A playful chuckle almost escaped his lips.
Although he felt a bit of a pity, he intentionally let the destruction happen.
And that is letting Luna’s fury build into a boiling point.
And then create the perfect storm of situations that would lead to this exact mont.
"Your research on the soul binding phenonon was groundbreaking work," Nero continued, his voice carrying genuine appreciation beneath the carefully crafted humility.
"The energy pattern analysis, the theoretical frawork for understanding dinsional anchoring... I’ve seen your notes. The complexity of what you were attempting to accomplish."
Luna’s magical aura flickered slightly, the surprise cannot be hidden from her face successfully off-setting her fury for a mont.
"Y-You... looked at my research?"
"I managed to glimpse just a little. And after knowing a bit I now know and appreciate the effort you’ve been putting into figuring out how this summoning system actually works."
He paused, letting sincerity color his next words because this part, at least, was completely true.
"... You didn’t have to do any of that. And yet, I sowhat repaid that dedication by allowing things to escalate that not only disturbed your research but also invaded your peaceful privacy."
His jaw tightened with what appeared to be self-directed anger.
"So I’m sorry. Truly. For all of it. For my weakness. For failing to do my duties as your summoner. For taking your efforts and kindness for granted."
"...!"
The temperature drops suddenly halted.
The frost patterns ceased their expansion, holding perfectly still as if frozen by sothing other than cold.
Luna stared at him, her mind was clearly working through his words and searching for manipulation or false sincerity.
But the combination of genuine regret for the destroyed research and the self-deprecating admission of weakness hit her exactly where he’d calculated it would.
Her cheeks colored slightly, the fury in her expression giving way to flustered confusion.
"You’re... actually..."
She seed to struggle with forming words, the righteous anger that had been driving her completely derailed by his straightforward sincerity.
"I... w-well..."
The Great Sage of all people was stamring.
Her magical aura continued dissipating as the heat of rage transford into a different kind of heat entirely.
’And... sinker.’
Nero maintained his earnest expression while internally, he nodded to himself at the job well done in trying to cool off the situation.
’Mission success.’
The 2nd phase was finally done, and now it’s ti to play the probability ga beyond this point...
All of these entire shenanigans had been carefully orchestrated from the mont Velraeth arrived.
***
The plan ca into his mind just a few days ago, when thinking of ways on how to efficiently beco stronger than he is right now.
And one of them is definitely,
’Magic.’
As a man and an otaku, the concept of wielding actual magic held an appeal that just went beyond practicality in life.
It was a wet dream for fantasy lovers.
The ability to shout "explosion!" as a giant nuke of flas goes off in the distance.
Or maybe the ability to multi-cast different elents and overwhelm your enemies in any distance.
Regardless, adding magic to his arsenal would definitely add so range attacks to his otherwise close-combat battle style.
Now the problem is...
’Where the hell do I start...?’
He needs soone to guide his newbie self into a simple crash course.
In other words, a teacher.
Sure, he could learn a thing or two from Aurelia. And he had gotten so useful tips from Celis on so occasions.
But Aurelia specialized in divine energy, in which she specializes in different principles than the standard mana mages use.
And Celis wielded sothing else of similar energy, her power stemming from sources she rarely discussed.
Neither could provide the very fundantals of magic most mainstream mages use.
... But Luna could.
The Great Sage possessed knowledge and techniques that surpasses most tiless mages.
A magic so advanced it made conventional mages look like children playing with blocks.
If anyone could teach him to wield magic properly, no one is a better candidate in the world other than her.
She’s the perfect teacher.
... But the problem was obvious.
’Yeah, no way she would just agree.’
Luna was prideful.
Not only was she dedicated to her research, but there’s a negative percent chance she would agree to teach him when he’s already pushed her buttons a few tis here and there.
And he couldn’t use the bargain cards he’d already played. "Want to see my summoning ability?" or "Please extract my blood for research!" had been effective once, but he knew he was already pushing boundaries by "convincing" to live on her island.
... And naming it Waifuria.
He’d seen the twitch in her eye when that na was finalized.
