Under the boisterous egging on of the guild members, Darwin, holding up a thick right arm that was nearly as large as his entire body, began to cause all sorts of havoc in the guild.
First came the testing of his punching power; they discovered that a casual swing of his arm could send four or five grown men flying.
Next was the testing of the dragon claw's grip strength; as a result, Darwin easily crushed a solid wood table into dross as if he were squeezing tofu.
Then came defensive power. Reiya, Joey, and Yuri took turns stepping up, using twenty percent of their strength to test the physical and magical defense of the "Right Arm of the Dragon." Darwin indicated it didn't hurt or itch at all.
Following that, they tested the attack power of the flames. Zera remarked that it already possessed ten percent of the power of her own magic...
Every time a test was completed, the guild members would let out a burst of warm, rowdy cheering, never tiring of the spectacle.
In a corner of the guild.
Weston, Mavis, Irene, and Precht did not participate in the testing with their companions. Instead, they discussed the miraculous magic that was "Imaginary Take Over."
Weston spoke first: "I used Super Archive to search for all types of 'Take Over Magic' that have appeared in past history; there is no record of 'Imaginary Take Over'!"
"If there are no records, we must be extremely prudent if we want to develop it!"
Mavis furrowed her brows and looked at the other two. "What are your views?"
"I believe that the creatures Darwin imagines might not have any 'will' to speak of at all. Perhaps that is the reason why he can continuously take over 'Tenrou' and 'Fire Dragon' without suffering a mental collapse!"
Precht was the first to voice his conjecture: "In other words, the process of him taking over imaginary creatures might carry almost zero risk!!"
No risk in taking over imaginary creatures?
If that were truly the case, this magic would be even more preposterous than Super-tier magic!
Irene then expressed her own perspective: "I feel that the most formidable aspect of this magic isn't that it's 'risk-free,' but that it has 'no upper limit'!"
Precht froze: "How so?"
Irene explained: "In ordinary Take Over magic, because the power of the target is fixed, a wizard cannot break through that ceiling no matter how strong they are. However, for the targets of Darwin's 'Imaginary Take Over,' their strength has no restrictions; it can grow alongside the increase of his magic power!"
It really did seem to be that way!
So "Imaginary Take Over" not only has no risk, it doesn't even have a bottleneck?!
A look of "having seen a ghost" instantly appeared on Precht's face.
At that moment, Weston followed up on their words, continuing: "Actually, you are all mistaken. The truly terrifying part of 'Imaginary Take Over' is not the lack of risk or the lack of an upper limit, but the point that he is 'able to exploit the abilities of imaginary creatures'!"
"Eh??" The three looked at Weston simultaneously.
Weston met their gazes and said word by word: "Did you see their tests on that 'Fire Dragon's Right Arm'? The principle by which it generates fire is not magic!"
Irene immediately understood Weston's meaning: "You mean..."
"Exactly!"
"If the creatures Darwin takes over possess a type of energy completely distinct from magic power, it means that after he takes over that creature, he has created a type of energy—or even a brand new magic system—out of thin air in this world!"
"For example, in a certain manga I showed him, there are monsters called 'Tailed Beasts.' They are aggregates of an energy called 'Chakra'."
"If Darwin takes over a Tailed Beast, it means he can use 'Chakra' in this world!"
"By the same logic, in another manga work, there are monsters called 'Hollows,' and their energy system is 'Spirit Particles.' If Darwin successfully takes over a Hollow, he can use Reishi to fight!"
"I can be certain that this act of casually introducing 'new energies' is definitely extremely dangerous!"
"Doing it once or twice might be fine, but if he always does this, it will absolutely subvert the entire world and incur the 'Punishment' of the world!!!"
Irene, Mavis, and Precht were silenced by Weston's words, looking frightened.
They didn't think Weston was being an alarmist.
On the contrary, precisely because they possessed extensive magical knowledge, they agreed with Weston's thoughts even more.
The world has a will.
This will inflicts punishment upon those who attempt to subvert the order of the world.
For example, those who attempt to challenge the boundary between life and death receive the "Curse of Ankhseram."
Although the world ignorantly refers to it as the "Curse of the God of Life and Death," in reality, that is not the handiwork of a deity, but the will of the world!
Because the world's will does not allow anyone to "return from the dead."
Even if one achieves it through various clever methods, a massive price must be paid!
For instance, those who use "Last Ages" will have their own time stolen away.
"Then... what should we do?"
Mavis was unwilling to see her precious son suffer the world's punishment and become tainted by some strange "curse" one day!
Weston shook his head and said: "We can only tell Darwin the seriousness of the matter truthfully and let him consider it prudently when he takes over imaginary creatures in the future!"
I don't know if he can accept this situation where "his combat power has to be suppressed right after awakening heaven-defying magic"...
"Will that be useful?"
"As long as we tell him that when taking over imaginary creatures, he should replace those energies like 'Chakra' or 'Reishi' with 'Magic Power,' while turning the special abilities of those creatures into corresponding 'Magic,' it should... be fine!"
Although it was just taking a detour in the middle—and in terms of results, there wasn't much difference between the two—it should be able to avoid many unnecessary troubles.
After some discussion, the group temporarily dropped the topic.
On the other side of the guild, Darwin had already finished the testing of the "Dragon's Right Arm" and began attempting to take over other creatures.
Just as he had said earlier, the targets he could take over were varied and strange.
In the short span of a few minutes, he continuously took over various imaginary creatures such as a Pegasus, a Mermaid, a Vampire, a Werewolf, a Fairy, a Nine-Tailed Fox, and a Phoenix in front of everyone, showcasing the corresponding abilities of those creatures one by one in public.
Treading on air, flight, charm, transformation...
All sorts of methods emerged in an endless stream, each one brilliant and shocking the entire audience.
What was even more surprising was that Darwin's Take Over magic became smoother and smoother the more he used it, until finally, it became completely unhindered, achieving "Instant Take Over"!
"Hahahaha...!!"
"How about that, Chris?!"
"I awakened my magic one step ahead of you; this is enough to prove that my strength is above yours!"
After becoming thoroughly familiar with his magic, Darwin suddenly jumped onto a guild table and started gloating toward his "lifelong rival."
"From today onward, you are no longer my match!"
"Wakahakahakaka—!!!"