Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

[lordanl]

In the midst of a tranquil, crystal-clear, light blue ocean, an isolated island could be seen. The island possessed an overwhelming beauty, almost like a priceless jewel hidden in the vastness of the sea, with its edges adorned by almost translucent white beaches, creating a beautiful contrast with the bluish waters of the ocean.

Following the beautiful white beaches was a lush forest and mountains filled with immense, leafy trees that shaded the ground with their large emerald green leaves.

The tranquility of the beautiful island, which seemed frozen in time, was disturbed by a small boy lying unconscious on the white grains of sand that formed the beach. The boy's jet-black hair seemed to shimmer with dark blue highlights when the sun touched it, standing out against his tanned skin, a result of long hours of work under the scorching sun.

Moreover, the boy's clothing was nothing more than a simple shirt and linen pants, which were wet and torn in several places, offering little protection for his small body. Through the holes, the true color of his skin could be seen, so pale it seemed to blend in with the color of the beach.

Time passed, with the waves of the sea crashing against the beautiful beach, but the boy's peaceful rest was suddenly interrupted when he opened his eyes abruptly and sat up in one swift motion.

Sitting on the sand, the boy started looking around, confused, and trying to understand his situation, only to end up even more bewildered by what he saw.

(Where am I? But more importantly... Who am I?)

The boy seemed to calm down a bit after noticing no danger around him, and without moving from his position, he closed his eyes while deeply reflecting and searching his memories in an attempt to understand his strange situation.

(Huh?!!!)

After several minutes, the boy opened his eyes in surprise, jumped up, and started walking in circles on the beach with his left arm on his abdomen, holding his right arm by the elbow, and his right hand on his chin.

(Have I gone crazy?)

The boy's existential crisis arose because he found something strange in his memories. He had two sets of memories. One belonged to a man with black hair and blue eyes who lived in a relatively peaceful and clean place, full of incredibly tall, square buildings and all kinds of very useful 'technological' devices.

Meanwhile, the second set of memories belonged to a boy with black hair and green eyes who lived in a very different place. This place was dirty and deadly, compared to that of the blue-eyed man.

In that place, death lurked around every corner, with diseases and bandits seeking to take advantage of others being the main threats. Additionally, the buildings were very different, consisting of small 'houses' made of wood, wattle and daub, or stone, and there was nothing remotely similar to those 'technological' devices, which were so common and practically a necessity in the blue-eyed man's world.

(Did I reincarnate? There were various religions and cultures that talked about reincarnation, so that's also a possibility, but that's not important for now...)

The boy approached the seawater, crouched down, and looked at his reflection, where he could see his sparkling green eyes that shone with the brilliance of the purest emerald, with the color deepening towards the center, flowing from a light green at the edge to an almost hypnotic forest green around the pupil.

(So I am the one with the green eyes. We were really attacked by a giant squid... Seriously, what was that thing? It was at least 50 meters long; it was a damn kraken... But that's not important. What's important is how to survive in this place...)

The boy looked behind him, where an imposing forest stood, and continued his thoughts.

(Going into that forest is a bad idea; I'm sure I wouldn't last a day if there are predators inside. I also don't have any weapons or equipment, so the only thing left is to put the old man's teachings into practice.)

With a plan in mind, the boy started walking along the beach until he found several bamboo stalks of different sizes. He crouched down and picked up one that was approximately 1 meter long and about 3 cm wide.

After taking the bamboo, the boy tried to break it with his hands and then hit it against the sand a couple of times, ensuring it was sturdy enough.

Using the bamboo as a sort of walking stick, the boy continued along the beach until he found a bed of rocks, far enough from both the sea and the forest. There, he planted his 'staff.'

After ensuring the bamboo was firmly in place, he returned for the other bamboo stalks, maintaining a steady pace to conserve his energy while keeping an eye on the forest, alert for any predators that might emerge.

...

Sometime later, the rock bed had several bamboo stalks and logs of different sizes, along with a few palm leaves and several coconuts he had gathered from small palm trees along the way.

Feeling a bit tired, the boy used the large stones around to open one of the coconuts, drinking the water and eating the coconut meat. Using one of the palm leaves, he made a makeshift parasol and lay down to rest, trying to regain his strength.

After a while, the boy got up and took one of the logs he had brought, about 20 centimeters thick and 60 centimeters long, using it as an improvised hammer to drive bamboo and logs into the ground, forming a small triangular hut.

With the skeletal base ready, the boy secured the logs and bamboo using fibers from the palm leaves and then tied long, thin rods to the sides of the triangular hut, covering them with palm leaves and tying them down with more fibers.

"Well, this should serve as a shelter. It's quite flimsy, but it should do the trick for tonight. Now comes the hard part, making a fire."

With his next task decided, the boy began collecting different stones, examining them before discarding them. Occasionally, he struck a pair of stones together a few times before discarding them and searching for others.

After some time of this repetitive activity, the boy suddenly smiled, focusing on one of the stones in his hand. He dropped the other and retrieved a stone he had tested earlier from the only functioning pocket of his torn pants.

With both stones in hand, the boy approached one of the large rocks near his shelter and started striking the stones against each other, shaping one of them. After a while, he ended up with a sharp stone about the size of his palm.

With the sharp stone in hand, the boy approached a dry log near the forest, remaining fully alert. He used the stone to strip a piece of bark from the log and quickly returned to his shelter, keeping an eye on the forest the entire time.

Among the coconuts the boy had collected were some dry, yellow ones. He used the stones to open these and shredded the dry husk with his hands.

Using the sharp stone, the boy made a hole in the bark and placed some of the shredded coconut husk in it. Then, he took a small stick, which he peeled with the sharp stone to remove any protrusions that might hurt him, and sharpened it to a point.

Placing the sharp end of the stick in the hole in the bark, the boy began to spin the stick rapidly using both hands. After a while, he stopped and looked at the sky, which was starting to darken.

"This isn't working, and it's getting dark. I need to try something else..."

After saying that, the boy approached the forest with the sharp stone in his hand. Without daring to venture too far, he found a vine on a tree and cut it with the stone, then ran back to his shelter with it. He stood still for a while, watching the forest intently.

Once he was sure nothing was coming out, he sighed in relief and proceeded to cut the vine into strips with the sharp stone. He twisted the strips together, creating a small, thin rope, which he used along with a small stick to make a bow, tying the ends of the stick with the twisted rope.

After that, the boy wrapped the rope around the stick he had sharpened earlier, positioning the bow horizontally and the sharpened stick vertically. He placed the pointed end in the hole in the bark, using a palm-sized shell he found nearby to support the other end.

With everything ready, the boy began moving the bow horizontally, making the vertical stick spin rapidly. After a while, smoke began to rise from the hole in the dry bark.

Seeing the smoke, the boy immediately stopped his actions and carefully blew on the smoldering coconut husk, using his hands as a cover. Small flames soon emerged from the hole, prompting him to quickly place several dry sticks and branches over the bark, ensuring air could get in.

"Finally, fire! Now I can finally say goodbye to these pesky mosquitoes."

By the time night fell, the only light preventing the boy from being in total darkness was the campfire he had managed to create. The fire also helped drive away the mosquitoes that had been bothering him, granting him some much-needed peace.

After stretching a bit, the boy sat in the sand in front of the fire and began weaving a makeshift mat from a couple of palm leaves. He then placed the mat in his small hut and lay down on it.

With a tired sigh, the boy closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. He kept the sharp stone close by, knowing that, although it wouldn't be the most effective weapon if a predator attacked, it was better than nothing.

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[lordanl]

The next day, the boy awoke with the first rays of morning sun and quickly exited his hut to look around. Seeing nothing unusual, he took one of the coconuts he had stored in the hut and peeled it, then used the sharp stone to make a hole and drank about half of it. He firmly placed the coconut back in the sand inside the hut to prevent it from tipping over and spilling.

After storing the coconut for later, the boy continued what he had been doing the previous day, striking stones together while setting aside a small pile of rocks of various sizes.

"Who would have thought that what the old man taught me would actually come in handy?"

The old man the boy referred to was an elderly person who, along with his wife, had taken in the blue-eyed man from his memories when he was a small child. The old man was a retired veteran who lived in the countryside and was passionate about hunting and survival, something he attributed to his long military career. It was common for him to take the boy on outings in the woods, where he learned various survival skills.

After gathering several of the stones he needed, the boy began sharpening them in different ways, some in the air and others using a stone as support. Although he ruined a few stones, he eventually succeeded, ending up with sharp stones of different shapes, edges, and sizes.

With the stones ready, the boy began making grooves in logs of various shapes and sizes, where he placed the newly sharpened stones, securing them firmly in place with cords he braided from what remained of the vine from the previous day. He ended up with a few axes, spears, and a couple of short stone knives.

After gathering all his new tools, the boy returned to his hut and stored them, burying the sharp edges in the sand to avoid any accidents. In his precarious situation, where the lack of antibiotics and similar treatments could mean a fatal infection, avoiding injury was crucial.

With his first task of the day done, the boy drank the remaining coconut water he had stored and ate the meat. Then, he set out with a spear in hand, keeping a small axe and the two knives in his pants, and headed towards the forest.

Once in the forest, the boy moved cautiously and carefully, always alert for predators. He marked the trees along the way to avoid losing his path. Eventually, he arrived at a small stream of crystal-clear water.

"What good luck, there's a stream quite close to my camp. Now I don't have to worry about water."

The boy smiled at his words but didn't dare drink from the stream despite its clarity, as he knew it could harbor harmful bacteria. Instead, he returned to camp, gathering a few green bamboo stalks along the way with the help of the small axe he had brought.

Once back at camp, the boy began cutting and splitting the bamboo into thin strips, quickly weaving them to create a basket, ensuring the joints were as tight as possible.

After finishing the basket, the boy tested it by placing some stones inside and lifting them, making sure it could bear the weight.

"Wow, it looks terrible, hahaha. How long has it been since I made one of these? Maybe 30 years... Anyway, at least it works. My grandma's teachings are always the most useful, hehe."

After completing the basket, the boy tied a couple of cords to the sides, creating handles so he could carry it on his back. Setting the basket aside, he quickly began cutting a few more bamboo stalks at their joints and used his stone tools to create a couple of canteens. He also tied cords to the canteens to hang them on his body.

After drinking the water from another coconut, the boy strapped on the basket and the canteens, and returned to the stream in the forest, following the marks he had left on the trees with his spear. Back at the stream, he filled his canteens with water and proceeded to collect clay from the banks, which he kneaded with stream water into a large ball. Then he placed the clay in his basket and returned to his camp.

While heading back to his camp, the boy noticed what appeared to be a rabbit in the distance, bringing a smile to his face. He quickly set his things down in a relatively safe spot and picked up two stones, holding one in each hand.

After tossing and catching the stone in his right hand a couple of times, the boy took some aim and threw the rock forcefully at the rabbit, hitting it on the head on his first attempt. Without wasting any time, he quickly dropped the second stone, grabbed his spear, and ran towards the rabbit in the distance.

"Still got my good aim, hehe."

The boy quickly picked up the rabbit from the ground and twisted its neck, making sure it was dead, then gathered his things from where he had left them, placing the rabbit in his basket along with the clay. After returning to his camp, he unloaded everything and took the rabbit, a couple of woven cords, and some sticks to a secluded spot where he carefully skinned the rabbit.

Once he had completely skinned the rabbit, the boy found a good place to bury the intestines and started a new fire where he smoked the meat. He stretched the rabbit's skin with the sticks and left it to dry in the sun, though he didn't have high hopes for it.

While the meat smoked, the boy took one of the canteens, some ash from the previous day's fire, and the basket of clay, and walked to a flat rock. There, he moistened the clay with the canteen water and, after mixing it with the ash, began kneading the clay as if it were playdough.

With the clay, the boy quickly made several long strips and a flat circular base, around which he coiled the strips to form a pot. Once the basic shape of the pot was ready, he smoothed it with some water, ensuring it was perfectly smooth and had no holes.

The boy repeated the process several times, managing to create several pots of various sizes along with their respective lids, which he made with more clay. Then he left them to dry in the sun on a rock. Feeling a bit hungry, the boy peeled a coconut, drank its water, and ate some rabbit meat, which was ready, though it tasted quite plain without salt.

In the following days, the boy continued living in the same manner. He would wake up in the mornings with the first rays of sun, peel a coconut, drink its water and eat the meat, and then go into the forest armed with an axe, a spear, and his knives, where he hunted some rabbits or small, black-feathered birds that resembled chickens but were much smaller, which he found on the outskirts of the forest. However, to his disappointment, he eventually had to throw away the skin of the first rabbit because it had rotted.

A bit tired of eating the same thing, the boy also made an improvised harpoon from bamboo, which allowed him to catch some fish in the sea. This not only added variety to his daily menu but also to his monotonous routine.

Several days later, the clay pots he had left to dry were ready for firing, so he gathered a good amount of firewood from the forest and made a fire large enough to cook more than one pot at a time.

Of all the pots the boy created, only four survived the firing process. It seemed they weren't dry enough and ended up breaking, but he still had what he needed. He quickly filled one of the pots with seawater and set it to boil over a fire, while he filled two other pots with stream water, which he also set to boil.

About 15 minutes later, the boy removed the pots with stream water from the fires and, for the first time in days, was able to drink water that wasn't from a coconut, making it seem like the most delicious water he had tasted in a long time.

On the other hand, the boy left the pot with the boiling seawater until it had completely evaporated, leaving a sandy, whitish residue at the bottom. He carefully scraped this with a stick and stored it in one of the canteens he had made from dry bamboo.

"Finally! Salt! Hahaha, now there's just one more thing to do!"

After exclaiming in excitement, the boy quickly stored everything in his shelter and almost ran into the forest, where he hunted a rabbit and a small bird. He then hurried back, where he proceeded to skin the rabbit and pluck the bird. Afterward, he applied some salt to the meat and grilled it using a flat rock as an improvised griddle.

"This is delicious!"

With a happy expression, the boy exclaimed in delight, then continued to devour the meat voraciously, absolutely thrilled with his small achievement.

"Phew, what a great meal, this is the life..." The boy commented with one hand on his stomach and a satisfied smile on his face, but he quickly stood up and continued, "but now, back to work."

Having finished eating, the boy set the leftover meat to smoke. Meanwhile, he began scraping the rabbit skin carefully until it was very clean, making sure to remove all the fat and meat. He then carefully salted it, ensuring the entire inner part of the skin was covered with a thick and consistent layer of salt.

After this, the boy used a frame he had made from bamboo strips to stretch the skin and set it to dry in the shade under an overhang of rock, covering it with more rocks to prevent any animals from approaching, while ensuring that air could still flow in and out.

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[lordanl]

After finishing packing up his things, the boy, having ensured his basic survival needs, returned to his small hut. In there, he lay down on the woven mat and began to sift through his memories, trying to make sense of them and organizing them into two separate timelines.

"There's something that's been bothering me a bit. There's something strange in the green-eyed boy's memories or well, my memories..." the boy muttered softly to himself, his youthful face full of confusion.

The memories he was referring to involved an incredibly vivid image in his mind. It was of a large, muscular man with blond hair, around 40 years old, dressed in bright, intricately decorated plate armor. This man was lifting a boulder that seemed to be about 10 meters in diameter, managing to clear a blocked path caused by a landslide.

"That stone must have weighed at least 100 tons, maybe even 10 times that. But how is something like that possible? Such a feat defies the physical laws of the blue-eyed man's memories. Am I remembering wrong? Are the blue-eyed man's or the green-eyed boy's memories incorrect?...

