Lumen sighed and closed the book he had just finished reading. He looked at the pile of books next to him and added the latest addition. He turned his head on the other side of the table and saw another pile of books. He raised his hand toward them.

'[Silent Magic - Telekinesis].'

One of the books glowed blue and flew into Lumen's open hand. The glow disappeared as he grabbed hold of it. He then flipped it open to the first page to read the title.

'Another history book. Same content, different author.'

Lumen skimmed through the whole book, which means, with his reading prowess, it only took a dozen or so seconds. After that, he set it down in front of him and used the spell again to receive another book. After skimming through that book as well, he placed it on top of the previous one.

Lumen faced the servant and questioned him.

"Do you have any more books about magic?"

"I am afraid you have already read all of the books about magic that the Ministry can allow, my lord."

"How can one gain access to those that are forbidden?"

"One must be part of the Ministry or be given express permission by a proper authority, my lord."

"I see."

'That makes sense. Does Felice have that authority? Maybe I should ask her next time.'

As much as Lumen enjoyed reading more than the average person, even he had a limit to how much propaganda he could take, which was the majority of the books presented to him.

... The Empire is the most advanced country when it comes to magical technology, all thanks to Fluder Paradyne and the Ministry of Magic...

... With its economic, industrial, and social reformations, the Empire is a rising dragon. Other nations can do nothing but look on with envy...

... The Imperial Army is composed entirely of professional, battle-hardened knights who are supplied with the best magical equipment provided by the Ministry of Magic that other nations simply lack...

... The Empire is a nation that champions humanity, suppressing the undead in the Katze Plains and vanquishing any monsters that dare threaten its existence...

... The Kingdom of Re-Estize is a stagnant nation rife with corruption and full of greedy nobles and illiterate peasants...

... The Kingdom is a nation filled with criminals and vice. The infamous and illegal drug Black Dust is secretly produced by the Kingdom and spread throughout the Empire by their advocates and spies...

... Ramposa the Third is a weak and cowardly king who can't control his family, much less his nation...

... The Kingdom is a constant threat to the peace and security of the Empire, and the best way to stop it is a pre-emptive invasion...

The list seemed to have no end. The authors waged war with each other as to who could write the most convincing, biased text. Just like Felice's lies, Lumen could see through them all, even the most subtle ones, which came as a surprise to him. It was like he was learning something entirely different with each line he read, an instinctive impression that always made itself known in his mind.

It was only when Lumen began combing through his memories that the answer readily presented itself to him. His job classes Ruler of Intellect and Ruler of Wisdom. Lumen's body reflexively straightened itself as the obvious explanation came to him like a lightbulb moment.

'Of course. If everything about my avatar is real, my job classes should be no different from the rest.'

But Lumen remembered how neither of them had ever assisted him in seeing through lies or propaganda before because Yggdrasil did not have such a mechanic. Ruler of Intellect's main benefits were a higher stat increase to Mana and Magic Attack and boosted arcane spells. Ruler of Wisdom increased Magic Defense and Resistance stats while also boosting divine spells. Both provided him with a fair number of utility skills. Then, another answer instantly invaded his mind.

Flavor texts.

'That's right. I remember now. Their flavor texts said that they increase one's intelligence and wisdom, respectively. Am I somehow smarter now? Cleverer? What about wisdom? Has it made me see through deceptions easier? Am I more insightful? Of course, none of this mattered in the game, but if they became true, does that mean every flavor text became true as well?'

Then without intending it, Lumen's mind tried to parse through everything about his avatar, which caught him unprepared and sprouted another line of thought.

'Are they also responsible for speeding up my mental abilities? Did increasing my intelligence just mean I could think faster? Shit, I need to stop this. There's too much information at once.'

Lumen took a deep breath as everything started to overwhelm him. He could still feel the servant's intense gaze on him. He's been staring at him like a hawk this whole time. Once his mind slowly returned to normal, he rose from his seat.

'Right, I need some privacy and a change of scenery too.'

Lumen went straight for the exit. The servant exclaimed and went after him.

"My lord? My lord! Where are you heading?"

Lumen gave a simple answer.

"Outside."

"My lord, wait! Lady Felice has given us explicit instructions not to let you leave the library until she returns!"

Lumen would have agreed if he was still the old Lumen—if he was still Shirane Yuji. But something inside him compelled him to continue, to ignore the incessant pleas of the servant. Lumen wondered if this was another result of his job classes. When he reached the double doors, he grabbed the handles and pulled them open. A squad of knights greeted him, donning full plate armor and holding poleaxes. Several magic casters accompanied them. Their leader approached him. He wore robes similar to Felice's.

