Faced with Iris's questions, Leon already had an answer prepared.
"Well, I have two classes. My mana cap can be higher—doesn't that seem perfectly normal?"
"But your mana is almost at an ordinary third-tier level," Iris said.
"You're forgetting my second class is an astrologer," Leon replied. "That's a class that focuses on boosting mana while giving up growth in other attributes."
This, of course, was a lie.
Even though Iris's affection had reached 50%, their reliability as teammates still needed time and friction to truly settle.
Leon wasn't about to reveal his full hand from the start.
If necessary, he could also use Trust Aura to strengthen the impact of his lies.
But this was just casual conversation—there was no need yet.
Leon wasn't at the point of needing skills just to make everyday lies believable.
"But your casting speed… how did you make it so—"
"Iris," Grani cut in with a smile, stopping Iris from pressing further. "Some things involve personal secrets. Even if you're Leon's friend, you should still respect boundaries."
Then Grani turned to Leon and offered an elegant apology.
"Sorry, Leon. Iris is still rather young—she doesn't understand these things."
"No, it's fine," Leon said. "Honestly, it's not really a secret. It's mostly just practice. Do something enough times, and it becomes instinct."
Leon didn't mind revealing the reason his casting speed was fast.
If anything, once his reputation spread, plenty of people would covet his techniques.
So it was better to mention part of the truth first, so they'd feel discouraged.
"As you can see, since I come from a quasi-baron family, I lacked the money to buy the item needed to advance to second tier. So I could only drill deep into spellcasting itself while I waited to save up—or to find the right item in a dungeon. Fortunately, I've almost saved enough recently."
That was also a lie.
The truth was that Leon already had a target in mind for his advancement item. And only by obtaining that specific item would his tier breakthrough yield the maximum possible gain.
Hearing him bring up money, Iris grew thoughtful. Was he bringing up funding on purpose because he sensed her suspicion?
Then I need to act more normal, Iris told herself.
Leon continued:
"Being short on money forced me to pour everything into practicing magic, and gradually I discovered the secret to high-speed casting: enough repetition, and enough imagery training. As long as you do those two things, anyone can achieve chantless magic and rapid casting at low tiers."
Another lie.
In reality, after awakening his past-life game memories, Leon already knew those were the two most critical pillars.
What he lacked were only certain details and small directional adjustments.
In Leon's previous world, there was the so-called "ten-thousand-hour rule."
Magic worked the same way.
The only difference was that if you trained in the wrong direction, you'd waste enormous effort.
And since results often didn't show early on, many people simply gave up.
Leon, however, used his game experience—plus his experimentation after awakening—to find the most efficient way to raise proficiency.
First, through comparing the game to the real world, he confirmed the correct training direction. He also believed, with certainty, that if he kept going, he would get results—so he could persist.
Most people lacked the confidence to keep grinding without proof it would pay off.
Second was imagery training.
After he learned real magic from the spellbooks available to a quasi-baron's household, he began training his mental imagery.
Leon discovered that the more precise the imagery, the more mana it saved—and the faster the casting became.
So his training expanded into two additional themes: precision and speed.
For example, he used simple sketching and meditation construction exercises, repeatedly pushing himself to build mental imagery faster.
After many attempts, he also found that imagining the physical and chemical reactions behind phenomena produced the most pronounced magical effects.
Combining these insights, he mastered the four standard elements and quickly pushed them to chantless casting.
And because he reached chantless casting in four elements so quickly, the core skill he gained upon becoming a Mage was the extremely rare High-Speed Mana Recovery.
After taking the Mage class, that core skill gave him the conditions to practice even more beginner spells.
He worked hard to visualize the physical and chemical "reaction" imagery behind them—until those spell images could be invoked instantly.
The process sounded simple, but it took him five years.
And along the way, he also trained for his second class, Phantom Walker—practicing the related spells and combat techniques, and conditioning his body.
Of course, Leon genuinely enjoyed it.
Compared to the poverty of a quasi-baron's family—and all the trouble of being targeted by old noblewomen for his looks—training magic was pure happiness.
At that moment, Leon couldn't help recalling those days of relentless practice, and a nostalgic expression surfaced on his face.
Both elves caught that expression and felt something stir.
Especially Iris. She had seen Leon's speed with her own eyes, and had already guessed he must have endured brutally harsh training to reach that level.
Now, hearing Leon explain it so casually—paired with that wistful look—she immediately imagined the scenes: Leon, from an ordinary background, grinding desperately under the puzzled stares of others.
For a moment, she even felt a sense of resonance.
Day after day, burying yourself in training you don't even know will pay off—how many hardships would you have to overcome?
Iris thought: Suspicious or not, that effort can't be faked. It deserves respect. And… maybe I should just pretend I already trust him, earn his trust first, then pry out the truth later?
[Iris Affection +5%. Current Affection: 55%]
Huh?
Leon noticed the update and his heart twitched.
What—he'd just rambled some vague "secrets," and her affection went up?
Weren't A-rank characters supposed to be hard to win over?
Just then, Iris spoke:
"Leon… when I first met you, I thought you were good at lying—a womanizer. But now that I've seen your incredible casting speed, it means you probably never had time to waste on girls in the first place."
Leon was speechless. Translated, wasn't that basically: Your hands are that fast, you must be single?
You're not wrong, Iris. I am good at lying.
But I'm definitely not a womanizer.
Thankfully, Bisce had been sent out to scout—otherwise she would absolutely be mocking him right now.
"I'm sorry," Iris said. "Because of those biases, I treated you badly before. Please forgive me."
Iris thought to herself: I really lost my mind—actually apologizing to a human just to confirm whether he lied to me. Still, the chance he's a womanizer does seem lower… but I can't rule out ulterior motives. Humans coveting pure-blood elves isn't rare. He could be a wolf in human skin, with a very convincing mask.
Leon caught the faint mistrust hidden in Iris's eyes, but he wasn't surprised. If Iris were fooled that easily, he'd be more worried.
Now it was his turn to perform.
"It doesn't really matter whether I forgive you or not—after all, you didn't know me before," Leon said smoothly. "But since you're joining my party, let me give you a joining benefit. Regarding what you ran into last night… I can divine it for you."
Iris's expression instantly turned serious.