The correct parsing of 無類 In this sentence

Question

So I'm having a friendly debate with someone over the correct parsing of this sentence:

隆之介のような無類のライトレベルを操る才覚なく

Namely the way 無類 is affecting it.

I'm of the opinion that the correct way to parse this is:

He doesn't have the quick wits to handle unmatched light levels like Ryunosuke can. (I.e. Ryunosuke's light levels are unmatched)

But my buddy thinks it would be more accurate to say:

He doesn't have the quick wits to handle light levels in an unmatched way like Ryunosuke can. (I.e. Ryunosuke's handling of light levels is unmatched)

I felt confident in my version but I'm seriously second guessing myself now. If someone could break it down I'd be grateful!

Answer 1

Basically, this is purely context-dependent. What's the previous context? "Ryunosuke has an exceptional talent?" Or are they talking about varying strengths of light levels and "Ryunosuke has a talent of handling even strong light levels?"

That said, I tend to think 無類の modifies 才覚 unless the context is clearly about the varying strength of light levels. That is, the phrase probably means "He doesn't have an unmatched talent of handling light levels like that of Ryunosuke".