Perhaps because Hog had held back at the last second, the magically charged current struck the desk lamp and then flowed freely up and down its metal rod. The entire lamp actually lit up; though the light flickered on and off, it was undeniably illuminated by the current Hog had emitted.
Of course, the illumination didn't last long. After flickering for a few seconds, the desk lamp went dark again.
At this moment, Hog looked like a child caught in a lie, tilting his head with his tongue hanging out, staring wide-eyed at Alan with a calculated expression of innocence. He looked as if he were saying, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Seeing this, even Kiki covered her eyes with her hand, thinking the act was far too transparent.
After a long silence, Kiki noticed she still hadn't heard Alan's scolding, so she curiously looked up at her master. Alan didn't show any sign of anger; instead, he was staring at the spot where the lamp had been, stroking his chin in deep thought.
"Master?" Although Kiki didn't want to interrupt his train of thought, Hog was looking at him eagerly, and the entire second floor was a mess. Even if the lamp wasn't broken, the area around it had been scorched and cluttered.
"Hog, how much magic did you output with the current you just emitted?" Alan completely ignored Hog's feigned ignorance and asked calmly.
"Huh? Magic?" Hog's head, which was tilted to one side, gradually shifted to the other. What started as a fake stupid expression now looked increasingly genuine. "How much magic? I don't know!"
"The plasma cannon you just fired was clearly not at maximum output. Try to recall how much magic you used." Alan's face was stern as he stared at Hog, making the wolf break out in a cold sweat.
"I only know that I held back," Hog confessed honestly, no longer daring to pretend. "But I really don't know the exact amount. I feel it was probably more than half of what I'd normally use for a plasma cannon... maybe a quarter of my usual total capacity."
"Hmm, I understand. We need to test this again." Alan nodded with satisfaction, then turned his focus back to the wolf. "Quickly clean up this place. If I catch you using magic indoors again, I'll confiscate your tactical vest."
Hog immediately became dejected. He had hoped Alan had forgotten the transgression, but clearly, he hadn't. Still, he didn't dare to disobey and settled down to tidy the room.
After the warning, Alan quickly walked to the desk lamp, picked it up, and Apparated back to the underground laboratory.
Once in the basement, Alan drew his wand and carefully condensed his magic. Soon, a dim electric arc shot from the wand tip, making contact with the lamp. The desk lamp flickered again, but both its brightness and duration were less than what he had witnessed from Hog.
"It seems I can push it further." Alan adjusted his output and cast the spell again. Since he only had this one lamp, he was cautious not to overload the delicate Muggle circuitry, adjusting the flow bit by bit. After four or five attempts, he finally managed to make the lamp stay on with a steady, high brightness.
The reason he had suddenly become obsessed with this lamp was that Hog's accidental discharge had sparked a revolutionary idea: the conversion between electrical energy and magic might solve his power source dilemma.
When he was researching the Wild Lightning rune before, he had focused almost entirely on its combat applications, neglecting its potential for utility and support. The electricity generated by Wild Lightning is composed of magic. So, could ordinary electrical energy—the power of the Muggle world—be converted into magic through reverse inference?
This was the question that had seized him. If electrical energy could be reversibly converted into magic, the energy problem that had always plagued his automation projects would be solved. Electrical energy in the Muggle world is abundant; as long as he had a machine like a diesel generator, he could generate power indefinitely.
The next day, Alan took the time to go out and buy a civilian fuel generator and several barrels of gasoline. He had seen lightning magic power a Muggle appliance, but he needed to see how Muggle-generated electricity would interact with magic.
Back in the laboratory, Alan started the generator and eagerly began the conversion test. His first goal was to verify if electrical energy could be directly converted into magic. Since both were forms of elemental energy, he hoped they were inherently interconnected.
Alan ran wires from the generator, connecting them to a high-voltage voltmeter, a coupling capacitor, a measurement circuit, and a dual-pulse generator, creating a discharge unit that could accurately measure voltage and power. It culminated in a handheld probe that resembled a double-headed fork.
The test was simple: Alan constructed a basic energy-absorption circle and aimed the probe at it to see if the discharge would generate magic within the array.
But after several tests, Alan realized he had been overoptimistic. The electrical energy released by the generator had no reaction with the absorption circle at all. He performed similar tests on several alchemical amulets, and again, there was no interaction. Whether it was a circle or a tool, the magic either allowed the current to pass through without intermingling or reacted with a repulsive force, refusing to let the electrical energy approach.
"As I expected, it's not that simple. But this is normal; if electricity and magic could convert into each other directly, it would have been discovered centuries ago," Alan said, shaking his head. He had prepared himself for this failure.
"Next, I'll have to try the Wild Lightning rune. This rune should be able to react with natural electrical energy, as it was formed by absorbing a massive atmospheric charge when it was first created."