So far, the blue-eyed man's memories, which I'll call my past life for convenience, have been extremely useful for survival. Moreover, my body and abilities, while a bit stronger for someone my age, still fall within the understanding of his memories. On the other hand, a human lifting 100 tons by himself is unheard of..."

The boy continued pondering, carefully studying the memories from the few years of his 'new life', trying to retrieve all the fragments related to that knight or any other supernatural elements he could find.

"So, they're called imperial knights... According to some random rumors 'I heard', these are sacred warriors who use the essence of the gods to become invincible demigods. But once, the old blacksmith mentioned that they were simply cultivators using 'spiritual energy' to strengthen themselves, a kind of magical energy that filled the universe...

'Spiritual energy' or also called 'chi,' right? There's something similar in the memories of my past life. When I was in high school, I learned some Tai Chi because it was free for students, and in those classes, they talked a lot about chi, the energy of the universe, the macrocosm, the microcosm, and so on. The question is, are they related?... Here, there seems to be something similar... It wouldn't hurt to try..."

With that thought in mind, the boy quickly left his hut and started performing the basic Tai Chi exercises he remembered on the beach, simultaneously trying to focus on any unusual sensations in his body.

After about thirty minutes of nonstop exercises, to his absolute surprise, he suddenly felt a warm and pleasant sensation below his navel, which made him stop his movements.

"Is that chi?!!! It feels strangely pleasant and comforting, but is it real or just an illusion?... Hard to say, maybe I'm just hungry and being on this island is making me have bodily illusions. For now, let's eat, and I'll try again later."

Not feeling like cooking his meat, the boy quickly peeled a coconut and ate a good portion while staring at the sea, his gaze lost as if struggling to accept something beyond his understanding.

Time passed slowly, accompanied by the sound of the waves in the background and the occasional sound of bites, but the strange thing was that the warm sensation below his navel didn't disappear. On the contrary, the more time passed, the clearer and more evident it became, making it impossible to ignore.

"Could it be real? Does 'chi' really exist? But there was nothing like this in the memories of my past life... Sigh Well, it's not like I have anything else to do, so I might as well try more things. Maybe try to make it flow through my body while doing the movements? After all, that teacher kept talking about the importance of 'flow' and a bunch of other 'nonsense'."

Filled with mixed feelings, the boy took his basic Tai Chi position again and tried to imagine the warm sensation moving throughout his body. Almost instantly, it started to happen, the warm sensation 'flowed' to every part of his body at a steady pace.

After a few minutes, the boy's entire body felt warm, which somehow made him feel very strong and full of energy. Once he got used to it a bit, the boy started performing the exercise routine he remembered, and as time passed, he closed his eyes and his movements became more fluid, smoother, and much more graceful.

Without realizing it, the boy's mind went blank, performing the movements almost on autopilot. For some reason, this made him feel 'in the zone'. Everything felt incredibly clear, the world around him seemed to slow down, and he felt as if his body was being guided to follow a special 'flow' or rhythm.

With this strange guidance, the boy gradually began to adjust his movements. At some point, though he didn't know how long he had been repeating the same actions, he started to feel a kind of 'glowing points' surrounding him. These points moved slightly in time with his movements, almost as if they were dancing with him.

The boy continued his movements, focusing all his attention on these points, trying to understand them somehow. After who knows how long, he realized that these points had been guiding him from the beginning, even though he hadn't been able to sense them before. Now it seemed they wanted to convey some type of information more directly, which was terribly strange and confusing, but paradoxically, incredibly clear and easy to follow at the same time.

With this sensation in mind, the boy kept executing his movements, noticing that the 'suggestions' from these energy points strengthened when he followed them. They not only became clearer but also contained increasingly more 'information', which was somewhat uncomfortable. Following his instincts, he decided to continue.

Following the new 'suggestions' from the points, the boy began to radically change his movements to the extent that the original Tai Chi movements were barely recognizable. Additionally, the way his 'chi' moved through his body underwent significant changes.

As an unknown amount of time passed, which felt both like an eternity and an instant to the boy, he felt the energy points begin to enter his body, merging with his 'chi' and somehow 'perfecting' the flow he was following. Simultaneously, he started receiving a large amount of 'suggestions', which he quickly followed.

After completing several cycles of his new movements and 'flow' of 'chi', the boy felt the fatigue accumulated from his endless practice vanish, as if his exhaustion had been merely an illusion. He then began to feel a strong sensation of heat throughout his body that seemed to burn him, yet he felt no pain or discomfort.

On the contrary, the intense heat his body was experiencing felt very pleasant, like being in a thermal bath. At the same time, this heat seemed to be 'burning away' enormous shackles that had been on him, so he continued his movements without stopping.

...

...

...

Time passed unceasingly on the beautiful island, bringing rains and storms that eventually erased any evidence of someone having lived there, restoring its pristine, beautiful image.

However, something that not even the worst storm could interrupt was a handsome boy who appeared to be about ten years old, performing movements that seemed part of a martial art. The boy had black hair that resembled a piece of the night sky, adorned with stars and galaxies, standing out against his flawless, porcelain-like white skin.

Despite the boy's beautiful appearance, his 'clothes' told a completely different story, being no more than scraps of dirty fabric hanging carelessly over his small body, leaving him practically naked on the white beaches and at the mercy of the elements.

The boy's movements were not only beautiful but also incredibly diverse. Sometimes he moved with fluid grace, his body 'undulating' to the rhythm of the tides. Then his movements would become firm, moving with unyielding strength, each step and strike resonating with the power of the mountains themselves.

At other times, the boy seemed to dance with the wind, spinning and moving with an almost ethereal agility, his feet landing and lifting off the ground with the softness of a feather. Then, his movements would shift to fast and aggressive, full of sharp kicks and punches imbued with a fierce, burning energy.

But this spectacle, witnessed only by the beautiful island, abruptly came to a halt. The boy breathed softly as he opened his mesmerizing emerald green eyes, filled with a depth and mystery unfathomable for someone so young.

"Wow, I feel so good! I think I've never felt this good in my life, or well, in both my lives. I feel so light, full of energy and strength, hehe, and I'm not even hungry or sleepy despite such intense training," the boy looked at his tattered clothes before continuing, "After all, my clothes are ruined. Good thing I left the rabbit skin to dry, I'd better go get it..."

The boy commented with a cheerful and relaxed voice, not only feeling good physically but even many of his worries had diminished to the point of almost disappearing. He quickly looked behind him to head towards his camp, but there was nothing but white sand.

Confused, the boy began looking around for his camp, but all he could see was the rocky shore, with no trace of his belongings.

"Where are my things?!"

Without wasting time, he ran to the spot where he had left the rabbit skin to dry, but again, found nothing. No matter where he looked, there was no sign that anything had ever been there.

"You've got to be kidding me!!! Where the hell are my things? Is someone else here and took them? But that doesn't make sense. I didn't notice anything, and there's no trace that anything was ever here…"

Annoyed and frustrated, the boy started scanning his surroundings, trying to find any tracks or clues, while pondering a possible explanation for what was happening. Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at his body before exclaiming incredulously.

"Wait... How long have I been 'training'?..."

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[lordanl]

"Wait... How long have I been 'training'?..."

As the question left the boy's lips, everything suddenly started to make sense in his head, so he couldn't help but verbalize his thoughts.

"Have I been 'training' for so long that my things ended up being washed away by the water, erasing all traces? But that doesn't make sense. If that had happened, it would have taken me too. The logs and bamboo were well buried in the sand; it would take considerable force to move them! Besides, I haven't eaten or drunk anything all this time. I should be dead if that were the case..."

Still incredulous, the boy carefully examined his body, quickly noticing something obvious. Not only did he not look like someone who had been fasting for days, but on the contrary, his body looked too healthy, almost to the point of exaggeration.

The muscles on his body were now incredibly defined. Although he had always been slightly muscular thanks to a lifetime of hard work, those were work muscles, not the vanity muscles of a model that now he has.

Moreover, his tan, the result of years of working under the sun and heat, had completely disappeared, leaving his skin so white and flawless that it would shame a baby. To top it off, all the wounds and scars scattered across various parts of his body were gone, even the calluses on his hands had disappeared.

"Great, now I'm a pretty boy. But what a fucking disgrace!!! Even my calluses are gone, damn it! If the old man saw me like this, he'd stomp me into the ground for being a useless, pretty boy who has never touched a shovel in his life... Sigh Good thing no one else is here, or I wouldn't know how to go out in public..."

The boy's face displayed an expression hard to describe, combining amazement, disbelief, and a bit of resentment, as he clenched his right fist. Shortly after, in an attempt to release his frustration, he kicked a nearby rock with his bare heel. Instead of feeling the normal pain that would accompany such an action, the rock broke.

"WHAT?!"

Absolutely astonished, the boy immediately crouched down and picked up one of the pieces of rock, examining it closely and quickly realizing it wasn't brittle.

"This can't be..."

The boy muttered incredulously and quickly approached another rock of similar size, which he punched with his right hand, applying about the same force. Just like the first rock, it also broke.

Amazed, the boy quickly looked at his knuckles, noticing that although there was some damage, there were no traces of blood or anything like that. Still not believing what he was experiencing, he looked around for a stone about a meter in diameter, determined to try something different.

Since he finished his 'training', the boy had noticed something a bit strange. Not only could he feel the warmth beneath his navel with perfect clarity, but it also felt 'hotter' and somehow 'larger'. Although it was difficult to put into words what he was feeling, he had a peculiar idea in mind.

With this strange idea, the boy quickly tried to direct the 'warmth' to his arm, which he managed to do with incredible ease. Before he realized it, he felt the warmth covering his entire arm. Without thinking much, he hit the rock with all his might, causing it to shatter into pieces.

"I'm a damn superman!!!! HAHAHAHA"

Completely lost in his new discovery, the boy spent several hours searching for rocks and destroying them, testing the 'warmth' and his new super strength in various ways, until he suddenly felt hungry and thirsty again. This forced him to look for a small palm tree with some coconuts. But at that moment, inspiration struck him.

"Wait... if I can hit so hard with the 'warmth', or maybe I should call it 'chi', I should also be able to run and jump quite well, right?"

Without further delay, the boy directed his 'chi' to his legs and started running, achieving an astonishing speed, more like a car than a person. This allowed him to cover a great distance in a short time until he stopped in front of a rather tall palm tree.

"Hmmm, considering my strength, I should adjust the amount of force I use to jump..."

After making some speculative mental calculations, the boy increased the amount of 'chi' in his legs and jumped to reach a coconut, easily grabbing it. He quickly pulled it from the palm tree and braced himself for the impact of his landing. Contrary to his expectations, he felt no pain or discomfort despite taking the full impact of his fall without cushioning it in any way.

"Well, now it's more than confirmed, this world is strange. What I just did defies the laws of physics in more ways than one. My body shouldn't be able to release that much force, and the minor damage I sustained from hitting the first rock has already disappeared without a trace."

After checking his body's condition and making sure everything was fine and that the lack of pain wasn't due to a problem with his pain receptors, the boy set about rebuilding his shelter and tools. And thanks to his new strength and speed, he finished in record time.

By the time night fell, the boy had several spears, axes, and stone knives, along with a small bamboo hut near the forest. In an elevated, covered area, he had several clay pots drying, so in a couple of days, he would have properly boiled, potable water again, along with a good amount of salt.

"Well, now I have to worry about clothes."

The boy looked at his outfit, which was nothing more than a loincloth made of leaves and tied with some cords. He had removed his torn rags, which left him naked, and stored them in his hut in case they ever proved useful.

"But I should look for a bigger animal. It would be too cumbersome to make clothes from rabbit pelts. Besides, with my new strength, I should be able to venture deeper into the forest. Maybe I'll find decent prey to hunt, but that's a task for tomorrow. For now, let's weave a mat to sleep on."

After a small yawn, the boy took a couple of palm leaves and began weaving a mat by the campfire he had created earlier, which, thanks to his new strength, he could build in an instant with his bare hands. When he finished, he went to sleep in his little hut, with the sound of the waves and the crackling of the fire in the background.

...

The next day, the boy woke up with the first rays of the sun. After eating a coconut, he took a spear and tied an axe and a couple of knives to his waist with some cords, positioning the blades to avoid accidental cuts, and headed into the forest, venturing deeper than he had ever dared before, marking trees to find his way back.

Although he now had a strength that gave him more confidence to venture into the forest, the boy remained cautious, moving stealthily, looking for signs of predators and possible dangers, until he suddenly saw something that left him stunned.

"You've got to be kidding me..." the boy whispered softly in disbelief.

In the distance, the boy could see a large, healthy deer, something that would normally have delighted him. But the problem was that this deer was far from normal. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, that thing measured at least three meters tall, making it practically a titanic monster compared to his small stature.

(Should I attack? On one hand, its hide looks great and would help me not only make clothes but also create many useful things. But that damn size is intimidating...)

The boy weighed the pros and cons of hunting the deer in his mind, and soon his eyes showed a determined light.

(Now I'm a damn superman. I just need to prepare properly to hunt it, and if everything goes to hell, I can still run away.)

Instead of attacking the deer, the boy retraced his steps until he reached the forest's edge, where he started felling a couple of trees and then looked for materials to make better weapons. The giant deer's hide gave him the feeling that it would be very difficult to cut with his current tools, and his intuition was quite reliable, so he decided to prepare well.

After searching for a while on the forest's periphery, the boy found a robust-looking tree, which looked quite similar to ash, though a bit darker than usual. This put a smile on his face, and he quickly ran toward it.

Taking the axe tied to his waist, the boy set about felling the tree, but when he gave it the first blow, the axe in his hands shattered, leaving him with just a piece of wood, and the worst part was that he couldn't even leave a single mark on the trunk.

"You've got to be kidding me! How hard is this tree? Although, well, if I'm a superhuman, it's not so strange that there are super trees or something like that, but this complicates things a lot..."

While considering his options, the boy made another stone axe with some materials he found nearby and the knives he had brought.

"I really want this tree; it will be great for making handles and other things, but my tools can't even scratch it. Should I improve my tools before trying?... No, wait, my skin didn't get a single mark when I covered it with my 'chi' while breaking the rocks. Could I do the same for the axe?"

The boy immediately tried to do so. Although he didn't manage it well at first, after a few minutes, he got the hang of it and was able to cover the entire axe with 'chi'. Somehow, it started to feel like an extension of his body, a strange sensation. But since 'chi' was something he didn't understand, he ignored it and tried to fell the tree again. And this time, the axe didn't break, and instead, it left a large cut in the trunk.

"It worked!!! Hahaha!!!"

Laughing joyfully, the boy quickly finished felling the tree. He then reattached the axe and knives to his waist and strengthened his body using his 'chi', which allowed him to carry the large trunk easily back to his camp. There, he unloaded it and picked up a basket that he slung over his back, heading back to the stream.

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Once at the stream, the boy began to walk along the shore, picking up some stones from the ground, examining them, and although he threw most of them back, occasionally, some rocks showed green or blue hues or had yellow or golden shines in certain parts, which he put in his basket.

After spending several hours collecting stones, the boy filled the basket on his back completely, so he returned to his hut, where he unloaded everything and went back into the forest. There, he gathered a lot of clay and dry logs, repeating this operation several times and even creating more baskets to speed up the process until he had accumulated a good amount of material.

"Phew, this 'chi' is really amazing; without it, who knows how long it would have taken me to gather so much material."

