'The numbers are absurd by H'Trae standards, but…'

Rey couldn't help but feel incredibly underwhelmed when staring at Lucielle's Status Window. Not only were the numbers much lower than what he had been used to over time—a side-effect of being surrounded by powerful Elves, facing Dragons, and obsessing over his own strength—but even the scarcity of Skills troubled him.

'Humans have a limit of five Skills. Right now, she has two A-Tier, two B-Tier, and one C-Tier Skills. I know they're absurd by human standards here, but I honestly feel like they should be a lot more.' He almost sighed.

Her Additional Information still did her justice, regardless.

'I don't think I've seen any H'trae human with base Stats reaching a thousand. If I add all her Privileges and Items, then all her Stats exceed one thousand, and the Mana Point even exceeds two. That's impressive.'

Compared to Brutus, she was a considerable step higher—though he was a worthy contender for close second.

'I guess these aren't the two monoliths of the United Human Alliance for nothing.'

If he remembered correctly, Lucielle wasn't this strong when he first saw through her Stat Window. She had to have gotten much stronger over the course of time.

He liked that about her.

'Somehow, she's always better than she was before. It's fascinating, but also inspiring. Makes me want to try my best…'

Rey decided not to rely on the Skill he just acquired through [Doppel], instead creating the process he just witnessed on his own—by casting the Spell.

"Black Void."

~VWUSH!~

A small sphere appeared atop his palm, with a ring also dancing atop it. He made sure to regulate the suction power, just as Lucielle told him she did, and also reduce the size, so it wouldn't grow as large even when sucking in air and Mana.

It was amazing how he was able to get it right on the first try.

"W-what?! You just… n-no way! I… I spent years working on that and you just…." Rey, who was initially engrossed in the Spell, heard Lucielle's devastated cry and looked at her.

She had tears streaming down her eyes as she looked at him.

'A-ahh… my bad!' He swiftly canceled the process, forcing the black sphere's implosion within a second.

That didn't make the situation any less awkward, though.

'Now I feel bad. I shouldn't have tried it out in front of her, but… I guess I got a little carried away.' He thought to himself.

Even though he successfully accomplished the same thing that Lucielle achieved, it wasn't like he felt any sense of pride in it.

'I was able to see the full process thanks to my incredible senses, so I understood the components and the interactions of the elements perfectly well.' Ever since he acclimated to his enhanced vision, having no need for his eyepatch any longer, Rey's ability to understand Magic-related occurrences had skyrocketed. And this wasn't even counting the other Passive Skills at work that made his calculative, observative, and overall cognitive Skills improve dramatically.

Unlike Lucielle, who had to figure everything from scratch, he had a perfect example before him.

'Besides, casting the Spell turned out to be very easy thanks to my two Divine Magic-based Skills.' He nearly laughed at himself.

Perfect Divine Magic and Divine Magic Supremacy allowed him to create his own Spells based on loose ideas, and the rules were rather lax with him—unlike the complicated process that Lucielle was bound by.

It was inevitable that he would be able to flawlessly match Lucielle's level of skill when it came to that single Spell, and probably every other one she showed him.

'I could also achieve the same result by simply using the new Skill that formed thanks to seeing her use the Spell. I swear, this is so unfair…' The decade-long efforts of Lucielle ended up being perfectly ripped off by him.

'And, unlike her, I can make the Spell more powerful and have more than enough Mana to maintain it.' He almost felt bad about how easy it was, since he was now beginning to see more and more of his potential.

'I'm really too overpowered at this point.'

Of course, his ego was easily shattered once the image of The Oracle flashed in his mind, and he remembered just how humbling his experience with her was.

If he tried any funny business with the Dragon Emperor, he suspected that would be the same experience he would suffer.

"Damnit… I don't know what else to do." Lucielle interrupted his thoughts by yelling and crashing on the ground. "I thought, for sure, that this would impress you… yet you just replicated it so easily."

Her troubled expression caused him to feel a little prickle in his heart.

It wasn't her fault that he was simply built different—in every single sense of the word.

'I should comfort her.' After finally deciding this, he reached for her shoulder, trying his best to smile warmly while thinking of the best words of encouragement he could render to someone being outdone by their junior.

"You should—"

"Uuuu… this is so frustrating! But that doesn't mean I'll give up!" She jumped back to her feet, nearly grazing Rey with her chest.

'She's too energetic!' "Mark my words, Rey Skylar… the next Spell I create will blow your mind away. Even you won't be able to resist my awesomeness!"

Rey's mind was already blown away by her presentation, but he didn't think she would believe it if he simply told her. Besides, it didn't matter what new Spell she came up with.

'I could just copy it all the same.'

Watching her bright smile and optimistic smile, however, made Rey feel a certain kind of way.

He really admired the passion that Lucielle was showing.

'Just as I thought… she's the perfect person for the role.' Parting his lips while still maintaining eye contact with Lucielle, Rey finally blurted out his intentions.

"Do you want to go to the Dragon Continent with me?"