The Dullard, the Prodigy, the Genius, and the Wallet Warrior (2)

In Planetarium, magic power was an incredibly important stat. No matter how powerful a warrior might be, there was a limit to the strength they could exert with their bare body alone. Only by adding magic-enhanced reinforcement to their natural physical abilities could they break through that ceiling. This went without saying for mages and priests, who needed to use magic power for spell formulas or healing others.

At the same time, however, magic power was an extremely finicky resource. Having a lot of it wasn't automatically good. You needed matching levels of control and recovery ability to actually use it properly. Let's say there was a skill called A that required 100 magic power to activate. Normally, if your total magic power was 1,000, you'd just use the skill. But in Planetarium, even if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your total magic power exceeded the skill's requirement, if your magic control didn't reach 100, you still couldn't use it. You'd be overflowing with energy but unable to harness it because of poor control.

Then what happened if your magic refinement was low compared to your total magic power?

In this world, methods to recover magic power were extremely limited. Even if an allied White Light user could replenish your magic, they had to use their own skills too, so it wasn't exactly abundant. More importantly, magic received from a White Light user might not harm your body, but because it differed from your original magic color, its output would drop significantly.

That meant you had no choice but to rely on your own recovery ability as much as possible. This was where magic refinement became crucial. Let's look again at the chart used during magic measurement.

If your magic capacity was 100 and your refinement was upper grade, there was no problem. You'd naturally recover to maximum after about an hour. But if your capacity was 100 and your refinement was only lower grade? In the best case it would take 11 hours. In the worst case, up to 100 hours.

This was why magic capacity, magic control, and magic refinement were all equally important. The players of Planetarium had struggled desperately to find ways to strengthen these three abilities. And I was no different.

'Magic control can be raised through training. Magic refinement can be somewhat covered if your control is high. But magic capacity can't be solved in a short period of time.'

Magic capacity was an innate talent—the size of the vessel you were born with. There were methods to increase magic capacity, but most had weak effects, took a long time to show results, and above all, the ingredients were all extremely rare. They were items that nobles and royals from every country collected with burning eyes for themselves or their children.

If even the Midas family—which held considerable influence within the Spero Kingdom—found it difficult to secure them for personal use, let alone for sale, that said everything. Yet the reason I was able to raise my magic capacity this much was entirely thanks to my memories from my previous life.

A single post from one user on the strategy board drove the stat-obsessed players insane. From that day on, weirdos with no principles began appearing, trying every bizarre food combination imaginable. Ninety-nine point nine percent of them were completely meaningless duds or fishing posts meant to mess with other users, but very rarely, combinations that actually worked were discovered. That information became the blood and flesh of others.

'Some combinations were already known to the people of this world, so the ingredients were hard to get. But there were also some that were surprisingly easy to obtain.'

In truth, it was too harsh to call it a lack of knowledge on their part. The idea that consuming multiple ingredients at once could increase magic power was easy to say, but how on earth were they supposed to figure out that you needed to eat the leaves of a plant that only grew in region A together with powdered skull from a beast in region B? It was the kind of madness only possible for players who could travel the continent with a few mouse clicks without moving their own legs, and who could repeat dozens or hundreds of lives just to test one combination.

If the family head—the very incarnation of money-grubbing—knew I possessed this kind of knowledge, he would obviously work me like a slave, squeezing me to my limit and beyond. So I had secretly mixed the collection of these ingredients into the process of gathering materials for the "healthy diet" that Ligret and I ate. The results of two years of steady effort showed clearly.

"Chrome. You clearly said earlier that 100 magic power was average and not bad, but the moment it comes to yourself..."

On the way back after class ended, I answered Loto, who was grumbling with a sulky face.

"I didn't lie. I said that's what the average is. I never said it was me. And how long are you going to keep adding 'sir' to my name? Just call me Chrome. Chrome."

"No, that's a bit..."

"Then do you want to keep speaking politely to the same classmate for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the next few years?"

