The following day—
I stood facing Aristia in the mansion’s training ground. The dark circles beneath her eyes had deepened further, a vivid testament to the grueling nature of her all-nighter.
"Sorry for putting you through so much trouble," I said.
"Uhehehehe! It’s fine. It’s my hobby, after all."
"And the results?"
"Hmm, I’ve come up with a few drafts. However, Little Magic is a living thing, and you have to keep her in a good mood. We’ll have to verify the theories through field testing."
As she spoke, she rattled a portable blackboard over from the corner. She began scrawling across it with a piece of chalk, the rapid ka-ka-ka-ka sound echoing as she wrote with staggering speed.
To be honest, it was completely beyond me. Her handwriting was so atrocious I couldn't make out a single word.
"I’ll explain," she said.
What followed was a deluge of innovative theories I had never heard before—the Magic Convergence Equation, the Energy Conversion Efficiency Curve, the Optimization of the Restitution Coefficient.
Even with her explanation, I only grasped about half of it.
"Ancient theories are truly incredible, aren't they?"
"Ancient? No way! I came up with all of this last night."
I wished she wouldn't propose multiple revolutionary theories in a single sitting. But I suppose that was what it meant to be someone who had reached the level of a Demon King.
"So, I’m going to incorporate these into little Final Extreme Embers, okay?"
And so, the new and improved Final Extreme Embers was born.
"According to my calculations, the ease of control has improved by thirty-two percent while maintaining ninety-nine point nine percent of the original destructive power."
"…I see."
She had an air of just making things up as she went, but when it came to magic, Aristia was an undisputed, logical genius. I decided to trust her.
We spent the first three days on theory alone.
Was it easy? Not in the slightest. I was being hammered with unknown concepts that far exceeded my current understanding. Normally, one would deepen their prerequisite knowledge before tackling such things, but we were skipping all of that. I had no idea how many steps we were jumping over.
Furthermore, because I was constantly holed up in a private room with Aristia—
"Albert! Do you really like Aristia that much?! Pay some attention to me too!"
Silvia gave me a thorough scolding. Naturally, Luna, Kaname, and Milia felt the same way.
Ugh, my stomach. My stomach…
Consequently, I had to push forward with my studies while simultaneously making time for them to manage their moods. I was now significantly busier than I had ever been at the Academy.
Wait, this was supposed to be a vacation…
"Uhihihi. Maybe it's time to try some practical application?"
With that, we moved on to the testing phase.
First, Aristia held both hands out in front of her, manifesting a translucent sphere. It was a barrier.
"If we fail to control it, not only will I be blown away, but the mansion will go up in smoke and the maids will die."
A mysterious explosion in the heart of the Royal Capital with massive casualties was not a joke. Since the same risk applied at the Academy, we decided to always have Aristia deploy a barrier for our control experiments.
I thrust both hands into the spherical barrier and focused my mind.
"Final Extreme Embers—"
Mana surged through my body. It felt as though my magic power was being preyed upon, devoured by the spell. Simultaneously, a massive amount of energy swelled up. It was as if a miniature typhoon had been born between my palms.
It certainly felt more familiar than when I had used it against Zalgan. However, that was only "relatively" obedient; it was still a dangerous mad dog of a spell. This thing was definitely no Chihuahua.
"Ugh… Oooooooh!"
The magic misfired.
My body was flung backward, and the uncontrolled mana exploded within Aristia's barrier. That was close… if she hadn't put the barrier up, it would have been the end of me.
"Are you okay, Albert?"
"I'm alive."
Though my arms were completely numb.
"That's strange," I muttered. "The version I fired at Zalgan worked fine."
"That’s because you aren't used to the new mechanism yet. That thirty-two percent improvement only applies if you perfectly master the theory. Right now, it might actually be harder than before."
"…I see. So it really does come down to my own effort."
"Uhehehehe. Effort, effort!"
And so, the practice to solidify the new theory began in earnest.
The New Year arrived while we were in the thick of it.
We all had a grand party, but the atmosphere in the Royal Capital itself was subdued. Since Princess Eliana had only recently passed away, the nation was still in a period of mourning and restraint.
I spent several more days practicing the new Final Extreme Embers, but eventually hit a wall.
"It's no use. The success rate isn't going up."
I felt like I had grasped the thirty-two percent improvement. I was aware that the spell was becoming more familiar, and I could control it better than before.
But it still wasn't enough.
If it were a low-output version like the one I used against Zalgan, I could succeed fairly often. But that was still a work in progress and insufficient for an opponent like Verdict. With a high-power version, the spell simply wouldn't stabilize. Control was easier, but my body couldn't withstand the load.
"Hmm… Is the control still not enough? We might have to lower the power or it's going to be too tough for you."
"I told you before, I don't want to lower the power. I just need to work harder."
"I don't know… I feel like this has moved past the realm of simple effort. This feels like a challenge that lies beyond your physical limits, Albert."
"Hey now. Are you saying effort won't cut it?"
"I’m talking about a breakthrough."
Aristia fell into thought.
She was right. Rather than a technical issue like control, the durability of my body was the problem. That wasn't something I could solve through willpower alone.
Was I really going to have to lower the power? I only needed enough to kill Verdict, so perhaps it didn't need to be this strong… No, to be certain, I would need to know Verdict's defensive capabilities.
Should I find a way to exchange a few blows with him?
However, I didn't think that man was the type to be lenient with someone who pointed a blade at him. An exchange of blows would likely end in a fight to the death. The risk was too high.
"It feels like the load is just too high to withstand. Is there any way to use a medium instead?" I asked, picking up a practice sword from the floor. "Like using a sword as a catalyst?"
"That’s a good thought, but unless it’s a part of your own body, it won't work as a medium."
"A part of my body, huh? In that case—"
I dropped the practice sword and instead manifested Verdict's Blood Sword.
"How about this?"
In that instant, Aristia's eyes, framed by those heavy circles, flew wide open.
"Wait… that is…?"
"A sword made from my own blood. It’s a technique I took from Verdict."
"That… that could work! Uhehehehehehe!"
Aristia's mouth pulled back into a wide, predatory crescent. She erased the blackboard and began writing with renewed, frantic intensity.
"Inspiration! It’s just pouring out of me!"
I watched her for an hour, but her hand never stopped. She muttered to herself, filling the board with illegible characters.
"…Um, can I go back now?"
The words didn't even reach her ears. "I'll come back tomorrow. Try to get some sleep," I said, before heading back to my room.
When I returned to the training ground the next morning, Aristia was still there. The blackboard was already completely white with chalk dust. Having run out of space, she was now scrawling across the floor and walls.
She let out a hum and stretched her arms just as I approached.
"Hey, did you sleep at all?"
"Uheh?"
Aristia's eyes were bloodshot and shining with a manic light, the dark circles beneath them now as deep as an abyss.
"My head is so clear! The ideas just won't stop coming!"
She sounded genuinely delighted. She stood up with a heavy groan and looked me in the eye.
"It’s finished, uhehehe!"
She smiled and continued.
"Now, let's begin the experiment! For the new and improved Final Extreme Blade!"