With all the materials at his disposal, the first thing the boy did was cut the dry logs into pieces of different sizes, making a pile with them in the forest not far from his cabin, with the largest pieces at the bottom and the smallest at the top, which he filled with branches and dry leaves, ensuring that air could pass through the entire pile.

After finishing the woodpile, the boy took the basket again and went to the stream, where he made a large amount of mud, which he brought back to the camp. He then started covering the entire pile of logs with it, remembering to leave ventilation holes, one at the top and several at the base.

"Well, I hope the wood carbonizes well..."

With everything ready, he started a bonfire and used it to ignite the logs underneath the mud through the ventilation hole at the top of the small pile. He waited for all the logs to be properly ignited before sealing all the ventilation holes with the leftover mud. After checking that everything was as it should be, the boy went back to the forest to hunt a couple of rabbits.

....

After feasting on rabbit meat and water, the boy smoked the remaining rabbit meat, salted the skins carefully, and stretched them on bamboo frames to dry in the shade. Even though they were small, they would still be quite useful if he managed to tan them correctly.

Noticing that there were still several hours of daylight left, the boy began to build a clay oven using clayey soil, water, and dry palm leaves, shaping it like a bottle with a wide base and a narrower neck, ending up about 70 cm high.

With the basic shape of the oven ready, he made two holes at the bottom, where he placed two small bamboo sticks that he hollowed out with the help of a rod. At the ends of the small bamboo sticks, he made a small clay base and quickly cut in half a large bamboo he had brought from the forest, about 15 cm in diameter and nearly 2 meters long. Then he hollowed out the two halves with the help of a stick, placed them on the clay bases, and covered them completely.

Next, he took a couple more bamboo sticks about 3 cm thick, hollowed them out as well, and made two clay 'plugs' at their ends. Then, he inserted them into the 'towers' of clay with the bamboo inside that he had made previously, ensuring the 'plugs' left the air entry through the small bamboo clear but prevented the air from escaping through the sides.

After that, he started grinding the rocks he had brought from the stream with the help of a stone he had hardened with 'chi', making the work much easier and resulting in a very fine powder, which he stored in one of the baskets before going to sleep until the next day, as the sun was setting.

…

The next day, after his usual coconut breakfast, the boy began to dismantle the mud mound containing the logs inside, where he found a good amount of charcoal, which made him smile. Wasting no time, he started placing it in the clay oven he had made the day before.

After lighting the charcoal with a small bonfire, he began moving the bamboo sticks protruding from the clay towers to the side, ensuring to uncover the hole at the tip of these when he lifted them and covering them with his thumb when he lowered them. This caused a large amount of air to enter the oven, making the flames grow stronger.

With the oven properly ignited, the boy quickly began adding the powder made from the stream stones, then going back and blowing quickly with the bamboo towers, repeating this operation several times until the fire started to show a ghostly green color.

"Yes!!! I have copper, damn it!!! HAHAHAHA"

The boy continued throwing the rock powder into the oven and blowing while replenishing the charcoal from time to time until he finished all the rock powder. Afterward, he just kept blowing the oven, maintaining a mental calculation of when to stop.

After some time, the boy stopped blowing and, once it cooled a bit, made a hole at the base of the oven with a stick. Using a pair of long tongs he had made from bamboo, he started removing everything inside.

After sprinkling water on the glowing embers and waiting for them to cool, the boy began to pick up several golden metal nuggets from the ground, putting them into a basket until he had collected them all. Then he stored them near his shelter.

"Well, I should cook the clay pots. It's about time…"

After stretching lazily, the boy went for the clay pots he had been drying and cooked them in a large bonfire. Although several broke, a good number survived the firing, so with a satisfied smile, he placed them in a safe spot to cool down before going to sleep.

...

...

...

The next day, the boy set out to tan the rabbit skins that had been drying. He took them to the stream with his spear in hand, washed them thoroughly, ensuring all the salt was removed, and left them to dry in the sun on an improvised clothesline made from some sticks and ropes near his camp.

After that, he hunted a few more rabbits, smoked their meat, and salted their skins. But this time, instead of burying the brains as usual, he put them in a large clay pot he had made and boiled them until they dissolved in the water.

By that time, the skins had dried quite well, so the boy proceeded to apply the brain solution to all the skins, ensuring they were well covered. He then rolled them up and set them to dry near his camp, where he had made a small space for that purpose.

When he finished with the skins, he went to the stream again with his basket, collected more rocks, and repeated the same process to extract copper for several more days until he completely filled the clay pot where he stored the copper nuggets he had obtained.

During those days, obtaining copper was not the only thing he had done; he had also managed to make some shorts from the rabbit skins, a pair of wooden-soled shoes, not the most comfortable in the world, but better than nothing, and a pair of gloves, thanks to being small after all.

Another change was his camp, where now a bamboo cabin stood where his hut used to be. Although not very large, it had space for sleeping and a few places to store food, skins, and other things. He also created a couple of crucibles from clay, ensuring they were thick enough to withstand high temperatures without breaking.

On some wooden logs, the boy began carving different shapes using his stone knife hardened with 'chi.' Although he failed a few times at first, he got the hang of it over time and managed to carve what he needed, ending up with various wooden tools such as machetes, belt buckles, hammers, chisels, axes, knives, shovels, hooks, and some nails of different sizes.

With the wooden carvings ready, the boy started collecting fine sand from the forest, as the beach sand was too coarse. Using a sieve made from a bamboo frame and a fine mesh of plant fibers, he ensured the sand was as fine and uniform as possible.

In a large clay pot filled with the fine sand, the boy used the wooden carvings he had made to 'print' their shapes into the sand, then compacted the sand well with the help of a rock, finishing the sand molds.

After that, the boy proceeded to put the copper nuggets into the crucible until it was half full, then placed it in the lit oven and began blowing it with the bamboo blowers until the copper eventually melted.

On the surface of the molten metal, various impurities could be seen, which he removed with the help of a green bamboo stick, allowing them to cool a bit before reheating the crucible in the oven.

After repeating the process several times, no more impurities could be seen on the surface of the molten metal. The boy quickly carried the crucible to the sand pot and carefully poured the copper into the sand molds he had prepared.

After repeating the entire process several times, the boy ended up with various hammers, axes, small knives, large knives, machetes, chisels, large and small belt buckles, some shovels, and several nails of different sizes.

Using large stones hardened with 'chi', which made him feel like he was working with industrial sandpaper rather than a regular stone, the boy polished and sharpened all his tools until they could easily cut through thick ropes. He then moved on to creating handles from the trunk of a super hard tree, similar to ash, that he had felled in the forest.

With the handles for his tools ready, the boy began fitting them onto each of the tools, securing them with the various nails he had created. He then wrapped them tightly with strips of leather, which were leftover pieces from the rabbit skins he had used to make his clothes and gloves.

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"Finally, I have a good machete, although it would be better if it were made of steel. But well, you have to adapt to the circumstances," the boy said as he started to stroke the back of the machete. It was undoubtedly the best-shaped and most polished tool, making it look beautiful and shiny, besides being deadly sharp. "I really missed having one of these..."

As he spoke those words, the boy gazed at the machete with nostalgia, almost lost in the past. After all, it was a tool filled with memories and emotions, not to mention it was probably the tool he had used the most in his first life.

The old man who took him in during his first life lived on a farm where he grew various crops depending on the season or his interests, including some types of flowers and even raising animals. The first tool he taught the boy to use was the machete; after all, it is the ultimate weapon in the field. It serves for weeding, cutting branches, making fences, herding animals—it's useful for everything.

"Although it's strange to hold a machete without the scars on my hands from when I was little, hahaha. I remember the old man took me out to weed the field because 'I couldn't spend my whole life sewing with Grandma like a sissy', and I almost cut off two fingers with the machete, hahaha. It was really funny seeing the old man running around the farm yelling apologies while Grandma chased him with a stick..."

After getting lost in his memories with a nostalgic smile, the boy shook his head and ran to his bamboo hut, where he pulled out a pair of rabbit skins he had saved especially to make sheaths for his machetes. He measured them, cut, scraped the leather, and then carefully sewed them using the bone needle he had prepared some time ago.

With the sheaths finished, the boy used the remaining leather to make a belt, where he placed the machete sheaths. After inspecting it and feeling satisfied, he took off his pants to make belt loops using leftover pieces of leather.

Once everything was completed, he put his pants back on and adjusted them with the belt, placing the machete sheaths on the left side of his waist. The sheaths looked well-made, with neat and perfectly straight stitches, and several decorative marks made with chisels. The sheaths also had two horizontal straps on each one, which, apart from being decorative, were quite useful as they could be used to tie smaller tools to them.

"Wow, my dear old lady really taught me well how to make clothes and work leather. I really look great..."

After leaving the hut, the boy commented cheerfully as he admired his new look. But the more he looked at the design of the two machete sheaths on his belt, the more melancholy filled his heart, bringing a flood of memories. He could only look up at the sky with sadness.

"Really, what has hurt me the most in both my lives was losing you, grandparents. I hope you had the chance to live again like I did and are eternally happy. Don't worry about me; your teachings and sacrifices were more than enough for me to live a good life, and they even became invaluable in my second life.

Thank you so much for everything and sorry for being able to give you so little. But one thing is for sure, you are the only ones I will love no matter how much time passes or how many lives I live. You were undoubtedly the best parents I could have had and the greatest stroke of luck I ever had."

Lost in an infinity of memories belonging to his first life—the only truly happy ones in his two lives—the boy continued to stare at the vastness of the sea. But after a while, he slapped his face, washed it with water, and began to gather all his tools scattered around after he ran to make the machete sheaths.

By the time he finished tidying up, night had fallen. So, the boy roasted a good piece of 'mini chicken' meat, as he had decided to call the small bird he hunted, and then returned to his hut, where he slept on a mat on the floor until the next day.

...

By sunrise, the boy was already practicing his martial arts movements on the beach, allowing the energy balls, or simply 'nature's energy' as he had decided to call them, to circulate through his body in harmony with his 'chi', following the strange 'flow' he had learned from 'nature's energy' some time ago.

Practicing these exercises every morning had become a daily routine. It all started because he wanted to verify something. Initially, one of his biggest concerns was catching a disease. After all, he didn't have any medicine, and although he had some knowledge of how to make them, being the only person around, getting sick would leave him out of commission. Without the ability to store food for long periods, it would be akin to a death sentence.

But after coming out of that strange trance he entered while 'training' and reorganizing his survival needs, he thought more carefully about that trance and came to a conclusion. He must have spent several days in the trance, without food, water, and exposed to the elements the whole time, yet strangely, he didn't even catch a cold, let alone anything more serious. This led him to a theory: 'practicing these movements makes me immune to diseases and somehow meets my basic needs like eating, sleeping, and hydrating.'

Although he was aware of the risk of falling into a trance again, the potential benefits of proving his theory were far greater. After all, he didn't die; instead, he became a sort of superman. If he was right, 'surviving' would be infinitely easier, not to mention his chances of leaving the island and returning to civilization would increase exponentially.

Having concluded that he needed to test his theory, and after securing all his belongings so they wouldn't disappear if he entered a trance, the boy performed the movements again one morning as the first rays of sun emerged, leading to some rather curious conclusions.

First, he didn't enter a trance, even though he tried to replicate all the conditions of that moment, but in the end, it didn't happen. It seemed to be a one-time occurrence. Secondly, unfortunately, he concluded that the trance was the reason he didn't need to eat and all the rest, as a couple of hours after starting, he began to feel the lack of breakfast.

But, although his theory was wrong, he still gained some benefits from his experiment. Firstly, although he couldn't eliminate his need to eat, the training did mitigate it significantly, as he found that while he felt hungry, it was mild and quite manageable, the same being true for his need to hydrate.

Moreover, what really motivated him to continue practicing the exercises was that he noticed a slight increase in his strength and the amount of 'chi'. Additionally, he felt that not only did the 'chi' flow through his body more smoothly, but it was also now at least three times faster than when he first tried, something that surprised him a bit.

But the last benefit of the exercises, which he valued almost as much as the increase in strength, was that they somehow calmed his mind. Although this effect was rather subtle, after practicing for several days, he felt more 'refreshed' and focused.

When he finished his practice, the boy ate some preserved dried rabbit meat, drank some water, and headed into the forest with only his machetes and a few thick ropes. His tools were now quite sharp, and it could be dangerous to carry them without proper sheaths. Even though he was supposedly quite durable now, it was better to be safe than sorry without antibiotics.

Once in the forest, the boy found a strategic spot and set up several traps using the trees and ropes he had brought, ensuring they were designed to catch the deer without injuring it. Damaging the hide would defeat the purpose of hunting it in the first place. Once he finished setting up the traps, he ensured they would activate correctly and were in strategic positions to catch the deer before going out in search of his prey.

A few hours later, the boy found a deer, although he could tell it wasn't the same one he encountered the first time, as it was slightly larger, which didn't make much difference. After all, they were monstrous compared to his size—half a meter more or less didn't change much of his situation.

Without taking his eyes off the deer, the boy took one of his machetes in his right hand and carefully circled the deer, staying alert and avoiding making any sound that might alarm it, then positioning himself where he could, with luck, drive it into his traps.

After reviewing the plan in his head one last time, the boy didn't hesitate any longer and leaped, trying to appear larger while making loud noises with his machete to scare it. But to his surprise, the deer didn't get scared. Instead, it simply stared at him while several branches around it shot out at high speed in his direction.

"Shit!"

When the boy noticed the branches, the world around him seemed to slow down for a moment, allowing him to analyze his surroundings and situation. Then, he executed light and ethereal movements from his daily practice, enabling him to dodge most of the branches while cutting through the ones he couldn't avoid with his machete, hardened with 'chi'.

One strange thing he noticed about his machete was that the 'chi' flowed through it very quickly and smoothly, almost without resistance, entirely different from how it moved through his stone tools. He could hardly differentiate where the machete ended and his arm began, almost as if they were one.

(Shit, I should have practiced with the new tools, what a mistake…)

Due to the situation, the boy couldn't focus too much on that sensation, as the branches not only continued to attack him but also increased in number. This forced him to draw his second machete, cutting the branches with both hands while dodging with his ethereal movements.

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(The branches keep increasing, and if I don't do something, they'll eventually overwhelm me. Plus, that trick of moving the branches looks very useful. Can I replicate it with 'chi'? It's worth trying to capture it to study it…)

Noticing that the deer was cautiously watching him while slowly backing away, the boy knew he needed to get closer. He switched to incredibly fast and sharp movements, which allowed him to approach the massive beast from behind.

The moment he reached the side of the enormous deer, he immediately struck with his right hand, hitting its rear with the side of his machete, producing a thunderous impact sound.

The powerful blow made the deer 'scream' and shortly after, it started running in the direction of the traps, bringing a smile to the boy's lips. He quickly began to follow it, dodging and cutting branches, which never stopped attacking him, using his 'ethereal' movements once again.

But that smile vanished from the boy's face and was replaced by an expression of disbelief when the deer began to nimbly jump and dodge the traps as if it knew their locations beforehand. This was despite him ensuring they were well camouflaged, well enough that he would overlook them if he didn't know they were there, relying only on his mental map to identify them.

(Shit, it's trying to escape. I have to stop it!)

After passing the traps, the deer tried to flee deeper into the forest, forcing the boy to make a decision. He didn't dare go deeper because he had a very bad feeling about venturing beyond a certain point. Combined with the current situation of a deer capable of controlling branches, he was even more certain that the things he might encounter would be terrifying, and letting the deer alert them could be catastrophic and a risk he wasn't willing to take.

