“Oh, you’ve unlocked the Double Cast skill.”

“For real?”

“Yep. And since you’ve also got the Parallel Thinking skill, combining these two really speeds things up.”

It had only been a day since we started incorporating magic into daily life, and I’d already unlocked the Parallel Thinking skill. Using that to simultaneously cast spells of different elements unlocked Double Cast.

“Shu, you’re so unfair…”

Rio gave me a half-lidded glare, but with my boosted growth rate, it was inevitable.

“Well, you’re no slouch either, Rio—especially when it comes to magic.”

“That’s true, but still...”

Though Rio specialized in magic, her growth rate was a quarter of mine. Even so, she was progressing faster than I’d expect.

“Maybe it’s a talent that doesn’t show up as numbers?”

“Do you think so…?”

Rio’s shy smile was so adorable that it nearly gave me a nosebleed.

“Her profession might also play a role,” Master chimed in.

That made sense. After all, I was still jobless.

“Anyway, back to the main point. With Double Cast, you can now cast two different spells with a single thought. Add another with Parallel Thinking, and…”

“You unlock the Triple Cast skill?”

“Exactly. And the same goes for Quad Cast and beyond. Focusing on the skill while practicing will significantly shorten the time it takes to learn it.”

“Got it.”

After a while of juggling three spells, Master suddenly spoke up again.

“Triple Cast unlocked.”

This pace of learning new skills was all thanks to Master. While his teaching was undeniably harsh, the real secret lay in his Appraisal ability. By instantly identifying new skills as they appeared, he could adjust our training on the fly.

“Good work,” Master said.

“Heh, at this rate, I’ll be surpassed by my students in no time.”

“Oh, come on, Master. I couldn’t possibly compare. Three hundred years of experience is on a whole other level.”

I said this sincerely, but Master gave me a look that said, Are you serious?

“Experience? With your thousandfold growth rate, three hundred years’ worth of learning would only take you four months.”

“Whaaat?!”

I was at a loss for words, and even Rio stood there dumbfounded.

“That said, you won’t gain battle experience a thousand times faster, so it won’t happen immediately.”

“Right… thank goodness.”

Relieved, I let out a sigh. But Master suddenly gave me a sly grin.

“What’s this? You don’t want to surpass me?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

I mean, Master is Master. I’d feel weird not having him around to teach me. Wait—why does that sound so clingy?!

“I’ll surpass you in no time, Master!” Rio declared, brimming with determination.

“Good. That’s the spirit, lass.”

Her enthusiasm lit a fire in me, too.

“Alright! I’ll do it, too!”

But Master waved it off nonchalantly.

“Yeah, yeah, just do your best or whatever.”

“That’s so half-hearted!”

Master had already lost interest in the conversation.

“By the way, Master, are there ice or lightning spells?”

The question had been on my mind for a while.

“Ice, sure. But… lightning?”

“Huh?”

Did I say something strange? Master was now glaring at me intensely.

“Is there no lightning magic?”

Rio jumped in to clarify, sensing my confusion.

“No. Lightning is generally considered a subset of light magic,” Master replied.

“Oh, really? But electricity and light aren’t the same thing…”

“Electricity? What’s that?”

Wait, does he not even know about electricity? Right—this world’s science isn’t as advanced as Earth’s.

“Um, Master, have you heard of static electricity? Like when you touch metal in winter, and it zaps you?”

“Hmm… Oh! You mean the Bidev Phenomenon? Wait a second…”

Bidev Phenomenon? Who the heck came up with that name for static electricity? At least there’s something similar here.

“Yes, that. Lightning is essentially that phenomenon but massively amplified.”

“What in the world…? Researchers have studied this for ages without success, and yet the answer was so simple. To think the problem was framing it as an extension of light magic… But wait, some parts of that theory still hold…”

“And there he goes again.”

Master muttered to himself, disappearing into his own world. I decided to leave him to it. But now I was intrigued—if lightning magic doesn’t exist here, could I create it? A new attribute?

Alright, electricity is the movement of electrons. I’ll imagine electrons moving from my right hand to my left, channeling magic through them…

An hour of trial and error later: still no luck. It felt like I was close, but something was missing. Maybe the gap between my hands was too wide? I remembered that air requires a high voltage to conduct electricity, so what if I brought my hands closer together…

Zap!

“Ow! But I did it! Did I just unlock a new skill?!”

“…Shu’s officially a skill maniac,” Rio muttered, but her comment didn’t reach me as I reveled in my success.