Lencar spent the next hour performing a full inventory of his current "Storage." He needed to see exactly what his system looked like before he headed to the Capital.
He laid the grimoire flat and ran his hand over the pages. The book felt different now—heavier, hungrier.
Grimoire Status Overview:
Cover: Blank/Unadorned (Current Mask: Average Three-Leaf Clover).
Special Condition: All Replication spells require physical contact (Cover-to-Cover or Hand-to-Grimoire).
Section 1: Active Attributes (Standard Replication - Inflexible)
Wind Magic: [Towering Tornado], [Wind-Scythe Whirl], [Wind Step]. (Sourced from: Yuno). Note: Rigid output, high cost.
Chain Magic: [Magic-Sealing Chain], [Chain-Dance Slasher]. (Sourced from: Revchi). Note: Excellent utility, lacks tracking.
Fire Magic: [Tiny Fireball], [Forge-Heat]. (Sourced from: Father/Blacksmith). Note: Low damage, high thermal utility.
Water Magic: [Pure Stream], [Holy Fist of Love]. (Sourced from: Mother/Sister Lily). Note: Minimal healing capacity.
Earth Magic: [Nutrient Draw], [Stone Hardening]. (Sourced from: Goro/Mason). Note: Environmental manipulation only.
Section 2: The Anomaly (The Void)
[ANTI-MAGIC: TOGGLE]: Allows the user to switch between Mage Mode (External Mana) and Heretic Mode (Anti-Magic Void).
Latency: 0.4 seconds.
Restriction: Cannot use magic and anti-magic simultaneously.
Section 3: The New Architecture (The Absolute)
[ABSOLUTE REPLICATION]: * Effect: Total siphoning of Attribute, Spells, and Mana Pool.
Result: Target Grimoire Destroyed.
Benefit: Full flexibility and spell creation in the acquired attribute.
Lencar stared at the page for Absolute Replication. It was a void of potential. It was the "Phase Five" he hadn't known he needed.
"Standard Replication is for utility," he noted, his voice regaining its cold, professional edge. "It's for building a toolkit. But Absolute Replication... that's for evolution."
He realized that his "Strategic Dismissal" plan for the Entrance Exam might need to be adjusted. If he encountered someone truly despicable in the Capital—a corrupt noble or a criminal mage with a high frequency—he wouldn't just "fail" to get their attention. He would wait for the right moment to delete them from the system and add their strength to his own.
The morning air in the village of Sosei was thick with the scent of damp earth and woodsmoke. Sosei, Lencar's birthplace and the home of his family's small farm, was a sister village to Hage, separated only by a few miles of rocky paths and dense forest. While Hage had the looming presence of the demon skull, Sosei was a place of rolling hills and low-hanging mist.
Lencar stood atop the roof of a neighbor's barn, his right arm—now fully healed and reinforced by a month of silent, high-pressure Mana-Forging—hauling a heavy bundle of thatch. To the villagers watching from below, he was a miracle of recovery, the boy who had survived a brutal tournament and returned to his chores without a hint of arrogance.
But internally, Kenji Tanaka was running a different set of numbers.
Task: Structural Repair. Efficiency: 94%. Objective: Maintain 'Helpful Commoner' persona while scanning for high-frequency mana signatures.
For the past week, Lencar had turned "Community Service" into a tactical reconnaissance mission. He spent his days traveling between Sosei and Hage, offering his labor to anyone with a grimoire. He helped the elderly, mended fences for the local guards, and assisted the wandering merchants. With every contact, his blank grimoire pulsed. He was a shadow in the system, siphoning utility spells—a [Light-Flicker] here, a [Heavy-Lift] there—building a toolkit of "Standard" scripts.
But his eyes were no longer on the commoners. He was looking for the Apex.
Absolute Replication: [Locked - No Target].
The words haunted the back of his mind. He knew the potential of the golden light he had seen in the tower. He knew that if he could just find one mage of significant power who "deserved" to be deleted, the 25.4 unit ceiling would shatter. But the villages were a desert of high-level mana. Every person he touched was another low-frequency data point, a drop in a bucket that refused to overflow.
He climbed down from the roof, wiping sweat from his brow. His mother, Marta, was waiting at the base of the ladder with a wooden ladle and a jar of cool water. Her eyes still held a lingering shadow of worry, but seeing him move so freely brought a soft smile to her face.
