Reincarnated Into Destiny Universe - Volume 1 Chapter 31 You're A Wizard Isaac

(Day 150)

Isaac spent the next several days training with his Kinetic Energy. Despite having already achieved level five attunement, he still felt as if there were something more to this energy that he wasn’t getting. It was very strange, in Isaac’s mind, for something like a pure Kinetic Force to exist. “Kinetic” was typically just a word used to describe that which was in motion or actively accomplishing something. For movement or action to exist, outside of the objects that were being described by these words, was simply bizarre.

Six days after having destroyed the Crota Crystal and sitting inside the Kinetic Energy Meditation Chamber, Isaac finally had a breakthrough.

‘Ha, I knew it couldn’t be that simple. This, however, is truly unexpected. This energy, as I suspected, isn’t actually Kinetic Energy at all. As a matter of fact, it may very well be the exact opposite.’ Isaac thought to himself.

He had just attempted to use his “Kinetic Energy” for something other than moving things and it had worked. His right hand was nearly frozen over the moment after he released his experimental ability.

He had thought that since Kinetic Energy was all about movement and action, if he managed to accomplish something that was the opposite of movement, something like complete stillness, with this energy then theoretically it couldn’t be Kinetic Energy.

Theoretically, any ability created by Kinetic Energy would have to end in a result that moved or altered something, even if it was only the energy itself. How could Kinetic Energy stop things from moving?

One could argue that, since the end result was a freezing effect, that the Kinetic Energy basically collided with each individual atom and molecule in the surroundings to prevent them from moving by applying an equal and opposite force but wouldn’t that simply create more friction? At the very least that would probably just counteract the drop in temperature and end up at more or less the same temperature.

Also, that would require that the Kinetic Energy become still, after achieving the effect, or else it would last less than a fraction of a second.

Having managed to successfully freeze his hand using “Kinetic Energy,” Isaac was almost certain that this was instead some kind of pure Potential Energy. They had simply been focusing on its ability to assist their movements, since it was discovered from analyzing those very same movements.

What kind of a concept was a Pure Potential Energy…?

A magical one. If the concept of Kinetic Energy was simply energy that was constantly in motion and seeking release, then the concept of Potential Energy should be energy that could theoretically be put to any task but was simply awaiting instructions.

When Isaac had summoned the energy to his hand, he had focused on instructing it to stop all of the molecular and atomic movement within an inch of his hand. Almost instantly his hand had frozen over and stayed that way for nearly a minute, before Wraitheon healed him.

Once his hand had been healed and his thoughts were gathered, he stood up and went directly back to his room.

Isaac spent the next couple of hours running all kinds of tests, with this Potential Energy. Creating ice, making things invisible, and creating illusions among other things. ‘Something is wrong here. Not only does it require a massive amount of Potential Energy to accomplish even the most simplistic of tasks but it also somehow feels like the energy doesn’t want to do what I’m asking it to do. It gets the job done but very inefficiently, almost as if it’s reluctant to do so.’

Isaac sat there for a few minutes pondering over this strange discovery. ‘Wait, I think that’s it.’ Isaac thought, as he crossed his legs, entered a meditative state, and began the process of acquiring a new attunement.

Isaac suspected that what he had previously thought was Kinetic Energy was actually Potential Energy that had been warped or twisted into a form that is suitable only for physical movements and actions, due to his initial misunderstanding.

Isaac spent two more days cooped up inside of his room. Around noon on the third day, he finally managed to acquire an attunement to this semi new energy. He then spent the rest of the day trying to increase that attunement.

Late in the evening, Isaac finally came out of his meditative state and began once again trying to perform those same simple tasks from earlier. Isaac was, despite not being surprised at all, was quite ecstatic to discover that there was a fairly large decrease in the amount of energy required.

Isaac had always wondered why it was that the Hive could perform all kinds of magic rituals and whatnot yet the Guardians didn’t seem to have access to anything similar. The Hive could use elemental energies like Guardians thus suggesting that they wield the power of the darkness in the same way that Guardians wield the Light.

