"You're overthinking it. Everything I project is just a replica," Izumi said calmly.
"They can be used, sure, but once the mana supply runs out, the projections vanish."
"I haven't reached the level where I can create true matter out of nothing."
These weapons could be used in battle, but they weren't suited for long, drawn-out fights—more like single-use consumables.
So, Eriri's thoughts were definitely going in strange directions.
Even so, Eriri couldn't hide her excitement.
"Even if they're disposable, tons of people would still want them!"
"I can't believe you're actually this amazing!"
"Ugh, I seriously envy this ability!"
Izumi raised an eyebrow and responded:
"If I remember right, your ability is to summon things you draw, right?"
"So why not just draw weapons yourself and summon those?"
Eriri stiffened instantly, her expression turning awkward.
"T-that… I can't really summon those properly."
"And even if I can summon them, I can't use them myself. The summoned character uses them or… uses me."
Her voice got smaller and smaller toward the end.
What exactly did she summon?
Tentacle monsters. Women.
Creatures one should not casually mention in public.
Most people knew she had talent, but she had never shown the full extent of her ability. Every time she summoned something, she intentionally made it look normal.
Her actual settings?
Absolutely not normal.
Just remembering them made her cheeks heat up.
Izumi stared at her with a strange look.
Amazing. Truly, this is Eriri Sawamura Spencer.
He finally understood her ability.
She could summon only specific types of creatures she drew. She couldn't summon everything.
And even if she summoned weapons, she couldn't equip them herself.
The more he thought about it, the stranger his gaze became.
Being stared at like that made Eriri snap.
"What's with that look?!"
"It's just temporary! TEMPORARY!"
"When I get stronger, maybe I'll be able to summon weapons… or even a full-sized Gundam!"
Izumi narrowed his eyes into dead-fish mode.
"Machine… play?"
"Come on. You know exactly what you're best at drawing."
"When your ability matures, it'll probably solidify permanently."
"In other words… if you're a tentacle-monster artist now, you'll be a tentacle-monster artist forever."
"Eriri, you're beyond saving."
Just imagining Eriri summoning a horde of tentacle monsters on a battlefield…
Otaku and fujoshi alike would probably clench up instinctively.
The scene was too terrifying to visualize.
Even Izumi felt his soul recoil.
Eriri almost exploded.
What the hell are you imagining?!
Fuming, she glared at him.
"Say that again and I'll draw you as the protagonist and summon you out myself!"
She grabbed the drink the waitress had just brought and took a large gulp.
But Izumi's next words made her choke and spray it everywhere.
"Sure, go ahead. I don't mind."
"Just make sure you draw me handsome, with lots of cute girls around me.
You know—so I can feel immersed."
Before he even finished, Eriri sprayed her drink in a perfect arc—
—directly onto Megumi Kato.
Izumi immediately grabbed a napkin from the table and, under Megumi's stunned gaze, leaned forward to wipe her chest clean.
"Eriri, seriously, calm down."
"Watch where you're spraying things. You got Megumi all dirty."
He said this as he gently wiped her chest area.
Both Eriri and Megumi were frozen in shock.
Smack!
Megumi snapped out of it first and slapped his hand away.
She glared up at him before quietly grabbing her own tissues to wipe herself.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"You were totally taking advantage of Megumi!"
Eriri stared accusingly, her face full of disappointment.
This guy had no shame.
Megumi's expression barely changed, but her ears were bright red.
Izumi sighed, rubbing the hand Megumi had slapped.
"I didn't do it on purpose. You know I'm a decent person."
"I was just trying to help. I panicked, that's all."
But the slight upward curl of his lips completely betrayed him.
Everyone underestimated Megumi—
she had quite the figure hidden under that plain exterior.
Izumi silently gave her 108 compliments in his heart.
Eriri watched him with utter disdain.
After spending time with him, she was certain:
Izumi was 100% a shameless LSP.
Although he could be serious at times, when it came to moments like these, he was absolutely unreliable.
The little incident brought the mood to an end.
Megumi said she needed to go home to change clothes, so the group decided to call it a day.
Naturally, Eriri had no objections.
Even though Izumi had done "this and that" to Megumi, she wasn't angry—
just giving him a strange look from time to time.
As for Asia, she had been bright red the entire time, lost in her own world.
With that, everyone went their separate ways.
That day's events attracted attention from many people.
In a certain isolated pocket dimension, a refined young man read the report in his hand and chuckled.
"Excellent. Another human with remarkable potential has surfaced."
"It seems the era of humanity's rise is upon us."
His smile widened.
He was Cao Cao, one of the strongest human candidates, wielder of the Longinus—the Holy Spear of Twilight.
And the leader of the Hero Faction.
The Hero Faction was composed entirely of exceptional humans—descendants of historical heroes or those who inherited their abilities.
Everything that happened on the devil's side had been neatly compiled and delivered to him.
Reading the report, Cao Cao felt great interest toward Izumi.
A young man barely in his teens possessing such power—
it was impossible not to be intrigued.
If possible, he would love to recruit Izumi into the Hero Faction.
But then he reached a particular note at the bottom of the report—
Izumi had stated clearly:
He would never join any organization and wanted to build his own faction.
Cao Cao's smile took on a different shade.
"So he has ambition as well."
"How amusing. I would very much like to meet you, Izumi."