Rapid Progress (2), Unexpected OP Boon

A fancy box wrapped in red and blue patterns appeared on the table.

"What is this, boss?" Odar curiously asked.

Darzax was surprised, "I can't see through it."

 "Interesting," Riki narrowed his eyes, "My guts are telling me there's unfathomable power in this box."

Aleron laughed and answered, "This is a Mystery Box. If I open it, I will get a random thing. Let's see what it is…"

"..." Darzax and Riki looked at each other before looking at Aleron. 

'Boss got some strange power, eh?'

'Indeed.'

Aleron pulled the bow tie's string on the box and it shone brightly before it opened with magical confetti bursting out.

The box shortly turned into motes while manifesting a mysterious blue oval crystal, with a wonderous phenomenon of white sparks dancing in the pristine lapis crystal.

Darzax and Riki's expressions changed into one of utter shock as they sensed the power within the crystal.

"T-This..." Darzax's eyes trembled. 'What kind of energy is this?'

Odar couldn't even sense anything but could feel that it was extraordinary.

On the other hand, Aleron, who got a notification and information about what it was, had his expression transformed into an utterly flabbergasted one.

[Congratulations, you have acquired the Magilore of Arcane Lapis.]

[Magilore of Arcane Lapis]

_Rank: ???

_Information: The one-of-a-kind Magilore source that existed in the lost Teratris Cosmos.

_Effect: An unlimited source of Magilore.

_Unique Trait: Devouring Abyss of Arcane—invokes a resonance within the user when it comes to all magic-related knowledge, significantly elevating the user's capability to comprehend all knowledge related to magic. This boost increases depending on the user's passion.

The crystal shone and shot into Aleron's forehead as a mysterious mark appeared on the spot for a second before it vanished without a trace in the next second.

"My lord!" Darzax stood up with a somber expression while his eyes glinted with spells, scrutinizing Aleron to see if anything happened to him.

Riki was also doing the same, but both of them had their expression changed shortly as they looked at each other with shock.

At the moment, the aura coming from Aleron was like a bottomless pit of abyss, invoking palpitation even within them.

Meanwhile, Aleron's eyes showed tremendous excitement upon seeing that special trait.

"I'm fine, don't worry," Aleron said with a grin. "I didn't know I would get something like this from a Mystery Box. It's crazy."

"Your source has changed, my lord. I don't sense even a spec of Mana within you," Darzax said with confusion.

"That's a new type of energy…and it's profoundly more powerful than Mana," Riki caressed his beard while inspecting Aleron.

Darzax nodded, "So much so that I can't understand the structure of that energy even a single bit."

Aleron looked at his status, and his grin and thrill couldn't help but increase.

-Arcane Status:

— [Magic Potency: C ( 500/500) ]

— [Magilore Energy: ∞ ( ∞) ]

"It's called Magilore, though I don't know what kind of energy it is," Aleron said, his eyes bursting with curiosity, "But I can't wait to try it out."

Aleron stretched his palm as a mysterious lapis blue drop with faint white motes appeared, "Crazy…I am controlling this way better than Mana."

He was shocked at how easy it was to wield this energy!

Darzax and Riki narrowed their eyes.

"My lord, this energy…it is far higher in potency and potential than Mana of someone like me who has nearly 100k Magic Power, even though your Magic Power is only 500," Darzax said, appearing a bit dazed.

"My horizons are broadening," Riki laughed out loud. "Or I am just dreaming."

"You are not dreaming," Aleron laughed. "Anyway, I can't measure this energy's power like you two since I don't have experience, but this feels like a part of me," he laughed and pointed his hand at the sky. "Controlling this is even easier than breathing."

'Fireball with accelerated sequence, coating condensed layer, contained impact,…' Aleron's eyes flashed as he designed the skill in his Magic Board with ease, filling up the entire Magic Board with symbols of Arcane Syllabus that appeared with his visualization design.

"As for the energy…I'll infuse it as long as the fireball stays in this size."

A ball of flame was conjured in front of Aleron's index finger. It was the size of a tennis ball, but Aleron poured Magilore into it while controlling it to maintain the same size.