Using large amounts of 'chi', the boy strengthened himself to the limit and sped towards the deer using a combination of fast and aggressive movements. At the same time, he applied a trick to his right machete that he learned from carving wood, which was that if he sent a large amount of 'chi' and imagined an incredibly sharp edge extending from the blade's own edge, the tool would become so sharp that it could even cut rocks like butter.

As he got close enough to the deer, the boy leaped towards it with the intent to cut it in half, but at that moment, the machete in his right hand cracked with an audible sound, causing everything to move in slow motion for a moment. This allowed him to see it fracturing into several pieces, which made him open his eyes wide in surprise. But thanks to everything moving in slow motion in his perception, he could react quickly and adjust his movements accordingly.

Without changing the amount of 'chi' in his left machete, the boy imagined the sharpest edge he could think of, an edge as thin as an atom, while spinning in the air. This allowed him to cut the deer's neck in half, slicing through the animal's skin, muscles, and bones with incredible ease.

After the cut, the boy landed agilely on the ground while the deer took a few more steps without a head before collapsing lifelessly to the ground, along with the branches that had been attacking him, releasing large amounts of blood.

Knowing that the blood could attract predators, the boy quickly put away his machetes, including what was left of his right machete, and ran to the deer. He hoisted it onto his shoulders and ran at full speed towards the beach.

Once on the beach, the boy quickly lit a small fire and heated the remains of his right machete, with which he cauterized the wound on the deer's neck. He placed it in a relatively safe spot on some rocks, then took several laps around the beach before taking a good bath in the sea and running back to his camp.

Back at his camp, the boy gathered his knives, some ropes, and a clay pot, and ran back to where he had left the deer's body. There, he made a base with some logs, tied the deer to it, and began skinning it quickly.

After securing the hide, making sure not to damage it—which, along with the rush, left some skin and meat remnants, something he would fix later—he removed the useful meat from the deer and placed it in the clay pot, while burying what he didn't need near the forest. Once he finished, the boy quickly left the area, carrying the hide, tendons, bones, and anything else he deemed useful.

Back at his camp, the boy started smoking the venison very well and carefully salted it, ensuring it was well-covered before placing it in clay pots. He sealed the pots and stored them in his small bamboo hut, where he kept his rations.

He also salted the deer's brain very well and carefully, before storing it in a pot. Then, he cleaned the hide, removing any remaining flesh or fat, stretched it on a wooden frame, and left it to dry in a cool, shaded place. He repeated this process with the tendons while boiling the bones for a while before setting them to dry.

……..

….

..

.

Several months have passed since the boy hunted the deer, and things have changed a bit. First of all, tanning the deerskin was a complete success, so with the leather, he managed to create a full set of clothes and shoes, as well as sheaths for all his tools, a couple of canteens, bandages, ropes, handles, and some small bags.

Another change was his campsite, which he moved to a location closer to the stream, a very flat area suitable for construction. Additionally, his hut changed; it was now made of super-hard logs he had cut from the forest and measured around 70 square meters, with a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, two more rooms for storage, and a good bathroom with a shower.

To supply the bathroom, the boy created a huge water barrel, which took a lot of trial and error to make waterproof. But he succeeded in the end and placed it on a five-meter-high wooden tower, connecting it to his cabin with copper pipes. This also took a lot of work, collecting and processing the copper, but he was lucky to find a small cave full of blue crystals halfway, which were packed with copper.

He had also managed to obtain iron during this time, but something curious he noticed was that tools made of iron were terrible for 'hardening' with 'chi'. Not only did it require a much larger amount, approximately triple, to achieve results comparable to copper, but the 'chi' also seemed to dissipate over time.

Therefore, his tools were still made of copper, as it was much more useful to harden and sharpen them with 'chi' than to use steel ones. However, he had to be careful not to put too much 'chi' into them, as they would break instantly, as happened with his machete in the deer fight.

But he wasn't willing to waste all the effort it took to improve the furnace and bellows to reach 1600°C, nor all the iron he collected. So, he decided to create iron ingots and smelt iron and coal to make steel, resulting in porous metal rocks that he didn't bother to work with and simply stored them along with the ingots in his cabin. He also tried hardening them with 'chi', but the results weren't much different from iron.

Another thing he did during this time was make soap, using lye obtained from the ashes of campfires and animal fat he had been storing. Although it was quite abrasive, it was better than nothing. He also made a fairly high fence using super-strong logs he found in the forest and created various carpentry tools, such as saws, files, chisels, and more.

With the carpentry tools and the skins of a few more deer he hunted during this time, the boy also made tables, chairs, plates, cups, cutlery, and even a bed and pillow, which he stuffed with dry leaves and feathers, as well as a couple of leather rugs. Although he knew a bit of carpentry from his life in the countryside, it still took a lot of trial and error to get them right.

Unfortunately, the boy couldn't replicate the trick of moving branches like the deer did, despite carefully studying the deer he hunted afterward and even trying things himself, such as sending his 'chi' into a branch or trying to strengthen it somehow. But it didn't work; they only became harder, but nothing more, never showing the slightest hint of movement.

"Now I really have a proper house, hahaha."

Sitting in a wooden and leather rocking chair, the boy commented while looking at his creation with a strip of dried meat in his hand and a big smile on his face, feeling a bit proud of what he had achieved, before continuing to talk to himself.

"But I think it's time to venture deeper into the forest. After all, my 'chi' has sped up about 6 or 7 times during this time, and the amount has increased to incredible levels... Mmmm, if it's decided, today I'll go deeper into the forest. It's not like I have much else to do, and who knows, maybe I'll find people if I manage to cross the forest."

After finishing his meal, the boy drank a cup of water, picked up his machetes hanging in their sheaths near the door, and strapped them to his belt. The sheaths now looked a bit different, as thanks to having plenty of leather, he had tied a small ax with a leather cover on the head, some small knives, and a few small leather pouches to the straps, allowing him to carry dried meat and similar items.

Making sure his machetes were securely fastened to his waist, the boy took a leather canteen, which he slung diagonally across his body, letting it rest on the right side of his torso. Then he took a somewhat special weapon in a nice leather sheath, which he had made with wood, bamboo, copper, steel, and deer tendons, and strapped it to his belt on the right side.

The weapon he had built was a repeating crossbow, with a wooden body, a bow made of various sizes of bamboo tied with strings and tightened with deer tendons. Additionally, there was a rectangular wooden box on top where the arrows rested, attached to a steel handle, through which the deer tendon string passed at the bottom, and on the handle, there was a copper trigger.

The operation of the crossbow was simple: the steel handle moved backward, pulling the string and tightening the bow. Upon reaching the end, the string hooked onto the trigger mechanism, which, when activated, would release the string, sending the arrow at high speed. It was just a matter of repeating the process.

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[lordanl]

The boy went through the gates of the fence around his camp, making sure to secure them tightly using a very sturdy log before heading towards the forest. Some time later, he arrived at the spot where he had previously been afraid to go further. He stayed there for a while, examining the area, but since he no longer felt the terrible foreboding he usually had, he calmed down and continued walking with a bit more confidence.

"Now that I think about it, even though I've always had this sort of sixth sense for danger, it seems enhanced now. It's not only much clearer but also does more. When I need something, I somehow have an idea of where to find it, especially when I need to hunt. Could it be because of the 'chi'?"

The boy mused to himself while carefully looking around, but the idea seemed to take root in his mind, refusing to leave. So, he decided to test something since it was better to have a clear mind before doing something as risky as venturing deeper into the forest.

After thoroughly checking a somewhat clear area to ensure there were no potential dangers nearby, the boy climbed a tree and sat on a large, sturdy branch. There, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his sixth sense.

Even after trying for a while, he didn't feel anything special related to his 'sixth sense'. So, he decided to change his strategy. Following the logic that his 'chi' served to 'strengthen' everything, he sent a large amount to his head since, if it was a feeling, it had to be related to the brain, right? But to his absolute incredulity, he discovered another 'dantian' there.

In his Tai Chi classes in his previous life, and curiously, he had also heard something similar in this life, he had been told that the dantian was a special point in the body where chi gathered and that it was located below the navel. Although he had dismissed it as cheap quackery at the time, now things were very different. After all, not only could he feel the 'chi', but it also indeed gathered below the navel.

The problem was that he had never heard there was one in the head too. Although, to be fair, he had attended the classes for a little over a month and never took an interest in the subject again. Additionally, there was an issue with that 'dantian' in the head because, although the sensation it gave was very similar to the one below the navel, it was empty, there wasn't even a pinch of 'chi' in it, which made him feel a bit strange.

Filled with curiosity, the boy sent his 'chi' to the dantian in his head, and to his surprise, it started to absorb it like a sponge, while at the same time, a strange sensation began, as if he could somehow know or understand the things around him.

Over time, that strange sensation became clearer to the point where several figures began to take shape in his mind, allowing him to realize that they were some rabbits, birds, and other small animals. This made him open his eyes in surprise, and then quickly check if his feeling was correct.

"There really is a rabbit here, this is crazy..."

Absolutely amazed, the boy continued to follow the 'presences' he felt, while a kind of radar formed in his mind, where he could 'see' the approximate shape of the presence. This not only helped him distinguish them but also made finding them much easier.

"Damn, now I'm a freaking human radar, HAHAHAHA, this will be incredibly useful."

With a big smile on his face, the boy checked the 'chi' he had sent to the dantian in his head to determine the approximate 'cost' of such a useful ability. To his surprise, it had barely been used up, and he could still feel almost all the 'chi' he had sent.

"Could it be...?"

With an idea in mind, the boy started to circulate the 'chi' through his body, but this time including the second 'dantian' in the route. The results were as he expected, the 'chi' consumption was minimal, almost imperceptible, but still, not only was his body strengthened, the radar ability remained active.

Another thing he noticed about his new radar ability was that he could feel the bright 'balls' of 'natural energy' without needing to be practicing. They were a bit fainter, but he could still sense them. Intrigued and with an idea in mind, he climbed a tree again and sat on a branch, imagining the 'natural energy' entering him.

Although initially nothing special happened and the energy balls remained in the air, little by little they began to approach him, but the speed was too slow and the amount was meager. So he stopped and climbed down the tree, making a mental note to study the phenomenon further in the future.

After that, the boy wandered through the forest for a long time, finding many interesting things, including apples, a very large tree similar to an oak with many acorns, a tree very similar to the rubber trees he knew, and even a silica deposit.

Not wanting to leave behind all the interesting things he had found, the boy tried to find some bamboo to make an improvised basket, but that idea came to a sudden halt when his mental radar detected a very large 'presence' rapidly approaching him on four legs.

Realizing it was likely a predator, and a very dangerous one at that, the boy quickly aimed his crossbow in the direction the presence was coming from. At the same time, he hardened both the crossbow and the copper-tipped arrows with 'chi', holding the top lever firmly to reload quickly.

But when the figure appeared, the boy was shocked, to the point that he even forgot to fire his crossbow. After all, before him stood a silver-furred wolf of incomparable beauty and monumental size, reaching five meters in height, with sleek and agile proportions that created an impression of grace and elegance.

Beyond the wolf's beauty, what affected the boy the most was the aura it emitted. It was unlike any he had ever felt, a strange combination of savagery and elegance, making it seem as though even the air moved slower around the wolf, as if fearing to disturb it.

While the boy was petrified, as if he had fallen under some strange charm, the wolf elegantly and nonchalantly moved its paw horizontally in his direction. The boy watched, a bit confused, because despite the wolf's large size, it was still too far away to reach him.

But moments later, the boy's thoughts were cut off as a large amount of 'natural energy' entered him, and a sinister premonition hit him like a truck. This somehow allowed him to snap out of the strange state he was in, while simultaneously forcing him to leap into the air with all his strength.

While in the air, the boy glanced at the ground, only to find four enormous and deep cuts where he had been standing just moments before. A cold sweat covered his back, knowing he had narrowly escaped death.

Still in mid-air, the boy looked around for the wolf, but at that very moment, he felt another sinister premonition. With quick thinking, he dropped his crossbow and stretched out as far as he could, managing to grab a nearby small branch.

Without wasting a single moment, the boy hardened the branch with 'chi', something he could only do thanks to his training to mimic deer, and pulled with all his might, changing his flight direction from vertical to horizontal. Moments later, a bunch of branches and logs started falling behind him with a thunderous noise.

Not daring to look back, the boy quickly reached a thicker branch, which he used as a support to start jumping from tree to tree like a monkey at maximum speed, using his 'chi' at full output to strengthen himself. Meanwhile, behind him, a pandemonium of 'invisible cuts' was unleashed, tearing everything apart.

As the boy fled with all his might, jumping between the trees, the beautiful silver wolf pursued him in a relaxed manner, with firm and elegant steps, almost as if it were just taking a casual stroll. Occasionally, it would send 'cuts' with its claws, and despite the casual nature of the movements, they ended up creating enormous slashes in the ground and trees.

On the other hand, the boy was doing everything possible to survive, dodging the gigantic invisible cuts with all his might. However, he was sometimes a bit slow to evade them, leaving his leather clothes in tatters and several cuts of varying sizes on his body. Fortunately, none were too deep, despite the large amount of blood flowing from them.

This terrible situation was because the only thing he could rely on to dodge the invisible cuts was his premonitions, which he only felt when he was about to be hit. Additionally, these premonitions only informed him of the danger and an approximate direction, so each time, he had to jump with all his strength.

Moreover, the wolf was very intelligent. If he tried to use the movement of the claws to predict the attack, the wolf would immediately change the movement to trap him, something he learned the hard way when it took him by surprise and almost cut him in half. Fortunately, he was able to use a branch to change his direction in time, though it cost him a deep cut on his back.

(I need to take advantage of the fact that this thing is playing with me. If it gets tired and decides to hunt me seriously, I'm a dead man. The problem is that these cuts are too fast, and I don't have the time to study their range and reach. Plus, the bastard is smart enough to fake me out and trick me... if only I could know the range... wait, maybe...)

The boy had a stroke of inspiration, remembering how his tools felt like part of his own body when he channeled 'chi' into them, to the point where he could notice the slightest scratch on them. It was very similar to knowing where your feet and hands are at all times without needing to think about it or even look at them.

With a crazy and almost desperate idea, the boy focused on the 'chi' flowing throughout his body, attempting to force a path where the 'chi' would 'flow' outside his body before re-entering. Surprisingly, it worked, creating a small sphere around him where he could feel with extreme detail what was happening.

Filled with anticipation, the boy quickly made his 'chi' flow as far from his body as possible, creating a sphere about 50 meters in diameter with him at the center. He instantly sensed an invisible cut rapidly approaching him.

(It worked!!! But this is exhausting; I won't last more than a couple of minutes. I have to give it my all!!!)

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[lordanl]

(It worked!!! But this is exhausting; I won't last more than a couple of minutes. I have to give it my all!!!)

The boy acted as if nothing had changed, dodging the cuts at the last moment by making large leaps from one tree to another. But after a couple of jumps, he drew his machetes in mid-air, and as soon as he touched the next branch with his foot, he strengthened it with his 'chi' and used all his strength to launch himself towards the wolf while dodging a cut.

Seeing the boy's action, the wolf showed no reaction and simply sent a cut with its claws to intercept him. But instead of the boy being cut in half, he somehow managed to pass through the cuts by moving in a strange way, leaving the wolf surprised.

After using ethereal movements in the air that used the resistance of the wind to change his position just enough to dodge the second cut by a minimal margin, the boy came like a bullet in front of the wolf, who, despite being surprised, still reacted in time.

