*Lucas Jaeger*

Lucas could only compare this feeling to when he had been stung by the High Spider- it was a rush, a high. Once, decades ago, the child Lucas had desired magic. He researched all that he could find and tested them out one by one, and was disappointed. From there, Lucas had turned to science. If he could not have magic, than he would create it himself!

But now, that old wish came true and more. This was not just magic, it was overwhelming power and strength that could bend the very laws of the universe themselves! And this was barely past the threshold of what was possible, now that he had this much he could feel the next peak and understood the heights beyond it. Eventually, what would be the difference between Lucas and a god? The difference would be that Lucas interacted with the world, that is what!

“Lucas,” Julian was frowning as he watched Lucas. “A lot of people are getting… Concerned.”

Lucas just laughed, “isn’t this what you want? A hero capable of fighting on the front line and annihilating the demons wherever he goes? That last battle was an easy victory, and that was the least of what I can do with this power!”

“Lucas…” Julian was almost nervous, “You ripped out souls, human souls!”

“Murderers and rapists,” Lucas chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. “Do they qualify as human? Do they have any redeeming qualities that would make them worth letting live?”

“Even with scum like them, a soul is sacred. It should be left to the gods to judge.”

“I had not thought you were that pious Julian,” Lucas sighed. “Fighting the demons will cost human lives. It is the duty of generals and nobles to choose who will pay that cost, it seems to me that shifting that cost to the dregs of the human race is preferable to letting good people die. And such power! Try it for yourself, it is nearly impossible to describe.”

Julian just shook his head, and Lucas could not help but be annoyed. Terrasin would not even talk to him, and most of the people were avoiding him as well. His actions were clearly horrendous taboo, but it did not matter.

“Three of the major religions in my world are based on mostly the same basis,” Lucas spoke lightly. “Though there are variations, they tell a story about the first humans who ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and thus became like God and knew of good and evil.”

Lucas stretched his hand out and focused his power through the complicated mechanisms he had designed. On the ground, a sprout suddenly pushed up from the soil and grew rapidly as Lucas continued to talk.

“The garden where that tree grew contained another fruit bearing tree of note, the Tree of Life. Humans were cast out of the garden so that they could not eat of that tree and become as God fully. That story comes to my mind when I consider this magic, because it this must be what it would be like to have eaten that other fruit.”

The sprout flowered, with bright red and yellow petals opening up having grown from seed to flower in mere seconds.

“Let us say that what I am doing is blasphemy against the gods,” Lucas laughed. “Who cares? That story I spoke of, from a certain point of view, paints God as the evil villian. They are sent away from paradise for commiting a crime that they could not have conceived of until they commited it- and why even have those trees there in the first place? Actually, why have those trees exist at all? Your gods are more active, to be sure, but the extent of power they are claimed to have and what they actually do have a wide divide between them. As demons push humanity to extinction, where are your gods? Are they worth worshipping and obeying? With power like this, I can supplant your gods.

Where they are silent, I will answer. Where prayers for help go unheeded, I will be there to help. Where society falters, I will impose justice. With power like this, your ‘gods’ are unnecessary.”

“And what happens when they pray for relief from you Lucas!?” Julian shouted in frustration, “do you even remember what you did three nights ago in that battle? I cannot deny you pushed back the demons with almost nothing but your own power, but you struck your allies without care too!”

It is true, Lucas had not had full control- still did not, in fact. The magic he used to kill them was actually a lot less accurate than Lucas would have had his enemy know. True, the actual mechanism was quite involved- Lucas actually copied parts from cell membranes, though they were used mostly for identification and not deciding what actually passed through as the magic passed through everything. But when the correct substance was identified, the magic interacted with it- and in this case, split it.

In particular, Lucas used the magic to split salt (NaCl) into its components sodium and chlorine, which were both highly reactive. It also interacted with a few other things to create the dramatic effect, but the majority of it was caused by the split in the salt. However, the magic itself was essentially ‘area of effect’ and not targeted, it was more like casting a deadly invisible cloud at an enemy than anything else.

And Lucas had caught a few friendly soldiers in his magic and killed them. But really, they would have died from the demons anyways- and they had held the demons in place for him to kill them.

“Oh I cared,” Lucas answered. “Though I do admit not as much as you. They were soldiers, and their actions led to the deaths of our enemies. Hopefully, I will not have to sacrifice as much next time, but even if I do, the trade is worth it.”

“Listen to yourself for fuck’s sake!” Julian was starting to annoy Lucas, he did understand what the man was saying but this was a war. “Lucas, as long as I have known you your personality has been sliding- and Terrasin says the same thing. You risk becoming the very thing we are fighting!”

“The very thing you are fighting,” Lucas shot back sharply. “Let us not forget you people dragged me to this world to fight your battle for you, and you did it at the cost of a human life as well! You spent a life to ruin mine and now have the gall to lecture me on the sanctity and value of human life? You dare talk about problems with my personality? Well no shit Sherlock, look at the situation!”

Lucas was angry, and Julian was backing away slowly- and for good reason. With his emotions running out of control, he released his mana into the atmosphere uncontrolled- and the air around Lucas started to shimmer and crackle from the influx of energy. The flower wilted and withered along with the grass around Lucas and he struggled to get his emotions back under his control.

“Enough,” Lucas spat as he pulled the power back inside himself. “Get out of here Julian, I have work to do- and I do not want to see or deal with you now.”

Lucas turned on his heel and walked away, not checking to see if Julian obeyed. If Julian was foolish enough to stick around, Lucas would throw him out on his ass. Lucas was not waiting around after all, with this power there were so many things he could do, and will do.

Entering his room, having informed the soldiers to not disturb him, Lucas sat down in a comfortable pose and turned his magic in on himself. His magic may be powerful, but his body was still frail and human- for now. By tomorrow, he will have corrected that and show the demons what real genetic manipulation was!