"Only 11 for charisma? What's a secondary attribute?" He asked and tapped the word.

"And what does Charisma do?" Leon tapped the word.

"Alright. So 11 is bad." Leon looked at how shabby he was and smelled himself before realizing that the score did him justice.

"So this Philanderer's Stone can do…" Leon looked at his hand to see the stone he carried only to find it gone.

"Okay. Where did it…" He started looking around himself frantically until he noticed a pink glare when some light fell on the back of his left hand.

The words became stuck in his mouth until he finally uttered, "Motherfucker!"

Here it was, the Pink Gem, exactly the same unique material, lying on the back of the Ring of Horus.

How so?

Leon can swear that this gem was at the size of a date fruit or a small lemon but what he saw was even smaller than a grain of rice. On the back of the serpent-shaped ring were a few distinctive golden scales that looked like some fancy decorations. A few of them are now the exact same pink as the Philanderer's Stone gem.

"So… the ring eats the Gem, understandable… it is a shame that this cool gem power is lost now." Leon said with a disheartened face.

If he was right, Prince Edward must have used that ring to build himself a Harem. It was like this childish monster-hunting game but instead of gathering cute monsters with balls, the Prince used to gather cute girls with a gem.

"I wouldn't stoop that low anyway." Leon had to embrace the virgin within even though he vowed to get rid of it as soon as it is humanly possible.

But that Charisma thing looked tasty though. Maybe instead of using an item to read girls, he would just build his own charisma to be a dashing rogue or a handsome playboy.

Leon posed once and twice as his imagination ran wild only to…

*Tear*

… to get his clothes cut.

"Hmmm…" He narrowed his eyes, "Hold that thought."

Immediately, Leon got out all the clothes he had on him and chose a few sets but as an average guy in his past life, he wore what was available on the shelf by mixing dark colors and making it all work somehow. Now he had a lot of clothing from the ones he took from Leon's closet the day he escaped the Academy.

"Jessica, can you help me with something?"

"What?"

"Which to put with which."

As soon as she walked over supporting herself on the table, she looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

"You're seeing some girl tonight?"

"No, I am meeting those revolutionary guys and as said, my charisma needs to be at its peak to be more… persuasive."

"They are a bunch of beggars and factory workers, you know."

"Just help a brother out." He nagged.

"Fine. Black vest, white shirt, those trousers. And wear that long coat. Looks fancy."

He has no fashion sense for this world and he didn't want to dress edgily so he took what Jessica recommended and intended to wear it someplace else.

Once he put it on, he checked the system again.

"Seriously?" He looked at it taken aback.

As he returned to Jessica, he found her with a bowl of clean water. She signaled for him to come closer and rinsed her hands before starting to comb his hair with her fingers.

"You need an actual comb next time. Your hair has become longer those past couple of months." She said and as soon as she was done…

Now with a striking 20 at his charisma, he felt like a refreshed man.

"Here you go. Now you look less like a vagrant and more like a normal person." She said.

"I don't know what I would have done without you."

"I owe you, Leo." She said, "It feels weird but if you decide to stay with us, that if we survive the night, I'll teach you some good bartender skills."

Somehow, Jessica seemed more of a good person than the bitch persona she always carried around.

"Well, as soon as I get rid of Ruth. I'll go my own way in the world." He replied nonchalantly.

At that moment, this buzzing sensation came from the ring as if a heart was racing then suddenly slowed down. Leon felt that oddity and it reminded him of the function in that Philanderer's Stone.

"Don't tell me?" He suddenly looked at the ring then turned his head to Jessica, "Read!"

——————————

[ Jessica ]

- Affinity: ♥♥

- Mood: Worry, Disheartened

- Likes: Teasing, Money, Food

- Dislikes: Rough Play

——————————

"Son of a bitch!" Leon immediately swore in his heart.

So that's what the System Upgrade was all about.

That's… an exact replica of the game system. The affinity bar, the mood, the likes, and dislikes.

This is… completely broken… and utterly dangerous. If he was right, the maximum of those hearts are Five hearts and Jessica already has two. If understood based on how it was explained in the game, two hearts mean something like likability which is after showing interest and before becoming an actual admirer or something.

"So you like me?" Leon asked.

"We're not having sex even if you pay." Jessica replied.

"What? Pffft! Me? No! No way." Leon looked away but he could barely conceal that look on his face.

It was still a nice discovery. He has a charisma indicator and that dating sim system from the game. As he knows what sort of power that Prince wielded in the game with that thing, he surely knows all the strong points the dating sim system gives him but whether or not he uses it on every girl he sees is something that depends on his morals.

"Thanks for the help, Jess." He said.

She nodded and rested her back on the table.

"Where did you get these clothes from?"

"Just popped a few crates open." He winked, "You'll find all sorts of stolen stuff here."

"Touché!"

Leon managed to slip away now that Jessica was feeling better and went to see Zal who was still painting.

"You finished?" Leon asked.

"What do you think?" Zal replied showing Leon his work.

Leon looked at the painting holding his breath. When he saw Zal's work, he let it out slowly.

