"Ready?" I questioned, directing my operator toward my mundane target, who also happened to be my brother.

"Can you tell me why you're using me instead of Greg as your guinea pig? Or, for that matter, any dummy within this entire skyscraper? You know there are plenty to spare, right...?"

We are currently carrying out the same experiment I did with Gray yesterday. We repeated it not because I made any significant changes to the spell, but rather because I wanted to see how it would perform against someone who could wield mana. Greg, sadly, remained upstairs.

Of course, there was no need for me to go out of my way to explain that to my brother. I merely threatened—I mean, humbly requested him to assist me. As you can tell, he kindly complied.

"Don't use that artifact to break it off," I told him, knowing how easy it would be for him to flee if he did. "And you'll cooperate in my experiments if you want to keep using this laboratory as your personal training ground."

"Fine, I won't," he said with a smirk, staring at the ceiling as the sword, which he couldn't even let down for a single damned minute, touched the floor with its tip. "Even if this building collapses on top of us, I'm not going to move even a step. Happy?"

"Very," I muttered, channeling a bit of mana through my body—feeling it tingle the surface of my skin as I redirected some of it toward the SCO wrapped around my wrist. The runic fragment within drew in the flood of mana, triggering the spell I had already encoded into it.

Then, just as I had predicted, a piece of the lab's floor coiled around Connor's ankle, shackling him.

I sighed as I dropped my arm, not experiencing much of the aftereffects of using mana this time. I couldn't possibly run out of mana now that I rested properly, but unlike a particular someone, I knew my brother would simply let me collapse on the floor and laugh at my carelessness later.

"It actually worked!"

"Of course it did..." I muttered. "Haven't you seen it the last time as well?"

"I only witnessed the outcome. Not the process." He shrugged, attempting to move his leg slightly. He lacked the physical strength to break free, as expected.

From this distance, I could feel Connor channeling a part of his mana all the way to his foot when he realized he wouldn't be able to escape normally.

"This thing is extremely impressive, but," he paused, knowing the sound of the crumbling shackle would drown his voice, "doesn't actually amount to much when employing mana."

"Disappointing..." I grumbled as I watched the result of our experiment.

The spell itself would only be effective against low-ranking monsters that didn't even know how to channel mana and were only employing it subconsciously. But the typical hunter should be able to escape with ease. Although I had an affinity and more raw mana than Connor, he seemed to be able to channel it faster and use it more effectively in comparison to me.

I suppose I shouldn't really complain because I barely bother to train at all, but still...

"Don't look so down, sis," Connor whispered, giving me a pitying look as he realized I wasn't completely satisfied. "Even so, you managed to encode a spell on your own. That has to count for something, right?"

"Not really," I replied as I stepped upstairs into the observatory room, any sign of my previous gloominess fading from my face. "I've made it up from scratches using some of the unsuccessful spells developed by the Guild."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

In a nutshell, it's like taking the broad framework of a template and changing some of the details to match your own needs.

"Are we done with your experiment?" Connor tried to change the subject.

I shook my head and uttered: "For now..."

There were still many things I wanted to figure out. For example, how would the spell work on someone who is running? Will they simply dodge it before it hooks onto its prey?

Although I designed it to keep chasing its target, I had no idea to what extent it would affect the environment around it. To what degree might the spell change the surface from which it arose?

Would the shackle continue to chase its target's ankle indefinitely, or would the spell deactivate if that said target moved out of a specific range?

Only through trial and error, I'd be able to figure out the answer to those questions.

But, for the time being, I wasn't in the mood to put any of my theories to the test. I'd rather not have another seizure.

"Can you restart the simulation?" Connor requested, coming up after entirely stomping on the shake. "I'd like to practice a bit more."

There was a hole in the floor, but it would fill in automatically with the press of a button, so I wasn't concerned.

"You've been obsessed with that particular way of training since this morning," I reminded him, waiting for him to give me the rest.

My brother scratched the back of his head with his palm as he said, "You've seen how things went down yesterday. Harold's better than me."

"That monkey is older than you and has more experience," I agreed. "But I don't think he's the reason you're working so hard, brother."

In most cases, Connor would simply discard his existence on move on with his day.

"Don't make me say it out loud..."

I titled my head and looked at him over the frame of my glasses.

"Even if you do that, I'm not going to tell you..."

I arched my brow, just like mother did when we hid things from her. "You'd better tell me everything out of your own accord, Connor."

"Fine! I want to be as good as Gray! Satisfied? Now stop looking at me like that!"

I rearranged my glasses, thinking that if my brother were to use mana, he'd be the undisputed winner. That didn't appear to be the underlying issue here, though...

"Uh-huh," I said as I sat down in my extremely comfortable chair. "So instead of allowing the monsters to approach you, you're going to run headfirst into them."

By staying on the outskirts of the examining area, most creatures would emerge in front of the examinees, making it easy to deal with them. A strategy everyone relied on. Of course, if someone stood in one position without moving at all, they'd be penalized.

Coincidentally, the examiners appeared to be having a good time dealing with those who were too nervous regarding the test.

There was this girl that refused to move because she was too scared by the appearance of some monsters, so they let an enormous group gather before guiding it directly toward her. Not only did she pass out in front of everyone, but she didn't receive any points at all.

She might be able to pass if she gets a flawless score in academics and mana evaluation though, but I'd rather not dwell on it.

Connor just scratched his hand with both hands in response. "How did he manage it? Every time I tried to imitate him, I was caught off guard by a spider. I just can't move around as easily as he does."

"Perhaps you should simply ask him," I suggested. "I mean, he's the one who pulled off such a risky strategy."

There was something I hadn't told Connor about.

Although Gray's performance was outstanding, I couldn't shake off the sensation he was rather desperate to win, like he was trying to prove something. As much as he hated to admit it, he was quite competitive. Perhaps Harold's presence compelled him to fight in such a reckless manner, which was concerning...

"Great idea! That's why I love you, my protegee of a sister."

I rolled my eyes as Connor put the phone on speaker before placing it on the desk.

"Hey, Gray, can you come over—"

"I'm busy," growled the person on the other end of the phone.

For a full minute, my brother and I just gazed at each other, stunned to hear him speak in that manner. We rarely got the chance to hear Gray being so groggy.

There were times when I wondered if he was even human and not some type of advanced robot capable of executing most tasks effortlessly, like Greg. Surprisingly, it turns out even someone like him has bad days.

"He's probably been working late, so let him rest," I declared as I returned to my computer, then prepared the simulation for my brother to practice.

"Maybe I should visit that rascal later..." he grumbled, somewhat perplexed, which made me chuckle as he turned to face me. "Do you think we called at a bad time?"

"We definitely did."