Chapter 1602: Rolling The Dice
"Wild magic? You can do that here?"
Gojo smiled, magic flashing deep in his eyes. "Of course, wild magic is unlike any other kind of magic. It’s raw, random, powerful, and most importantly, separate from anything that Yog has her toes dipped in."
He lifted two fingers, creating a blue flash above his fingers.
"It isn’t a magic that anyone can use. You must be chosen by it. I wasn’t at first, but Lucy was. When I switched bodies with her, I did manage to understand and get linked to the endless torrents of magic."
Wild magic is erratic by nature; its laws, rules, and spells change based on the world, place, time, the person using it, the weather, and even their feelings influence the wild magic they can cast.
"Let’s see what I can do here."
The light on Gojo’s fingers flashed, and a blinding blue light burst around him. Arad looked at him with a puzzled face. "I can do that at will. I was at least before getting stuck here."
Gojo looked down, then at his hands. The wild magic had turned him into a woman.
"Now... how many failed attempts do I need to go through?" That was 100 MP gone. Just five seconds later, Gojo turned back. The spell wasn’t permanent, luckily.
"Do you love gambling?" Gojo asked with a smile, and Arad shook his head. "Never tried it, so I don’t know."
"Let me tell you, it’s the worst because it is always rigged against you. Wild magic is the same. Whatever that primordial concept is, it is rigging the wild magic so she gets more mana than she takes from the casters. Wild magic users are basically gambling their mana in exchange for a roll on her spell pool."
Gojo cast another spell, and this time, not a single flash appeared. He just grew a flower out of his head, and another 100 MP was down the drain.
Is turning into a woman for a few seconds worth 100 MP? Maybe. Someone can argue that. But is having a flower grow out of your head worth that much? No.
Casting another spell, Gojo found himself looking the same, just with his fingernails painted blue, and they were hurting like hell. The magic had jammed paint directly beneath his nails. And another 100 MP was gone.
The fourth spell looked promising. Gojo felt a surge of warmth wash over his body, soothing his hurting fingers and body. That was a self-healing spell, not worth 100 MP, but enough to give him just enough hope to keep spinning.
Maybe the next spell would be a healing spell, and just maybe it’ll hit Arad and heal him.
"How many wild spells are there?" Arad asked, and Gojo shrugged.
"At first, I thought there were hundreds. Now, I already found thousands, and I’m certain there are far more still hidden." He smiled, "But, if we stayed in the same world, same location, relatively the same time, I might have like a thousand spells or so on the wheel."
If what Gojo expects is true, then his list should be relatively stable with just one or two spells swapped out every hour. He has a decent chance of finding a healing spell, and so he kept casting wild magic, determined to keep trying until he runs out of mana or hits a jackpot.
The next spell was quite dangerous; a red flash burned from Gojo’s eyes, and a massive fireball erupted forth. Arad only managed to dodge it at the last moment, almost getting himself burned to a crisp.
The fireball flew away, hit the seawater, and exploded into a massive cloud of steam.
Arad looked back. "That would’ve killed."
"Sorry, but try to dodge as best as you can. I’m sure there are more spells like that in my wheel." He kept casting wild magic after that.
Gojo had turned into a stump of wood, turned his hair purple, conjured a dancing elf, made it rain for a second, and even somewhat got a voice screaming at him, "FOOL!" each time he cast another spell.
Several minutes later, Gojo fell on the ground exhausted. He had spent all of his mana and couldn’t hear Arad’s arm. "Sorry, luck isn’t on my side."
Arad looked at his still broken arm. "Don’t worry about. For now, we should get something to eat first."
They were humans after all, and hunger was a real threat. If they don’t eat and sleep enough, their bodies would eventually break down and fall apart.
Arad approached the edge of the water and looked at its dark, reflective surface. "We can’t use magic in the water, right?"
"It just blocks our ability to release magic and sense mana. It doesn’t melt magic itself. You saw the fireball evaporate the water earlier." Gojo replied while still lying on the cold stone, trying to recover every bit.
A stone spear formed from the blackened basalt and flowed into Arad’s hand. "That’s why I’ll form the magic here."
Spells could be separated into two types. One that needs a constant supply of mana, like flames, and ones that only need the initial push to get conjured. If Arad tried to heat himself by creating a flame on his hand, the water would stop the mana supply and put the flames out. But if he tried to hurl a fireball, that fireball was already saturated with mana before leaving his palm.
The stone spear in Arad’s hand had already formed and won’t need any more mana supply, which means that it won’t disappear if submerged in the mana-insulating dreadful sea.
"Can you swim like that? You’ll need that right hand to hold the spear, and your left is busted." Gojo looked at him, but Arad smiled. "It’s not ideal, but we have no other choice. I’ll catch us something nice and small."
With that, Arad jumped into the water with a massive splash. He had to find something for them to eat before they would starve. Both of them needed food to recover and fight. Arad knows that after a certain level of starvation, hunting for food would become impossible, which would seal their fate.
He would rather not fight underwater with a mauled arm, but he has no other choice. He must hunt something before he gets fully exhausted and starved.
Gojo could’ve gone to hunt instead, but Arad won’t count on that. Even with how skilled his brother is, being locked in a human’s body hits different for many people.
Even without magic, Arad is still a three-meter-tall giant with enough muscles and pain tolerance to fight a shark underwater and win. Gojo, on the other hand, is a thin man with more physical endurance than most humans, but nowhere near Arad’s animalistic power.
Size also played a big role here in the frigid water. Arad was massive, had more muscles, and could retain his body heat for longer. Gojo, on the other hand, would rapidly freeze and die.
So, is Gojo useless in this world? Absolutely no. He might not be able to do much under the oppressive black sea, but his magic outside it is nothing but harrowing. Since when could a mere man spawn an island out of thin air?
It was the same as before, even when they were dragons. Gojo is the better mage by a lot, and Arad is the better physical fighter.
Just like in their mother’s womb, they must learn how to work together to hunt and survive.
It was then that Arad saw a tuna that was a bit half as he was tall. But something about it was strange; it had massive fangs, red fins, and sharp spikes that Arad knew for a fact would be poisonous.
^Even more sardins.^ Arad held the spear in his mouth to use his right hand to swim faster. But he didn’t need to do that; the tuna itself seemed to be on the lookout for a meal.