"As I expected, you really nailed the details that already exist. The missing part is still hard to pull off."

"Before we gave the painting to that damn Bull, I tried to figure out the details of the serpent's head but it was profoundly impossible. If I can't see the actual picture, I need to witness the real monster which was seen in the painting. That's as far as my skill goes."

"I see." Leon nodded.

"I have some sketches of the details here but I lack the original outlook."

Zal then presented a notebook to Leon which had a lot of rough sketches on how the serpent head looked.

"You had something like that?" Leon asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't draw before having a sketch to try some techniques on before applying them. I had those sketches from the first attempt." Zal replied.

Leon finally managed to feel some hope in this situation.

"Give me a second with that, will you?"

"O… of course, sir."

Zal has managed to capture many of the details in his sketch but both Leon and Zal were aware that this won't work unless they get it perfectly right to the point where it can fool anyone.

Leon focused on the notebook and then cast his favorite spell.

"Read!"

"No not like that." Leon felt distressed that the reading wasn't working the way he hoped and thus he put his hands on the drawing itself and once again.

"Read!"

He was certainly not able to read the sketch because he doesn't have any skill in sketching. Infuriatingly annoying.

The Read spell only works on things he understands but at that time, an idea came to Leon. For the first time, Leon thought about guiding his own Mana and remaking the Concept of his spell.

The concept of Reading is both analyzing through accessing the Records of the System or analyzing the written texts. In order to force a new concept upon it, Leon had manually override the automatic input detecting function of the magic. In other words, he has to do the Reading himself and let the spell analyze it through the System Records.

He had to somehow guide his Mana.

Mana Guiding, or in other words Mana Circulation, is a skill of using Magic that Leon wasn't particularly aware of since it is a basic method of using Mana rather than somatically stimulating it.

Most Mages would prefer using Circulation and Concentration casting over Somatic for the advantage of formulating more complicated spells. While Somatic casting was good for casting rapid spells, it had the disadvantage of choosing both the right moves and having enough physical ability and stamina to pull it off. Circulation casting is the opposite as it would take time but it would formulate the Mana faster.

Leon only knew about Somatic casting since it was the only thing he saw since his reincarnation. He wondered how the other Mages would use Magic without moving around like crazy as he does but now he was catching up to one of the missing basics.

Inner Movement. That's what Circulating is.

Moving the body is faster than moving the Mana inside the body but the movements of the body have more restrictions when it comes to Mana control. If he moved the Mana from inside, it would surely move easier but would take much time.

"Focus!"

Imagine that Mana is a Liquid and the Body is a vessel for that liquid. Shaking the vessel would shake the liquid uncontrollably, that's how the Somatic works. Putting a spoon inside the vessel and stirring the liquid would move it according to the movements of the spoon, that's Circulating.

Leon finally arrived at a great epiphany in his Magic. Something which he severely lacked.

Still, the question stands. What is Leon's spoon? In other words, what is the method to stir the Mana inside more efficiently?

Of course Will and Imagination. That's how Magic works. Leon knew that from the start but there got to be more.

There was that thing which Leon saw the Mages do when he fought them on different occasions. Muttering words.

Each time a Mage would cast a spell, he would start muttering in some low tone as if it was a secret nobody else should hear. Something like a secret prayer or a sutra maybe?

No, words that wound increase the focus must be precise. Must be something like commands.

"I see."

And here it was.

"Mana, stir, move, spiral, fill, overflow, form, spread, trace, follow, draw…" And for the last magic word, "Read!"

On his own, Leon managed to understand a very fundamental technique about Magic casting which he can't find in an advanced book such as the Arcane Theory.

His accuracy and talent covered all the shortcomings of the Somatic casting he was used to. Now, he is using the complicated Verbal casting without even being mentored.

The spread of Mana was successful and the feedback given by the Knowledge Magic was on a whole new level. Leon could feel his head spin as the information he was supplied was the insight of an artist over an artistic work. While Zal being the one who recorded those insights, Leon now has an outlook that is similar to his.

Leon closed the notebook afterward and headed towards the original paintings then did the same.

"Read!"

He then touched the painting, circulated the Mana, and recited the words. Things became way more interesting this way. Leon was now reading the remains of one of the finest works of art and fully capturing the remaining details from the insight of the artist himself.

It was wonderful, it was terrifying.

A man standing alone in the prow of a leaping ship in the middle of a raging ocean and from the darkness of the sea rises a figure of scales and venom suffocating the very storm.

The ocean dances with the movements of the gargantuan body of the serpent and the ship bounces high for the man to feel the deepest of despair but from within that he pulls the power of the storm and it rages with us power reaching the apex and strikes the snake.

The storm wasn't the enemy, it was the Magic and its lightning was the man's spell. The Serpent came from the sea and the Man fought that monster for an eternity. If one of them would fall, the painting shall break apart thus they must fight forever.

"ZAL!" Leon shouted.

As the artist heard the thief, he rushed to him but the thief held the artist by the head.

"Flow, Channel, Link, Thought, Sight, Mind, Touch, Share…" And for the final word, "Write."