"Pardon me, Lord Lumen, but may I ask what you are doing?"

Lumen stared at the man for a few seconds before responding.

"I wish to leave the library and go for a stroll."

"Apologies, my lord, but we were given strict instructions not to let you leave the library until Lady Felice returns. We were also instructed to inform you that they are still checking to see whether your summoning is permanent or not."

The leader supplemented this with a bow. Lumen raised an eyebrow at that last part.

"When will she return?"

"We were not informed."

"Could you send a message to her and inform her?"

"We were informed not to disturb her. She is currently busy with an important meeting."

Lumen went silent.

'I know I'm still adjusting to the fact that this is no longer the game and that they're real people, but they're acting a lot like NPCs.'

"I see. I understand."

Lumen proceeded to close the doors and turned around, ignoring the anxious look of the servant. He could feel his magic coursing through his body. After sending a silent [Discern Enemy] on all of them while they were conversing, he knew he could easily overpower the guards outside. But doing so might alert and antagonize someone as powerful as him or more. After all, he still lacked specific information regarding the military of this empire.

'The people here may turn out to be bait to see how I will react and gauge my powers and abilities. I still don't know what they intend to do with me. I know Felice told me all about that cycle of calamity, but she was ringing alarms in my head that I don't know if I can trust her. Even that bit about my summoning being permanent or not felt dubious.'

Lumen glanced at the servant as his mind worked to find a solution. Once done, he returned to his table, but didn't sit down yet.

'Time to test my limits. Let's go, me. [Silent Magic - Time Stop].'

The world froze. Lumen could feel the spell working, but to be sure, he walked over to the servant. The man was stone-still. Lumen waved his hands in front of him, and seeing no reaction, he nodded in satisfaction. Pointing at where he once stood when he stopped time, Lumen cast another spell.

"[Project Image]."

A perfect copy of Lumen appeared, complete with all of his clothing and items. Lumen stood in front of his copy and willed it to move. His copy waved at him and spoke, its voice perfectly mimicking his own.

"Hello."

Lumen tested it further by having it walk around while singing. Once he was embarrassed enough, he closed his eyes and felt the connection between him and his copy. He felt his consciousness move. Reopening his eyes, Lumen was now viewing the world from the perspective of his copy. He looked around and saw his original body where it should be. He approached his body and held up the copy's hand to touch his mask, but the hand merely passed through it. The copy was just an illusion and, therefore, intangible. Satisfied, Lumen returned to his original body.

'Hmm... That reminds me. My copy may not be able to remove my mask but...'

Lumen willed his copy to remove its mask. His copy complied and revealed a fair-skinned Caucasian face. He had medium-length brown hair and deep blue eyes that matched his robes. Lumen knew that in the game, you had to make a conscious effort to make an ugly character, but he had underestimated how much it beautified him. Now he was even more determined to never reveal his face to anyone unless it was really necessary.

'Hah... It's even more embarrassing to show this off now, though I might not have a choice in the matter. I should just accept that this is me now.'

Lumen had enough of staring at himself and made the copy cover its face. He then commanded it to take the position where he was supposed to be before he stopped time. With his enhanced memory, he made sure that the servant wouldn't notice anything wrong with it.

"[Perfect Unknowable]."

With that, Lumen vanished from the world. Unless one had Arcane Vision that allowed one to see through his invisibility, no one would notice him leave. He ended [Time Stop] confidently, and the world returned to normal. He scanned his surroundings and noticed that the servant was moving again. Pleased, Lumen mentally ordered his copy to sit down in the lotus position. His copy glanced at the servant and spoke to him.

"I will be meditating. Do not disturb me or there will be consequences."

Lumen cringed at his line but moved on quickly. The servant merely bowed his obedience. After he made sure that nothing was amiss, Lumen cast one final spell to complete his escape.

'[Silent Magic - Greater Teleportation].'

Lumen was now in front of another pair of doors. He remembered passing by them on his way to the library. A label imposed itself above them. It displayed the words "Spell Training Facility B." He looked around, making sure no one was nearby to see him before he dropped his invisibility. After all, it would be hard to test his spells while invisible. Eagerly, Lumen swung open the doors. A wide room greeted him. The room had several sections where he observed magic casters throwing spells at strawmen. He also spotted a corridor that led somewhere in one of the corners of the room. Lumen approached a man behind a desk, caring not to attract any attention. He cast plenty of silent [Discern Enemy] spells along the way. Despite being furtive, everyone in the room ceased what they were doing to gaze at the newcomer. Addressing the attendant, Lumen spoke.

