Chapter 22: Private Attribute Lessons (3)
Whoosh.
The spark that seemed like it would go out at any moment stabilized.
It even began to burn with a much more vivid scarlet hue than before.
…I knew something was off.
So, this was the reason.
The structure of the core was perfect but devoid of humanity, as if churned out of a factory.
The me’s quality improved immediately upon registering the new trait.
“Status screen.”
Name: Yandel
Title: The Lost Foreigner
Basic Abilities
Strength: 11
Endurance: 10
Agility: 12
Talent: 14
Magical Power: 18
Traits
Endless Mana (A)
Elemental Affinity (B)
Excellent Memory (B)
Clumsy Weapon Skills (E)
Lintblum Mana Core (C)
Clumsy Magic (F)
A semi-transparent screen that was visible only to me appeared. I organized my thoughts while looking at the ‘Clumsy Magic’ trait written boldly at the very bottom.
The four main elements that constituted magic were imagination, will, intuition, and form, right?
Among them, intuition and form helped adjust the manifested magic to align with the caster’s intention.
It seemed like I was benefiting from the status screen’s adjustments as well.
Status screen adjustments, huh…?
Now that I think about it, the ‘Clumsy Weapon Skills’ trait did have its quirks.
“Trait details.”
【Clumsy Weapon Skills (E)】
Allows you to wield weapons at a neighborhood thug level.
Though incredibly crude, it''smendable that you can handle various types of weapons.
Basic attack power increases by 5% for physical attacks using weapons.
A simple effect of slightly increased basic attack power.
Up until now, I had thought that my increasing attack power meant I was getting stronger physically… but what if it actually meant that I could ‘wield’ weapons, as the status screen suggested?
Could it be that I was mistaking my ability to wield a weapon more efficiently and precisely, to bring about greater results with less effort, for getting stronger?
It wasn’t impossible.
I had to spend quite a while to earn the ‘Clumsy Weapon Skills’ trait, especially with no one around to guide me like Ca.
So, I thought I was getting ustomed to wielding weapons.
But in the end, my closebat skills were at a neighborhood thug level.
It would be normal for me to make numerous mistakes, thinking I was good at fighting.
Indeed, the local thugs I had conflicts with at the beginning of my journey were like that.
But not me. Although my weapon skills were only a bit better than those of an average person, I had never made a mistake.
When I took down Pietro, I didn’t stab his heart in one go, but my de didn’t make him bleed either.
Being outmatched by an opponent’s skills was one thing, but I would never cause my own downfall.
My movements were unnaturally precise, albeit only at the level of a neighborhood thug.
Everything made sense if I thought about it as a result of the status screen’s adjustments.
The screen allowed me to maintain top-level performance within the limits of my rank.
Could this be the effect of the status screen adjustment?
To test my hypothesis, I once again gathered mana.
Mana that barely twitched outside of the mana circuit naturally concentrated at my fingertips.
With a softly glowing finger, I drew a circle and shouted,
“Tinder.”
Whoosh.
I didn’t have Ca’s help this time, nor did I pour an overwhelming amount of willpower into it like the first time.
Yet the Tinder spell was cast naturally. Even its power and stability were as reliable as before.
Just as I expected.
It was a manifestation of magic that, within the limitations of my rank, pursued extreme efficiency–in some sense, it could even be considered perfect.
Intrigued, I tried casting it a few more times.
“Tinder. Tinder. Tinder.”
Whoosh, whoosh, whooosh.
The mes flickered on and off, igniting and extinguishing in ordance with my will.
I could feel my internal mana being depleted, but there was hardly any other effort involved.
It was like flicking a lighter on and off.
I continued to cast Tinder for a while, like a child who just learned how to y with fire.
Suddenly, I realized that Ca, who had been narrating with a melodious voice, had gone silent.
Lifting my head in curiosity, I looked at her.
“Uh. Uh. Uh…”
Ca was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water.
Just how surprised was she?
Each time her rosy lips opened and closed, a glimpse of her moist tongue could be seen.
Like someone entranced, I found myself putting my finger into Ca’s mouth.
Slurp, slurp.
“???”
The moment my finger touched her tongue, Ca moved it strangely, as if performing fetio.
“…Ha!”
Realizing what she had inadvertently done, Ca carefully spat out my index finger.
She then wiped her finger with the sleeve of her clothes and acted surprised, putting on a calm face as if nothing had happened.
