I Gradually Understand Everything

Aibo was utterly confused.

Aibo mulled it over again and again.

Aibo suddenly understood.

After several days of extensive testing, Aibo had finally figured out how [Inspiration Points] were gained.

His previous guess had only been partly correct. The "inspiration" gained from creating new magic could indeed greatly increase his Inspiration Points, but that was not the main reason.

At first, he had simply been misled by the name Inspiration Points.

Aibo felt that [Pleasure Points] would have been a more appropriate name.

As long as his emotions received positive feedback and he felt happy, he could gain Inspiration Points. The greater his pleasure, the more Inspiration Points he gained.

So, it was not that creating magic gave him inspiration. Rather, the excitement and joy he felt while creating magic generated a great deal of inspiration.

This was not an unfounded guess. The discovery aligned with the underlying logic of this magical world—emotions were power.

Makarov, the guild master and one of the Ten Wizard Saints, had told Aibo that intense emotions could unleash powerful magic. The heart, too, was magic.

And so Aibo understood. No wonder his Inspiration Points rose slowly even when he did nothing. As long as he maintained a positive mindset, he could keep growing stronger.

Haha, this could not have been better. Life could actually be this wonderful.

When Aibo discovered the true operating logic of his cheat, the intense exhilaration instantly earned him nearly a thousand Inspiration Points, further confirming his hypothesis.

And now, Aibo's reserve of points was...

[Inspiration Points: 3712]

That was already enough for him to learn four Level 1 spells.

But... Aibo glanced at his signature ability again...

[Telepathy Magic LV4, 5621/10000000]

Umm... it was a drop in the bucket. Nowhere near enough.

Though the new discovery was exciting, the road ahead was still long. Fortunately, he was only six years old and still very young. Time was on his side.

Besides, this "point allocation" function was never supposed to be his main route to becoming stronger. Training on his own was the proper path—

[Requip Magic LV1, 1021/10000]

Level 1 Requip Magic allowed Aibo to change clothes within a five-kilometer radius of his Requip doll. In other words, he could freely change outfits throughout most of Magnolia. It was an extremely convenient ability.

Aibo had learned and mastered this magic entirely on his own, without using any Inspiration Points.

Although it had taken a week from first contact with the magic to successfully using it, Aibo had actually spent only two days truly studying it.

His talent for magic was actually quite good.

When Aibo used Requip Magic in the guild, it caused quite a stir. The older men all complained that a little monster had joined the guild.

This convenient utility magic was not particularly difficult, but it was not that easy to learn either. Most people needed one or two months of study. To others, someone like Aibo, who had learned it in "one week," was naturally a genius.

Once he truly learned a type of magic—that was, once it reached Level 1—Aibo could gain experience by repeatedly casting it.

So leveling from Level 1 to Level 2 should be fairly quick, and there was no need to use Inspiration Points at all.

The stages that truly required Inspiration Points were from Level 0 to Level 1, and after Level 3. The former offered the best value, while the latter required either slow, painstaking effort or a breakthrough under pressure.

So... Deep Blue, add points for me!

[Crush Magic LV0 → LV1, 0/10000]

By the river in town, at Gray's training grounds, Aibo had come alone to test the magic he had just learned.

Crush Magic was Gildarts's signature magic, an ultra-high-level destructive spell with tremendous offensive power and extreme difficulty.

Aibo had studied it seriously before, but its experience bar had not moved at all, so he had temporarily set it aside.

Now that he had basically figured out the principles behind his cheat and had enough Inspiration Points, there was naturally no reason to pass up such powerful magic.

Although he had high-level Telepathy Magic and plenty of magical power, he basically had no offensive abilities. It made him feel extremely unsafe, to the point that he did not dare go anywhere.

Now that he had learned powerful magic, he naturally had to test its effects.

"Mm, good. No one's around. Let's see what this magic can do~"

Telepathy Magic had a scouting effect. Aibo could now roughly sense the distance to the source of sounds, and the nearest passerby was over three hundred meters away. No one would come disturb him.

Aibo stood beside the embankment, carefully sensing the new power.

Forcibly raising the level of Crush Magic did not mean Aibo had completely mastered it.

What his cheat displayed was an experience bar, not proficiency.

Furthermore, without systematic study, Aibo could not fully understand how Crush Magic was activated or what effects it produced.

All he had was a "feeling," a kind of... I figure power.

He felt that he possessed the power to crush everything before him. It was much like when he had first awakened Telepathy Magic—he did not know how it worked, but he could use it anyway.

"Mm, I'll test it a little. Hit the ground... no, I should hit the wall instead. That ought to be safer..."

In truth, the embankment was not a suitable place to test a skill. But Aibo was rather timid right now and did not dare leave town for the woods.

It was better to test it somewhere close to the guild. If anything really went wrong, he could call the guild master to save him...

"Phew, get ready... I'll try the weakest possible power..."

Aibo took a deep breath. Standing on the riverbank and facing the embankment, he gathered magic power in his fist. Following his instincts, the magic power autonomously formed a "magic circle"...

Then... release!

The instant his little fist swung out, Aibo knew something was wrong. The magic on his fist "sucked away" the magic power inside him, pouring it out uncontrollably.

I-I'm doomed!

"Rumble!!"

The moment Aibo realized something was wrong, Crush Magic was successfully unleashed. The unreasonable, overbearing magic directly pulverized the embankment in front of him. Cracks spread through the ground as though a small earthquake had struck.

"Wah! Guild Master, save me!!!"

Caught completely off guard, Aibo fell straight into a fissure that had opened beneath his feet. Then river water rushed into it, instantly swallowing him.

In his panic, Aibo felt himself seized by a giant hand. Then he was lifted out of the water in one motion.

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough!"

"Aibo?! What happened? Was it an attack by a dark guild?! Where's the enemy?!"

When Aibo opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in a giant's palm. Guild Master Makarov had heard his telepathic cry for help and rushed over.

Seeing the guild master's anxious and worried expression, Aibo guiltily avoided his gaze and looked down at the embankment where he had cast the magic...

The once-neat riverbank looked as though someone had scooped out a chunk with a ladle. A small pond more than ten meters long and wide had appeared where Aibo had been standing.

Fortunately, there were no houses or pedestrians along this section of the riverbank. Aside from the damaged environment, there had not been much impact.

As Aibo breathed a sigh of relief, his soaked body stiffened completely. He looked guiltily at the guild master and made a tiny pinching gesture with his fingers.

"Um, Guild Master, there was no enemy. I was just testing magic, and there was a... tiny little accident."

As Guild Master Makarov's face grew darker and darker, Aibo's neck shrank further and further. Even his angelic, adorable charm seemed to have lost its effect.

"G-Guild Master, I think I can still explain... This really was just an accident..."

"AI—BO—!!"