Noticing that the wolf intended to dodge, the boy quickly spun in the air while extending his machetes, once again taking the wolf by surprise and managing to land two incredibly powerful slashes on the beast's neck, nearly severing the head from the body.

A few moments later, the boy landed on his feet and tried to maintain his balance as he slid across the ground due to inertia, simultaneously checking the wolf's condition with his 'chi' sphere, allowing him to notice the wolf's head falling to the ground, making him release a sigh of relief.

The small sigh the boy released acted as a signal for his body, as moments later, the 'chi' sphere disappeared, and he collapsed to his knees on the ground, breathing heavily, drenched in blood and sweat.

"Damn. I'm exhausted. I haven't felt this way since I discovered 'chi'..."

Despite his fatigue, the boy didn't dare to rest and, with pure willpower, as he had no strength left, quickly took out his knives and began skinning the wolf, making sure not to cut the pelt. However, due to his condition, large portions of flesh and fat remained attached to the pelt, but he didn't care and continued.

The boy quickly skinned the wolf, although due to his lack of strength, the 'chi' hardening of his knives failed several times, causing him to damage the pelt in a few places. Even so, he finished, but just as he was about to leave with his loot, he noticed something moving in the wolf's stomach, which made his eyes widen in disbelief.

"It can't be..."

Without stopping for a second, the boy quickly threw the pelt on the ground and opened the wolf's stomach, releasing a wet and translucent bubble, inside which a couple of small creatures were entangled, their fragile bodies still wrapped in the innocence of a life not yet lived.

"Shit!! It wasn't that she was playing with me; she couldn't move well because she was about to give birth. I really screwed up this time..."

Evidently upset, the boy looked at the two newly 'born' pups on the ground while his mind engaged in a furious debate about what to do. Although part of him wanted to run away because it would be the easiest and safest option, he couldn't bring himself to let the pups die after having killed their mother.

The reason the boy couldn't abandon the pups wasn't because he was an animal lover or had a particular affection for animals. The truth was that for his father, it was a taboo to hunt a pregnant animal, and the only time in his previous life that he did so by mistake, the old man had hit him quite hard and then took care of bringing them to a veterinarian and raising them until they were big enough to go on their own.

According to the old man, that was his way of apologizing to Mother Nature, something the boy honestly thought was stupid, but he not only didn't dare to say it out loud, but also would never disobey him. Even though this was a new life, respecting his parents' teachings made him feel like they were still with him somehow, which was quite comforting.

(Well, even if I do the same as the old man and take them with me, it's not like they could survive. I've only cared for cows and dogs in my life, and I have no way of feeding them properly...

But at least I should try. Even if they die later, I'll still respect the old man's teachings by doing my best to keep them alive and raise them to 'apologize to nature' or whatever...

Yes, that sounds like a good idea, and I'd better do it quickly before something else terrifying like that she-wolf shows up...)

After making his decision, the boy immediately began to carefully extract the puppies, each about 60 cm long. Despite being newborns, they were already the size of an average adult German Shepherd and had a similar weight.

Once out of the amniotic sac, the puppies revealed fine, wet fur covering their bodies, one with silver fur and the other jet black. They began emitting faint sounds, almost like protests, as they squirmed uncomfortably.

Without a moment's hesitation, the boy picked up the rolled-up pelt of the she-wolf from the ground, then carried the puppies over his shoulders while fortifying himself with the last 'drops' of 'chi' he had left to be able to run at full speed towards his camp.

...

...

...

Several years have passed since the boy hunted the pregnant she-wolf, and many things have changed in that time. Firstly, next to his wooden cabin, there are now two 'dog houses', each over 5 meters tall, made of logs.

In the end, the wolves survived, though not in the way he expected. Initially, his first plan was to use his 'chi' mixed with 'natural energy' to delay their hunger. Over time, he discovered that this combination could sustain him for up to three days without eating or drinking anything. However, when he tried this, he ended up consuming almost all his food reserves, so it wasn't the best idea, but he had no better option.

But it turned out all his considerations were in vain because, after giving his 'chi' to the wolves, he started eating some strips of dried meat. As soon as they smelled it, the puppies crawled towards him to snatch them away, despite being deaf and blind at the time.

Although he initially hesitated, as the idea of newborns eating meat didn't seem right, he decided to give them the strips of meat, since he didn't even know if they were mammals, despite looking like wolves, with their mother sending invisible cuts. Surprisingly, they were fine, but he unknowingly created a huge problem for himself.

From that moment on, the wolves began to 'demand' meat and 'chi' all the time, and if he didn't give it to them, they would start whining like crazy. The problem was that they ate a lot, forcing him to hunt like a madman in the forest to get them food, only to be exhausted by the massive amounts of 'chi' they required. Paradoxically, this helped him strengthen himself, and he could now handle the combination of 'natural energy' and 'chi' much more easily.

On the other hand, his ventures into the forest had also increased significantly. After all, he had to hunt large animals to feed the wolves, and deep in the forest, there were giant animals with all sorts of truly terrifying 'magical' powers, to the point where he faced death several times.

But the amount and speed of his 'chi' were not the only things that improved. After the fight with the she-wolf, the boy began practicing with his 'chi', trying to maintain his 'chi' sphere for as long as possible. Now, he could keep it up for several hours without any problem if he extended it to about 200 meters, and it practically consumed no energy if he kept it at its original 50 meters. This was one of the main reasons he was able to survive.

Another thing he achieved during this time was replicating the slashes that the she-wolf had sent at him. Although it was only about channeling his chi from his machete, which he managed to do in a short time, maintaining its sharpness and extending it in the air like the she-wolf did was a challenge. He ultimately overcame it by using 'natural energy,' mixing it with his 'chi' when sending the slash, in a proportion that took a lot of trial and error to discover.

But that simple attack significantly boosted his killing power. From the moment he mastered that trick along with another he developed, he remained invincible and never again faced death as closely as in the past, exponentially improving his hunting efficiency.

The other trick he developed during this time was born from trying to use the combination of 'chi' and 'natural energy' outside his body for something other than cuts. After almost a year of experimenting, he managed to create a sort of rod resembling crystal out of thin air, which he could move at will with his mind.

Despite how ugly the rod looked, it still left him astounded and filled with expectations. But after testing it a bit, he discovered it was incredibly fragile, unable to penetrate a tree trunk and breaking on contact, which greatly limited its usefulness.

After that, he spent several more months experimenting with combinations until he managed to improve its hardness and shape, to the point where he could create 'crystal' arrows out of thin air and send them in any direction at will. Although they were still relatively brittle, they were lethal enough to kill one of the forest animals if he aimed well and gave them enough speed.

Another thing that changed was his machetes, now made of steel. Shortly after starting to feed the puppies, the copper ones became useless because the amount of 'chi' he possessed was several times greater, and he kept breaking them by mistake.

After trying several things, the boy realized that while steel was terrible at conducting 'chi', it could withstand at least eight times more 'chi'. So, he made steel machetes and plated them with copper, greatly reducing 'chi' loss and facilitating its conduction. Although this combination was still worse than pure copper for conducting 'chi', the increased durability made them better overall.

The electroplating process he carried out on the machetes was also a significant challenge, to the point where he had to create a water wheel and a magnet. He made the magnet using a steel ingot, some copper, and lightning, the latter being the hardest to obtain.

During his entire time on the island, lightning had never struck. But luckily, deep in the forest, he found an eagle about two meters tall that could shoot lightning. By using it, he managed to create a strong magnet to generate the necessary electricity with the miniature water wheel he built in the stream.

However, something very sad for the boy was that despite trying everything he could think of, he was never able to replicate the 'magical' attacks of the other animals, which included all sorts of elements like fire, corrosive mist, water, sound waves, light, ice, lightning, etc. In the end, they attacked him with a myriad of things, but apart from his 'crystal' creations, as he liked to call them, and his flying slashes, he couldn't do anything else.

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[lordanl]

Above the clouds over the beautiful island in the middle of the ocean, floated a ship, or to be more precise, a 'cruise ship', pure white with gold details and a structure of smooth, elegant lines, giving it a regal and sophisticated appearance, as if it belonged to royalty.

But it was much more than just the exterior beauty of the cruise ship. What stood out the most were the intricate runes carved into every visible surface, emitting a soft light. These runes were engraved with millimetric precision, testament to the powerful magic that kept the vessel afloat.

At the bow of the impressive flying ship stood a female figure, dressed in elegant white robes embroidered with threads that seemed to be made of gold and silver. The outfit appeared to be a uniform due to the emblem embroidered on the left side of the chest. Despite being loose-fitting, the robes could not hide the curvaceous and voluptuous body of the wearer.

The woman on the bow could only be described as the epitome of feminine beauty, with fine, delicate features that seemed to have been sculpted by a divine artist using their best skills. Her skin was as white as snow, and her long blonde hair fell softly over her shoulders, highlighting her mesmerizing blue eyes that seemed to reflect the color of the ocean.

This beautiful woman, whose beauty could incite entire nations to war, was looking towards the island, where she could see a camp fenced by large wooden logs, with a clay-tiled cabin in the center, followed by two other gigantic cabins compared to the first one.

In the camp, a boy of about fifteen years old was practicing movements that appeared to be some form of martial art, performing movements that reflected a serenity and precision only possible with years of discipline and practice. Every punch, every kick, every stance, and weight shift was executed with unmatched grace and fluid beauty, turning each movement into a spectacle worth watching.

The boy was dressed in simple leather garments designed for combat and easy movement, which could not hide his incredible beauty, with fine features, white skin, and a defined, muscular physique that seemed to be the perfect combination of strength and agility. This contrasted greatly with his impressive jet-black hair, which looked like a piece of the night sky adorned with stars and galaxies.

Despite his incredible appearance, the boy had a charm that went beyond physical beauty, an innate elegance and dignity, along with a charisma that extended beyond his looks. This was evident in the way he carried himself, the serenity on his face, and the expression in his green eyes, as vibrant and alive as the forests in spring, full of concentration and focus.

The woman had a curious look on her face as she observed the boy on the island. At the same time, she murmured some words, which somehow caused a shocking scene. The gigantic ship began to shrink until it was the size of her palm, looking like an incredibly detailed toy.

Contrary to logic, the woman did not fall from the sky but remained suspended in the air as she extended her right hand towards the miniature ship. Shortly after, it disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed.

After collecting her ship, the woman vanished from sight like a ghost and descended slowly from the sky until she was standing on the roof of the smallest cabin, from where she continued watching the boy with curiosity, who continued practicing his movements, completely unaware of her presence.

A while later, the boy stopped as a pair of beautiful wolves over 3 meters tall, one with silver fur and the other jet black, could be seen in the distance. They were carrying a gigantic black bison over 10 meters long in their jaws as they ran towards the camp.

With a calm step, the boy reached the camp fence, where he opened the huge wooden gates and then stood there with his arms crossed, waiting for the gigantic wolves.

When the wolves arrived at the camp gates, they carelessly dropped the bison, causing a small tremor, and then barked loudly as they sat down, wagging their huge tails, creating gusts of wind and small tornadoes in the surroundings.

"Seriously, you are supposed to be wolves. Why do you bark?... But anyway, today you hunted a really big one, and I don't see too many bite marks or cuts. You did a very good job."

Upon hearing the boy's words, the enormous wolves barked happily and lowered their heads to the ground while wagging their tails, bringing a smile to the boy's lips. He proceeded to pet them affectionately for a moment, then turned towards the bison and lifted it off the ground, creating a strange scene of a 1.75-meter-tall young man effortlessly lifting a 10-meter-long bison.

(Are those mystical wolves? How did he manage to tame them and make them so obedient? Moreover, they are too young for their size and even managed to hunt a century-old Gaia bison, leaving its hide intact... those wolves are just as strange, if not stranger, than the boy.)

The beautiful woman watched with surprise the interaction between the boy and the wolves, who, unaware of her presence, calmly entered the camp. There, the boy began skinning the bison while collecting its blood in large clay pots, as the wolves played a bit among themselves not far from the site.

(The boy's mana control is insane; he's a genius to be able to achieve something like this at his age. Not only does he know how to reinforce with his mana, but he can also use magical sharpness... Is he possessed?... It doesn't seem like it; there's no trace of possession in his soul... but then... what master could have cultivated such a monster?)

The beautiful woman on the roof observed the boy's skills with surprise written on her face, completely focused on each movement he made. Before she knew it, he had finished dismantling the bison and began cleaning his tools.

Totally fascinated by the young man's peculiarities, the beautiful woman could no longer contain her curiosity and made herself visible to start a conversation. But the moment she did, the boy dropped the bison hide he was holding and instantly drew a pair of machetes from his waist.

Without delay, the boy assumed a defensive stance and activated his 'chi sphere'. Simultaneously, the wolves, who had been playing just a moment before, jumped and positioned themselves on either side of the boy, growling powerfully in aggressive poses, ready to attack at any moment.

"Calm down, boy, I'm not a threat, I just want to talk."

(He even knows Ethereal Projection, I'm really more and more interested in him with each new thing he shows.)

The beautiful woman spoke softly with a smile on her lips, looking into the boy's emerald green eyes. He stared at her from head to toe for a moment, then lowered his guard and sheathed his machetes while giving a strict command.

"Calm down!"

At the boy's command, the wolves immediately stopped growling and relaxed their attack stance, but they did not move away from him, constantly watching the woman with caution.

"That's better. Now tell me, why are you on my island?" the woman asked curiously, looking into the boy's eyes, feeling somewhat surprised that he could hold her gaze.

"I apologize for invading your island," the boy said with a slight bow before continuing. "But I am here because the waves brought me after a giant monster attacked the ship I was sailing on and destroyed it. If my presence here is a bother to you, I will build a raft to leave. I would just appreciate it if you could give me a map or at least a direction where I can find land again, as I have no idea where I am."

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's not like it bothers me or anything, it's just that something like this has never happened before. This island is in the middle of the sea, far from any other island or sea route," the woman said, waving her arm as if to express that it was of no importance.

"Is that so? Then how did I get here? I was on a ship traveling from Azur Coast to Quayhold, how far is that from here?" the boy asked the woman with doubt.

"Are you serious, boy? That's literally on the other side of the planet," the woman looked at the boy as if she were looking at a madman, but his surprised expression confused her.

"Impossible!! I was really on a ship called 'the Salt Dragon' that covered the Azur Coast-Quayhold route..." the boy looked incredulously at the woman, trying to see if she was lying.

"I'm not lying; it really is on the other side of the planet. But let me ask you, who is your master?"

The boy looked at the woman for a few seconds before sighing and responding.

"I don't have any masters. I don't even know how to read or write; no one wanted to teach me, and those who do charge a lot."

"Then who taught you your techniques?" the woman asked, a bit puzzled by his answer.

"Techniques? What techniques?" the boy asked with equal confusion.

"The ones you used a moment ago, mana reinforcement, magical sharpness, and Ethereal Projection."

"Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about; I've never heard those names in my life."

The woman looked at the boy suspiciously, but after analyzing him carefully, she realized that he was telling the truth. The boy had no idea what she was talking about.

"I mean what you did while dismantling the bison. You reinforced the knife and applied magical sharpness, and you also tried to identify my position with ethereal projection."

"Wait, are you telling me those are techniques? And you could see what I did?" the boy asked, looking at the woman in surprise.

The woman smiled softly and rose into the sky from her position on the cabin roof, then flew closer to the boy. This put a look of disbelief on his young face while the wolves began growling again, assuming combat positions. But with just a wave of the boy's hand, they calmed down once more.

