Strong winds.

Blowing snow.

Poor visibility.

Once those boxes started getting checked one after another, everyone realized that what they were witnessing had all the makings of one hell of a blizzard.

Right.

An artificial blizzard.

Since they were supposed to document their observations, Luca’s records by the end of the day eventually included the fact that he had somehow escalated light snowfall into a snowstorm and then into a full-fledged blizzard in only a matter of minutes—all without meaning to.

And honestly, it would have been adorable if all of this had stayed confined to the little bucket like some festive snow globe.

Unfortunately, Luca’s area of effect was larger than a bucket.

Like much larger.

As in spanning their entire makeshift testing grounds.

According to D-29’s logs, everyone initially panicked but survived unscathed after deploying spiritual barriers around themselves and the children.

Then, directly beneath the noted emergency response times for barrier deployment, were detailed notes regarding how they successfully prevented the holidays from arriving too early.

One particular section highlighted Xavier’s calm instructions.

"Luca, it’s alright. Everything will be fine..."

"But if you can, imagine a bright and sunny day. Clear skies. Just a little dusting of snow on the ground."

"Then... imagine greenery beneath it. Leaves slowly peeking through as if spring is about to arrive."

Of course, the little system’s actual logs were far more dramat—detailed than that.

But for the sake of sanity, science, and everyone’s dignity, there was probably no need to repeat particular excerpts.

Like those pertaining to how Princess Nina loudly declared herself the number one fan of her coolest Brother Chipmunk.

Or how one father fainted after seeing his precious son wield ice instead of fire.

Or how formal apologies were sincerely issued for accidentally indecent sculptures.

Better yet, like how a certain golden-eyed cadet eventually got cornered and interrogated by overly enthusiastic Elders.

Then again, who would not want all the details about an ability like that?

But in the first place—

What exactly was Luca’s ability?

Emulation.

Or at least, that was their current working name for it.

After much discussion, several arguments, and a surprisingly philosophical debate held around suspicious lumps of clay roasting inside a giant charcoal pit constructed by one unusually contemplative redhead, they eventually settled on the word they believed described Luca’s ability best.

"Copying, plagiarism, mimicking, echoing, imitating... all those could’ve worked," one of the Elders mused while watching the embers crackle within the charcoal pit. "But from what we’ve discovered so far, those words don’t quite do Young Lord Luca justice."

And honestly, that was true.

Because instead of merely duplicating someone’s ability, the golden-eyed cadet was already showing signs of surpassing it.

To be fair, none of them were completely certain about the actual limits of Luca’s ability.

In fact, they were not even entirely sure what it truly was yet because, unfortunately, they were rather limited when it came to proper testing.

"Huh?" Luca blinked. "But how are we limited?"

"Did we miss an item from the Trove?" asked the already trembling money grubber.

Ah, but if only it had been that easy.

Unfortunately, the answer was actually very simple yet annoyingly complicated.

Not counting the Elders who were still in the middle of reworking their way up to their original cultivation level, they still had not found anyone with greater spiritual energy reserves than Luca.

It was bad enough that the Empire couldn’t properly test him yet, but even if they found someone just as strong, what were the chances it would happen any time soon?

But when the Elders casually mentioned that fact, the dungeon owner almost fainted on the spot from disbelief.

Apparently, he genuinely had not realized just how enormous the gap between himself and everyone else actually was.

However, their suspicions were only solidified further after they asked him to test abilities that were less likely to end catastrophically than the offensive ones.

The unfortunate candidate who ended up being voluntold was Count Alexander.

In her excitement and curiosity, Countess Jenna had actually attempted to volunteer first, but everyone unanimously decided they were absolutely not prepared for a possible uprising of greenery in the event Luca accidentally had thoughts that plants might misunderstand.

And for some reason, everyone seemed firmly convinced that the innocent-looking dungeon owner constantly carried dangerously indescribable thoughts in that beautiful head of his.

Even the great guardian beast Tortie paused mid-chew while eating a daffodil after hearing the horrifying possibility of plants interpreting Luca’s musings.

"..."

"..."

Thankfully, Count Alexander’s ability was far more peaceful in nature.

Which just left them with the next question.

How exactly had Luca gained access to Princess Nina’s ability earlier?

Well—

After a series of experiments they all silently agreed never to discuss again, they eventually discovered the trigger.

Physical contact while the ability was actively being used.

Not magical chants.

Not complicated visualizations.

And definitely not imagining a particular topless hot man.

Ahem.

__

Now, it was definitely a good thing that Luca had finally figured out the activation requirements for his other bloodline ability.

Hearing that it did not require expensive potions, rare essence, or some horrifying blood sacrifice from the get go made the worried heir feel marginally better about their financial situation.

This time around, they even prepared papers, pens, and tablets because they were not certain whether D-29 or anyone else would be capable of seeing what Luca would see through Count Alexander’s ability. Therefore, the diligent student may have to take notes manually.

Then as further preparation and to make benchmarking easier, everyone with confirmed abilities lined up on one side of the testing grounds.

After all, Count Alexander previously mentioned that things only began making sense once he compared the colors he saw with known affinities around him.

Because really, who would not panic after suddenly seeing random colors everywhere?

Probably drug addicts. But the Count wasn’t one of them so he definitely screamed when he first saw it.

"..."

"..."

Anyway, as for the final checklist:

Logging materials. Check.

Participants. Check.

Undamaged wallet. Check.

Everything was good to go.

With everything prepared, the group began the test.

Unfortunately, the one thing absolutely no one expected, including Luca himself, was for the little chipmunk to pass out almost immediately.