Unedited*

"Yes, it’s special. Since it’s mine now, I’ll explain how you should cut it to avoid damaging the inside," said Lucius, and he carefully proceeded to explain how to do it.

This was the only one of the ten tools that interested him enough to want to buy it.

He couldn’t see it, but he could clearly sense what was on the other side, and its unique qualities delighted him. That’s why he put so much effort into making sure everything went right.

And even though the referee didn’t entirely believe his words, he had to do as the tool’s owner instructed. So he proceeded to cut it with more care than usual.

It took him 30 minutes to cut this one, even though he was a full-fledged expert. That demonstrated the difficulty, which increased when he realized Lucius was right.

Not only did he start swallowing hard over and over again, but he found himself forced to respect this boy the way a fan respects his idol.

Everything he had said was true.

Soon the tool emerged from the rocks, and its contents could finally be seen.

Kael frowned the moment he saw the shape.

Both judges immediately opened the papers and read their contents.

First, Kael’s.

"It’s a sphere, a convergence-type tool with protrusions bearing mana runes capable of containing various magical tools."

He was wrong. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

He didn’t get a single thing right. It wasn’t a ball, nor was it a convergence-type tool, and it had no protrusions. The only thing he got right was the mana runes, but they didn’t have the ability to "contain" magical tools... they were magical tools in and of themselves.

The other judge proceeded to read the contents of what Lucius had written.

"It’s a multipurpose tool for training with different puppets. The mana runes embedded in its structure are magical tools that help you control multiple tools at the same time. It has a learning capability, so each rune is independent and has its own unique abilities. It’s what you might call the perfect multipurpose tool for training."

...

...

A perfect description. That’s exactly what it was!

Everyone was completely stunned, as the words written by Lucius echoed in their heads.

Some frowned, others took a step back.

There were a few who took an interest... like the S-Rankers, Gerard and Sylph.

"He knows something," Gerard said with a significant tone in his voice.

That "he knows something" coming from his mouth was more than just a compliment. It was practically a sense that he was on the same level as him.

But how was that possible?

Gerard smiled slightly.

Sylph noticed, so she put a hand on his shoulder. "Don’t do anything stupid," she said.

Gerard shrugged. "It’s just a bit of fun. It’s a talent, Sylph. And talents need to be understood."

"Your methods aren’t exactly the most effective for understanding talents," Sylph reminded him.

But Gerard didn’t care. "It’s not a talent from our city either, don’t worry. Everything will be fine."

Lucius nodded, seeing that his description had been completely accurate.

He looked at Kael. "Looks like I’ll be stepping in ahead of you."

Kael swallowed hard. He felt he had vastly underestimated his rival.

Such an accurate description was impossible to achieve by luck alone. This guy knew things.

Perhaps the treasure they say he possesses is real, and its uses go beyond his imagination.

However, Kael was still confident.

He failed here because it was a tool he’d never seen before. But there was no way he could fail with the others.

The score was 6–7 against him; he needed to make a comeback, and he had few chances to do so.

Lucius, for his part, was thrilled with this tool and stored it in his storage ring.

’A good purchase. This must be worth over 1 million credits just for the research value,’ Lucius thought with a proud smile.

After all, there weren’t too many tools like this in the world.

Even during his previous life, he had seen no more than 100.

Although the number is "large," compared to the size of this world and its numerous inhabitants, it was so small that it seemed insignificant.

The number of tools of this type surely didn’t exceed 500 worldwide, so it was incredibly valuable.

Clara was overjoyed and almost jumped for joy...

Meanwhile, Thalion gave a frustrated smile.

"You were outwitted by that kid, old man Thalion," laughed the Castelier Clan Leader, coming up from behind.

"I didn’t expect him to be able to figure something like that out so precisely. I must say, this is the first time I’ve seen him do that," replied Thalion.

"Haha, you’re right, old man. Actually, I’m surprised too. Wasn’t he a good-for-nothing?" he asked, this time in a lower voice so others couldn’t hear him.

