"RAZAEL!"
"A-Ah, yes. I've memorized it all."
"All...? I gave you over a thousand pages, though." Lucielle covered her mouth in astonishment. She never thought Razael would memorize all the pages, let alone look at them once.
She just mentioned it as an excuse to punish Razael for not paying attention to her teachings.
Even for her, it was impossible to memorize over a thousand pages of magic theory in one day. Unless, of course, she used magic.
But Razael was an otherworlder, unaware of any such application of magic, so obviously, she couldn't believe that he memorized them all.
"Hmph, let's see then. What's the theory behind the basic spell 'fireball'?" Lucielle asked him with an annoyed face.
"Elemental Condensation and Controlled Ignition.
A mage channels mana, converting it into thermal energy by attuning to the Fire Elemental Plane. Once aligned, they condense heat and volatile air particles into a compressed orb of energy — essentially forming a magically sustained combustion pocket.
The key lies in balancing heat density with mana containment — too much, and the spell explodes prematurely; too little, and it fizzles.
Using a chant for 'fireball' helps with this balance by using a defined set automatically. This imitates the effect of a skill."
Razael finished with a sigh and looked at Lucielle with a smug look.
Lucielle, although surprised, was more irritated by the smug look on Razael's face than anything.
A feat like this would not be possible for any normal human. Memorizing a thousand pages of magic theory was only possible for Razael due to his {Fourth Imagination: Absolute Perfect Memory}.
He wasn't going to tell Lucielle about this, though. The irritated yet curious look on her face was a sight to behold for Razael. The perfect contrast of childish cuteness on her mature, elegant face was a rare sight he can't let go of.
"Hmm, is this perhaps the effect of your skill? Adonis made us aware that there were some changes in your skill. Is it that?" Placing a finger on her chin, Lucielle tried to guess.
"It might be."
"Do you know the name of your skill yet?" She enquired further.
"Hmm? It's [Reader]... I think." Razael replied after pondering for a while.
"[Reader]? As in reading something? That might explain how you read all those magic theories in one day."
"Hmm, it could be."
Lucielle looked at Razael's face and his vague replies. He might be hiding something, but maybe he's just worried about his skill being useless?
"Don't worry, even if all your skill can do is read, it's very useful in learning magic. You already got down the magic theory, so all you need now is practice. It will be easy, trust me. You're already ahead of most of the saviors." She said in a reassuring voice, gripping Razael's shoulders firmly.
"H-HUH??? Okay..?" Razael, who was just wondering about his ability, got startled by Lucielle's sudden outburst.
"Hmm?"
*********
"Hey Razael, what do you think about attending just the Alpha group training from now on?"
"What?"
Razael was in his room, just returning from his magic training, when someone knocked on his door. It was Brutus.
"What do you mean by 'just attending the alpha group'?" Razael tilted his head in confusion.
"It's exactly as you heard. I don't want you to attend Beta group training anymore." Brutus replied in a stern voice.
"But why?"
"I'm sure you've noticed it too, but the current training of the Beta group is no longer useful to you. If I increase the training for your further growth, others will not be able to keep up anymore. Also, your current physical capabilities are enough to fight monsters and level up. More physical training won't help you now."
Brutus explained with his head hung low. It seems he has thought a lot about this.
This, in fact, not only made sense to Razael, but it was also what he had planned from the beginning.
"Ok. I guess that was going to happen sooner or later." Razael replied with a sigh.
"Haaah... That's all I came to say today. You might not have a great skill, but you do have great potential. I wish you well for your future." Saying that, Brutus left the room.
Razael slumped down on his bed.
"Today was a tiring day..."
He closed his eyes, hoping for a rest.
Suddenly, a gigantic Chinese dragon appeared above the royal castle. Its size might be a hundred times larger than the royal castle itself.
But, weirdly enough, the dragon was bluish and translucent.
Soon, it started shrinking and floated towards the royal estate. Specifically, a very certain room. Razael's room.
"Are you sleeping?" The dragon asked, settling atop Razael's body.
Razael slowly opened his eyes and blinked as he looked at a dragon on his body.
"Oh, you're back, Cthulhu?"
This dragon was, in fact, a product of Razael's skill. More specifically, his imagination.
{7th imagination: Ghost companion creation}
This imagination lets Razael create anything he wishes to, but it can only be a ghost and not interact with the world. That is the restriction of this skill after all.
"So did you find 'him', Cthulhu?" Razael asked him straightforwardly.
"Yes. I did. He's exactly where you predicted him to be." The dragon, now named Cthulu, spoke in a human voice. He sounded similar to an old Chinese man.
"Ah! Lucky me. Guess I'm sneaking out of here tomorrow then."
********