In pursuit of a happy wedding with Isis-san, I had redoubled my efforts to train my mana capacity... but I was currently caught in a most troubling situation.
No, rather than troubling... I should say it was terrifying.
"...Well? Kaito-kun."
"H-Hyaah!?"
Kuro looked down at me with her arms crossed, her eyes cold and lifeless. I practically jumped out of my skin where I sat in the seiza position.
An aura of pure fury overflowed from her entire body, causing the room to tremble—no, it was shaking as if an earthquake were hitting. It was genuinely terrifying.
"...Exactly how many days did you stay up this time?"
"...F-Four days..."
"Four days?"
"...A-And after that, I slept for just one day, and then went another four... ma'am."
When I confessed, a vein popped on Kuro’s forehead.
"...Why do you always, always refuse to consider moderation?!"
"Hieee!"
"And what is this smeared on your face?! You're using foundation to hide the dark circles under your eyes, aren't you?!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Yes, Kuro had caught me pulling all-nighters to train, and I was currently being thoroughly lectured. Especially this time, since I had borrowed foundation to hide my exhaustion from her... her anger was immense.
"Kaito-kun, you're always so extreme! I understand wanting to hurry, but if you ruin your health, what's the point of any of this?!"
"...Yes, ma'am."
"To begin with, Kaito-kun..."
It was completely my own fault, but Kuro’s lecture lasted for nearly two hours.
"I see, so that's what happened..."
"It's good that he's a hard worker, but really..."
After finishing the capacity training, we had moved on to precise mana control. I was currently concentrating on a small sphere of mana floating in my palm.
Watching me from a short distance were Kuromueina and... Lilliwood-san, who had come by to replenish my supply of World Tree fruits.
"However, despite his extra training, he seems to be progressing much smoother than expected... Kaito-san's mana has grown considerably."
"Yeah... honestly, his growth rate is faster than I anticipated. Based on my initial assessment, I thought it would take ten years... but at this rate, he might reach the goal in a little over a year."
"How unusual for you to miscalculate like that."
"Well, even I'm not perfect~"
Lilliwood-san and Kuromueina were discussing my mana. Although I was still far from my ultimate goal, my capacity had already grown large enough to be considered top-tier among humans.
Kuromueina had expected it to take me over half a year to reach this level... but contrary to her expectations, my mana was rising rapidly.
"...Hmm. I thought he had no talent for magic, but perhaps he actually does."
"Indeed. If his growth is this good, he might even be able to make it as a mage with proper training."
In truth, the reason my mana was growing beyond their expectations was because Shallow Vernal had secretly boosted my growth rate. However, neither they nor I had any way of knowing that.
Once I reached a stopping point in my training to maintain the sphere's shape, I took a break. I was eating a World Tree fruit to recover my spent mana when Kuro and Lilliwood-san approached me with complicated expressions.
"...Hey, Kaito-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"The Fireball formula... I taught you that before, right?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah."
When I had mentioned wanting to use attack magic, she had taught me the basics. However, since I lacked any talent for it, I hadn't been able to cast it properly back then.
"Could you try firing one at me?"
"Eh? A Fireball?"
"Yeah. Your mana has increased quite a bit, so I want to test it out."
"O-Okay."
"Full power, please!"
"Understood."
I could feel the increase in my own power. Even if I couldn't use attack magic before, surely I could now.
No, beyond that... maybe my talent would finally bloom, and I’d suddenly become a powerful mage! I didn't necessarily want to fight, but as the eldest among us, I felt a bit pathetic being so thoroughly outperformed by Aoi-chan, Hina-chan, and Seigi-kun.
Alright, let's do this! Today is the day I say goodbye to being called the "weakest" or just a "monster tamer" by my juniors!
I manifested a magic circle in my right hand and poured every drop of mana I had into it. Because my capacity had increased so much, the sheer volume of power gathering in my hand was almost frightening.
I pulled my arm back and, with the conviction that I could do it, I thrust my hand forward.
"...Fireball!!"
In response to my cry, a flaming sphere of hellfire shot from the magic circle... a ping-pong ball sized one.
The "Mini Fireball" drifted sluggishly toward Kuro, only for her to clap her hands and vanish it as if she were swatting a mosquito.