Thalion sighed. "It doesn’t seem so. Either he fooled us all, or there’s something behind it."

Leader Castelier nodded. "His mother?" he asked.

Thalion’s body shuddered slightly at the mention of that woman. "Even the deaf have the ability to understand. I’ll find you later," he replied with vague words that made Leader Castelier understand they couldn’t discuss it here.

They both decided to focus on what lay ahead: that boy’s bet.

Then came the eighth stone.

They followed the same procedure, but this time he wasn’t too careful when chipping it.

When they were done, they both scored a point.

And the same happened with stone number 9. The point was awarded to both of them.

The score remained in Lucius’s favor as they reached stone number 10.

Suddenly, Kael felt immense pressure weighing down on his shoulders.

He had only one shot. Just one.

If he missed, he would lose miserably to a person he had once despised so much—and in front of the most powerful people on the Island and even from other islands!

It would be a humiliation before the whole world!

However... his problem wasn’t the single shot he had.

His problem was that that shot had to do two things.

One, hit what was inside. Two, make Lucius miss.

In other words, it was a shot that didn’t depend entirely on him—it depended on Lucius.

His heart was pounding under the pressure. Just thinking about how slim their chances of winning were was stressful.

Feelings of inferiority almost took hold of his mind, but he managed to control them and calm himself down.

He had already studied that rock, but he made sure to stare at it intently for the first 4 minutes and didn’t describe it until the very end.

He handed his paper to the judge, and once again, the cutting process began.

Halfway through, Lucius stopped him again.

"There are only two cuts left. Why don’t you just reveal what we both said right now, to prevent them from claiming this was a cheat? I know my competitor very well, and I know he likes to accuse me of cheating, so just state the contents and then let the expert finish his cuts," Lucius suggested.

Both judges agreed, and the referee gave them permission. He didn’t care either way.

The contents of the papers were much simpler this time:

Kael said, "It’s a spear with a blade on the bottom."

Lucius said, "It has nothing."

For the first time, they were both saying opposite things. Even when Kael had been wrong before, his words had some logic to them. But this time, they were simply on opposite sides.

One said it was a spear with a blade.

And the other said it was nothing!

Nothing!

Kael rejoiced at that very moment... Lucius had really screwed up.

How could it be nothing?

He wasn’t the only one who thought that. Everyone thought he was completely wrong.

They even went so far as to think that he was conceding this match in order to unlock more tools.

There would be no other reason for him to say something like "It has nothing."

"Perfect. Now please, go ahead," said Lucius, motioning to the referee to make the cut.

The main part remained, so everything would be revealed here.

The first cut was made, and a great deal of cursed energy began seeping out from the edges.

Then a second cut was made... It could have been the last, but it wasn’t. The referee took his time and made several more cuts, until, finally, the final cut.

The tool... didn’t fall to the ground.

Because there was nothing there.

Kael was just about to burst out laughing with joy when he didn’t hear the sound of something falling; instead, he watched a massive amount of cursed energy rise up in the shape of a spear.

In the shape of a spear!

"Huh?"

Lucius chuckled a little. ’Just as expected. Simply a high concentration of cursed energy inside a shaped rock.’

It was the world playing a trick on the researchers. It’s not a common occurrence, but it does happen from time to time.

"Looks like I won," said Lucius, taking a step toward Kael.

"That..." Kael swallowed hard, still confused. "How... did you do that? How did you know there... wasn’t anything there?"

"Hehe, it’s just nature playing a trick on you. When you’re not very familiar with it, things like this can happen. You should get out of the workshop more; it’ll help you understand the world better," he replied.

Everyone took it as a joke, but what he had said was the truth.

In fact, Lucius had learned this by observing...

"You learned it by observing how mana reacts in dead trees and how mana becomes trapped in fossilized trees, didn’t you?" A voice came from behind him.

A voice recognized by everyone.

Gerard, the Rank S, had approached them.