[Chapter:14][So I’m so strong?]

"Ophis-chan, why do you think I am strong?"

It was the first question that came to my mind. After all, although I had somehow shattered the barrier between the human world and the Dimensional Gap, it was purely because of the absurd quantity of Mana I had colliding with the atmospheric mana.

In fact, what I did was a very dangerous thing. Even without the technical know how, I knew the worst case scenario was everything within several miles being wiped out.

But well, all's well that ends well, right? I'm not dead, the building's fine, and there's an adorable dragon god sitting beside me while munching on cookies and sweets cutely.

But anyways, fact of the matter is, I'm not strong. On the contrary, now that I expelled all the Mana within me and manually shut down my body and soul's subconscious Mana absorption, I would even say I should look weaker than an average human.

After all, even an average human would have some quantity of Mana within them.

"You, strong."

Unexpectedly, Ophis-chan looked at me with a solemn gaze as she pointed at my forehead.

"Very strong. Blessing."

"Eh, you mean I have a powerful blessing on me?"

"*nod* *nod*"

Ophis-chan's serious expression as she nodded her head cutely made me unable to control myself as my hand subconsciously rose up and landed on her head. I snapped out of it quickly and wanted to take it off since it was quite rude to touch people's heads without their permission, but the black haired loli surprisingly didn't mind.

Seeing that she didn't mind it, I continued patting her head as my thoughts flowed back to her words, a vague memory appearing in my mind.

A memory of when I was floating in what appeared to me to be the Void.

'Cael's blessing. If I recall well, she kissed my forehead as she gave me her blessing.'

As if responding to my thoughts…

*ding!*

Hearing the notification ring out, I took out my smartphone and looked at the Chat app which had an exclamatory mark next to it.

Opening the Chat function, I was met with a change in the 'Profile' tab.

. . . . . .

((Profile))

Name : Tanaka

Status : Admin

Age : Unspecified

Race : Unspecified

Sex : Unspecified

Group Rewards : [Cael's Blessing • Diligent Sloth]

Apps : [Chat] [Missions]

. . . . . .

It was a simple profile which I didn't really bother updating, but the 'Group Rewards' which was previously 'none' had something next to it.

Tapping the name, a description popped up before me.

. . . . . .

[Cael's Blessing • Diligent Sloth]

A blessing of Cael, created for the individual named Tanaka. Whatever Tanaka does, as long as he puts effort into it, Tanaka will gain exponentially greater results. The more lazy and slothful Tanaka is, the more effort he puts into doing something, the greater the resultant effects.

. . . . . .

The description made my eyes flash as I instantly understood everything.

'No wonder I have such a large amount of mana inside me.'

It wasn't because I was talented, but simply because I had a multiplier which multiplied the result of my efforts.

It's like a typical growth system. Lifting dumbbells for an hour would normally increase someone's strength by 1. But if I was the one lifting dumbbells for an hour, because of how naturally lazy I am, I'm one hour, the +1 Strength others would have gotten would be increased for me to 10, 100, 1,000, perhaps even more.

And my body's subconscious absorption of mana was also included as my own 'efforts', making the 'result' far, far greater than an average magician.

'No wonder…'

At the same time, several things also began to make sense.

Like, for instance, why did my body keep getting stronger and more muscular even as all I did was laze around? The reason for that is even the slightest of physical movement I do, things like stretching my body after a nap, moving my hands to write, moving my jaws to eat, walking to go to the washroom, even the smallest of things like breathing, the blood flowing through my veins, the constant beating of my heart, all of these and many more are considered 'physical exercise'.

And their 'result' is increased exponentially thanks to this blessing, making it seem like I'm actually working out rigorously.

And there's also why I'm so good at cooking. Not to brag and all, but I would say I only lose out to the chefs in bizarre anime like Food Wars and Toriko. Other than that, well, maybe Emiya Shirou from Fate.

And this expertise over cooking I got from merely cooking for Rino and myself, and sometimes for Oota as well, every now and then.

And then there were my grades, which I never really had to study much to keep at a fairly high level. And even the books about magic I read the whole of last night. After all, I technically gained the knowledge of a master magician in mere hours.

'Err, if you put it this way, it looks like I really am quite strong.'

Who knew, right?

But of course, I just have a 'strong talent', maybe even a 'ridiculously absurd talent'. If met with a hostile Devil, even a low class one would be able to wipe the floor with me.

'For now…I should focus on what I can do. Like learning magic.'

My eyes flashed as I glanced at the times which I had all but memorised. Unfortunately, while they certainly had basics which even an Ultimate class magician would have to learn, that was all there was, basics.

For more advanced stuff…

"Ophis-chan."

"?"

The adorable loli paused in her action of munching a cookie like a rabbit and looked up at me curiously.

"I'm not really strong, you know? Although I have a strong blessing, if you ask me to fight, I would lose even against weaklings like low class devils or even human martial artists."

"*blink* *blink*"

Ophis-chan tilted her head in what I assume is confusion.

"But this strong blessing I have on me let's me become stronger at a very fast rate. So, would you like to help me become stronger?"

"If you become strong, will you help me beat Baka Red?"

"Absolutely.", I nodded without hesitation. "Although 'Baka Red' might have a reason for staying in your home, if I can become as strong as him, I will definitely help you beat him. Pinky promise."

I stretched out my hand towards her, which she looked at curiously.

"Here, stretch out your hand and your pinky finger, and interlock it with mine. This is called making a pinky promise, and whoever breaks this promise wouldn't be able to enjoy sweets and cookies and candies anymore."

"!!!"

Ophis-chan straightened her back as her eyes widened. It seems my punishment is a little too much for the loveable Dragon God.

"Then, can you help me gathering all kinds of books and tomes related to magic? Ah, but try to gather them without attracting any attention, I wouldn't be able to focus if I keep getting disturbed by others."

"*serious nod*"

Then, she looked at the half eaten cookie in her hand, and seemed to be taking a serious decision, before her eyes flashed with determination and she put it down back on her plate.

"Work first. Cookies later."

Then, with a pained, determined face that looked like she was desperately holding herself back from eating cookies again, she stood up waved her hand, making a crack leading to the dimensional gap appear, before she disappeared into it.

Cute.