[Lucas Rene Askanien]
Title: The Empire's Biggest Fool
Health: -4.8 (+0.2)
Mental Strength: -9 (+1.0)
Magic Power: ?
Skill: +0.015
Impression: -10
Luck: -8.985 (+1.0)
Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power
'My mental strength increased by 1?'
It had definitely been -10 before.
Luck, which had been -9.985, also showed improvement. Considering it had been increasing by 1/1000, this was significant progress.
Even health had increased by 0.2. The rise in health, despite not being in a situation conducive to physical improvement, suggested a link to mental strength.
Did making one friend cause this change?
Aside from very early childhood, Leo was essentially my first friend, so it was a plausible theory.
'....'
It was hard to watch without feeling sorry.
'Wait a moment.'
There was something else I needed to check.
Shifting my gaze, a new window appeared.
---
[Dawn777]
- Final outcome 'Chapter X. Death' in 767 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes, and 01 second
- Change possibility: 5.3% (+5%p)
---
5.3%.
Gaining one ally increased it by 5%p, which was quite satisfying.
It meant that Leo would be a significant help in my survival moving forward.
'Hmm, I'm curious about Leo's status.'
Come to think of it, I had been too focused on quickly checking favorability to have time to look at status windows before.
I called up Leo's status window as I looked into his eyes.
---
Leonard Wittelsbach
Favorability: 0
Title: ?
Health: +7.5
Mental Strength: +9
Magic Power: +7
Skill: +8.5
Impression: +10
Luck: +9.5
Traits: ?
---
'…This is the first time I've seen such crazy stats.'
It was astonishing that his favorability had risen from -9 to 0 in an instant, but that wasn't the main issue. His overall stats were better than those of many professors whose status windows I had peeked at out of curiosity.
If I had to enter a novel, I should have become a character like him.
"What are you doing?"
Leo waved a hand in front of my blank gaze.
"Nothing."
I shook my head to clear the slight sense of disillusionment.
After that, I spent time answering Leo's trivial questions until the first class ended, and we left the infirmary together. There was no one around.
"Don't acknowledge me from here."
"What?"
Leo asked, looking perplexed.
"If you suddenly start being nice to me, people will think it's weird. Come find me only when there are no students around."
Leo rubbed his chin, then nodded.
"That makes sense. Alright, then. Don't worry about the medicine; I'll have my family get it for you."
"Thanks."
It ended more smoothly than I expected.
Given his obsession with magic, I thought he might be clingy, but this was nice.
Let's keep it simple.
'Now, I need to improve my skills.'
I had to make up for the ten-year gap starting now.
The problem was that self-studying magic is difficult, and without a personal training room at the school, I had to use the common one... but that was already solved. I had arranged to spar with Leo.
The school provided top students like Leo with private training rooms.
No need to sign in on a ledger or worry about others intruding.
Of course, the training room wasn't the only reason I asked Leo to spar.
I judged it worthwhile to learn from Leo's textbook-like movements.
In fact, a skill score of 8.5 was on par with the professors here.
In general, normal people ranged between -1 to 3 in all categories, while the students here usually ranged from 3 to 5.
'I'm curious to see how much I can improve.'
Thus, a week had passed since I started training with Leo.
The results were good. My control improved quickly, to the point that it was hard to believe I hadn't used magic properly in ten years.
"Good! At this level, you're no longer a threat to civilians by accident."
After finishing training on the seventh day, Leo wiped his sweat and smiled with satisfaction.
Right. The problem with my magic had always been its excessive power, making it hard to control.
Leo's comment was chilling but true: it wasn't a metaphor or an exaggeration.
While I knew how to suppress my magic during class, maintaining a moderate level of magic for extended periods was still challenging.
I didn't want to see my magic harming anyone, so I had agreed to Leo's relentless calls for training over the past week.
'I was a bit taken aback at first… but I need this level of power to deal with my brother.'
The fact that this was considered basic was a testament to my satisfying talent.
"Oh, by the way, the medicine you asked for will be delayed. It'll take about four more days. I'll bring it then."
"Thanks."
"See you tomorrow."
Leo waved and disappeared.
'Things are going smoothly.'
The interest that had briefly surged at the start of the semester subsided as I stopped using magic altogether, and there was no contact from my brother.
I called up my status window.
---
[Lucas Rene Askanien]
Title: The Empire's Biggest Fool
Health: -3.8 (+1.0)
Mental Strength**: -8.7 (+0.3)
Magic Power**: ?
Skill: +0.515 (+0.5)
Impression: -10
Luck: -7.485 (+1.5)
Traits: Dawn 777, Divine Power
Considering the amount increased after a week of training, it wasn't bad.
After staying at the training ground for a bit more practice, I took out a pendant from under my shirt.
It was a teleportation artifact I had bought with all the cash I had. Since it wasn't good to be seen entering and leaving the training ground, I connected it to go directly from the dormitory.
I even registered it under Leo's name to cover my tracks in case anything happened.
'It's good to be thorough with preparations.'
I blew magic power into the pendant.
When I opened my eyes, the familiar scenery of my dorm room unfolded before me.
Thunk—
"...!"
Something was off with the state of my core.
The core, usually connected tightly around the heart, was now floating and rattling for some reason.
'Could it be because of the medication?'