"Umm."

While we were having this pointless conversation, I suddenly noticed the combo of Pino and Rabaul. I thought they seemed to be together every time I saw them, but on second thought, it was still the beginning of the semester and they didn't have wide social circles yet, so it was natural for them to stick with familiar faces.

Pino must have noticed us too, because she called out.

"Ah, Chrome. Could you help me convince this guy?"

"Wait, Sage, that's..."

I asked, "What's going on?"

"The professor told him it's not too late to switch to a different combat course, but this guy won't listen."

"...He told him to switch courses?"

Did this academy even have a system like that?

Rabaul scratched his gray curly hair and said, "I came here because I heard I could receive the greatest teachings on the continent. If I cannot obtain the learning I desire, what meaning is there?"

"No, but there's still the matter of aptitude, you know."

"Effort never betrays those who make it. Even if I am lacking now, if I continue forward, I will surely see the light."

Since Rabaul's words didn't seem particularly wrong, I told Pino, "If he's saying this much himself, is there really a need to force him to switch courses? Sure, if your magic power is low, a martial artist would be more efficient than a mage, but..."

Pino let out a sigh. "If it were just that, I wouldn't say anything either. But this guy... he can't do 'coloring.'"

"What?"

I asked without thinking.

"Everyone ate the medicine the professor gave after class, right?"

To Pino's question, Loto answered, "Yes. She said we have to keep taking this steadily for half a year to change our natural magic into Blue Light..."

As Professor Neville had mentioned before, "coloring" magic power was by no means an easy process. You had to continuously consume specially manufactured medicine from the empire to gradually dye the magic power inside your body with a single color. If you tried to rush it, your body's balance would shatter, leading to a rampage or, in the worst case, endangering your life.

On top of that, simply taking the medicine didn't change your magic power. The magic user themselves had to assist the process through magic control, which raised the difficulty even further. The fact that changing to a different color after already completing one coloring was several times more difficult was just an added bonus.

"This guy said he doesn't know how to control magic power, so the professor offered to help him set the initial direction. But during that time, she told us the medicine isn't working. His natural constitution itself is optimized to maintain magic power close to Red Light, so even if you try to intervene from outside, it automatically reverts."

He couldn't change his magic color to Blue Light. The nature of his base magic itself was close to Red Light. And while Red Light had the highest efficiency inside the body, it was extremely weak outside the body. Therefore, it had the worst compatibility with "mage" classes that needed to create "formulas" externally.

I thought, '...Yeah, maybe it really would be better for him to take different classes?'

Since this was reality and not a game, I was exercising some restraint, but as someone who fundamentally preferred efficiency builds over entertainment builds, the situation was so regrettable that a sigh escaped me.

But even with continued persuasion, Rabaul remained unmoved.

"No matter what you say, I wish to learn the way of the mage."

"Why?"

"Because that is the wisest path."

"Well, if we're talking pure magecraft I wouldn't argue, but everything taught at this academy—whether it's martial arts, magic, or support—is ultimately just different ways of fighting, isn't it..."

Whether you cut with a blade, burn with fire, or shout "I'll heal you so get to work, slave!" to make allies take the hits instead.

I pondered. In truth, since it was Rabaul's own matter, part of me wanted to just let him do as he pleased. But to stand against the Spero Kingdom bastards who already had a grudge against the Midas family, I needed to solidify the community based on the connection from the entrance exam. Having a weak member in the group wouldn't be good in the long run either.

Ah, that's right. There was no need to struggle alone. I should ask the smart one.

I went straight to Fiore, explained the situation, and after listening while nodding with interest, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she spoke as if it weren't particularly difficult.

"Then, shouldn't you just ask the best person in that field?"

"You mean Professor Neville?"

That very professor had personally told him to quit, yet he was stubbornly persisting, so I doubted it would have any effect. But Fiore shook her head with a bright smile.

"No. I mean Miss Lyla."

Uh... would that actually work?