Now, with the discovery of Potential Energy, he suspected that the magic the Hive wielded was some type of sub energy or offshoot of darkness energy. He theorized that this lower level energy was more proficient in accomplishing tasks that didn’t rely on attunements to be effective, thus making it likely that this Potential Energy he had stumbled across was in fact much the same only borne from the Light. This lower level Light energy could be the key to Guardians performing their own powerful magic rituals to bolster their power and subdue their enemies.

Some, upon hearing what Potential Energy is and is used for, might conclude that it is simply a less powerful version of the Light and thus kind of useless to a Guardian. However, Isaac hadn’t failed to notice that the consumption of Light required for Emcee to recreate those Fallen machines was unexpectedly large. He hadn’t mentioned it at the time, because he didn’t think there was anything he could do about it and so it wasn’t worth his time.

Now, however, this fact seemed to stand out quite prominently in his mind. ‘The Traveler is made entirely out of Light Energy. If one were to assume that being made entirely out of a high level energy the Traveler could easily create lower level energies but could not easily control them, then that would leave the Darkness in a similar position. Even with such a limitation, the Light and the Darkness are still massively overpowered so there’s not much lost, if it’s true.

‘However, if this is the case, perhaps those two choosing mortal races to act as their proxies in this endless war of theirs makes a lot more sense.

‘Emcee, since she is essentially acting as the eyes, ears, and mouth of the Traveler at the moment, required a massive amount of Light to accomplish what seemingly should have been a simple task. Most of the pieces were already there, all that should be required was a simple reassembly and quick repair. Yet, it required such a large sacrifice.

‘This leads me to believe that Light Energy is most proficient in creating lower level energies and can accomplish other more intensive tasks but at a severe increase in the amount of Light Energy required to pull it off. It could very well be that both the Light and the Darkness created lower level energy versions of themselves to further empower their proxies.’

Isaac’s head was nearly spinning, after trying to sort through all of the mysteries that appeared anytime he thought he had discovered the key to fully understanding the Light. While he was quite satisfied with his new attunement and the development of his hypotheses, he was most excited about the fact that during all of his musings his Light Attunement had increased by two full levels. This of course reassured him that, despite his hypotheses only being hypotheses, he was clearly on the right track.

Feeling extremely satisfied, with everything that he had accomplished this day, Isaac went to sleep and dreamt of sugar plums and gumdrops.

———-

(Day 154)

Chalco Yong pointed at the six different locations on the map on the command room’s table. “These are all of the locations that we’ve spotted the Drifter. Eris reported that he’s been here for nearly two weeks.”

“I see. Has she been able to confirm what he’s been up to during these two weeks?” Ikora asked.

“As far as she can tell, he has mostly just been getting acquainted with some business owners and other influential people in the city. She suspects that he’s trying to build up a good report with the people, before making a move.”

“Well, I’m not actually certain at this point that he has any intentions or moves he’s planning to make but I do want to keep him under surveillance. If you see him speaking with anyone from the Consensus, the Reef, or perhaps The Nine, alert me immediately. Anything else, like his daily movements, just submit as part of your regular reporting.”

“Understood, Ikora. I’ll go and update Eris immediately.”

“Stay vigilant, Chalco.” Ikora said to the departing Chalco. As she watched Chalco walk away, she noticed Isaac walking past her and towards her own location.

“Ahhh, good morning, Isaac. How are you?”

“I’m feeling pretty damned good today, Ikora! I’ve got some exciting information to share with you today! I’m certain you’re going to love it! You might even love it so much you feel compelled to hand over a big fat juicy batch of Strange Coins!” Isaac enthusiastically responded.

“Really?! Do you mean to tell me you’ve once again discovered another type of energy!?” Ikora asked, not really sure how to respond to Isaac’s show of confidence and enthusiasm.

“Ha, you’re not too far off, Ikora. So why don’t I just show you?”

At this point, his loud and enthusiastic proclamations had drawn the attention of Cayde and Zavala, who were now approaching them. Isaac held his hand out palm upwards and released his newly acquired Ice Magic. His hand froze over in an instant and Ikora and her teammates simply stared at Isaac as if he were crazy.

‘Goddammit! We’ve lost another one, to the madness!’ Ikora thought, as she stared at Isaac worriedly. “Soooo, you used the Light to freeze your hand?” She asked, expecting only some crazed ranting in response.

