Chapter 5: You Be Its Opponent

“No… it’s too fast, stop… I can’t hold on anymore…”

“This is fast? I’ve already held back a lot. Just hold on a little longer, it’ll be over soon.”

“No, no, no… I’m… I’m going to break…”

Seeing this, Lin Mo had no choice.

With a long sigh, he manually reduced the machine’s operating efficiency.

“Alright, I’ll lower the energy output by twenty percent…”

Su Yu immediately felt much lighter.

The discomfort was fading, and she couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

‘This money is really hard to earn… starting off so intense.’

After a few deep breaths, the girl cast a resentful look at Lin Mo outside the glass cover.

“I say… is it necessary to torture me like this?”

“That’s not my fault.”

Lin Mo shook his head helplessly, then explained.

“Among all the test subjects I’ve seen, you have the worst physique. You couldn’t even handle a simple magical energy reaction test… Honestly, I’m starting to doubt the authenticity of your records. How did you graduate from magic school?”

Su Yu rolled her eyes at him.

‘Magic school cares about graduation rates. Mages just need to know how to use magic. Who cares about physique? It’s not tested.’

“These things don’t matter at all… I admit my power is a bit weak, but the records can’t be fake. What are you doubting?”

“I suppose…”

Lin Mo was silent for a moment.

He decided not to dwell on it and turned his attention back to analyzing the data.

“According to the instrument analysis, your magic energy level is only Level 3, just a bit higher than an ordinary person… Hmm… That’s not a bad start.”

Su Yu, who had just stepped out of the glass apparatus, was stunned for a moment, thinking she had misheard.

“Only Level 3? I remember my graduation certificate said ‘Good’?”

Lin Mo gave her a look as if she were an idiot.

“That’s because ordinary magic schools in the compulsory education phase don’t have the concept of magic energy levels. They only have two grading standards: ‘Excellent’ and ‘Good.'”

“Besides, even if you’re unclear about the school’s grading standards, don’t you have a clear understanding of your own magical talent?”

“Uh, well…”

Hearing this, Su Yu’s face flushed slightly.

She scratched her head sheepishly.

She was also an orphan in this world…

Just finishing ordinary magic school was good enough.

She had never even seen a higher-level magic academy.

“It seems that’s really the case…”

Lin Mo sighed lightly, adjusted his glasses, and after tossing the data report to the AI for analysis, he waved for her to follow.

“Alright, I didn’t say these things to discourage you. Now we need to prepare for the next step.”

The two of them went to the experimental range.

In the center of the field stood a metal cylinder.

“Now I want to test the actual strength of the magic you can use.”

“Basic fireball, they taught it at school, right? Aim at that pillar and release all your magic power.”

Hiss…

Hearing this, dead memories began to attack Su Yu.

She remembered trying to use magic a few months ago, but the power was disappointing…

So from that day on, she had given up all hope for magic.

“Do I have to do this?”

She felt uneasy, her face reddening, as if she had already guessed what would happen next.

“What are you waiting for? You didn’t really forget, did you?”

Lin Mo’s urging voice sounded in her ear.

Su Yu had no choice but to try anything, gritting her teeth and going for it.

“Fireball…”

She concentrated, mobilizing the meager magic power in her body as much as possible, gathering it in her palm.

Without any extra movements, in an instant, a fireball the size of a fist flew toward the metal cylinder.

With a “ding,” the fireball vanished without a trace the moment it touched the cylinder, not even leaving a mark.

“Ugh… this…”

Su Yu couldn’t hold it together.

Although she had a clear understanding of her magical talent, she still felt mortified to be so embarrassed in front of someone else, especially an enemy.

‘Looks like I’ll have to move to another planet in the future…’

“Um… I…”

She turned her head awkwardly, about to make excuses like “not feeling well,” “did it yesterday,” “laggy internet,” “bad feel,” when she found Lin Mo also wide-eyed, muttering to himself.

“Did I see wrong? No…”

“Could it be…”

Lin Mo, who had been lost in thought for just a moment, instantly snapped back and his expression turned serious.

“Repeat what you just did. Do it again.”

“Huh?”

Su Yu showed an embarrassed expression.

‘Isn’t this guy a bit too keen on beating a dead horse?’

“This…”

“Hurry up!”

“Oh, okay, okay!”

Scolded, Su Yu immediately stood at attention, turned around, and demonstrated the same process for Lin Mo again.

There wasn’t much change.

The fireball she fired was still pitifully small, not even leaving a scorch mark on the cylinder.

Su Yu really wanted to die now.

Her face was burning red.

‘Wuwuwuwu… Lin Mo, you old villain… I’ll remember this humiliation.’

Just as Su Yu was feeling completely mortified, Lin Mo’s eyes suddenly shone with an unusual light.

Chantless casting… not even needing to construct a magic circle…

Innate magic affinity?

But what’s with such a low magic energy level? Normally, people with this talent should have high innate magic energy levels…

A situation like hers, with both chantless casting and low magic energy, was truly unprecedented and unheard of.

“However…”

A subtle grin curled at the corner of Lin Mo’s mouth.

This rare situation was all the more worth studying, wasn’t it?

“You’ve certainly given me quite a surprise.”

After composing himself, he organized the information he had and thought about how to explain the current situation.

“I noticed that just now, when you cast the spell, you didn’t perform any incantation. How did you do that? Was it unintentional or intentional?”

Su Yu was startled by the question.

She looked at her palm uncertainly and ventured,

“Do I need an incantation? Isn’t it just clap your hands and whatever you shout appears?”

Then, a flash of inspiration struck her mind, and she thought of a possibility.

“Is it because I didn’t do the incantation that the magic power turned out so weak?”

Lin Mo shook his head, swiping on the tablet in his hand, and said calmly, “That’s not the case. Generally, without an incantation, magic cannot be used. That is the iron law.”

“However, there are rare cases of innate magic affinity. But people with this talent usually have high innate magic energy levels. You might be an exception, requiring further experimental analysis.”

Upon learning that she might be a genius, Su Yu’s eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed.

She understood what Lin Mo meant.

Her current situation was like that protagonist whose cultivation suddenly regressed and was about to face a broken engagement, needing the help of an old man in a ring to reach the pinnacle.

Thinking of this, her middle school syndrome spirit instantly awakened.

More and more, she felt she was that overlooked novel protagonist.

On a whim, she immediately patted her chest and said solemnly, “As long as I can develop my talent, I can do anything!”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, looked at the enthusiastic girl with interest, and seemed to ponder.

“I didn’t expect you to be so motivated.”

“Just so, I just looked up some information and found a possibility. Let’s try it now.”

With that, he snapped his fingers.

The floor behind him opened in response, and the underground elevator slowly raised a fierce-looking metal robot.

“This… this is?”

As a veteran wanderer, she immediately recognized this behemoth as the body of Metal Storm, the S-Class Hero most active on the front lines.

Whether it was the body full of aesthetic power or the cannon on its back gleaming with cold light, everything indicated it was not to be trifled with.

Looking at the robot’s towering body, like a great mountain, Su Yu felt like a dwarf standing before it.

A bad premonition suddenly arose in her heart.

“What… are we going to do?”

The girl’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s hum.

Lin Mo simply pointed at the robot.

“Didn’t you say you could do anything?”

“Perfect, then next, let it be your opponent.”

“Huh?!”