Glacier Summon.

Just like the name said, it was a skill that either raised a gigantic glacier like a wall or dropped it over an opponent’s head.

Shame it’s a scroll.

Like [Time Freeze] and [Time Leap], it was one-time use.

Even so, it was S-rank, and the number of ways I could use it was practically endless. Passing it up would be a loss.

“If you’re giving it to me, I’ll make grateful use of it.”

“Take it. Do you need to see any more magic demonstrations?”

“I do.”

“What do you want?”

If there was no freezing magic, then the next best thing was unaligned magic.

Still, if she was a former Mage Tower Council head, she probably knew dozens of spells. I needed to narrow the range down at least a little.

“The magic I mainly use is control-type magic.”

“Control-type magic... Then you need a follow-up move.”

“That’s right.”

“......”

Hong Yeonhwa’s mother seemed to think it over for a while, then rose from her seat.

“Come with me.”

The place we headed to was the training room.

She operated the terminal in one corner, and a steel dummy was generated.

As she walked toward it, Hong Yeonhwa’s mother pulled out her staff.

“Watch carefully.”

WHOOOOM—!

A blue circle the size of a fist appeared beneath the steel dummy’s feet.

It rapidly widened, until it covered not only where the dummy stood but the surrounding area as well.

Then Hong Yeonhwa’s mother added,

“I set it to ‘10 seconds.’”

I understood what she meant soon enough.

The instant exactly 10 seconds passed, a formless force dropped from above.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!

The entire area marked out in mana caved in, as though some enormous round seal had been stamped into it.

The iron dummy standing dead center had also been half-buried in the floor.

I nodded and said,

“[Pulverize Zone].”

“So you recognize it.”

Pulverize Zone.

A spell that pulverized a set area after a delay.

The range and timing are flexible.

You could stop it at the initial fist-sized width, or expand it until it covered the entire training room.

Range and power are inversely proportional.

The narrower the range, the more concentrated the force. The wider it became, the more that force spread out.

Time and power are directly proportional.

You could set it anywhere from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, and the longer the delay, the more exponentially the destructive force increased.

Hearing just that, it sounded like you could wipe out everything by setting it to a narrow range and 3 minutes—

—but the enemy isn’t stupid.

If you openly drew a glowing mana circle on the ground, nobody in their right mind was going to stand inside it and wait.

If they had even a little sense, they’d avoid getting near it. And if it appeared under their feet, they’d try to get out.

Which means you shove them in.

Using a forced movement skill.

Then you bind them so they can’t get out until the set time runs down.

Just like I’d asked, it was a spell that suited control-type combat perfectly.

As if checking my reaction, Hong Yeonhwa’s mother asked,

“What do you think?”

“It’s exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.”

[‘Copy-Skill’ will be used.]

[The target’s skill ‘Pulverize Zone(S)’ is registered in the slot.]

▷Copy-Skill [4/4]

[Featherstep(A+)]

[Pulverize Zone(S)]

Ice Wall(B)

[Dipper-Shifting Star-Transposition(S)]

Until I secured another [Fixed Pin], I’d overwrite the [Space Fold] slot with this.

“I’ll try copying it once.”

No sooner had I spoken than Hong Yeonhwa scampered over and operated the terminal.

The floor of the training room was immediately restored, and a new steel dummy was generated.

First, minimum output.

I lightly swept Crow Tree, and a blue circle the size of my palm appeared beneath the thing’s feet.

I could have expanded it further, but I left it as it was and set the time to the minimum too: 3 seconds.

A moment later—

BANG!

A formless force smashed down onto the crown of the steel dummy’s head.

As though an invisible hammer had fallen.

Even set to the minimum, that’s not bad.

Then again, it was S-rank.

It looked useful even in short, repeated bursts during one-on-one combat.

Now let’s make it bigger.

I cast [Pulverize Zone] again.

Deliberately a little distance away from the steel dummy.

A mana circle formed and began to widen.

Set the time generously too. About a minute.

I waited like that for a while, then approached the dummy when the time was almost up.

Then I stretched out my empty hand.

BOOM!

Compressed wind exploded and shoved the thing into the blue circle.

The next instant, the formless force came crashing down.

CRUNCH—!

What remained there was no longer a steel dummy, but a flattened metal plate stuck to the floor like a wad of chewed gum.

The power had increased dramatically.

If it lands, it hits harder than Inferno Fist.

And at 2 minutes, 3 minutes, it would be stronger still.

Of course, the big advantage of the fire fist was that I could use it immediately, but even taking that into account, this still meant I had one more substitute now.

A strange gleam passed through the eyes of Hong Yeonhwa’s mother as she watched.

“...So a demonstration really was enough. To think you could imitate it so perfectly.”

“I asked because I was confident.”

“Good. Put it to good use. Is there anything else I should ‘show’ you?”

I could have copied one more S-rank unaligned magic spell, but a high rank alone didn’t make something good.

What mattered was whether multiple skills and traits created synergy.

If I took another one right now, I’d have to give up Ice Wall, and considering its versatility, keeping it was the better choice.

So I wrapped up the skill copying here.

“I’d like to see your traits.”

After another discussion with Hong Yeonhwa’s mother, I was able to take one powerful trait.

[‘Copy-Trait’ will be used.]

[The target’s trait ‘Déjà Vu(S)’ is registered in the slot.]

▷Copy-Trait [4/4]

Déjà Vu(S)

Time Resistance(S)

Pain Delay

Chain Explosion(S)

I sent away [Sailboat], which I’d only registered temporarily.

Unlike Slowpoke Sloth, I had ★Blink★.

[Déjà Vu(S)]

▷When a skill/trait activates, there is a low chance it will activate one more time.

▷Penalties are not applied.

