"Heh heh…"
Kaguya giggled. "Father-sama, even if Eirin hasn't personally tried it before, her learning speed and technique are beyond doubt."
"In the future…"
"Father-sama, your checkups will probably be no more than once a month at worst. You can take your time and enjoy them."
"…"
Ren's eyes slid to the figure who had somehow appeared behind Kaguya—Eirin, already back in her signature outfit.
Especially…
"If, Kaguya,"
"what you mean is that look like she wants to dissect me,"
"then I think…"
"once is enough. Let's not do this again."
Ren was being perfectly honest. Jokes aside, who wouldn't be nervous under that calm, white-mouse-on-a-slab gaze of Eirin's?
"Eirin, you're back. What are the results?" Kaguya didn't turn; she simply asked, curious.
Eirin didn't answer right away. She sat, amber eyes fixed deeply on Ren.
The air grew stiff.
At length,
Eirin spoke slowly. "Put simply—Ren, your body is too unusual. I have never seen anything like it, not even in the divine age among the gods, including the Three Noble Children."
"What exactly is it?" Ren was genuinely curious about his own condition.
"In brief:"
"your body is like a massive furnace."
"Anything can be thrown in."
"But that itself violates the rules."
"Even gods cannot fully wield two perfectly opposed, mutually annihilating forces."
"Your body, however, is different."
"Theoretically,"
"if those two opposed forces are fed into you, this great furnace will refine them flawlessly."
"Even—"
"refining them into a new force that carries the properties of both."
Eirin looked at Ren so intently that, had a scalpel been in her hand, she might have put it to use.
"Hm?"
Ren stood there, puzzled and thoughtful.
So?
What's special isn't the "traits" at all, but his body?
Are the traits just a readable interface for him?
Or is his body like this because of the traits?
He chased the causality around for a bit, then shook his head and let it go.
"I get the gist. Besides that?" Ren prompted.
As expected of Eirin—there was substance.
"Your physique is one facet," Eirin explained evenly. "Beyond that, there's another peculiarity: any technique, sorcery, or energy you come into contact with, understand, and study—you can make it your own."
"Unless it is someone's innate talent."
"Otherwise,"
"you can grasp it."
"However—"
"from my examination, your inability to take innate talents stems from this:"
"you haven't developed yourself enough, or your body simply can't bear that much—yet."
Ren's brow twitched.
Good grief—so that's how it is?
Er…
He had to admit it: whatever his traits were—innate gift, system, "golden finger"—there was no manual, and it was hard to reverse-engineer.
"Given your condition, I'll draft a detailed plan over the next two days."
"By that plan,"
"what took you fifteen years to build can be reached in two—and more solidly, at a higher tier."
Eirin continued her assessment.
Ren almost gave her a thumbs-up. Absurd—absurd! Truly Eirin.
Turns out the rough road gets you there, but compared to a professional coach… the gap is real.
"One more point."
"Your talent and aptitude are poor," Eirin said calmly, "but by effort, you can steadily master things and become stronger."
"Right."
Ren nodded. In his terms, "work hard and get stronger" meant the traits gain experience and level up.
"Not precisely,"
Eirin shook her head. "More accurately: your body—the great furnace—has been refining all along. Your 'effort' only increases the furnace's output. Even if you did nothing, given enough time, you would still reach those thresholds."
"Understood."
Ren thought it through. "Eirin, by your plan, we're basically taking the current furnace throughput and raising it, what—sevenfold?"
"No."
"Sevenfold is only the initial stage. I'm worried your mind and will won't withstand more at first."
"After that, it will keep increasing. By my preliminary estimate—so long as your will can bear it—"
"the initial phase can go above fifteenfold."
Ren fell completely silent.
Was he really that pitiful?
Yes—she was Eirin, an unquestioned authority here.
But to reduce eighteen years of sweat—up before the chickens, down after the dogs—to a casual "fifteen times over"?
Do you even take me for human?
"…"
After a long silence, Ren sighed helplessly. "So, what's step one?"
"Temper the mind and will."
Eirin's voice was placid. "I'll create a special artifact expressly for forging your spirit. We'll take it step by step. Otherwise, I can't be sure your mind is within the furnace's protection yet, and I fear you'd shatter."
"First,"
"I'll raise your training efficiency to around fivefold, and lay out targeted regimens for technique, sorcery, and energy. I'll also provide the corresponding texts."
(End of Chapter)
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