The One Who Deserves to be Called a Genius.

Two opponents.

One had his right hand extended forward. The other was in the middle of swinging his weapon.

Fabian versus Viktor. An upstart versus a storied household. A fake genius against a true warrior.

The incantation and the staff were trapped in a race against each other. Viktor had no doubt that the winner of the race would also be the winner of the fight. Viktor's smile had long disappeared from his face and was replaced by a tense expression. Fabian's eyes were filled with determination, and the audience watched anxiously. And as the time stretched and the race reached its climax—

—the staff came out as the victor.

It reached Fabian before the boy could finish his incantation. In an attempt to do something, he desperately put his hand to shield his body from the weapon. But Viktor knew that was fruitless. 

His double-handed swings were strong enough to easily break thick wooden planks even without any buffs. Even if Fabian could continue the incantation through pain, his body would shift enough for Viktor to dodge the spell. In other words, victory was in Viktor's hands.

As the staff clashed into Fabian's left hand, a loud sound of flesh colliding with metal resounded in the arena, and the boy grunted in pain.

And yet, he stood his ground. Not moving a single inch.

What?! Viktor exclaimed as he saw Fabian grin. There's no way he has enough strength to be ignore my full-power swing! What is...

In that moment, he felt a slight presence of mana around the boy: evidence of an enhancement spell being used. It was a weak spell, but it was enough to resist against Viktor's strike. 

That's when Viktor realized that it was all going according to Fabian's plan. Knowing that Viktor would strike back with his staff, Fabian had cast an enhancement spell on himself during the time when their lightnings clashed.

Suddenly, Viktor remembered Fabian's words about arrogance being his downfall. If he didn't turn off the enhancement after the beginning of the fight and didn't challenge Fabian to a head-on clash of spells, the outcome would be completely different. In fact, the fight wouldn't have been close at all.

As those regrets streamed through his mind, he saw Fabian's lips mouth the ending of the incantation.

"—fulmar ferrit!"

Fabian's arm flew towards his opponent. Viktor fell backwards, desperately trying to dodge the spell. Despite that, he already knew that it was too late. 

Fabian's hand glowed with a blinding light. From there, a bolt of lightning was unleashed. It flew through the air rapidly. Until it struck Viktor's barrier, crackling ferociously...

...and then dissipated without being able to break through.

The arena went silent.

The faint glow of Viktor's shield signified that it was blocking damage from reaching the owner. But that was the extent of the effect that Fabian's lightning had. The barrier was still up. Moreover, It didn't even have a single crack in it.

Fabian's face was locked in a state of confusion as he saw Viktor's shield remain standing. Victor was frozen, his expression completely blank and his eyes wide open. 

It took Viktor a few seconds to realize what had just happened. And then he began laughing.

"...Ha... hahaha.... Hahahahahahhahahaha!"

He laughed as he processed the reason for Fabian's misfire. Then, the rightful wielder of roaring flash smiled viciously. 

Seeing his foe's expression took Fabian out of his shock, and he swung his fist at Viktor's face. His opponent, however, simply parried the fist with his left hand and recited a spell.

"Ab baculō fulmar ferrit!"

As Viktor's incantation finished, a wave of roaring light released from his staff and swallowed Fabian whole. Amidst the thunderous explosion, a sound of something breaking resounded. 

Like a delicate glasswork shattering into pieces.

***

When the dust settled, one person was on his knees, his hands on the floor. The other was standing upright as he looked down on the defeated.

The reason for Fabian's misfire was quite simple: the boy ran out of mana. He didn't account for how costly the empowered version of his lightning would be and thought he had another spell left. In reality, he was fully out. At the end, it was Viktor's mana reserves that had determined the winner.

As his gaze stayed on Fabian, Viktor's expression was a mixture of ridicule, self-derrision, and humiliation. His next words rang in Fabian's ears.

"You were right, I was woefully unprepared in my arrogance. But don't think that it will be nearly as close next time," Viktor spoke and then turned around and began walking away from the arena. "Don't show up to the duel. If you do, I will not give you any mercy. No games and no nonsense. I will crush you utterly and completely."

The crestfallen boy didn't reply. He merely continued staring at the ground in silence.

Once again, the boy had failed.

***

That evening, Viktor was reporting the results of the duel to his father.

