"How do I beat Klein?"
Derek quietly sat in his room as he thoroughly analyzed this problem alongside The Magus Codex.
"He will be entering his Final Year in the Academy, which means he has had at least two years in that great citadel of learning. Just how many Spells and Runes has he mastered in that short while? I have no idea..."
In response to Derek’s incessant murmurs, the Magus Codex finally offered a comment.
[Considering he is up against you, who hasn’t even entered the Academy, the battle should be limited in scope. It’s only fair, given the circumstances.]
"Heh... Despite going through my memories, you don’t understand how shameless my brother can be." Derek immediately shook his head.
As a member of the Lewis Family, he knew his siblings more than anyone else.
He was well aware of their personalities, including just how far each of them would be willing to go when it came to a fight with him.
Emma would certainly be the most ruthless, but Klein wasn’t too far off.
There was no way he would go easy on him. He would surely use any ability at his disposal to crush Derek, giving him no chance to make a counterattack.
"The only way he would hold back is if he grossly underestimates me. But I can’t rely on that possibility."
[Then the only thing you can do is capitalize on his weaknesses and try your best to score one hit on him. So far, there are two major weaknesses to exploit when it comes to your older brother.]
Derek nodded.
Just like Max, he was indeed aware of two damning problems with Klein.
The first and most obvious one was his older brother’s short fuse: Klein had quite the temper, and it was easy to bait him into a fit of rage.
However, Derek knew that just annoying Klein wouldn’t be sufficient to help him win this fight.
In fact, it could have the opposite effect.
Klein could decide to stop showing restraint and eviscerate him where he stood.
’Which means I can only consider exploiting this weakness after figuring out an effective way to use his second and more serious weakness.’ Derek closed his eyes and sighed.
This was a well-known fact in the Lewis Family, even though it wasn’t evident at first glance.
Despite having A- Grade Talent, Klein had a serious problem.
He had a serious stutter that made it nearly impossible for him to cast even the simplest Spell despite his large pool of Magia and his depth of knowledge.
Worse yet, this condition had no cure.
It could only be treated with a special medicine that minimized stuttering.
This was the reason Klein never stuttered in everyday conversation. This medicine used his Magia Circuits to help stabilize the speech impediment of his body.
It was a type of Reinforcement Magecraft.
However, anytime Klein tried to use a Spell or Rune, his Magia Circuits would have to be used.
Thus, the previous stabilization would stop taking effect.
Because of this, Klein could never become a Spellcasting Magus, even with the help of the special medicine.
The moment he tried to cast a Spell, he would stutter.
’That’s why he decided to focus on Runegrafting. But if he uses only Runegrafting, he should far surpass me in the kind of Magecraft he is able to perform.’
[That’s true. Which is why you need to take your time in studying all kinds of Spells before the fight. The more options you have at your disposal, the better for you.]
"Yes..." Derek slowly nodded. "Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of time left before I have to challenge him."
It was already nearing the end of July, and registrations for the Academy’s entrance exams closed in the first week of the month of August.
Even though Melanie didn’t give him a time frame, the significance of completing the challenge on time wasn’t lost to Derek.
’I need to challenge him on or before the next mandatory family breakfast.’
That gave him less than a week of preparations. It was an inconceivable time frame for any ordinary person.
’Thankfully, I have Max.’
With Max’s help, he would be able to quickly develop his Magia Circuits in that week while also rapidly learning as many Spells as possible.
’There’s no point in trying to use Runes against him. Spells are much faster to use compared to Runes, so I have to focus on learning as many of them as possible.’
[Yes. Unfortunately, you may not be able to use many of them due to how immature your Central Path and Magia Circuits are. Your body can’t store too much Magia at once, and the channels can only allow a limited amount to pass through. This means your Spellcasting speed is still very limited. In addition, I reckon at this pace, you can only use the weakest Spell three times before you run out of Magia.]
Derek loudly sighed once he heard this.
Yet another problem had appeared, one he had to solve before the battle.
He had to figure out a way to get stronger as quickly as possible.
[I would advise you to focus your attention on the Magia Circuits of your head and hand if you wish to increase your Magia efficiency. Trying to spread this change across your body would take too long.]
"Yeah. Let’s do that." Derek nodded in full agreement. "In the first place, the Magia Circuits throughout the rest of my body still have a long way to go before they catch up to those specific channels."
[Indeed, Host. As for improving the amount of Magia your body can hold, it’s not something that can be rushed. As time passes, your Central Path’s capacity will increase, and I will be able to fill it to the brim with Magia. Taking the current trajectory of your growth into account, you may be able to use five weak Spells by next week.]
"It’s not good enough..." Derek shook his head, his eyes flashing with all kinds of ideas.
Finally, he thought of one.
"Is it possible... for you to absorb Magia and disperse it at the same time?"
[Theoretically, yes. However, it would significantly slow down the process. Why do you ask?]
"I was wondering if you could continue absorbing Magia while I was using a Spell. By doing that, I may never run out of Magia."
[That’s not how it works. Although I can do both, the speed of recovery will fall by fifty percent. Also, the speed of infusing Magia through your Circuits will also fall by the same margin.]
"Ah, so it won’t work..." Derek clicked his tongue in disappointment.
[Host, your idea isn’t too bad. To be clear, your current speed of absorption and dispersion is already top-notch since I am actively in charge of the process. Although doing both would slow it down considerably, it should still be faster than an average person’s result.]
"Then I can rely on you to ensure I don’t run out of Magia, even after five weak Spells."
[Not just that, but I believe you should be able to use one of the Spells your oldest sister used back then if we use this method.]
"R-really?!"
Derek was shocked, to say the least.
"How can I use a Spell at that level already? I thought it would take far too much Magia."
[Yes. It still exceeds your current capacity. But by constantly absorbing Magia into your Central Path while infusing the energy through your channels in the process of the Spell’s activation, you can theoretically use a Spell that’s beyond your Magia capacity. Of course, the margin can’t be too far apart, but in this case... It is viable.]
"That’s great..." Derek’s face lit up before he energetically jumped to his feet.
"Now, all that’s left to do is learn as many Spells as possible before the fight. As long as I can land one hit... it’ll be my victory."