That’s why direct requests wouldn’t work.
Luna would straight-up reject him if he also took her ti from her precious laboratory.
Which ant he needed a different approach.
And that’s where Velraeth ca in.
The mont he’d seen her personality through the description and combat rating, the plan had assembled itself with beautiful simplicity.
Velraeth’s wild personality.
Her notorious reputation.
Her overwhelming power and tendency toward violence.
And then Aurelia’s protective instincts.
Her hair-trigger response to perceived threats against him.
... Luna’s barely-contained frustration with repeated disruptions.
’What if...?’
Instead of trying to prevent disaster he would push towards it?
Let Velraeth’s arrival and the clash between her and Aury trigger exactly the kind of catastrophic confrontation that would push Luna past her breaking point.
And then create circumstances where her fury would peak at precisely the mont he could redirect or negate it in so ways.
And not to ntion, the forced command option had always been there as a safety net in case everything goes south.
One word and the whole situation would freeze instantly.
... But using it to control everything would accomplish nothing, of course.
No, in fact, it would destroy the future relationship they could potentially make.
That’s why he needs to set this up.
Or else, Velraeth would have seen him as weak who’s hiding behind contract magic instead of demonstrating genuine capability.
Any potential respect would have died instantly.
More importantly, it wouldn’t have given him the leverage he needed with Luna to make her teach him magic.
So he had to let it play out.
Watching two SSR-tier waifus tear through the landscape was definitely a terrifying sight to see.
But he both stopped Aury and Velraeth at the exact ti they would unleash the peak of their powers.
And then Velraeth’s approval of his guts.
While also estimating exactly how much destruction would maximize Luna’s rage without causing irreparable damage to critical infrastructure.
And then lastly, when she arrived at the peak of her fury... when her anger burned hot enough to lt through her usual composed deanor...
That’s when he would perfectly strike.
With a sincere apology, the skilful act of admitting he’s "weak" enough to stop them and the appreciation for all of her deeds and grace for them...
It was enough for Nero to exploit her weakness as a studious tsundere...
And that... is straightforward and bold sincerity!
Yes, that’s right! Luna from people who were serious and earnest with her!
Her pride made her resistant to obvious charm.
Her intelligence saw through most social manipulation.
But genuine recognition of her work, combined with his honest admission?
That was enough to break her cold and tsundere attitude.
The bow... the admission of responsibility. the appreciation of her deeds and effort...
All of those were carefully calculated to hit her exactly where she was most vulnerable while still being fundantally true.
It might co off as dirty as half-truths and half-lies, but most of them were true...
Well, he really was sorry about the destroyed research... that much was outside of his expectations.
And he really did appreciate her efforts and with how lenient she is with them living off the island.
He just happened to be leveraging that sincerity for his own advantages.
But even then...
That was only 75% of the plan for Luna’s part.
Because the last 25% depended entirely on Velraeth.
Nero’s otaku eyes knew exactly how battle maniacs like this crazy dragon in front of him operated.
Just show them potential guts and fighting.
And demonstrate the kind of crazy determination that matched their own insanity.
Prove you weren’t just another weak human playing at strength.
With the way he’d positioned himself between their final clash and the calm deanor despite weapons that could erase him hovering at his temples.
The ability to make Aury and the others listen to his words.
... And the willingness to bow while simultaneously showing zero actual submission in his bearing.
All of that was to appeal to this crazy "blacksmith" who valued strength, guys, determination and craziness above everything else.
And when Velraeth declared she would train him, when she positioned herself as the one who would make him worthy...
That’s when the real beauty of the plan activated.
With Valraeth being shown how strong his "guts" are and his potential, she would definitely do sothing to make him stronger.
But how about Luna who was suddenly faced with a straightforward apology?
As a prideful high elf and knowing her stubborn attitude, she would definitely not let that slide.
It’s a clash of who would get to teach his "weak" self to beco stronger.
In the end, he would kill two birds with one stone.
Getting comprehensive combat training from a legendary dragon warrior while simultaneously receiving magical education from one of the most brilliant mages alive!