"Yes, and those are the names of those techniques. Where did you learn them?"

"You can fly?!! How?"

"Yes, I can fly and do many other things. But I really want you to tell me where you learned those techniques. If you tell me, I could teach you how to do it."

"From nowhere in particular, I discovered them little by little after realizing that 'chi' was real," the boy responded, looking at the woman who was still hovering a few centimeters above the ground. He wasn't sure what to be more surprised by—her supernatural beauty, the way she was flying, or the overwhelming presence she emitted.

"'Chi'? Do you have any connection with the Jade Union?" the woman asked the boy with a sharp look, firmly intending to uncover any lie.

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[lordanl]

"Jade Union? I don't know what group you're talking about. I'm an orphan; I've always been alone. The 'chi' thing was something an old blacksmith I worked for used to mention before I started working on the ship. Every day, the old man would say he was going to restore his 'chi' and would start doing some exercises. Oh, and once he mentioned that 'chi' is energy that gathers below the navel, so since I also feel a warm sensation below my navel, I assumed it was 'chi'."

"Were the exercises the old man did the same ones you were doing before the wolves arrived?"

The boy looked a bit surprised at the woman but responded anyway.

"No, they're not. Originally, I did practice imitating the old man, since I was stranded here and didn't have enough strength, so I started practicing them to see if I could improve my strength like the imperial knights. The old man said his strength came from spiritual energy or something like that. But over time, the moves changed; now they're very different."

"Umu, I see..." The beautiful woman analyzed the boy, but noticing that he wasn't lying, she continued speaking. "And what do you plan to do from now on? Will you continue living here, or what will you do?"

"I really don't know. Since I was stranded here, I tried not to think about it, but I suppose I'll try to leave when these guys are old enough to live on their own." The boy looked tenderly at the wolves, who began rubbing their heads against his body, whimpering sadly.

"Do you know those wolves take at least 150 years to mature?" The woman looked at the boy with a mischievous smile, speaking in a sing-song and amused voice.

"What?!!" The boy jumped in shock and looked at the wolves as if they were monsters.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The woman started laughing loudly at the boy's reaction, who seemed to question his life while the wolves kept rubbing their heads against him, whimpering sadly.

"Haha, don't worry about that, boy. Why don't you become my disciple instead, so you can take the wolves with you?"

"Your disciple? Are you a teacher or something? How much do I have to pay? Although I don't have anything, just a few pelts and some tools. I'm good at hunting and can pay with work."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA," the beautiful woman laughed again, full of amusement. But she soon calmed down and continued, "Don't worry, boy. You don't have to pay anything, and you could say I'm a kind of teacher and a very powerful sorceress. If you accept being my disciple, I'll pass on my knowledge to you."

"Are you serious?!!! So, can you cast fire and lightning like the animals here? I've always wanted to do that, but I've never been able to. So far, I've only been able to copy the flying slash from these guys' mother and not much else."

"I can do much more than that. But what do you mean by flying slash?" The woman asked, looking at the boy with curiosity.

"If you want, I can show you. These two can't do it yet, although I've tried to teach them." The boy commented with a smile, looking at the wolves. Then he moved away a bit while the woman watched with evident interest.

After moving away a bit, the boy drew his machetes and made a slashing motion in the air, forming a sort of X with his arms. Shortly after, the distant fence was cleanly cut into a giant X shape.

"Damn! I got too excited. It's going to be a pain to repair the fence," the boy commented, looking at the fence with a gaze full of pain and regret.

"Is that the slash you were referring to?"

"Yes, that's it. The pups' mother did something similar, so I tried to copy it, and I think I managed to reproduce it quite well."

"I see..."

The beautiful woman commented casually while looking at the destroyed fence, although her thoughts were entirely different.

(Son of a bitch! That's emission, shape control, essence transformation, and mystical confluence all at the same time. How did he manage to learn such complex and advanced techniques on his own?! Moreover, he's really not lying. He has no idea how crazy his 'flying slash' is. It has nothing to do with the air affinity mystical wolves' void claw. The idiot is comparing a paper boat to a sailboat. His damn 'flying slash' is on a completely different level of difficulty!!!...)

"That attack is quite impressive. How long did it take you to master that 'flying slash'?" The woman asked, struggling to keep her turbulent emotions from showing on her face.

"Hehehe," the boy looked away a bit, feeling slightly embarrassed before continuing, "about a year, though in my defense, it was really hard to do. I had no idea what I was doing at first and could only progress through trial and error."

The woman nearly had a heart attack when she heard that it took him less than a year to discover and master such advanced techniques. It had taken her, even with proper tutelage and being the greatest genius seen, over a decade to master them.

(So this is what others feel when they see me improve so quickly. I have truly sinned...)

The woman tried with all her might to restrain herself from erasing the boy's 'embarrassed' expression with punches as she spoke in a calm voice.

"Well, it's understandable since you had to do it without guidance. But you still haven't answered me. Will you be my disciple?"

"Of course, I would love to learn how to cast lightning," the boy commented with a small smile, to which the woman responded with a similar smile.

"Well, that's perfect then. Could you tell me your name?"

"My name?"

(Now that I think about it, I don't have a name in this life. Maybe I should use the name the old folks gave me? That might be a good idea. The problem is that it's very different from the names I remember from where I come from in this life, and it's better not to raise suspicions with someone who has such an absurdly strong presence.)

"Yes, your name."

"Actually, I don't have a name, just a nickname. Everyone called me Green Eyes where I used to live."

"That's a bit sad, boy... Let me give you a name… Mmm… yeah, that sounds good. From now on, you'll be called Erik. How does that sound?" The woman suggested with a slightly sad smile, which worsened when she saw the huge smile on the boy's face upon receiving a name.

(What a damn coincidence, she actually named me Erik, hahahaha.)

"It's great. I love the name. From now on, I'm Erik," the boy said loudly, with a big smile on his face.

The woman shook her head slightly, as if to shake off the melancholy brought by the boy's happiness, and spoke in a soft voice.

"Well, Erik, now I'll perform the disciple acceptance ritual. Don't be scared and stay still."

"Alright," Erik responded, nodding with excitement.

With a small smile on her delicate face, the woman stood in front of Erik, and shortly after, several runes appeared in the air around them, starting to glow. This immensely surprised the boy, but following the instructions, he didn't move from his spot while the woman spoke aloud.

"I, Sigrún Eldurdóttir, officially accept Erik as my disciple and confer upon him all the rights as my first disciple."

After her words, a column of light enveloped Erik and Sigrún, an event that lasted for a few moments before disappearing completely. In front of Erik appeared a large rune that then shrank in size and entered his body, which the boy watched with interest.

"Well, Erik, you are now officially my first disciple, and that rune identifies you as such. Don't worry; it won't harm you," Sigrún said to Erik with a soft smile.

"This is truly magical..." Erik commented with a dreamy look as he checked his body for anomalies.

"That's nothing. From now on, you'll live in a world completely different from what you've experienced so far, so be prepared," Sigrún said, looking at the boy with a smile. She then approached him and touched his shoulder before continuing, "Gather your things. It's time to go."

"Okay, I'll be right back," Erik replied with a smile before turning to the wolves and ordering, "Kaiser, Tiberius, go get your toys, we're leaving."

At his command, the wolves ran towards their 'doghouses', closely followed by the boy, who entered his cabin while the woman watched them leave with a smile.

"Who would have thought I'd find my first disciple on your home planet, Master? Life is truly a curious thing. I hope to be as good a teacher to him as you were to me..." Sigrún looked towards the forest, speaking softly with a nostalgic and somewhat melancholic smile on her face.

A couple of hours later, a 15-year-old boy could be seen at the camp gate, with a gigantic leather bag at least 5 meters long on his back, accompanied by two wolves over 3 meters tall, each with bags tied to their backs and their respective toys in their mouths.

The silver wolf had a 70 cm log shaped like a bone in its mouth, while the black wolf carried a leather ball of the same size in its mouth.

"What is all that you're carrying?" Sigrún asked with a smile that mixed amusement with a touch of tenderness at the antics of her first disciple.

"Some tools and clothes, but mostly food," Erik replied, pointing to the wolves wagging their tails happily and continued, "these two eat a lot."

"By the way, how are we getting out of here? And worse, how are we taking these two?" Erik asked curiously while looking at his new teacher.

"In my ship, of course," Sigrún responded with a confident smile.

"You really have a ship? Where is it?" Erik asked, looking towards the sea.

"Here," Sigrún said, as a small, incredibly detailed toy ship appeared in her hand. "This is my ship."

"..."

Erik refrained from saying anything, staring silently and expressionlessly at her, which made Sigrún smile widely. She immediately murmured some words, causing the ship to rise into the air while simultaneously increasing in size, quickly reaching the height of the clouds and an enormous size.

Erik's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he watched the incredible spectacle that surpassed anything he had seen in both his lives, while the wolves just played with their toys without a care in the world, as if nothing was happening.

"Magic is a wonderful thing... Will you also teach me how to do that, master?" Erik asked, looking at the wolves who seemed completely unconcerned about the ship. "It would be nice to make these two smaller. You don't know how many times I've had to repair my cabin because these idiots tried to enter as if they were still small."

"Hahaha, the ability to shrink is a property of the ship. But don't worry, there are ways to make them smaller. I'll teach you later."

"That's awesome!!" Erik exclaimed with joy, looking at Sigrún with eyes that seemed to shine like lanterns.

"Hahaha, it's good that you're happy, but it's time to go."

After saying that, Sigrún rose into the sky towards the ship and waved her hand towards Erik and the wolves. A sphere of warm light crowned by a rune appeared over them, and they began to rise into the air behind her.

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Inside the sphere of light, Erik watched in amazement as he rose into the air, noting how the cruiser in the sky grew larger from his perspective. This only highlighted the incredible craftsmanship, which seemed to have been carved from a single piece of white jade or something similar.

By the time they reached the upper deck of the ship, the spheres of light disappeared, revealing the wolves and Erik, who began to look around with curiosity and caution, while Sigrún watched them with a small smile.

"What do you think of my ship, Erik?"

"It's awesome! Do you know how to make one of these, Master?" Erik asked, his eyes shining.

"Mmm... well, I know the logic behind its functioning," Sigrún replied evasively while looking away. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Erik's expression change to one of slight disappointment, so she quickly added, "But if you want to learn how to make one, I know someone who can teach you."

"Really?! You're the best, Master! Can I take a closer look at the ship?"

"Of course, look at everything you want."

Erik jumped for joy and approached a small tower at the rear of the deck, which he began examining closely, analyzing the material it was made of while running his fingers over the set of runes engraved all over its surface.

Meanwhile, Sigrún watched with an ironic smile at her first disciple's evident interest in the artifact, but her expression quickly changed to one of surprise, evidence of the incredible event occurring before her.

(How is that possible?!!! That's Myst solidification, although its structure is terrible, making it super inefficient and fragile. I've never seen or heard of anyone who can do it so easily, let alone control it at will like that!!)

What Sigrún was witnessing was incredible even for someone like her. After all, Erik was now suspended in the air, standing on a platform that seemed to be made of crystal, rotating around the tower so he could better see the carved runes.

"Erik, could you tell me about the platform under your feet?" Sigrún asked, keeping her emotions under control, with the most 'normal' and 'natural' voice possible.

"You mean this?"

Erik asked curiously while pointing to the crystal platform, to which Sigrún casually nodded. This led the boy to deactivate it and drop to the ground before continuing.

"I discovered this when I was trying to replicate the animals' attacks, and although I could never achieve that, I somehow managed to make this kind of floating crystal."

The boy raised his right hand, upon which a 'crystal' arrow formed, and continued.

"At first, this crystal was very fragile and useless, but since it was the only thing I could make, I kept experimenting. Over time, I improved it to the point where I can now use it to land good blows from a distance or stand on it like before.

It's still fragile and can only withstand a little more than my own body weight, so it breaks if I apply force. But it's very easy to manipulate, and since I can shape it any way I want, it's proven to be very useful."

Sigrún watched in surprise as the number of 'crystal' arrows increased while Erik spoke, dancing around him precisely and coordinatedly, like highly trained soldiers performing a military routine.

"You're very creative, Erik,"

Sigrún commented with a strange look on her face, to which Erik responded awkwardly.

"Hehehe, thanks."

"Well, we'll continue talking in a moment. For now, let's take off, and watch closely. I'm sure you'll enjoy the spectacle."

Sigrún commented with a small smile before looking at Erik, who ran to the railing to watch, while the wolves lay down and played with their toys in their mouths, completely unfazed by their master's excitement.

After a small mischievous laugh, Sigrún murmured some words, and the immense ship quickly became covered with a sphere of light, which then turned invisible, allowing a perfect view outside.

Without Erik expecting it in the slightest, the ship abruptly accelerated towards the sky, causing him to stumble a bit. Although he braced his body for the inertia and G-forces from the incredible acceleration, contrary to logic, he felt nothing, as if what he was seeing outside was just an illusion and the ship wasn't moving at all.

"Master, very funny joke, you almost had me fooled."

Erik turned to look at his master with a blank expression. After all, it was obvious he was being pranked since not only did he not feel any G-forces or inertia, but the scene presented was also ridiculous. The ship was now in space, moving away from the planet at an incredible speed.

"HAHAHAHAHA... I really wanted to see your reaction, but I never thought you'd think it was a joke, HAHAHAHA," Sigrún laughed joyfully as she spoke, holding her slender stomach with one hand.

"What else could it be but a joke? Not only did I feel nothing when the 'ship' accelerated, but also this scene is impossible," Erik said, still expressionless, looking at his master.

"Hehe, what did I tell you a moment ago?" Sigrún looked at Erik with a mischievous smile and continued proudly, "From now on, you live in a world completely different from everything you know. You are now a disciple of the greatest genius of the galaxy and the youngest Master in history."

Erik's eyes almost popped out of their sockets upon hearing Sigrún's words, and he commented in a voice full of disbelief.

"Are you really not joking with me?"

"Hahaha, not at all, Erik. It's the truth. Humanity conquered this galaxy a long time ago, and your master is very remarkable, known as the greatest genius in history. So be proud to be my first disciple," Sigrún said, strutting with pride.

"Why have I never heard anything like this? Although it is common knowledge that we are just a planet in the vast galaxy, I never heard that humanity had conquered it or anything like that," Erik quickly asked, choosing to selectively ignore his new master's blatant attempt to brag.

"Well, that's because your home planet is very primitive and has nothing worth exploiting, so you live in your little bubble without realizing what happens outside."

As Sigrún's words still echoed in Erik's mind, the floor glowed a bit, and the wood reshaped itself, quickly forming two elegant and stylish chairs and a table.

Shortly after, Sigrún pointed to one of the chairs for Erik and elegantly sat in the other, while a porcelain teapot of incredible beauty, pure white with gold decorations, appeared out of nowhere on the table, along with several similarly designed plates with bread and cookies.

Still very confused by the bewildering information he was receiving, Erik sat in the chair almost by inertia, and after a moment of reflection, decided to ask.

"If humanity conquered the galaxy, why is my planet primitive?"

"Hehe, you noticed right away, and I suppose you can imagine, but your planet wasn't always like this. About 40,000 years ago, things were very different. It was known as a rather prosperous kingdom with good military power and stable trade, part of the Meridian Federation, one of the three great factions.

However, due to a struggle for the throne, a bloody civil war broke out that left them very weakened, which allowed many to take advantage of the situation, inevitably causing many wars and conflicts that ended up leaving very few survivors.