"I don't feel heat at all," Odar said in surprise. "Other people's fireballs emit heat, but Boss, your control is superb."

"The power of this energy is even more superb," Riki weakly smiled as he muttered while sweating, "What the hell…"

"My lord, t-that is a bit dangerous," Darzax stammered as he sensed the amount of potency in that fireball. "Be careful."

"Ah, it got a bit big. Time to stop," Aleron stopped infusing more Magilore energy into it and grinned, "I feel like I poured in around a million Magilore energy."

"Time to shoot it," Aleron looked at the sky of this secret realm and grinned. "The sky is clear and beautiful with white clouds. We'll see the effect clearly, haha."

In the next second, he shot the fireball at a ninety-degree angle toward the sky.

*Swoosh!*

*BOOOOM!*

After traveling one kilometer in a second, the fireball exploded in such a devastating manner that a giant hole appeared in the fabric of space due to the intensity of the explosion.

The black hole devoured all the firepower of the fireball and lit up fierily, even disturbing its intense suction force.

The hole swiftly mended automatically after a second, but its sight still made everyone's jaw drop to the ground.

"What the actual fuck?!" Aleron cursed out loud in pure excitement and shock.

'What is this Magilore energy?! So powerful!'

[Answer! Magilore is the highest form of Arcane energy, capable of resonating with thoughts and emotions while having no limits to the application it can perform, as it is only limited by the wielder's thoughts, emotions, and imaginary potential. Generally, only Ascedent-rank lifeforms can begin to house Magilore energy within them.]

"My lord…this Magilore energy is something otherworldly," Darzax said with a weak smile. "Please be careful when wielding it."

"Yep, and for that, I want more knowledge to perform superb magic feats!" Aleron's eyes shone. "Darzax, bring out all magic-related books you collected from the Royal Palace's library."

"I will devour all the knowledge of magic!"

"As you wish, my lord," Darzax heartily smiled and waved his hand, creating a pile of books around the tables.

"I'll clean the table since we finished eating," Odar said with a grin. "Boss, good luck with your studies."

Odar swiftly cleaned the table with a wave of his hand, collecting plates and bowls with strings of Mana.

Afterward, Aleron snapped his finger as a book floated before him, "Darzax, I don't even need to specifically control it, haha. It is like I can command Magilore and it does things for me, like bringing this book here."

"So, you didn't use Magilore, attach it to the book, and brought it?" Riki raised his eyebrows. "You just thought about it and Magilore did it?"

"Exactly," Aleron grinned. "Of course, this didn't work when I created a fireball, so I guess it works on things that I've mastered."

"That's still crazy," Riki wryly smiled.

"Indeed," Darzax laughed. "As expected of our Lord."

…

"What do you mean the Falran Capital disappeared?" Rias asked with confusion.

"It vanished from its location," Roxen wryly smiled. "The entire city, along with its full border of high walls, and everything within."

"Hmm, so the demons left?" Ragna wondered.

"They left indeed, but we don't know where they went. If they teleported some other place on this Lightdusk Continent to get out of our sight and prepare, then we'll have to find them fast before they launch their attack on unsuspecting cities and towns."

Rias nodded, "Inform the Empire and Adventure guild about this situation. Tell the guild to spread this information everywhere."

"Understood. Also, Balu and Tarao want to go to a famous bar here…Of course, I said no, but they asked me to ask you about it," Ragnar asked hesitatingly while smiling shamelessly, selling out his friends.

"Return at midnight sharp," Rias said with a smile.

"Thank you, lady Rias!"

Roxen rolled her eyes, "Get lost."

After finishing the discussion of this matter as Ragnar left, Rias looked at the comm card and muttered, "I hope Mr. Ale gives us his answer soon."

"You really want to take him to the Empire, eh?" Roxen wryly smiled.

Rias nodded, "He has agreed to become my partner for the trial, so I hope he can stay at the empire for the next nine months until the trial begins. We can also deepen our relation with him and whatever background he has."

Roxen patted Rias's head and smiled, "We'll get a positive answer since he readily agreed and was looking forward to it."

"I hope so."