While I was observing the event while reading a book inside my barrier, Alice and Lilia-san came by to take a break, seemingly having finished some of their verifications.
I brought out a table and chairs from inside my magic box so that they can take a break. Lilia-san’s face showed fatigue, looking tired from the verification while she was recovering her magic power.
[Thank you for the hard work, you two. Lilia-san, are you alright?]
[Yes, as expected, Space-Time Magic consumes a significant amount of magic power. However, as Alice-sama pointed out, this is my ability, and understanding oneself better than anyone else is essential, so having this verification is important.]
[That’s right. When one’s Heart Tool awakens, the wielder immediately understands its abilities and how to use it. However, that doesn’t mean they can just think they’ve understood everything about their Heart Tool. Just regarding the Heart Tool’s abilities and fundamental usage, there are many aspects that become clear through verification.]Saying this, Alice smoothly wrote something on what seemed to be a booklet and handed it to me and Lilia-san. When I opened it, I could see the results of their earlier verification written inside, and after confirming that we were looking at our booklet, Alice began to explain.
[First, regarding Lilia-san’s ability, Hauteclere, its effect activates the moment Lilia-san assumes an attack stance until the attack is completed. This “completion” refers to the point where a strike is finished in some manner, and it ends even if the attack is intercepted along the way. Also, the enhancement doesn’t only apply to “offensive aspects”; it includes all abilities, including the wielder’s magic abilities and cognitive abilities. I think it really seems appropriate to recognize it as her body temporarily being under the effect of Critical Point of Fate.]
[Thanks to the increase in cognitive ability, I can handle the sudden physical reinforcement on me without feeling chaotic from the change, and since the effect starts from when I make my stance, it’s convenient how I can apply it even when I’m getting closer while in a stance.]
[Yes, but the key to activation is whether Lilia-san, as its user, has the intention of attacking. Even if Lilia-san assumes an attack stance, if she intends to use it as a feint within her mind, the ability won’t activate. Hauteclere’s ability is applied when its wielder takes actions such as assuming a stance with the intention of attacking and quickly evading an opponent’s attack. However, if the user is already considering approaches like getting closer while evading the enemy attack with Hauteclere’s physical enhancements, then the effect won’t activate. So, it’s essentially an ability specialized for offense.]
While it takes effect during an all-out battle, it won’t activate if they attempt more technical maneuvers like mixing in feints or trying to flank the enemy. Although powerful, its complete linearity towards offense may be considered a drawback.
Of course, the strongest attack Lilia-san is capable of with her talent, no matter how linear it may be, only the pinnacles of the world such as the Six Kings can handle it……
[As long as it’s an attack involving a sword, the type of attack doesn’t matter; Hauteclere’s effect can be triggered. Whether it’s a blow with the hilt, a magic-imbued wave slash, or even throwing that sword, Hauteclere’s effect would work. Also, naturally, it’s possible for the user not to activate the ability by their own will…… Its range of applications is quite wide.][Alice, can Heart Tools return if they’re thrown?]
[Heart Tools can be made to reappear instantly if the user inwardly thinks of it. Additionally, if a Heart Tool moves too far away from its wielder, it will automatically return to their hand. Heart Tools are technically weaponization of one’s heart, so they can’t exactly stray too far from their user.]
[I see…… What about my Αvαμvήσεις?]
[Kaito-san’s Αvαμvήσεις also held quite a few exceptions. Regarding the range of the buff, as long as the conditions are met, it can work even across the barriers of space and time…… In other words, your buff can reach from Human Realm to the Demon Realm. Of course, that doesn’t mean it can extend those to other worlds though. Also, in the case of entities materialized by Αvαμvήσεις’s ability, as long as Kaito-san’s magic power lasts, their materialization can be maintained, but the further the distance they have from you, the greater the magic power consumption becomes. There’s no restriction for how far the materialized entities can be, but since they aren’t weapons, they won’t come back to you even if you inwardly think about it. However, remote deactivation and re-summoning are possible for you.]
I wondered about distance limitations for my Αvαμvήσεις, considering it doesn’t have a physical form, but it seems my Αvαμvήσεις is quite unique as a Heart Tool, and the conditions it had was different to the usual Heart Tools in many ways.
I mean, Alice sure knows a lot about it huh…… She probably, or rather, she definitely must have thoroughly verified the effects of my Αvαμvήσεις as well.
[Even so, things really become clearer when you actually verify them. By knowing the conditions in detail, it seems that the range of applications can also expand.]
[That’s right. Well then, let’s verify the patterns for special circumstances after the break. We have enough today, so let’s start with the bare minimum “1000 patterns” or so, and then we can handle the rest step by step.]
[……Bare minimum?]
[If we’re considering every possible scenario, we would have to verify billions of patterns. Of course, that would take a significant amount of time, and since we don’t have that, we’ll just go through that much.]
[…………………]
Lilia-san had a distant look in her eyes. Given that she had just emphasized the importance of verification herself, it would be hard for her to say she doesn’t wanna do it anymore cause it’s troublesome, and considering her personality, that’s probably gonna be impossible.
And so, it seems like she’s resigned herself to the idea of verifying all possible patterns. Well, as for whether she’s just unconsciously holding onto her stomach or if her stomach really hurts……
<Afterword>
Makina : [Hey, hey? By the way, did you also thoroughly verify my Factory Gear?]
? ? ? : [I did, but it really isn’t that strong. No, it is pretty strong at Human-level battles, but against Peak Count-ranks, Duke-ranks or beings on the level of the Six Kings, it’s better not to use it.]
Makina : [Should have known. Well, it would have been different if it’s a Special-type like Alice’s Ἑκατόγχειρες or something like the simple firepower enhancement of Iris’ ἀποκάλυψις, but in the first place, there are few Hear Tools that can be used in battles of that level.]
