GameDev Reincarnated into His Own Creation

Vol 2 - Chapter 28.2: Recursive Expansion

Vel felt a surge of elation unlike anything he'd ever experienced—greater than any coding breakthrough, any solved problem from his past life. But more than that, he saw hope reborn in his classmates' faces. This wasn't just magical theory proven correct—it was validation of their very existence.

The reality of their breakthrough began to sink in across the entire class.

"In all my years..." Lyvenna whispered, unable to remove her gaze from Enya. For once, her composed instructor mask had completely slipped away.

Suddenly, every pair of eyes turned toward Vel with desperate hope.

"What about me?!" Tomas burst out.

"No, me first!" Mira protested, scrambling to her feet.

"Easy," Vel said, raising his hands with a grin he couldn't suppress. "We have time to figure out everyone's spells now that we know the approach."

For the next twenty minutes, the training ground buzzed with frantic energy. Students sketched experimental sigil patterns in the sand, compared notes, and debated incantation structures. The despair that had hung over them like a shroud was completely gone, replaced by electric anticipation.

"Remember," Vel called out as they worked, "every spell we cast needs to incorporate the Chaos element. Our magic will never be quite the same as other students'—but we could use it as our advantage."

The theoretical work had energized them, but now came the real test. One by one, they would need to prove their modified spells actually worked.

Mira volunteered to go first, raising her notebook with her focus crystal embedded in the cover.

"Terr-aer-lea orbis-agitare."

Small pebbles lifted from the ground—first one, then two, then dozens more. They hovered for a moment before beginning their dance, swirling around an invisible center like tiny planets in orbit. The stones followed no predictable pattern, their paths shifting and changing in controlled randomness.

With a sharp flick of her wrist, Mira sent the entire formation forward. The pebbles struck the training dummy in a chaotic barrage, each impact precise yet unpredictable.

"It worked," she breathed, staring at her own hands in amazement. "It actually worked."

"My turn!" Rohen advanced eagerly, barely able to contain his excitement. "Aqu-terra-lea formiz-etahn."

The sand beneath his feet darkened, transforming into rich mud before hardening into clay. The clay mass rose from the ground, growing into a formless lump. Then, with a sharp crack, it shattered into dozens of razor-sharp earth fragments.

Each shard hung suspended in the air for a heartbeat before launching toward the training dummy with vicious whizzing sounds. The impacts came in rapid succession—thunk, thunk, thunk—leaving the dummy bristling like a porcupine.

"Incredible," Rohen whispered, flexing his fingers as if seeing them for the first time.

"Let me try!" Tomas practically bounced on his feet. "Igni-terra-lea iter!"

A small orange-red sphere began forming at his wand's tip, pulsing with inner heat. The magma orb grew slowly, deliberately, until it reached the size of his fist. Then, with a small combustion from within, it shot forward at threatening speed.

But its trajectory was completely unpredictable. The orb zigzagged through the air, weaving left and right in a drunken pattern that defied all logic. Vel couldn't tell if it was the aerodynamics of molten rock or pure chaos at work—either way, it connected with the dummy in a spectacular explosion.