“No, I didn’t use the Light. Well, indirectly I may have the same way that, if I kill a Hive with a Solar Ability, it could be said that I killed him with the Light. The point is, Ikora, have you ever tried to do something like this with the Light?”

‘Umm…I don’t think that’s a point. I think that’s a question. Oh, boy! Is it really this bad!? Why, Isaac? Why did you have to go and fall apart on me so soon?’ Ikora tried to suppress these thoughts and hold on to a sliver of hope that perhaps he was just overly tired, despite not having any circles around his eyes.

“Well, I have tried to do other things than simply create the energies that I’m attuned to, if that’s what you mean. Although, I can’t say I’ve ever frozen my own hand. The problem with trying to accomplish things like this is no matter how much knowledge we learn about the objects and forces involved it always costs a prohibitive amount of Light to accomplish. Surely, you must have realized this having just done…well, what you did?”

“Exactly, Ikora! That is exactly my point! You’re already aware of the new energy I discovered. At the time, I called it Kinetic Energy because that’s what it seemed like but I was wrong. It’s not Kinetic Energy, Ikora, it’s Potential Energy. Potential, Ikora! Do you have any idea what that means?”

As Isaac continued explaining his discovery Ikora’s assessment of his mental condition gradually improved. He was actually starting to make sense now. ‘Potential Energy? Not Kinetic? That is something. Wait, does that mean…?’ Ikora thought as she addressed Isaac much more seriously this time. “Isaac, are you trying to say that this energy…?” She asked as enlightenment showed in her eyes.

“Yes, exactly! This energy is magic! It’s Light Magic! It’s basically the Light-borne version of Hive Magic! Ikora, based on your previous experiments with these types of non-elemental tasks, how much energy do you think this would require?”

“Based on your current level and your approximate maximum Light Charge, I’d say nearly a quarter of your Light.”

“Ha, nearly a quarter you say? Alright then, how about this?” Isaac held out his other hand palm upwards and, using his Potential Energy, conjured a globe of water out of thin air. He then froze that globe of water solid and tossed it to Ikora. He then conjured another globe of water, shaped it into a combat knife, froze it, and then tossed it to Cayde. Conjuring yet a third and much larger globe of water he shaped it into a double headed combat hammer, froze it, and then tossed it to Zavala.

Having completed his display, Isaac addressed Ikora once again, “That is what I can do with nearly a quarter of my Light Charge! And consider that this Potential Energy is actually the pure and true form of Kinetic Energy. What I showed you previously was simply a twisted version of Potential Energy. It wasn’t able to take its true form, due to our lack of understanding.

“Now that I’ve attuned myself to this Potential Energy, all of the same Kinetic Abilities that use it as a medium, are actually marginally better than my Tier Five Kinetic Energy Attunement. I can tell that my attunement to Potential Energy is probably somewhere below Tier Three, so once we’ve established a Meditation Chamber and I’m back to Tier Five just imagine how much more useful it will be.

“With all of that being said, however, that isn’t the only news I have.”

“What!? There’s more? Well, spit it out. What is it?” Cayde suddenly interjected.

“Well, it isn’t nearly as impressive as Potential Energy but I’ve finally completed the Kinetic Subclass. I still call it Kinetic, simply because of the fact that it’s all about increased and augmented movements. If I’m being honest, I really think that you should replace the initial training of newly awakened Guardians with learning only this Subclass, since it isn’t Class specific. Although, that’s your decision to make, at the end of the day.”

After taking a moment to pour over the information Isaac sent them, Zavala finally spoke up. “Isaac…this is…well, it’s damned impressive among other things. The heights to which our Guardians will soar, because of these revelations is unimaginable. You’ve already done so much for both the city and us Guardians and now this? I can’t help but feel like we’ll never be able to repay you properly. A big fat juicy batch of Strange Coins, as you say, is probably the least we could do.

“As for any other rewards and as for altering the newly arisen Guardian’s training, I think we’ll need some time to think all of this over. This is quite a bit of information you’ve given us and the implications are far reaching indeed. In the meantime, why don’t you go with Ikora to work on that Meditation Chamber and give us until tomorrow to come up with a satisfactory response?”

“Sounds good to me.” Isaac said with a big smile on his face.

He and Ikora then left the others and spent nearly six hours transforming the Kinetic Energy Chamber into a Potential Energy Chamber.