Ivory didn't just speak; she began to Sing. Her voice wasn't human; it was a rhythmic, melodic sequence of "Source Code" that resonated through the training hall. As she sang, a heavy, leather-bound Grimoire spawned in her hands, its pages turning at light-speed despite there being no wind.
Haruto watched, his heart racing. "This is it," he thought. "The real high-level content." He felt the thrill of a gamer finally reaching the hidden boss, but a cold shiver of dread followed. The stakes were peaking. He was spending his limited time investigating his own team's "Illegal Files," but he knew he couldn't face Kaelen with just brute force if the world was this broken.
With a final, high-pitched note, Ivory slammed the book shut. In a flash of blinding cobalt energy, the book morphed, elongating and hardening until it became a Great-Staff of Electrical Logic.
The staff pulsed with jagged, violet-blue lightning that hummed with a terrifying frequency. The air around it turned ozone-heavy, making everyone's hair stand on end. The presence it radiated was so "dense" that it felt like a physical weight on Haruto's chest.
The sheer power of the staff acted like a magnet. Without being summoned, Smoke manifested from Asobi's pipe, his purple eyes wide and his jaw dropping.
"Again?!" Asobi barked, raising her hand to smack him back into the pipe. "I didn't give you permission to manifest, you glitchy brat!"
"Wait, wait! Lady, please!" Smoke shouted, dodging her hand and pointing at Ivory's staff with a shaking finger. "I've never felt anything like this! I'm an SSR, but that... that thing is a Universal Core. I've spent centuries in a pipe—let me at least see what a real God-Tier weapon looks like! I've never met another Awakened Spirit of this caliber!"
Haruto let out a small chuckle and signaled Asobi to stand down.
"Let him stay, Asobi. He's got an attitude, but his vibe is solid."
The air in the training hall crackled with static as the cobalt-blue staff began to dissolve into data-like particles. The electrical humming reached a crescendo, then suddenly went silent as the energy coalesced into a humanoid form.
A man stepped out of the light, adjusting a pair of perfectly circular, gold-rimmed glasses. He had sleek hair that was a sharp mix of deep sea-blue and snowy white, perfectly styled. He wore a crisp, high-collared scholarly coat that looked both ancient and futuristic, and in his left hand, he held a small, glowing book. He was the complete opposite of Smoke—where Smoke was chaotic and punk, this man was the definition of order and elegance.
Ivory let out a long, weary sigh.
"Finally. Come out and breathe for a bit. You've been locked in that 'book' for too long."
The man looked around the room with a calm, intellectual gaze. He ignored the cracks in the floor and the unconscious Princess, stepping forward to offer Ivory a sophisticated bow.
"My Lady, you summoned me? I was in the middle of calculating the probability of my next summon."
"Not for me," Ivory said, gesturing toward Haruto.
"This gentleman over here wanted to see what kind of 'monsters' I was hiding."
Smoke stared at the newcomer, feeling completely outclassed by the man's sheer aura of competence. Meanwhile, Haruto felt the familiar pull of a Mana Connection. Even without the system's help, he could tell this spirit was a walking encyclopedia of destruction.
The man turned toward Haruto and performed a deep, flawless bow—the bow of a high-ranking minister to a King.
"It is an honor to finally manifest in your presence, Master Haruto," he said, his voice smooth and resonant.
"My name is Logos. I am the Spirit of the Eternal Grimoire and the Guardian of the Source Code. I am at your service for as long as your 'Logic' remains unbroken."
Haruto's eye twitched the moment the word "Master" left Logos's mouth.
"Stop. Right there," Haruto said, raising a hand. "I've told everyone else, and I'm telling you too—don't call me Master. It sounds like I'm running a cult or a weird cafe. Just Haruto is fine."
Logos adjusted his glasses, his expression unchanged.
"A request for informal designation despite the soul-link hierarchy? Highly illogical, yet I shall archive it. Very well, Haruto sir."
Haruto sighed. "Still formal, but I'll take the win." He looked at the spirit's mouth moving, but half the stuff Logos said about 'Null Pointers' and 'Logic Buffers' went straight over his head. It was like trying to read a high-level coding manual without the tutorial.
Ivory smirked, crossing her arms.
"You wanted to see the big guns, Haruto. Well, here he is. Logos doesn't just fight; he deconstructs."