"Greetings, my name is Lumen. I wish to practice my spells. What do I have to do to do so?"

The attendant frowned with a dazed look of bewilderment.

"U-um, forgive me, but may I ask who you are?"

"Like I said, my name is Lumen. I am a... friend of Felice Ritter. I assume you know who she is?"

'It's okay to proclaim that I'm her friend, right? After all, she brought me here. It's only fair.'

"Ah, yes. Lady Ritter, I'm aware who she is, but..."

The attendant hesitated, as the situation was quite uncertain. It was then that one of the magic casters in the room approached them.

"Excuse me, but allow me to shed some light on this matter. Lord Lumen here is indeed a friend of Lady Ritter. She was the one who... invited him here in the Empire."

Lumen looked at the person who had helped him with relief. It was a young blond man dressed in the same robes as everyone else. He thought he recognized him. The attendant studied his helper for a few seconds before sighing.

"Very well, but he is now your responsibility, Bryon. Since all of the lanes and rooms are currently booked or occupied, he will have to use your lane. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, very much. Please follow me, Lord Lumen."

The young man, Bryon, guided him to one of the sections in the room. They stopped in front of a line etched on the ground. In front of them were a few strawmen. Bryon spoke to him softly.

"I am sorry about that, but we haven't informed everyone about you yet."

Lumen nodded in response.

"I see. May I ask who you are then?"

Bryon smiled and bowed for his introduction.

"My name is Bryon Greenson. You may consider me a subordinate of Lady Ritter. I was present when Lady Ritter... welcomed you here in the Empire a few hours ago."

"Yes, I recognized your face instantly."

Lumen did not. He only thought he was familiar since a lot of the people here were all kinds of blondes.

"I am honored that you remembered someone like me, my lord."

"Please, no need to call me Lord. I am simply a magic caster like you. I care not for titles."

Bryon looked ready to refuse, but Lumen's steady gaze halted him.

"I- Yes, L-Lumen."

Lumen merely nodded.

"So, what are the rules when it comes to practicing spells?"

Bryon quickly responded.

"These lanes are merely for the quick practice of offensive spells. The only spells allowed are those that have specific targets or those that don't have a wide area of effect, enough to affect the other lanes. The lanes themselves are six meters wide each, and there are barriers in place between each of them, but they have a limit, and it's strictly not allowed to test that limit. We have people nearby ready to replace the strawmen we damage."

"I see, it seems simple enough. I assume you have other locations to test other spells at?"

"Yes, L-Lumen. We have training rooms designed to handle most of the spells we know of, but all of them are booked or are occupied."

"It's fine, Bryon. Then, why don't you demonstrate one of your strongest spells for me? I wish to see how I compare to one of Felice's subordinates."

Lumen noticed some of the people observing them sneer. Bryon looked like he wanted to refuse, but before Lumen could say anything, Bryon answered.

"I- Yes, very well. [Thunderlance]!"

Bryon pointed his palm at one of the strawmen before shouting his spell. A magic circle appeared before him, and from it, a bolt of lance streaked towards his target, piercing through it and leaving behind a blackened hole.

'A second-tier spell?'

Lumen wondered why Bryon used such a low-level spell.

"H-How was it, Lumen?"

Lumen figured it was better to be honest.

"It was good. Despite being a low-level spell, the power behind it was greater than it should have been."

Bryon smiled softly.

"Thank you, Lumen. Second-tier spells are apparently my limit, so I find ways to augment what I already have. Felice only chose me to be part of her team because I have gotten quite good at manipulating magic circles and spells, which she needed."

Lumen didn't know anything about manipulating magic circles and spells since he came from a game, so he couldn't help but be impressed.

"That is good. It's good that despite knowing your limits, you're still working hard to be better than you are now. Maybe I will even consider teaching you what I know."

"Seriously?!-"

Bryon caught himself before continuing. His face had clearly lit up with joy just now, but it would seem that his peers did not share his enthusiasm. They whispered amongst themselves. Lumen caught a few who were snickering to themselves, a few who made mocking noises, and a few more who expressed irritation. He still wasn't quite used to the amount of information his brain provided, so for now, he opted to simply ignore them.

"I mean, I am honored, Lord Lumen!"

Lumen himself didn't know why he made such an offer. Maybe he saw himself in the young man.

"Please, just Lumen. Now, I believe it's my turn to test my spells."

Everyone stared in anticipation as he pointed at one of the strawmen.