"..."
"...Thank goodness. It's the usual Kaito-kun."
"I have some objections to the fact that you're relieved by that!"
Kuro seemed satisfied for some reason, wearing a relieved smile... I didn't get it at all.
"To think that after pouring in that much mana, it would be... r-rather... ah, no, my apologies."
"..."
Even the gentle Lilliwood-san had let that slip. Just how bad was my lack of talent?!
I mean, it was a step up from not being able to fire it at all, right? But the effect was way too pathetic for the amount of mana I'd used. Where did all that energy go?
"W-Well, perhaps you are simply poorly suited for the fire attribute..."
"That's true. Kaito-kun, try the others too."
"...Okay."
Right. Like Lilliwood-san said, maybe fire just wasn't my thing. Maybe with a different attribute...
Following Kuro’s instructions, I fired off the basic spells one after another while munching on World Tree fruits.
"Ice Edge!"
"...It didn't reach."
"It melted halfway, didn't it?"
That was water-attribute magic.
"Wind Cutter!"
"...Is it a bit drafty?"
"A gentle breeze, I suppose."
That was wind-attribute magic.
"Stone Blast!"
"...It's tiny."
"It would just be a 'bonk' if it actually hit someone."
That was earth-attribute magic.
"Lightning Bolt!"
"...Hmm."
"Static electricity, perhaps?"
That was thunder-attribute magic.
"Holy Light!"
"...Did it just blink?"
"Yes, for a split second."
That was light-attribute magic.
"Darkness Shot!"
"Oh, that one actually came out a little."
"True, but it's still far too weak for the amount of mana used..."
That was darkness-attribute magic.
"Presion!"
"Oh, amazing! It was only for a moment, but even I felt a bit of pressure!"
"Indeed... this power actually exceeds the mana consumed."
Finally, I finished with the no-attribute magic used to exert pressure on an opponent. Having fired all eight types, the truth was starting to dawn on me, but I asked Kuro anyway.
"So, Kuro? What's the verdict?"
"...Well, Kaito-kun, you're decent with darkness magic... but you have incredible talent for 'Mental Interference-type' magic. It feels like you'd be very good at things like mental destruction or casting hallucinations."
Darkness-attribute and talented in mental interference... no matter how I looked at it, those were the traits of a villain. It was like I was a mid-boss who specialized in status ailment spam. It almost made me want to cry.
It seemed a cheat protagonist's life wasn't for me. Why was I even being subjected to this humiliation?
"Hey, Kuro? Why did we do this in the first place?"
"Ah, well... your mana growth was so incredible that I thought you might actually have a gift for magic."
"...And the result?"
"I'm relieved to see you're still the same old Kaito-kun!"
"..."
Why couldn't I use any cool attack magic? My juniors were out there casting flashy spells, and all I could do was give people psychological trauma?!
...W-Well, whatever. The training wasn't meant for learning attack magic anyway. My goal was purely to suppress Isis-san’s magic power of death... I-I wasn't frustrated at all.
However, that little experiment ended up dragging in unnecessary trouble from elsewhere.
The next day, Megiddo-san arrived lugging a literal mountain of barbells and dumbbells.
"Yo, Kaito! I heard the news! They said you're absolutely pathetic at attack magic!"
"M-Megiddo-san? What's all this about?"
"It must be frustrating, but don't let it get to you! You don't need magic anyway. Just punch 'em before they can cast anything! Leave it to me!"
"...Leave what to you?"
I had nothing but a bad feeling, but when I fearfully asked, Megiddo-san gave me a bright, irritating smile.
"What you need right now is... muscle!"
"...No, that's definitely not it."
"I've got your back! We're buddies, right? I'll turn you into a martial artist you can be proud of anywhere!"
"No, no, I never asked for that! Why are you so gleefully... wait, those are too b-big! Those sizes are impossible for me! Wait, gyaaaahhh!"
Thanks to that misguided meathead, I ended up buried under a sea of barbells.
Kuro appeared shortly after and punched Megiddo-san into the distance, clearing up the misunderstanding... but it goes without saying that a new trauma had been successfully engraved into my mind.