"I've shamed our household. He wasn't especially powerful, and his mastery of roaring flash wasn't particularly special, but in the end, I won only because of my mana advantage. My lightning even lost to his in a direct clash."

That's how he concluded his tale. His father, Dion Au Darius, looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"You're such a fool."

"Yes, father. I fully acknowledge my failure to live up to your expectations," Viktor replied obediently, his voice full of regret. He sounded completely different than how he spoke to Fabian. Or how he spoke to anyone else for that matter.

Dion, meanwhile, only sighed in exasperation.

"No, you don't understand anything. You're not a fool because of your magical skill. It's not even your arrogance that makes me infuriated either. Instead, you're a fool for trying to make it a pure competition of magic."

"Wha—" Viktor started in shock but stopped himself in time. "But, father, I had to prove our superiority over the roaring flash usurper—"

"Silence, brat," Dion spat. Viktor went completely quiet. "You better consider why your actions were foolish before the day of the duel. Think about the consequences your decisions have for our entire household... Go. You're free now. Prepare for the fight or do nothing—I don't care. I'm not going to give you any more instructions."

Right after Dion finished his words, Viktor looked like he wanted to speak. But he decided against it and simply left. As he did, he said one last thing to the count.

"I won't disappoint you, father."

When the door closed and Viktor disappeared from his sight, Dion breathed another sigh. This time it conveyed not only his exasperation but also his exhaustion.

"If only you understood why I'm disappointed in the first place..."

The count's last words faded into the night, never to be heard by anyone.

***

Fabian didn't say a single word after coming back from the duel. He shut himself in his room and hadn't left since.

"Damn it!" The boy screamed as his fist collided with the desk.

His hand hurt from the impact, but he actually welcomed the pain. It helped get his mind of distress, and brought a bit of control back to him. But whenever he thought about what happened that day, the uncontrollable fury came back.

He had put so much effort in the past month. He strove to improve and learn as much as he could. He successfully mastered roaring flash and even prolonged cast. And yet, it wasn't enough. After a string of successes, he had failed the one time when it truly mattered.

It was just like in his previous life. No matter what, he would fumble it at the finish line.

And with that, the mask of Fabian shattered completely.

***

Why? Why could I not defeat Viktor? I asked again and again as I stood over the desk.

I had been confident that I was as close to becoming Fabian as possible.

For the entire month I'd spent as the genius boy, I kept receiving fragments of his memories and knowledge. Through those, I succeeded not only at normal magic but even at roaring flash—a spell that no one outside of Dariuses lineage could use. No one, except for Fabian.

I thought that I was finally different from before. Now, I could finally become someone worthwhile. No one around me thought I was suspicious. My magical skills and knowledge were also steadily increasing. 

But then the visions stopped helping me. I still got memories of Fabian's normal life, but they no longer improved my spellcasting. At first, that didn't discourage me. If his memories no longer did anything for me, then didn't that mean that I'd already learned everything there was to learn?

That's what I thought. But I wanted to make sure of that theory. I wanted to know if I could defeat someone who was genuinely skillful with magic. Someone like Viktor. As a result, I charged recklessly into a duel in order to test my skills.

And then I lost horribly. Even with Viktor acting arrogant the entire time. Even with all of the advantages I got. I couldn't hold a candle to him.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

I cursed as my mind raced. No matter how much I thought, I couldn't see myself beating Viktor. But how could I succeed? What could I do? I no longer had the visions to rely on...

Or was that really true? But maybe, just maybe—now that I was pushed to the brink—something would change. Previously, important memories always came when I needed them the most. When I was about to dismiss Lucy, I managed to recall her smile. And when I failed to cast a simple spell, I immediately received immense knowledge about spellcasting.

Fabian, please, tell me. What is it that I still lack? What more do I need to become just like you?

And so, I prayed to the genius boy, hoping that there was still something he could teach me.

Why? Why is my magic so far from reaching Viktor? Maria said that you could beat him so why is it that I couldn't? What am I missing? Please, give me an answer.

I begged. 

And yet, the room remained quiet. There were no visions. No sudden bouts of knowledge appearing out of nowhere. No answers.

It was as if Fabian had nothing more to give me.

"Damn it! Why are you so quiet? Do you not have anything left? Tell me, you goddamn genius!"

I shouted angrily, but there was no reply.

As I stood in silence my mind desperately tried to find an answer.

