While swinging her sword of light, Stella made this protest. A release of magic power that could be seen by the naked eye, and then movements that couldn't? Such things weren't caused just by doubling physical attributes. Even if she was only talking about physical power, Ikki's had surely jumped more than ten-fold.

Ikki, still moving around like a windstorm while dodging Stella's sword, gave a small and boastful laugh at what she was pointing out.

"That's true, but I'm not using my ability the normal way. Instead, I'm using it at full power."

"Huh!? There's no way you would improve like this just because of enthusiasm!"

"No… I wasn't talking about enthusiasm, but the literal meaning."

"Eh…?"

"I've been thinking about this for a long time. Let's say you were to sprint a hundred meters after saying that you'll do it at full power. Even if you did as you intended, you'll still have spare energy afterward. I thought that was strange. If you really ran while using all of your strength, shouldn't it be weird to even stay conscious afterwards?"

How could that happen? The answer was because humans are alive, and living creatures instinctively want to preserve their lives, their instincts give top priority to survival. No matter how much a person pledges to use his full strength, his subconscious would never allow it. Even if he expends all energy, some amount would still remain so that his body continues to function. This limitation was hardwired into living biology.

Because of that limitation, humans didn't normally use even half of their stamina, strength, or magic power. It was an absolute rule.

But what if someone could break that absolute rule? What if someone, using willpower alone, could remove the limiter that keeps him from exerting his full strength?

"You… you don't mean―!"

"Yes. My magic power hasn't increased. I'm just tapping into power I couldn't before, after willfully exceeding my limitations."