"Ahhh, what kind of scribbles are these? I can’t read a single character!" Chu Xueyue groaned, wrestling with this world’s beginner’s textbook. He hadn’t realized how absurdly difficult the script was until he actually started studying. Over a month had passed, and he was still stuck on the same primer.

"I thought I had a knack for languages! Picking up Japanese was so easy before. Why can I barely recognize a handful of characters now?" He buried his face in his hands, complaining—but no matter how ridiculous the writing seemed, he forced himself to keep studying. That was Chu Xueyue for you: tsundere through and through.

"Xueyue, come down!" Albert’s voice called from downstairs.

"Coming!"

*What could Albert need right now? It’s my study time…*

He knew Albert respected his schedule, so it must be important.

Descending the stairs, Chu Xueyue spotted an unfamiliar woman sitting beside Albert in the living room.

"Miss Muse? What brings you here?"

"I’m visiting my brother. Oh, and Mr. Jack—how have you been lately?" Muse’s voice was sweet as honey.

After arriving here, Albert had registered him under the name Jack White—taking Albert’s surname for convenience. Only Albert still called him Chu Xueyue; even Muse, visiting for just the second time this month, addressed him as Jack.

"Your brother’s been wonderful to me," Jack joked. "Too bad I’m not a girl. If I were, I could’ve been your sister-in-law."

Muse laughed it off. She knew exactly who her brother liked—and his preferences were perfectly normal. Still, she barely knew Jack. All she saw was a freeloader clinging to her brother, refusing to work, needing constant supervision. She hid her dislike only for Albert’s sake.

"By the way, Mr. Jack," Muse added, "my brother asked me to bring a magic aptitude crystal. I brought it along today."

Albert had requested it during her last visit. They could’ve gone to the Mage Association for testing, but their situation was awkward—aptitude tests were for children. Neither man could stomach lining up with kids.

In any world, mages were rarer than warriors. Even Heroes didn’t all have magic talent. Magic demanded innate aptitude; without it, training was wasted effort. Albert, with mediocre talent, had wisely abandoned magic to focus on Battle Aura. Muse had modest potential—not exceptional, but rare enough. Her family’s luck had already birthed a Dragon Slayer Hero; expecting a mage too was greedy.

Every child here got tested early. Magic training was grueling, and time was precious. But Jack, not of this world, had never been tested—and avoiding public scrutiny meant relying on Albert’s help.

*I’m the Hero. This world must’ve dumped all my stats into magic, right? My Battle Aura aptitude’s average, my body’s unenhanced… If my magic talent’s amazing, how do I explain my identity? They’d dig it up easily.*

Heart pounding, Jack placed his hand on the crystal as instructed.

*Gulping.*

He had zero faith in this world’s "blessings." *No magic talent? What kind of Hero would that make me?*

Liquid rose from the crystal’s base, climbing steadily.

Muse had marked a line a third of the way up. "If it doesn’t reach this line," she’d said, "don’t bother with magic. You lack the gift."

What she hadn’t mentioned: the speed of the rise mattered too. Stronger talent meant faster ascension.

At this sluggish pace, Jack’s result would barely clear the line—enough to learn magic, but a decade behind peers. His potential would be limited.

Just as Muse predicted, the liquid stopped the moment it crossed her mark.

"Yes! I can learn magic!" Jack cheered, jumping up and down like a kid.

*Is he really this easily satisfied?* Muse thought dismissively. *Well… for a refugee, maybe it is a big deal.*

Jack didn’t care what she thought.

"Finally! I’ve always wanted to try magic. Do spells here need super cringy chants? Seriously—chanting like that at my age? My face is burning just imagining it. But hey, at least I’ll have something over Albert! Lately, every Hero’s a physical-type brute. I thought I’d be one too—scared the crap out of me. What’s a fantasy world without magic, right?"

He kept bouncing, lost in his rambling thoughts.