The royal family fell, as did most of the powerful nobles, so the few strong characters left either fled or were too injured to do anything. Eventually, the accumulated knowledge they had was lost, leaving them in their current pathetic state, where the best they can offer is a cheap version of an apprentice-level knight, not to mention going to space."

Sigrún commented calmly while placing some tea leaves in the teapot, which filled with water that appeared out of nowhere. Before she finished speaking, the teapot was already steaming, allowing her to serve exquisite tea in the beautiful cups that accompanied the teapot.

"I have so many questions..." Erik commented in a low tone, one hand on his chin, lost in thought.

"I know, it must be quite shocking for you to learn all this. But where we are going is the most prosperous place in the galaxy. There are people from all over and from all origins, so it's better that you understand a bit of what you're up against. But don't worry, we'll be traveling for about a month, so we have plenty of time for you to catch up on the essentials. So take it easy."

Sigrún commented with a beautiful smile on her face as she floated one of the cups over to Erik, landing it gently on the table in front of him. The boy took the cup in his hands, his mind racing with many thoughts and questions, but he decided to tackle them one by one and began by asking.

"Well, the first thing I'd like to know is, what are the three great factions?"

"Great question. The three great factions are basically the three largest 'alliances' in the galaxy, and they fight among themselves quite a bit. Although they haven't gone into full-scale war for about 700,000 years, there are still occasional skirmishes. These factions are: the Meridian Federation that I mentioned before, the Boreal League, and the Jade Lotus Union."

Sigrún answered calmly after savoring the delicious tea, to which Erik quickly asked another question.

"Why didn't the Meridian Federation help my planet?"

"Well, that's due to the internal policies of the alliance. They don't interfere in internal conflicts, and since it was a civil war, they weren't obligated to help. Moreover, the ones who delivered the final blow to your planet were other members of the alliance who looked for any valid excuse to invade. Since your planet was on its last legs and had little value, no one opposed them."

"So typical..."

Erik commented in a low voice, but Sigrún heard him and responded with a small laugh, feeling that the more she got to know her disciple, the more she liked him.

"Hahaha, quite typical. Even though we conquered the galaxy, we are still humans and always end up doing things like that."

"I see..." Erik commented thoughtfully, making a mental note not to talk to himself in front of his master. He then continued, "But I'd like to know what the alliances are based on and why they hate each other."

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"I see..." Erik commented thoughtfully, making a mental note not to talk to himself in front of his master. He then continued, "But I'd like to know what the alliances are based on and why they hate each other."

Sigrún nodded, satisfied with her disciple's question, pleased that he could focus on what truly mattered. She responded in a soft and pleased voice.

"That's another great question. I was just about to mention it, but to keep it short, we humans have three different magical systems: one known as Sacred Geometry, which is mainly based on magical circles; the Aegis system, which I practice and is based on runes; and the Zazen Discipline, which is primarily based on meditation and energy control with the mind and body.

The three alliances are the main representatives of these systems: the Meridian Federation with Sacred Geometry, the Boreal League with the Aegis system, and the Jade Lotus Union with the Zazen Discipline. They hate each other precisely because of that, though they occasionally have other excuses to hate each other. But that's the main reason.

They swear their respective system is the best and that the others are just cheap imitations or inferior versions, which has led to several wars. According to them, it's to prove they have the most powerful magical system, though usually, it's just a cheap excuse to steal from each other. The truth is, the three systems are simply different ways of doing the same thing, each with its advantages and disadvantages."

"So, you're part of the Boreal League, master?" Erik asked thoughtfully, looking at his master, who smiled casually and replied.

"Not at all. Although they are known as the three great factions, they aren't the only ones. For example, there's the faction I belong to, the Arcane Order, which is a neutral faction composed mainly of scholars, researchers, and merchants."

"And the others don't try to attack you?"

Erik asked, a bit surprised by the response, to which Sigrún laughed joyfully and then replied with a bit of arrogance in her tone.

"Hahaha, they don't have the guts to do it. Although we are neutral, we are not weak and possess enough power to make them regret attacking us. Besides, we are the main supplier of weapons, medicines, magical artifacts, and knowledge in the galaxy, so it's better to have us as friends than to start a foolish fight they can't win."

"Basically, you became necessary and are filthy rich," Erik commented casually, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, causing Sigrún to respond with a mischievous smile on her delicate face.

"Hehe, you understood quickly."

"So, does the Arcane Order practice the Aegis system, master?"

"You could say we practice all three since we have great exponents of each system and don't believe in the stupidity that one system is better than the other. For us, there is only the most suitable system for a specific goal."

Hearing Sigrún's words, Erik asked, full of curiosity.

"Is it my idea, or did you imply that a person can only practice one of the three systems?"

"More or less. While there's nothing that technically prevents a person from practicing more than one system, it's not easy to master any of the three. You need to be very talented to excel in one due to the difficulty of mastering them.

So, most people prefer to specialize. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the three systems are different ways of doing the same thing, so it's better to focus on the system you're most compatible with. Although many have tried to practice more than one, they didn't get very far and ended up focusing on the one they were most compatible with."

"That's interesting. But what if I'm not compatible with the Aegis system?"

Erik asked, looking his master directly in the eyes. She responded after waving her left hand to indicate it was something of no importance.

"You don't have to worry about that. Even though you're my disciple, that doesn't mean you have to do things the way I do. Besides, although I practice the Aegis system, I'm quite familiar with the other systems and have a lot of experience, so it won't be a problem to guide you if you're compatible with a different one.

Also, when I say they are just different ways of doing the same thing, I mean it. You can perform the same spell with any of the three systems, each with its respective advantages and disadvantages."

Sigrún's response visibly relaxed Erik, who still had tons of questions to ask. He knew that if everything his new master said was true, he had just hit the jackpot without even buying a ticket, so it would be a shame to lose it.

"That's good. And where are we headed, master?"

"We're going to the center of the galaxy, specifically to the Arcane University, the most important educational center in the entire galaxy."

"You mentioned earlier that you're the youngest Master in history," Erik commented, understanding dawning on him, to which Sigrún responded with a small smile.

"Hehe, though you have a small misunderstanding, you're right about something. Your master is the youngest Master in history, surpassing the previous youngest record by 4,000 years," Sigrún said, with a slightly proud smile on her face.

"4,000 years?!!!!!! How is that possible? How old are you, master?" Erik jumped from his chair in shock and exclaimed in surprise.

"Hahaha, your surprised face is really cute, Erik. And there's no need to be so shocked. Although on your home planet the life expectancy cap was only about 150 years, that's just because of its primitive state. Things are very different in the galaxy.

For us, lifespan depends directly on our power level, with some managing to live tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. Oh, and by the way, your master is just a baby of barely 1,000 years old, hehe."

Sigrún commented cheerfully, a mischievous smile slipping out of her seductive cherry-colored lips as she watched Erik's face of absolute shock with amusement.

"Hundreds of thousands? A 1,000-year-old baby?..."

Erik's words came out as a whisper, feeling like everything around him was spinning. He couldn't stand anymore and sat down with difficulty, then looked at his master and asked.

"How can you be a 'baby' at 1,000 years old?"

"Hehe, at my level, life expectancy is counted in hundreds of thousands of years. What else could I be but a baby, having lived only 1,000 years? That's not even one percent of my life expectancy."

Enjoying her disciple's adorable reactions, Sigrún commented cheerfully, then took another sip from her cup. Erik looked at her with a slight nervous tic in his right eye, as if he was having an intense internal battle to believe what he was hearing.

"Hundreds of thousands? Are you serious, master?..."

"Very serious. Being a Master isn't just a job like on your planet; it's a title that represents power, the second highest in the power hierarchy."

With Sigrún's calm response, Erik took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his mind full of doubts and questions, then asked in a better mental state.

"Are there more titles?"

"Yes, nine to be precise. From lowest to highest, they are: Initiate, Apprentice, Ascended, Revealed, Illuminated, Sage, Arcane, Master, and Legendary."

As she answered, Sigrún casually waved her hand toward the cup in Erik's hands, which he hadn't even tasted due to his shock. The tea heated up instantly, surprising the boy, who turned to look at her in amazement.

"Drink a bit and eat."

"Thank you, master."

After thanking her, Erik took a sip of tea. Although he had never been a big fan, the tea tasted incredible, feeling smooth and slightly sweet. At the same time, he felt energized, and his mind calmed.

"Delicious, isn't it? Hehe"

Sigrún commented while watching with a small smile as Erik made cute expressions. Fascinated by the tea's flavor, Erik quickly grabbed a cookie and started eating like a little mouse, with small bites while his eyes showed surprise, happiness, and reflection.

(How can he be so adorable?!! It makes me want to hug him and never let go!!!)

"Didn't you have many questions to ask?"

Sigrún asked warmly, which surprised Erik. He quickly put down his cookie and, after coughing a couple of times, quickly asked, though he couldn't stop glancing at the half-eaten cookie on his plate.

"So... uh... oh yeah, right. What title would I have then, master?"

"You would be an Advanced-Apprentice if we're talking solely about mana. But since your knowledge is limited, you'll need to study a lot to be able to do what others at your level can. And in case you're wondering, your life expectancy is 150 years, which is the maximum power level on your planet."

Sigrún responded cheerfully. Seeing that her disciple kept looking at his cookie, she commented amusedly, "You can finish your cookie first."

"Hehe," Erik chuckled a bit awkwardly but quickly grabbed his cookie and began eating it, causing his eyes to shine like lanterns. Somehow, the cookie tasted even better.

"Is there anything preventing someone from advancing further on my planet?"

After finishing his cookie, Erik asked, trying to appear serious, which only made Sigrún smile in amusement.

"It's not like something is actively preventing it; it's just that the resources and knowledge on your planet are very scarce, keeping them trapped at that level. After all, those who invaded made sure to take everything."

"I see... but master, there's something I don't understand. Why would someone as important and powerful as you be on a planet like mine?"

Erik asked, leaning forward on the table with a serious expression, as if he hadn't been fascinated by a cookie just moments before.

"Well, that's because your planet is my master's home planet."

Sigrún responded with a slightly melancholic voice as she turned her gaze towards that greenish-colored planet, which had long disappeared from view. After a slight sigh, she continued.

"Her last wish was for her ashes to rest in that place, so every 50 years, I come to visit her. The island where you were is the place where I laid her to rest."

Erik tried to follow her gaze but noticed something incredible that he hadn't realized due to being so focused on the conversation. Now, all around him were horizontal beams of light of different colors moving incredibly fast.

"This view is really amazing..." Erik commented with a dreamy look, to which Sigrún responded.

"You'll get used to the light show in hyperspace."

"Hyperspace?" Erik turned to look at his master again and asked, confused.

"Yes, they're natural or artificial channels used to travel great distances. After all, if we traveled in normal space, which has a very low speed limit, it would take us thousands of years to get anywhere in the galaxy."

"I see... but everything here is really surprising... Master, may I ask how long your master lived?" Erik asked a bit apprehensively, to which Sigrún responded calmly.

"Don't worry, I've had a couple of hundred years to learn to handle it, and she lived for 40,000 years."

"40,000?" Erik looked at his master, confused, who smiled and commented softly.

"You're getting better; now 40,000 years seems like a short time to you."

"It's not that it seems short; it's just that you mentioned earlier that life is related to power."

"To be someone's master, you don't need to be stronger than that person. Although it's not common, you occasionally see people stronger than their masters. I'm one of those cases. My master reached to be a peak-Sage."

"That makes sense. But master, what do you mean by advanced and peak? Are there levels within the titles?" Erik asked curiously, to which Sigrún nodded, satisfied with her disciple's inference, and responded.

"That's right. Each title actually has nine ranks, from lowest to highest: Initiate, Novice, Practitioner, Skilled, Competent, Advanced, Expert, Virtuoso, and Peak."

"That's interesting..." Erik put a hand on his chin, thinking about something, but his master's words brought him out of his thoughts.

"Erik, now that you've learned a bit about the situation in the galaxy, let me ask you a few questions."

"Of course, master. Ask whatever you want."

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"First, I would like to know how you tamed those mystical wolves and how you managed to form a contract with them," Sigrún looked intently at Erik, waiting for his response, intent on not missing a thing.

"So they're called mystical wolves, that's a good name," Erik said with a smile as the wolves perked up their ears, dropped their toys, and barked happily while wagging their tails.

"As for taming them, I didn't do anything special. I just raised them like dogs, although I somewhat regret it now because they bark all the time like dogs. But I don't understand what you mean by 'contract'. I didn't do anything besides feeding them and teaching them a few commands and such."

"Are you not aware that you made a contract with them, Erik?" Sigrún asked, looking a bit confused and surprised.

"Not really. They've been with me for years, but I truly don't know what you mean by 'contract,'" Erik responded, even more confused.

"Let me explain what a contract is. First, a contract is a sort of ritual in which a magical animal and a human participate, where the magical animal accepts the human as its master. It has interesting properties.

For example, the animal and the master are always aware of each other's position. Additionally, the master can share their mana with their contracted animal, which not only temporarily enhances its abilities but also, over time, strengthens the animal by nourishing it with the master's mana."

"Is that really a contract? If so, then I have a contract with them, because I can more or less sense their location and give them 'chi' or, well, mana, as you call it. But I always thought those were properties of mana; I never imagined it was something like a contract," Erik commented thoughtfully, which puzzled Sigrún, who quickly asked.

"Properties of mana? How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Well, from the moment I felt mana for the first time, I immediately discovered that one of its properties was to enhance my strength, endurance, and toughness manyfold. Over time, this has improved, and now I need much less mana to achieve a similar effect.

Another property I discovered was that this 'hardening' could be applied to other things, like my tools. This led me to discover another property: if I sent my mana into something, it started to feel like a part of my body, to the point where I could sense everything that happened to it, down to the smallest scratch, similar to how you know where your hands or feet are at all times without having to look at them.

The thing is, when I picked up the pups, they were newborns, and I had no way to feed them with mother's milk or anything like that. So I decided to try a property I had discovered about 'natural energy'. Ah..."

Erik raised his hand and pointed to the air before continuing.

"By 'natural energy', I mean those little balls of energy in the air. The property I discovered was that if you mixed them with mana, you could delay the sensation of hunger or fatigue. So I tried to pass this mixture to them, and it worked. But soon I realized it was unnecessary since they could eat meat without any problem, even though they were newborns.

However, they liked it so much that they wouldn't stop whining if I didn't give it to them with the meat. So I spent a lot of time giving it to them, although now they've stopped a bit, and I only give it to them occasionally as a reward.

The point is, since I could sense what was happening to my tools when I gave them mana, it wasn't too illogical to think that I could know the location of the wolves, to whom I had also given my mana. After all, following similar logic, I managed to create my 'chi sphere', or I think you called it 'ethereal projection.'"

(DAMN MONSTER!!! What properties, you idiot?! You just mentioned intermediate and advanced techniques, as well as communion with the Myst, a master-level technique!)

Sigrún was stunned by what she had heard while staring at where Erik had pointed, as she could clearly see an 'energy ball' as Erik called them. She quickly took a deep breath in secret to calm herself and, in a calm voice, commented.

"So that's how you created the contract. What you mentioned about combining your mana with the Myst or the 'natural energy' as you called it, is a very ancient and basic way of forming contracts with magical animals."

"Although it's very inefficient, the amount of mana that contracted animals can utilize is very low, and they also cannot communicate telepathically or cast spells together. So, if you want, I can teach you how to make a contract with your wolves later."

"Oh, that sounds good," Erik responded with a cheerful smile, nodding his head.