The exact percentage wasn’t public, but the average the community had worked out put it somewhere between 3% and 5% even at S-rank.

On top of that, it had the drawback of activating automatically, meaning the owner couldn’t control it.

Still, if it procs, it’s always a gain.

Attack skills fired off twice in a row, while buff-type effects had their durations applied twice over.

Meanwhile, penalties like mana consumption or cooldown weren’t applied, so there were extremely few cases where it triggered and caused an accident or turned into a loss.

And its versatility goes without saying.

Since it didn’t care what type of skill or trait it was, if I shared it through a [Bond] slot, everyone would be able to use it.

Again, as if confirming, Hong Yeonhwa’s mother asked,

“Do you need anything else?”

“This is enough. Thank you.”

“I hope it [N O V E L I G H T] helped. Both for you and for Yeonhwa.”

And the “investment” didn’t even stop there.

While I kept sparring with Hong Yeonhwa, I mentioned that I needed [Rank Up], and after passing that along, they brought this back.

“She said... to use these.”

[Rank Up(F)]

[Rank Up(E)]

Even low-grade ones weren’t the kind of things you could easily get your hands on. She was generous.

And I was the type who never refused what was offered.

“Tell her I said thank you.”

“Yeah...!”

[‘Rank Up(F)’ will be used.]

[‘Rank Up(E)’ will be used.]

[‘Diamond Freeze(F)’ rank will increase. (F→D)]

▷The next freeze effect applied becomes ‘cannot be dispelled’ for 20 seconds instead of 10.

▷Cooldown: 10→8 minutes

I got more out of this than I expected.

When I first headed for the Ruby Mage Tower, I’d kept my expectations low. I figured it would be enough if I just put [Austerity] and [Invitation] on Hong Yeonhwa.

But unexpectedly, Hong Yeonhwa’s mother turned out to be a former Mage Tower Council head, so I was able to take one skill and one trait.

And on top of that, the two [Rank Up] items I’d just received.

Definitely glad I came.

I nodded with a satisfied smile, and Hong Yeonhwa’s face brightened right along with mine.

*****

Late at night.

Just like yesterday, Hong Yeonhwa quietly slipped out of the room.

Inside their head, the moderate faction was protesting nonstop.

Had you forgotten you got caught by your sister twice the night before?

She beat your back with lava so many times.

And you still haven’t come to your senses!

But the side currently in power was the hardliners.

Words can be twisted any number of ways.

It is not that we have failed to come to our senses.

We simply possess an unbreakable spirit that refuses to bend!

At that, the moderates protested, asking whether they were really using an indomitable spirit for something as petty as a pillow, but Hong Yeonhwa lightly ignored them and kept walking.

The third espionage operation in the Ruby Mage Tower at dead of night.

Maybe because experience had piled up, they moved faster now, and they no longer wasted time hesitating.

Also, if their sister was making rounds like yesterday, Hong Yeonhwa had a rough idea where she might appear.

Looking off into the distance, there didn’t seem to be any sign of anyone in particular.

...She’s not here!

She was probably making her rounds somewhere else right now.

Hong Yeonhwa started moving again.

Around the time they got halfway to their destination, anxiety began creeping back into their mind.

What if she’s waiting in front of the door? Like yesterday?

But thinking about it calmly, that didn’t seem very likely.

Kim Ho and Hong Yehwa weren’t exactly close.

It would be awkward for the two of them to sit in the room together for hours on end.

Yesterday, she’d only endured that awkwardness because she’d been so sure Hong Yeonhwa would come.

And only now did Hong Yeonhwa remember that students at Dragonslayer Academy had access to a product of civilization called a messenger app.

[Hong Yeonhwa: (hesitant... dog emoji)]

[Hong Yeonhwa: You awake?]

[Kim Ho: I’m not asleep]

[Kim Ho: Coming over to hang out?]

[Hong Yeonhwa: Your sister......?]

[Hong Yeonhwa: (hesitant... dog emoji)]

[Kim Ho: She’s not here today]

[Kim Ho: Come over if you’re bored]

[Hong Yeonhwa: ......I’m going!]

[Hong Yeonhwa: (running dog emoji)]

Hong Yeonhwa almost broke into a full sprint like the emoji they’d just sent, then stopped and forced themself to calm down.

If they got impatient for no reason, they might ruin something that was already all but done.

If they got caught two days in a row, then starting on the third day, their sister really might stay up all night on guard.

Maybe even pitch a tent in front of Kim Ho’s room...

So Hong Yeonhwa slowed down slightly, but moved even more carefully, checking their surroundings more thoroughly.

Every now and then, the staff in their hand gave off a red glow.

SHHK,

They were using ★Blink★ to instantly cover long stretches.

Because they were using it with a clear goal in mind and their focus wound tight, their proficiency was climbing before they even realized it.

By the time that happened, the summit was right in front of them.

Kim Ho was smiling faintly through the slightly open crack of the guest room door.

He beckoned, as if telling them to hurry up.

“......!”

At that point, Hong Yeonhwa stopped checking their surroundings altogether and sprinted at full speed, finally making it into the room.

Then, breathing hard, they said,

“I came... to hang out!”

“Then I guess you didn’t come for Kim Ho pillow?”

“......!?”

Hong Yeonhwa froze at the blunt question.

If they said no, would he tell them to leave when it was time to sleep?

But saying I came for the pillow! felt way too blatant, didn’t it?

So they just rolled their eyes around, unable to answer either way, and Kim Ho grinned mischievously.

“I’m kidding. Let’s just talk for a while and then sleep.”

“......Okay.”

Hong Yeonhwa wriggled their way under the blanket.

Then, resting their head on Kim Ho’s arm, they thought:

I wish break would never end like this.