himself to strengthening his psychic power. Today, he finally achieved preliminary results. However, he suddenly remembered of his devil, and realised that he had neglected them,
Adam was dissatisfied with the devil's behaviour, so if the devil was unable to produce satisfying results, he did not mind using the devil to vent his stress.
After returning to the experiment room, Adam summoned a test target from his portable space and began to experiment.
Now that he has access to apprentice-tier electric magic, he does not need to build runes just to cast it. As long as he draws power from the ether using his telekinesis, then he can immediately cast bursts of electricity.
One after another, electricity zapped out, hitting the target from all directions, with the display ranging from one to forty.
The target's magic limit was fifty. Any magic exceeding a fifty-power level would destroy the target.
Adam believes that if he applied his electricity more, he would be able to break through.
After a short test, Adam sat on the ground.
Now that he has mastered static electricity, is it possible to conduct real experiments using magic?
As soon as he thought of it, he constructed the runes for a fireball. A burning fireball levitated in the centre of the room and Adam tried to imbue electricity into it.
A moment later, the fireball crackled with electricity and Adam shot it at the test target, reading seventeen.
Adam frowned. It may be a success, but it is also a failure.
Next, he tried to imbue electricity onto other low-level magics, and the results were similar. There was no qualitative leap between each experiment.