"Let's start with something simple. A third-tier spell. [Lightning]."

The bolt of lightning pierced through the same strawman Bryon targeted, creating another blackened hole. No one reacted much since third-tier spells weren't all that surprising.

"Next, fourth-tier spell. [Shock Lance]."

This spell was an improved version of Bryon's [Thunderlance] and dealt significantly more damage than [Lightning], but it could only hit one target. The hole it left behind was definitely wider than the previous two, with the strawman threatening to topple over. This time, everyone looked impressed. Bryon was nodding along as if it were expected of Lumen to be able to do this much.

"I am not surprised you can use spells on the same level as Lady Ritter."

"Not just on the same level. Observe this fifth-tier spell, [Dragon Lightning]!"

A bolt of white electricity in the shape of a dragon crackled from Lumen and surged towards the damaged target. It looked as though the dragon swallowed the strawman whole, leaving behind nothing but ash.

Everyone's jaws were slack-jawed at the power displayed by the spell. Even though it was merely a strawman, they all felt the pressure emitted by the spell.

"A-Amazing, Lord Lumen! It's the first time I have ever seen a fifth-tier spell. It was truly a sight to behold!"

Lumen was pleased with Bryon's words.

"Do you want to see more?"

Now Bryon looked at Lumen with an open, wide jaw once more, as if he didn't believe what he just heard.

"Y-Yes, but... I've heard that only Master Fluder has achieved the sixth tier."

"That you know of, so allow me to demonstrate something even greater than the sixth tier."

Lumen clapped his hands together for effect, creating a surge of electricity between them that illuminated the immediate surroundings. The crackling sounds emitted by it irritated his ears, so he only held it for a few seconds before releasing the spell.

"[Chain Dragon Lightning]."

Another dragon-shaped bolt of electricity struck, but this time it was bigger and longer. It leapt from one strawman to another until it disintegrated every remaining strawman in the lane. Nothing remained but ash and smoke. Everyone stood stock-still, still processing the sheer power they just witnessed. Luman merely looked at his hands.

'So far, I've only used a small amount of my mana. I should avoid consuming large amounts of mana before I feel completely safe. I may need every bit of it in case I have to fight.'

Lumen addressed the awed Bryon once more.

"Can you retrieve more strawmen? I believe I still have more spells to test."

That spurred Bryon to demand more targets from the attendant, who immediately left to fulfill them. Now everyone chatted ecstatically amongst themselves. Lumen heard how excited they were to see more spells beyond their reckoning. He smiled at how childish they seemed. However, his smile disappeared at what he saw next.

The attendant was screaming at the people carrying the strawmen to his lane. When Lumen examined these people, what he found shook him to his core. They were clad in plain robes, nothing like what the magic casters wore, but this wasn't what distressed Lumen. What distressed him were the iron collars they wore. And what's worse, he observed that their ears looked unnatural.

'As if- As if they were cut! They aren't humans. They're elves!'

The revelation greatly disgusted Lumen. He also noticed how it didn't bother everyone else, as if it were completely normal for them. Some even joined in on the shouting. Even Bryon eagerly looked on with anticipation. Lumen's gaze passed over the impatient crowd. He felt his blood boiling inside of him as he clenched his fists. When they reached the lanes, Lumen had enough.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Lumen roared as he subconsciously released another magical pressure. However, this one was different than before. Instead of simply choking, everyone except the elves fell to the floor as they were subjected to the aura skill from one of the Lumen's job classes, the Choromancer. [Gravity Aura] increased the gravity of the surrounding targets, greatly increasing their weight. Against fellow level 100 players, this merely slowed them down, but for these people, who struggle to even reach fourth-tier spells, it was like an anvil dropped on top of them and held them in place. If he increased the pressure even further, they would be crushed until they were nothing but paste. Even the strawmen weren't spared, as they were flattened on the ground. The elves screamed, shocked and terrified by what was going on around them.

When Lumen saw what he was doing, he collected himself. He willed the aura to stop. However, the rage inside of him remained. To prevent himself from doing further harm, he teleported away.

A/N: This took me quite a few rewrites, and I had to cut some contents to reach this result. Those cut contents will appear in future chapters. Also, I appreciate the reviews that asked questions and made theories. Details regarding the characters and plot will be slowly revealed as the story progresses. So for now, everyone will have to be patient, and that includes me as well.

If some of you were confused by these classes, here are their distinctions:

Chronomancer - one who manipulates time
Choromancer - one who manipulates space
(Do not confuse this one with a chiromancer, which is someone who predicts the future.)