Yuuki fell silent for a moment, unable to hide his shock.
But soon, another surprising realization hit him.
"My magic capacity hasn't decreased?"
A trace of astonishment flashed in his eyes.
He knew that when he replicated an opponent's magical power source, his own magic limit increased. And tearing a grimoire page was essentially removing one of the replicated magic sources from his soul.
Yet, the increase in magic capacity gained from Hound Magic had not disappeared with the source.
Immediately, Yuuki's mind raced with all the possibilities this opened up.
"Nesting?"
He raised his hand and made a simple gesture.
The Hound Magic grimoire hovering in midair flew straight into his palm.
"Complete replication!"
Yuuki swallowed the grimoire again, carefully observing his own state and changes.
The page reappeared, and the magical power source of Hound Magic returned to his soul.
He studied it closely, a hint of disappointment flickering across his face.
"My magic capacity still hasn't increased…?"
He muttered to himself thoughtfully, realizing that his previous idea had come to nothing.
Silver light swirled in his eyes.
The appearance of Reverse Replication gave Yuuki far greater control over the magic sources in his soul.
Following the idea flashing through his mind, he selected two magic sources within himself: one was Hound Magic, and the other an extra fire magic.
"Reverse Replication."
Yuuki controlled the two sources, manipulating them carefully.
Magic list:
Fire Magic (Scorching Flame)Water Magic (Flowing Body, Narrow River Current)Ice Magic (Heavenly Ice Fang, Crystal Spike, Crystalline Ice Shield)
…Hound MagicHound Magic
13–14. [Blank]
Under his control, the fire magic source was completely transformed into the same type as the Hound Magic source.
"As expected. Magic sources are products of Replication Magic; converting them into the same magic works."
"And my magic capacity still doesn't change. Uniqueness, perhaps?"
He muttered thoughtfully.
Shriiiik!
Yuuki tore one Hound Magic page from his grimoire, reforming it into a full grimoire. The other page remained in his grimoire.
His eyes shone with excitement.
This meant that as long as he had surplus magic sources, he could both retain replicated magic and return a grimoire to its original owner.
This solved the risk he had always feared with Complete Replication! Previously, he had avoided large-scale replication because the sudden disappearance of a grimoire would draw too much attention.
Yuuki looked at the unconscious thug and tossed him the reconstructed Hound Magic grimoire.
"Water."
He raised a hand, forming a basketball-sized sphere of water, which he threw at the man's face.
Plop!
The cold splash woke the thug immediately.
"What…?"
"M-Master, what do you command…?"
The thug, recognizing the dangerous presence before him, swallowed nervously. As a cowardly, bullying type, he understood who could be safely defied.
"Attack me with your magic."
Yuuki's command was straightforward.
The thug initially thought he'd misheard, but Yuuki's cold, expressionless face left no doubt.
"W-Wait… Master, be careful!"
A flash of ferocity passed through the thug's eyes, but he quickly restrained it. The grimoire floated before him, and Yuuki carefully observed his movements. There was no abnormality on his face as he wielded it.
Yuuki's mind confirmed his theory.
"Hound Magic—Surround and Hunt!"
The thug shouted.
Five black hunting dogs, roughly half a meter long, appeared before him.
Yet unexpectedly…
The five summoned hounds stood completely still, showing no intent to attack Yuuki.
"What's going on?"
The thug was stunned. No matter how he tried to command the hounds to attack, they remained motionless.
"Of course. A grimoire I created would never attack me," Yuuki said with a gentle smile, leaving the thug baffled.
The next moment, Yuuki acted in a way that made the thug widen his eyes in disbelief.
Shriiiik!
Yuuki tore another page from his grimoire—this time, a Mist Magic page.
Whoosh!
He flashed to the thug, pressing the page onto the man's grimoire. Before the thug could react, the page merged seamlessly with his grimoire.
Boom!
A surge of raw magical power erupted in the thug's body. His grimoire's front cover remained the same, but the back cover turned a grayish-white mist color, as if two grimoires had been stitched together.
"This… this is… Mist Magic?"
The thug shivered, sensing the flood of power and the faint mist flowing through his grimoire.
Power…
He felt it.
"I've mastered Mist Magic? And the grimoire itself changed… fascinating."
Yuuki observed him with interest, speaking softly.
Bang!
The thug snapped back to reality at Yuuki's voice, kneeling before him immediately.
"Master!"
"Thank you for granting me this power! I will follow you forever!"
This world was built on survival of the fittest. As a weak, cowardly thug, he knew better than anyone that the weak must kneel before the strong.
Nobles and royals held power because of their overwhelming strength. To grant someone magic and power—this was a miracle!
"Calm down."
Yuuki's expression remained calm as he tore a third page from his grimoire and pressed it onto the thug's grimoire.
With the second page integrated, the thug felt another surge of immense power.
"This… this strength…"
The overwhelming magic coursing through his body was exhilarating—but before he could finish, a sudden wall of water erupted before him!
Bang!
The thug's body shattered instantly, blood spraying everywhere.
"Cannot withstand the third type of magic, huh…"
Yuuki furrowed his brow slightly, noting the results.
From this experiment, he had roughly figured out all the functions of his Replication Magic. In short, it had three abilities:
Skill Replication: Replicates only the techniques in a grimoire.
Complete Replication: Using a devoured grimoire as a medium, replicates the magic sources within an opponent's soul.
Reverse Replication: Consumes magic sources to reconstruct the original grimoire, and can forcibly grant the second type of magic to others.
(Note: Uniqueness—each mana core increases the magic limit only once. Losing it does not reduce the limit, and vice versa.)
(End of Chapter 69)
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