All triggered by deliberately allowing a catastrophe he could have prevented at any mont.
’Perfect.’
A faint chuckle escaped him, so quiet that only he could hear it amid the ongoing confusion.
His gaze then flickered montarily at his system interface... to a particular skill that might’ve influenced his being in more than one ways...
It was a dark horse responsible for this change in his thinking as of current.
[Dark Heart (SSR): "A beast kills ruthlessly, but a predator kills with cunning foresight."
Description: A variant evolution of the skill "Heart of the Beast". It makes the user extrely rational and cold in crucial monts but with a desire and emotions or vengeance of a beast; highly influencing the user’s way of thinking and emotional sensitivity.]
***
Luna was still struggling to form coherent words, her fury completely derailed by the combination of sincere apology and self-directed criticism.
"I... you... this isn’t..."
She seed torn between maintaining her anger and acknowledging his genuine contrition.
The pink glow in her heterochromic eyes flickered uncertainly as her analytical mind tried to process the emotional whiplash.
"Hooh?"
Velraeth’s voice cut through the mont, the dragon woman studying the interaction with obvious fascination.
Her ember eyes glead with sothing between amusent and approval as she watched Nero’s careful handling of the furious mage.
"Interesting approach, human. Very interesting."
She stepped forward, that manic grin returning in full force.
"But you know what? I like it. That look in your eyes when you admits weakness. Most people would make excuses or deflect bla. You just owned it directly."
Her tail lashed once with obvious excitent.
"That takes guts. Stupid guts, maybe, but guts nonetheless."
"I’m glad you approve," Nero replied, his tone carrying just the right amount of dry humor.
"Oh, I more than approve."
Velraeth’s grin widened impossibly further.
"In fact, I’m even more convinced now. You’re definitely worth training. Soone who can admit weakness while simultaneously standing between two attacks that could have obliterated him? That’s the kind of crazy potential I’m looking for."
"Hold on," Luna interjected, her scholarly instincts finally overriding her flustered confusion. "Training? You’re seriously considering..."
"Of course! The human wants to get stronger, doesn’t he? And he admitted himself that weakness is what prevented him from stopping our fight."
Velraeth’s logic was straightforward and brutal.
"So I’ll train him until he’s strong enough to be a strong punching bag while maybe... just maybe, wound a little or two."
Valraeth boredly picked her ear, completely confident in her own unparalleled strength.
"That’s... that’s the most simplistic reasoning I’ve ever heard."
"Simple works."
"Simple gets people killed."
"Only if they’re weak."
"...",
Luna’s eye twitched, and Nero could practically see a faint vein in her forehead.
’Uwah... she’s irritated.’
He got to give it to Velraeth, the crazy dragon also has the talent to piss soone off.
And the petite genius was about to make exactly the argunt he’d been counting on.
"... Your training thodology would be completely unsuitable for soone at his current level,"
Luna have to give a big sigh as if she’s given up trying to make sense of this crazy maniac.
"You’re a dragon with regenerative capabilities and inherent combat instincts. Teaching a human to fight like you would just turn this guy into an instant corpse."
"Then what would you suggest, little mage?"
The challenge in Velraeth’s tone was obvious.
"Proper foundational education. Structured learning that builds capability systematically rather than hoping survival pressure produces growth."
"..."
This ti Velraeth had a vein appear on her forehead.
Did this little mage just speak in another language?
What kind of theoretical bullcrap is she on about?
"Your words and ways are too complicated! At this point he would turn into a wimpy scholar than a warrior, dumbass!"
"Wha–?!"
Luna was shocked!
Never once in her life was she called an idiot, let alone a crude insulting word such as "dumbass"!
She’s an author of many revolutionary works in the field of countless fields of mana, you know?!
How dare she call her a dumbass?!
"You...!"
"..."
And there it was.
The two prideful beings arguing over whose thodology was superior.
Exactly as calculated.
"Heh."
Nero maintained his earnest expression while internally, that dark satisfaction pulsed stronger.
The situation proceeded as planned.
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