"You've done enough for today, Lencar," she said. "You'll be leaving for the Capital soon. You should be resting your spirit."
"The body is a machine, Mother," Lencar replied, taking the water. "If it sits idle for too long, the efficiency drops. Besides, helping the villagers is also something that teaches me more about magic."
She reached out, her hand lingering on his forearm. "Just... don't go looking for trouble, my son. The world outside these villages is full of people who don't care about 'helping.'"
Lencar nodded, his face a mask of calm. Problem: My parents' concern is a persistent variable that limits my radius of operation. Solution: Maintain the facade until the sun sets.
The Third Monster
That afternoon, Lencar made the walk to Hage. He needed to check the status of Variable A (Asta) and Variable B (Yuno). As he approached the Hage village square, he noticed a crowd even larger than the one for the tournament. The atmosphere wasn't tense; it was celebratory.
Tower Master Drouot stood on the familiar wooden platform, holding a new parchment rimmed with silver leaf—the mark of a high-level administrative response from the Royal Capital.
"Listen up, Hage and Sosei!" Drouot's voice was full of a strange, trembling pride. "After my report of the 'Three Monsters of the Forsaken Realm' reached the ears of the Magic Knights Command, the Capital has issued an unprecedented amendment!"
Lencar narrowed his eyes. The system is adapting.
"Because the mana readings and physical output of our top three qualifiers were deemed 'statistically anomalous' for a single region," Drouot continued, "the Magic Knights have granted a Third Slot! Asta, stand forward!"
The crowd erupted. Asta, who had been sitting dejectedly in the back, his head still wrapped in a small bandage from his loss to Lencar, stood up as if struck by lightning. He looked at the parchment, then at Drouot, then at the sky.
"I... I get to go?" Asta whispered, his voice cracking. "I can take the exam?!"
Yuno stood to the side, leaning against a stone pillar. A small, rare smirk played on his lips. "It seems the Capital doesn't want to miss out on seeing how a magicless idiot fails in person, Asta."
Asta didn't even yell back. His eyes began to shimmer. Massive, fat tears began to roll down his cheeks, and his pupils dilated into glowing stars. He looked toward Yuno, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated joy.
"YUNO!" Asta roared, his voice cracking with emotion. "DID YOU HEAR THAT?! I'M COMING! I'M COMING TO THE CAPITAL! I'M GONNA SURPASS YOU! I'M GONNA SURPASS LENCAR! I'M GONNA BE THE WIZARD KING!"
He struck his signature pose—one hand pointing to the sky, the other clutching his chest, his face contorted in a scream of triumph.
Lencar watched from the periphery. Analysis: Asta's inclusion increases the 'Chaos Potential' of the Entrance Exam by 40%. It is a beneficial variable. He will draw the primary attention of the Captains, allowing me to maintain my 'Strategic Dismissal' plan with greater ease.
But as he watched the villagers cheer, Lencar felt a different kind of vibration. It wasn't the joy of the crowd. It was a disturbance in the mana field on the outskirts of the village.
The Rumor of the Red Bandits
He moved toward the local tavern, the "Demon's Rest," where travelers and the occasional merchant gathered. He didn't go in; he leaned against the exterior wall, his "Mana-Forged" ears picking up the conversations inside.
"...attacked three caravans in as many days," a gravelly voice grunted. "They aren't just thieves. They've got a mage with them. Someone who uses a jagged Earth Magic to flip carts over."
"The 'Scarred Hand' Bandits," another man whispered. "They're camping in the Ravine of Echoes, just outside the village borders. The guards from the regional capital won't come out this far for a few sacks of flour and some wool. They're terrorizing the only road to the Capital."
Lencar's internal supercomputer processed the data instantly.
* Target: Rogue Mages (Bandits).
* Location: Ravine of Echoes (Tactical advantage: Enclosed space).
* Attribute: Earth/Physical.
* Ethics Check: Bandits are criminals who disrupt social infrastructure. Their removal is a net positive for the region.
* Primary Objective: Field test for Absolute Replication.
This is it, Lencar thought. The Apex Target. People who have a grimoire, who have killed, and who will not be missed by the system.
He pushed off the wall and began to walk toward the forest. He didn't say goodbye to Asta or Yuno. He didn't return to Sosei to tell his parents he would be late. He was no longer the "Helpful Neighbor." He was the Analyst moving into the Implementation Phase.