Logos ignored the praise and began a 360-degree scan of the room. His eyes flickered with blue data streams as he pointed a gloved finger around.
"Analysis complete," Logos stated calmly.
"The perimeter is occupied by fascinating entities. This one—" he pointed at Asobi
"—is a Pure Spirit of ancient origin. Highly compressed power."
Then, his finger moved to Smoke, who was leaning against a pillar trying to look tough. Logos's lip curled in a microscopic show of disdain.
"And this... this 'Flashy Delinquent ' over here is a low-output, Awakened Weapon Spirit. Chaotic, unrefined, and visually loud."
Smoke froze. "A... what? Did this four-eyed librarian just call me a Flashy Delinquent ?!"
He straightened up, his purple aura flaring.
"Listen here, you machine box! I'm an SSR! I've burned down entire dungeons of monsters while you were busy dusting your bookshelves! Say that to my face!"
Smoke started marching toward Logos, his fists clenched.
"Smoke, stop," Ivory said, her voice dropping into a cold, warning tone.
"He's not being rude; he's being accurate. You are an SSR Rank. Logos is an SSS Rank. If you pick this fight, you won't just lose—you'll be formatted. Do you really want to be deleted before the duel even starts?"
Smoke stopped mid-step, his foot hovering over the floor. He looked at Logos's calm, terrifyingly still posture, then slowly turned around and walked back to his corner, muttering under his breath about "elitist book-nerds."
Asobi actually let out a small, rare chuckle. She found the situation hilarious. Smoke was always the loud, disrespectful brat of the household, but in Logos, he had finally met his match: someone who was even more arrogant, but with the manners and rank to back it up.
Toya looked back and forth between the two spirits.
"Haruto, your house is basically a zoo for legendary monsters. How are we supposed to focus on training when these guys are roasting each other?"
Haruto let out a low whistle, a smirk playing on his lips. "You know, Toya, this is exactly what makes this world worth playing," he said, nudging his friend.
Toya nodded fervently, his eyes still wide as he watched the two spirits.
"It's like watching a live-action cutscene, Haruto. I've never seen anyone talk to an SSR spirit like that. This guy Logos is on a whole different level."
Haruto stepped toward the blue-haired scholar, ignoring the technical aura vibrating off him. "Alright, Logos. Cut the 'Master' talk and the roasts for a second. What can you actually do? What's your skill set?"
Logos adjusted his glasses, his expression shifting into a clinical, instructional mode.
"Technically, I am classified as a Staff-Category Spirit, functioning as a conduit for supreme logic," he explained, pointing a slender finger toward Smoke.
"I operate on the same fundamental framework as that flashy delinquent over there, though my processing speed and mana-efficiency are... incomparable."
Smoke's face turned a shade of violent purple. He looked like he wanted to shatter Logos's glasses with a single punch, but the SSS-rank pressure kept him rooted to the spot, fuming silently.
"My primary function," Logos continued, "is the Precise Execution of Magic. I don't just 'cast' spells; I rewrite the probability of their success. I can dismantle an opponent's mana-structure before their attack even leaves their hand."
As Logos finished his explanation, he glided back toward Ivory. To everyone's surprise, Ivory reached out and gently patted Logos on the head, her cold expression softening just a fraction.
Logos froze for a micro-second, a faint blue hue touching his cheeks.
"My Lady... this behavior is statistically inefficient. You are behaving in an excessively human manner. I even notice Lady Lustra and Bellona acting weird now."
Lustra and Bellona burst into giggles.
"Oh, hush, Logos!" Lustra teased, stepping forward with a playful sway.
"We've spent so much time around Haruto that we're all getting a little 'buggy,' aren't we?"
Bellona leaned on her massive, invisible aura of strength. "It's called having a personality, Librarian. You should try it."
Lustra's eyes suddenly flashed with a mischievous, pink light. She looked at Haruto, then at Toya, her smile widening into something both beautiful and slightly terrifying.
"Since the 'Logic' spirit has finished his boring lecture," Lustra purred,
"it's my turn. If you think Logos is impressive, just wait until you see my spirit weapon. It's not just a tool—it's a masterpiece that will make your hearts skip a beat. Or stop them entirely."
She raised her hands, and the air began to smell like blooming roses and ozone.
"Are you ready t
o see the most beautiful nightmare in this world's inventory?"