Mimic Awakening

"That’s over twenty times the archdragon’s mana. And Dareon was able to pull off a decent fight with me?"

"Hahaha!" Dareon laughs at Azrael’s words. "It’s only possible because I have multiplied my strength by eight times to match you."

"But I have to double my strength and speed just to break even with you."

"I can’t imagine how powerful you would have become if you used the same technique as I did."

"..."

The room goes silent when Dareon says those words. Their minds are filled with the thought of how powerful Azrael would become once he learns Overdrive, the technique that Dareon activated to multiply his strength.

Depending on how much he would multiply his strength and speed, Azrael could momentarily become the strongest person the undead pair would have ever seen. Even rivaling the physical strength of the two gods. But it would be a different story if the gods started using magic.

Speaking of multipliers, Zyren suddenly breaks a nonexistent sweat on his forehead, thinking about what would happen if Azrael learned Ephemeral Exaltation as well. If, hypothetically, Azrael multiplied his mana tenfold, he could have more than three hundred million magia points for a very short time of less than half a breathspan, or two minutes.

At that level of power, Azrael would have skipped cataclysmic class and immediately jumped to apocalypse class, a global threat. That would put him in the lower levels of gods.

If Azrael put the magic power multiplier spell that Claire used in their previous fight on top of that, Zyren could not comprehend that hypothetical existence anymore. But then he realizes that it would be impossible since stacking multipliers would empty his mana in an instant, which could be highly fatal.

"Now then," Zyren finally breaks the silence, which snaps Azrael and Dareon back to reality. "I am sure that Azrael would be the strongest if Azrael were to execute Overdrive.

"So it’s called Overdrive, huh?"

"But learning techniques is much harder than magic," Dareon adds. "It requires strict discipline and commitment to even execute it. It took me years to multiply my strength fourfold and centuries as an undead to master it and ultimately achieve eightfold strength."

"Is that so? I am aware that you are warning me not to chase after it, but having more cards in my sleeve is better than being unprepared. Maybe it could be my last resort, but it is not like I want to reach that point."

"Very well, Azrael," Zyren corresponds with his words. "You might be a monster, though it’s hard to believe it at first, but you have a good head on your shoulders."

Even though he was not a criminal in his previous life, he almost became one for justice. In reality, he just used justice to justify fulfilling his desire to be a vigilante once in his life.

"Techniques were originally created by the people who were not proficient with magic to protect themselves and their loved ones. I have seen people who abuse it to satisfy their own interests."

"You seem to be a reasonable person despite the fact that you barely show your emotions," Dareon continues Zyren’s words. "If you want to, I can teach you some of the techniques I know."

"Well, it’s not like I asked you to, but since you have said that, I would really appreciate it if I could learn some moves or yours, Dareon."

◆◇◆

It has been minutes since Azrael and the undead scanned the room, testing some of the items Zachary brought to the castle.

"So magic spells can get more potent if the caster has a high magic power?"

"Yes," Zyren responds to Azrael’s inquiry. "The mana capacity of a person can be increased through several ways like training, eating, or just getting older. But there is one thing that is fixed at birth."

"And that is magic power? Claire said that some individuals can cast spells with more firepower than others even though they consumed the same amount of mana."

"Precisely." Zyren nods.

"Can it be measured digitally like mana?"

"I think Mr. Zachary brought a device to measure a person’s magic power. Let me get it."

Zyren turns around and scans the shelves behind from left to right. When he finds it, he approaches a shelf before grabbing a wooden box with brass accents on the top layer of the shelf.

The elder lich gently places the dusty box on a table nearby. Azrael and Dareon walk toward the table as Zyren is opening the box’s lid, revealing the magic item before Azrael’s eyes.

"A crystal ball?" Azrael says as Zyren is taking it out of the box before placing it on the table.

From what he can see, the item has a white, half-foot-wide crystal ball attached to the silvery four-legged pedestal. The pedestal seems to be made of mithrill, the metal said to have the best mana conductivity. There is a rectangular blue glass embedded on one side of the pedestal, which is similar to the lens of the appraisal glass.

Perhaps that blue glass is primarily used as the material for the front display of tech in this world? Azrael wonders.

"Let me demonstrate it to you first."

Zyren then places his bony hand on the crystal ball, and it glows a bright light. Shortly after, numbers appear on the blue panel. Staring at zero, the number rises up to three digits in seconds until it ultimately stops at a certain point.

[151]

"A hundred and fifty-one? What does it represent?"

"You can say that magic power is some kind of multiplier. According to Mr. Zachary, every magic core from monsters in the dungeon has exactly a hundred magic powers. Using that number as a baseline, a magic spell has a base firepower of a hundred percent. So in short, the firepower of a spell is determined by the percentage of one’s magic power."

"In your case, your magic spells are 51% more powerful than normal?"

"That’s right."

"Is that the standard in this world?"

"I believe people in this world have an average magic power of around a hundred. So you can say that I am above average."

"That’s definitely way above average."

"Zyren is just a modest man, Azrael," Dareon chimes in. "He actually had one of the highest magic powers in the empire back in the day."

"He was kind of a big shot, huh? How about you, Dareon?" Azrael turns to the knight. "You must have a high magic power too."

"Nah, I only have a hundred and ten magic power, which is slightly above average at that time."

"I see. I thought you would have a lot since you are kind of strong in the dungeon. But it could also be because he is not a mage."

After that, Zyren explains that magic power was used to determine the future of a person. Even though they cannot digitally measure magic power, it can be determined by the firepower of a spell as well as feeling it within a person.

If a person has a magic power around and below average, they are highly likely to become a warrior or other class that does not require magic. They can utilize their mana by enhancing their bodies by buffing themselves with magic or technique.

People with above-average magic power can become magic casters. Of course, they should have a high mana capacity on top of that. With higher magic power, their spells can inflict more damage to the targets, which is essential for battles.

However, if someone has a magic power around the average or below but they possess a high mana reserve, they could become supports instead. They could even channel a portion of their mana to mages in case of emergency.

For people with high magic power but lacking mana, they can choose to become noncombatant specialists in some fields like alchemy, craftsmanship, and so on.

But people with low magic power and little mana still dominate the world in terms of population. Even someone with an average magic power is still a civilian.

But the decision of which path to follow still lies with the person themselves. Those are just the recommended guidelines the nation of this world still follows.

They can still become a mage even with below-average magic power. But everyone would bat an eye if someone decided to become a mage despite having a low mana capacity.

"Now then, it’s your turn, Azrael," Zyren says. "Place your hand on it and channel your mana into it."

"Okay."

As Zyren instructs, Azrael puts his right hand on the crystal ball. He does not know how fragile the glass is. He thinks he might break it if he poured a lot. As carefully as he can, he just casts a low-level light magic into it, and then the crystal ball gradually radiates light.

"..."

Staring at the panel, they wait for the numbers to stop rising. A few seconds later, the result of analyzing Azrael’s magic power has been completed.

[134]

"A hundred thirty-four?" Azrael says, somewhat dissatisfied since it is lower than Zyren’s.

"It’s fine, Azrael." Dareon taps his back. "It is still above average. Zyren was just born to be a prodigy in magic."

"Well, it’s not like I can complain about it. It’s been decided since birth after all."

Afterwards, Azrael goes to Claire to measure her mana and magic power.