After teasing Felt, Gojo Satoru began experimenting with his Reverse Cursed Technique in high spirits, wondering if he could "reverse" his Yin-affinity magic.
If successful, he would possess two diametrically opposed attributes of magic—a literal power-up in terms of versatility. However, after several trials, Gojo had to begrudgingly admit it wasn't working. Attempting to apply Reverse Cursed Technique directly to magic was impossible; they belonged to entirely different systems. Without a fundamental link, there was no synergy, let alone an effect.
The Reverse Cursed Technique wasn't like his Six Eyes. Under the influence of that "Supporting Character System," his eyes had adapted to this world, allowing him to clearly observe the flow of Mana just as he did Cursed Energy.
While he felt a twinge of regret, it was only a minor disappointment. To him, these abilities were merely the "cherry on top"—tools to make him more well-rounded. It was nice to have them, but it didn't matter if he didn't.
Besides, acquiring magic from Beatrice's Forbidden Library was already a massive haul. Judging by the prices in the Popularity Shop, those spells combined would have cost him at least a few hundred thousand points. Now, he had obtained them through pure "freeloading."
Although it wasn't as convenient as the System—requiring him to accumulate Mana and practice manually to achieve mastery—the feeling of getting something for free was always a mood lifter.
He had already mastered Shamak. The next step was its advanced version: El Shamak. Under the influence of this advanced spell, a target's thoughts would cease, and they would lose all control over their body.
To be honest, when Gojo first saw this spell in the shop, he felt a bit helpless. The effect was almost identical to his domain, Unlimited Void—there was virtually no difference. If anything, the only downside was that preparing a spell was slightly more tedious than expanding a domain. It was almost laughable that an advanced basic spell could mimic the effect of his Domain Expansion.
To cast the advanced El Shamak, there's still a gap given my current Mana capacity.
Ink-black mist swirled in Gojo's palm. With the Six Eyes, he could clearly see the Mana stored within his own body. It seemed practicing other spells wouldn't happen overnight; he needed to accumulate significantly more Mana first.
Otherwise, he'd be stuck like he was now—only able to release "castrated" versions of the spells. While the effect remained the same, the range and scale were incomparable. Unless he managed to shove the mist directly onto someone's head during a brawl, the utility was rather limited.
"Seems this won't be as easy as I thought," Gojo mused, adjusting his sunglasses as he looked toward the blue horizon. "To think even I need to save up for two days."
If any other mages had heard him—especially those who spent years struggling from scratch—they would have likely been tempted to curse him out. It was pure "Versailles" humble-bragging. Most people endured untold hardships to learn magic, yet Gojo had learned Shamak just from Puck's oral description. He didn't even need to practice fine control; he could skip straight to advanced tiers. The only thing holding him back was his Mana pool.
"Guest, could you please refrain from saying such lewd-sounding things so shamelessly in broad daylight?"
Rem's voice drifted from behind him. Without turning, Gojo could see the cute, blue-haired maid walking toward him.
"Not at all. I only said it because I saw you coming, Rem."
"Guest, have you stopped trying to hide your wicked thoughts entirely?"
"Well, you refuse to elope with me, Rem." Gojo dispelled the magic and turned around.
"Rem belongs to Lord Roswaal."
"That just makes it more interesting, doesn't it?"
Faced with Gojo's thick skin, Rem simply ignored his remark. "Lord Roswaal invites you to share afternoon tea."
"Is it a snack made by the lovely Miss Rem? If so, I wouldn't want to miss it."
Rem feigned deafness. Her gaze swept briefly over Gojo's hand as she spoke in a detached tone. "If the guest wishes to study magic, perhaps you should ask Lord Roswaal. After all, his Lordship has been quite concerned about how to properly repay you."
"How thoughtful of you, Miss Rem. But don't worry, I won't waste a precious favor on such a trivial matter. Compared to magic, Miss Rem herself is much better."
Rem turned on her heel without hesitation, heading back toward the mansion. "Lord Roswaal is waiting for you in the second-floor dining hall."
With that, she departed. Though her stride remained steady, she gave off the distinct vibe of someone fleeing from a creepy middle-aged man hitting on them in the street.
"Have I already reached that age? I used to be quite popular," Gojo muttered, feigning distress as he held his forehead, following Rem toward the house.
In the second-floor dining hall, Gojo found Roswaal. However, this "afternoon tea" wasn't just for him; Felt was also present.
"I had intended to invite Subaru-kun as well, but it seems an unfortunate accident occurred. My deepest apologies; as the master of this house, it is my failing that such a thing happened on these premises," Roswaal said, apologizing immediately as Gojo sat down.
"It has nothing to do with you, Roswaal. That idiot Subaru did it to himself," Gojo said seriously, pouring honey over his pancakes and spearing a piece.
Felt looked back and forth between Gojo and Roswaal with a confused expression; she had no idea what had happened. Fortunately, seeing their calm faces, she gathered it wasn't a major crisis.
"What happened to Subaru?"
"That moron tried to learn magic, overused it, and exhausted himself," Gojo said with a shrug between bites.
Felt let out a sigh of exasperation. She had thought something dangerous had actually happened.
"The reason I invited you both today is primarily to ask if there are any specific rewards you would like to request. Consider it a token of gratitude for saving Lady Emilia..."
"We haven't decided on a specific request yet," Gojo said bluntly. "Or is it that you find us troublesome already and want us to leave quickly?"
The sheer directness of Gojo's words caused Roswaal to blink in surprise, but he quickly broke into a chuckle.