“My goodness! Master, what did you just do? Didn’t you say you were a beginner at magic? To get the hang of it in just one go…”
“Ca?”
“No, this isn’t simply getting the hang of it. The Tinder you showed me a while ago was as skilled as a mage who had spent decades on fire magic…”
“Ca.”
“… Anyway, Master, you are definitely a genius!”
“Ca!”
“Should I teach you another spell? To assess your aptitude, maybe a basic water element spell would be good this time.”
Ca continued to feign ignorance.
The more she acted this way, the more a little dark malice began to seep from deep within me.
I indulged in this feeling and opened my mouth wide. Then, I slowly inserted my finger—the same one Ca had been sucking on just a moment ago—into my own mouth.
The effect was immediate.
“Aaahhh! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I had never felt anything go all the way to the back of my throat before, so I unknowingly did that! I won’t ever pretend not to hear Master again, so please don’t lick my finger!”
“Anyone listening might think I was the one licking your finger… Ahaha! Actually, Ca, you did lick my finger, so that’s a reasonable assumption!”
When I poked her soft belly with a chuckle, Ca twisted her body and pouted.
“Hoooh… Please don’t tease me… Don’t poke me… I’ll behave… I won’t lick it…”
“No, it’s fine if you lick it next time. Just don’t try to sidestep things by saying you’re embarrassed.”
“Yes… From now on, I won’t hide anything, whether it’s good or bad, embarrassing or prideful… I’ll share it all…”
I didn’t mean for her to take it that far…
However, Ca, who was bowing her head with a sullen expression, looked so cute that I thought I should reply properly and steer the conversation in another direction.
“Um… yes, let’s do well. But speaking of what you said a little earlier…”
“…About the sensation of Master’s touch still lingering at the back of my throat?”
“That’s intriguing in its own way, but I’m referring to what you mentioned before that. You asked how I did that magic spell.”
I was going to be learning all kinds of magic in the Academy from now on.
The status window adjustment was an especially alien thing, even in the Academy of the Eurelia Continent, where talented people gather.
I’m sure there would be more than one or two people asking about it.
But for me, who couldn’t exin the existence of the status window openly, there was no other way.
I would have to deceive them with some reasonable settings, just like I deceived people by saying my inventory in a space bag or a dungeon reward.
“Speaking of which… I think I might actually be a genius.”
“…Huh?”
When I said that with a serious face, Ca, with her ruby-colored eyes, blinked and tilted her head.
As she did so, I rubbed my cheek against her thigh and continued.
“Earlier, you said it wasn’t just about getting the hang of it, right?”
“Yes, knowing how to do something and actually mastering it are two different things.”
“But for me, it works.”
“……”
At my calm response, Ca’s mouth opened wide. She continued to fidget with the hand that was still ced on my chest.
“Magic is about causing phenomena through imagination and will, and it is sublimated into magic through the support of intuition and forms, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Magic is like adding a touch of your will to the world.”
“It seems that among those, my intuition is incredibly developed. Once I try a magic spell, I instinctively realize how to do it.”
“……”
I just said some nonsense and tried to make it seem like I was referencing the intuition adjustment in the status window.
Normally, no one would easily believe such a im, but Ca was different.
If anyone could understand, it would be Ca, the beloveddy of the renowned Lindelheit magical family. She would have no choice but to know.
She was someone who could instinctively use magic.
And then there were the dragons.
Although H&A was based on a fantasy world where various races coexisted, dragons were special among them.
They were, after all, a race credited with the origin of magic.
Now, they may be on the brink of extinction, caught up in the war between the good Gods and evil Gods, but they were still an incredibly powerful race that couldn’t be underestimated.
Moreover, they were a race that had a rather strange obsession with humans, hence, they’d left behind a fair amount of half-bloods.
What if, just maybe, by some incredibly slim chance…
Someone experienced a surge of inheritance and awakened the dense blood of a dragon?
Someone who was born with a vast amount of mana but couldn’t handle it and lived with the side effects of Mana Sensitivity Disorder?
…If there was one more person just like the founder of the Lindelheit family?
“……”
With her mouth wide open, Ca looked down at me, and I gave her a sly smile.
“Before sticking your fingers in again, could you teach me some other magic, too? It seems like I’ll learn quickly if you help me like this.”
Perhaps I could learn at least some lower-level magic before arriving at the Academy.
…It was ufortable piling lies upon lies, but it couldn’t be helped.
I absolutely couldn’t let it be discovered that I was from the ‘outside’ of this world.