Why could I not reach Fabian's mastery in magic? And why were the visions no longer helpful? Why did they lack the same potency as they had in the beginning? Why... just why was Fabian still so far away?

And as I asked myself those questions a single conclusion popped up in my mind.

"...So that's what it is...?" I spoke weakly, "the reason why I'm no longer progressing... the reason why I can't reach my goal—"

The answer was simple. So simple it was surprising it took me so long to figure it out.

"—it's because I've hit my ceiling, isn't it?"

In other words, I simply lacked the talent needed.

It was such an obvious thing. I couldn't receive any more knowledge, because I'd already learned what I could. Everything that I could feasibly understand had long acclimated in my mind. That's why I barely got more progress after the second week of my reincarnation—and that's also why I struggled to learn prolonged cast. 

I'd reached the limits of my potential.

Once again, it was all about that damned talent. I lacked it in my previous life. And I similarly lacked it in this one. Even with a new body and a new life I was still the same old Ayumu.

And with that realization, I understood that I'd failed once again.

I thought... I thought this time would be different!

I gritted my teeth in frustration.

After all—I got everything I could ever want! I thought that if I wasn't myself... that if I was no longer Ayumu Shinohara then something would change.

In my previous life, I'd always dreamt of becoming someone different. I thought that if I had a different body, different circumstances, a different life—then I could actually accomplish something worthwhile.

But... but I'm still Ayumu. I'm still the same failure as I used to be. Even a reincarnation couldn't change that.

Even after a month, all those memories, visions, and training, I couldn't become Fabian. And if I wasn't Fabian—if I wasn't the genius boy—then I was simply a mediocre failure who had never succeeded at anything. The damned Ayumu Shinohara.

A wave of rage suddenly overcame me, and I struck the desk in a fit of anger. It shook from the hit, and its drawer opened ever so slightly. 

Through the gap, I caught a glimpse of something brown.

Oh, that's right. There was still one last piece of his knowledge left in this world. Right there, in the small wooden box.

For a second, a small hope ignited in my chest. Maybe, just maybe, the path forward lay in the diary. And so, I picked up the brown notebook.

But as I held the diary in my hands and looked at it, that hope was quickly extinguished. What was it that I sought from this book? What kind of magical advice could I get that would let me to break through my ceiling? After all, I already had the boy's actual memories and knowledge. What could a flawed, limited record of his life even give me? If I couldn't handle the information when it was directly implanted in my brain, then what chance was there that I could learn it simply by reading?

I sighed and left the book on the desk. 

I was exhausted. I wanted to do nothing more than lie down and rest. At the end of the day, no matter how much I failed, tomorrow would come. And with that, my failures would also continue. That much I'd known since my previous life.

And so I lay down on the bed. Or so I tried to. The moment my head touched the pillow, a knock on the door resounded. 

Surprisingly after what had happened that day, I had a visitor. Or maybe it was precisely because of what had happened.

I knew for sure that it wasn't a servant of the mansion. I told them that I was comfortable with taking care of my own chores. And if they thought there was something important, they would tell me about it through the door. That left only my acquaintances—or rather Fabian's acquaintances—as possible visitors.

Truth be told, I didn't want to face anyone right now. Not only was I a massive disappointment, but I was currently too tired to pretend to be Fabian.

But while I deliberated whether I should open the door, the knocks continued. The more I waited, the more intense they got. I had a feeling that the visitor's identity was none other than Maria. And if that was the case, then she wouldn't stop until I let her in. Maria would definitely stay there all night if needed. That was just the kind of person she was.

Resigned to the fact, I walked to the entrance of the room and opened the door.

As expected, outside of the room stood Fabian's fiancée. What I didn't expect was the determined look she had on her face. 

Her expression took me aback. Something about it told me that she had an important topic to talk about.

Once the door opened, Maria began speaking.

"Fabian, do you have time for a talk?" she asked with a piercing gaze. Somehow, I knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"S-sure," I replied, still taken aback.

"Great," she said and entered the room. Maria reached the desk, then stopped and turned around. Without wasting any time, she started speaking.

"Fabian, let me be frank—" Maria began resolutely.

Unknowingly, I'd tensed up in anticipation. By the time I'd noticed, I could feel cold sweat on my back. I felt a sense of dread at the upcoming conversation.

"—it's time to set the record straight. What are you hiding from me?"

And her next words confirmed my suspicions.