"Well, then we'll do it later. But there's something else I want to know. You told me that you felt the mana after copying the movements of an old man you worked for. Did you feel the Myst the same way?"

Sigrún asked casually, trying to disguise the wild mix of emotions running through her.

"Oh yes, after feeling the mana, I circulated it through my body while doing those movements, and after a while, I started to feel the energy points or the Myst around me."

"How long did it take you to feel the mana and the Myst?"

"Hmmm..." Erik brought his right hand to his chin and started to recall before continuing, "With the mana, it must have been about 30 minutes, and for the Myst, I'm not exactly sure, but it must have been a few hours."

(30 minutes and a few hours? YOU SON OF A BITCH!!! Stop rubbing your damn genius in my face! It took me a month to feel the mana and a whole year to feel the Myst, and I'm supposed to be the greatest genius in history. How I hate you, you damned genius!!!)

Sigrún almost started hyperventilating from her suppressed feelings. She had always been the best at everything, far surpassing previous records, which made her feel quite proud, and it was fun to show off in front of the old grumps.

But seeing a genius even more monstrous than herself in front of her made her feel very strange. Despite being somewhat annoyed that there was someone with talent far superior to hers, she also felt incredibly excited and full of anticipation.

After all, it was what she had always wanted. It had always been very lonely being the best, the genius of an era, always receiving envy and admiration from others. Although she had some friends, acquaintances, and her sworn sisters, it wasn't the same. What she wanted was someone not only at her level but someone who could surpass her.

But that finally changed. Now she had met someone even more talented than her, and he was her disciple, so he would be with her for a very, very long time, and she would no longer have to feel alone at the top, which filled her with incredible anticipation and joy.

"I understand... by the way, could you show me the movements you copied from the old man?"

"Sure."

Erik stood up from his chair and started performing the basic Tai Chi movements he knew. Although all that about the old man might seem like a lie, it wasn't. The main reason he decided to try Tai Chi movements was that there really was an old blacksmith he worked for who talked about chi and did Tai Chi movements. Although they were a bit different from the ones he knew, the difference wasn't very big.

Initially, it never occurred to Erik that he wasn't on Earth. After all, although it was a very different place from the memories of his previous life, in the place where he lived in this life, the people and even the technology were not much different from the medieval age he remembered from history books of his first life.

So even after seeing giant magical animals, he didn't doubt he was still on Earth, maybe far in the past or in a post-apocalyptic future, but never in another place. After all, although they were giant and magical, they had the same form as the animals he knew.

But now he wasn't so sure, because the first thing he noticed when he saw his planet from space was that it didn't look anything like Earth. Although he hadn't traveled to space in his past life, like everyone else, he had seen photos and videos from space stations, and what he saw didn't look anything like that.

Starting with the shape of the continents, although he could only see two, their shape was totally different from what he remembered. So, either it's far, far in the future, and that planet is really Earth, with tectonic plates rearranging the continents, or it's a completely different place. Additionally, the planet's most prominent color from space was greenish, even though the oceans were blue on the planet's surface.

Meanwhile, Sigrún was doubting her existence. She couldn't understand how such simple and basic exercises, which had nothing to do with mana, Myst, or any kind of body refinement technique, somehow helped Erik feel the mana.

Initially, it seemed quite suspicious to Sigrún that someone would decide to practice initiation exercises in front of an orphan, as Erik claimed to be. On a planet as primitive as Erik's home planet, something like that would be incredibly valuable and well-controlled, not something any random orphan could access.

But since she didn't detect any lies in Erik, and deceiving her would require a legend-level power, not just anyone, Sigrún started to think that maybe there was something in the boy's story that even he didn't know, perhaps some political scheme where the boy was a bastard son of some noble or something like that. But the reality turned out to be simpler than she expected.

The reality is that no one showed Erik initiation exercises. The movements he practiced had nothing to do with anything related to mana; they were simply simple exercises that might serve to train an older person but could never help someone sense mana. In fact, running would have a better effect than what he was doing.

But then there was a big question: where did the impressive bio-mystic exercises come from, the ones she saw him practicing the first time they met? Those exercises surprised even her, as they were not only beautiful but also very practical for combat. More importantly, they helped refine mana and were in perfect sync with the Myst.

As if that weren't enough, the bio-mystic exercises Erik practiced were also incredibly well-suited for him, fitting like a custom-made glove, almost as if they had been designed specifically for him. Additionally, they bore no resemblance to what he was currently showing.

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[lordanl]

"You can stop now, Erik."

"Alright."

With Sigrún's words, Erik stopped his movements and sat back down in the chair, eating cookies like a mouse. He really loved those cookies, munching away throughout the conversation, and to his delight, each time he was about to finish, more seemed to appear on the plate out of nowhere.

"You mentioned that you changed those exercises after a while. Why did you do that?"

Still full of doubts, Sigrún asked casually, focusing her gaze on Erik, who simply responded with a somewhat worried question after stopping his cookie munching.

"Shouldn't I have?"

"No, not at all. I'm just curious. Besides, the ones you use now are much better," Sigrún replied with a reassuring smile.

"That's a relief. Actually, I did it because these energy balls guided me to do so. While practicing, they seemed to guide me to change them, and when I did, they started to enter me, and I became stronger. So I kept doing them, and before I knew it, they turned into what you saw", Erik explained calmly before resuming his cookie eating.

(This is no genius; he's a damn CHILD OF THE MYST! How the hell can someone like him exist in this world? Life is so unfair… but at the same time, so interesting. Fufufu.)

"Well, I think that's enough for today," Sigrún stood up from her chair and continued, "Follow me. I'll take you to your room. Your wolves can stay on the deck. After you rest a bit and unpack your things, I'll teach you how make a new contract and how to make them smaller."

"That's great! Keiser, Tiberius, stay here and don't break anything." Erik stood up, took his huge bag from the floor, and followed Sigrún, while the wolves responded with a couple of barks.

Bark x2

Sigrún led Erik into the ship, walking through a long corridor luxuriously decorated with dark wood panels, white marble floors, and walls adorned with beautiful golden runes, each emitting a soft glow, creating a mesmerizing pattern of light and shadow that captured Erik's attention.

Finally, they arrived at a massive door, encrusted with gleaming gems and engraved with intricate runes that emitted a slight light. Sigrún opened it with a smooth and elegant gesture of her hand, revealing an elegant and luxurious room that seemed to scream comfort.

Erik looked at the room with its white walls and wooden floor, where a silk canopy hung over a large, plush bed, a mystical-looking blue fire crackling in the fireplace, sofas upholstered in soft, luxurious black velvet, and various pieces of furniture like desks and tables made of dark wood with an elegant and sleek appearance.

"This is really beautiful, master"

Erik commented, surprised not only by the incredible room but also by the amazing scenes he had seen so far. Although he knew luxury and had enjoyed it in his past life, things here were on another level when mixed with the beautiful magical runes carved in every visible place.

"I'm glad you like it. You can leave your things and rest a bit. I'll be on the deck, by the way," Sigrún pointed to a closet in the room and continued, "In that closet, there's clothing that adjusts to any size, and I assure you, it's quite comfortable. So try to wear it; you'll like it."

"Alright, thank you, master," Erik replied with a small smile, feeling grateful to the beautiful woman who had somehow taken him in.

After that brief conversation, Sigrún left the room, closing the door behind her, and headed towards the deck. Once there, she sat down again in the chair that had formed from the floor, and after taking a few sips from her teacup, a beautiful mirror appeared in her hand.

The mirror's frame was intricately carved from a rare type of wood, polished to a deep, rich shine, contrasting wonderfully with the countless runes engraved on it.

After murmuring a few words, the reflection in the mirror changed to reveal a sunset garden full of flowers and shrubs of different colors and all kinds of magical lights illuminating a glass table, behind which sat a woman of inhuman beauty.

The beautiful woman had long, silky, slightly wavy brown hair that flowed gracefully, falling over her shoulders and framing her lovely face with fine and elegant features that exuded an ethereal beauty, reaching the epitome of perfection.

But the most captivating thing about the woman was her eyes, so golden they seemed to shine brighter than gold, reflecting a disturbing mix of wisdom, power, and dominance, adding a mystical and supernatural charm to the enchanting woman.

"Hello, Sig, how are you? Did something happen? It's rare for you to call me at this time"

The beautiful woman in the reflection asked with a concerned expression while looking at Sigrún, who responded in a calm and reassuring voice, though it contained a bit of pride and anticipation, like a little girl wanting to show off her new toy.

"Hi, Eli, don't worry, I'm fine. But you're right, something did happen."

"Good or bad?"

The woman in the reflection asked, still a bit worried, but knowing Sigrún for so long, she could tell from her expression that she was only calling to brag about something, but she wanted to be sure.

"Well, I'd say very good, actually," Sigrún's smile widened as she replied, almost as if she were having trouble containing herself.

"Oh, really? Tell me then."

The woman in the reflection demanded elegantly but excitedly at the same time, knowing that whatever put such a smile on her friend's face must be something great. As lifelong best friends, they shared everything, and she was dying to know what her new acquisition was.

"Hahaha, don't get too excited. It's nothing much, I just got my first disciple."

After laughing joyfully, Sigrún spoke casually, as if she were mentioning something unimportant, while the mirror began to float in front of her, and she crossed her long, elegant legs before taking a cup of tea in a relaxed and elegant manner.

"WHAT?!!!"

Incredulity was the only thing the beautiful woman in the reflection could show on her face. After all, she knew Sigrún better than anyone—the greatest genius of the galaxy, the one at the absolute peak of talent, to the point that no one could even come close, and other geniuses, like herself, could only fight for the scraps.

But because they were closer than sisters, she never envied Sigrún nor felt any negative emotions towards her. Even when Sigrún broke her record as the youngest to achieve the title of Master, she was proud, as no one knew better than her how lonely it was at the top, being the best without opposition. It must have been even worse for Sigrún, given her young age, though it was a source of pride for her that her younger sister was so outstanding.

Precisely because of this, she was dumbfounded. Although her sister felt lonely on her throne of unique genius, she wasn't willing to lower her standards in the slightest. That's why she had vehemently refused to accept any disciple, even when many people had offered countless resources and incalculable wealth. Even the director and head of the faction tried to convince her, but nothing changed.

So for the always proud Sigrún Eldurdóttir, who refused to accept a disciple unless they met her impossible standards, to suddenly accept someone out of the blue while on her pilgrimage to visit her master, it wasn't just hard to believe; this news would undoubtedly shake the entire galaxy.

"HAHAHAHAHA, you don't have to be so surprised. I just saw that the boy had potential and took him under my wing, it's nothing extraordinary"

Sigrún laughed joyfully and commented with a haughty expression before biting a cookie, which immediately reminded her of her adorable disciple, making her smile softly as she looked at the woman in the reflection who was still struggling with her disbelief and asked in a low voice.

"What kind of monster did you take in?"

"Oh, nothing extraordinary, just a Child of the Myst."

With her haughty expression and a smile that seemed like it would split her face, Sigrún again commented as if it were nothing important, then gracefully sipped her tea, contrasting sharply with the woman in the reflection of the floating mirror.

"THAT LEGEND?!!!"

The woman on the other side of the mirror felt the world spinning and doubted what she was hearing. After all, a Child of the Myst was just a myth, something that, although it shouldn't be impossible, had never been seen until now—not even something relatively close. For Sigrún to dare call him that, he had to be an incomparable monster.

"Well, it seems it's not a legend, and now he's my disciple. I must say that at first, I refused, despite the boy begging me to accept him as his master. But since I'm a compassionate woman, I decided to give him a chance. As he barely passed my test, I had to reluctantly accept him. After all, I wouldn't have a place to show my face if I didn't keep my word."

With a haughty and vain expression, Sigrún lied without a hint of shame, while glancing sideways at her friend in the mirror, relishing her look of surprise and astonishment. After all, that was precisely the expression she wanted to see.

"Are you serious, Sig?" The woman on the other side of the mirror became serious and asked.

"Very serious. That boy is a damn monster, and if everything he says is true, he is undoubtedly a Child of the Myst. That's why I want you to help me investigate him. Even though I didn't detect any lies in what he told me, it's better to confirm it."

With her friend and sworn sister's seriousness, Sigrún stopped playing and also adopted a serious expression while looking intently at the woman in the reflection, conveying the importance of the matter.

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[lordanl]

"That even you would call him a monster..." Despite her serious expression, a hint of surprise escaped the voice of the beautiful woman in the mirror.

"Just listen to this. According to him, he managed to sense mana in 30 minutes and the Myst a few hours later after practicing some random exercises, which he showed me. But I assure you, running would be more effective than what he was doing.

But that's not the craziest part. The boy now uses a series of bio-mystic exercises at least Master-level, which, according to him, he was guided by the Myst to do. Moreover, he's only 15 years old and already an advanced-apprentice, having instinctively mastered Reinforcement, Emission, Form Control, Essence Transformation, Mystical Confluence, and Communion with the Myst.

Furthermore, the boy has an absurd level of mana control, it's truly insane. But the most incredible thing is that he can solidify Myst and control it at will with terrifying ease, something I saw with my own eyes," Sigrún explained seriously what she knew about Erik.

"What a monster. If you weren't the one telling me this, I wouldn't dare to believe it, especially the last part. There are no records of anyone being able to change the position of solidified Myst at will..." The surprise was evident in the voice of the woman on the other side of the mirror.

"Yes, that's why I want you to investigate his origins. Someone like that can't just appear out of nowhere on the island where my master rests, it seems too good to be true."

"Is that where you found him?"

The woman on the other side of the mirror asked, a little surprised, to which Sigrún nodded as she explained.

"Yes, apparently he was working on a ship that was destroyed by a sea monster and ended up on the island by the waves, which is impossible. I personally took care of modifying the entire environment: the waves, the weather, even the tides are set to divert anyone who approaches. Not to mention the concealment and defense formations installed there.

Moreover, according to him, the ship was on a route on the other side of the planet, so I can only think of one possibility: someone or something put the boy there, and we need to find out what it is, because the boy has no idea. And although it's true that I created the island when I was just an Arcane, a random Master-level wouldn't be able to break the concealment."

"You're right, I'll get on it. Just make sure to give me the boy's name and description. I'll send people to take care of the matter," said the woman on the other side of the mirror. Her serious expression then turned playful as she continued with a small smile, "But now I'm really dying to meet our disciple."

"Our? Since when is he our disciple? He's MY disciple," Sigrún jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, immediately becoming defensive.

"*sob* I didn't know my little Sig had become so selfish, not even wanting to share the good things with her poor older sister," the woman's playful smile widened as she commented with mock sadness in a dramatic tone.

"Hmph, as if we ever shared disciples. You already have yours, keep them, don't bother mine," Sigrún huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms beneath her ample chest.

"Ah, that's because you never wanted to teach them anything. But from now on, my disciples are your disciples, if you wish. So don't forget to tell the boy about his other master."

"Don't even think about it. Erik is MY disciple, so don't get any ideas."

Sigrún replied, evidently annoyed, her delicate face full of displeasure, something the woman on the other side of the mirror wonderfully ignored, commenting in a sweet tone as she brought her right hand to her cheek.

"So his name is Erik? Nice name."

"Yes, his name is Erik, and I gave it to him. So leave my disciple alone, I never bothered you with yours."

"Wait, what do you mean you gave him the name? Explain that to me because I don't understand," the woman on the other side of the mirror commented, puzzled.

"Well, apparently he didn't have a name, just a nickname. They called him 'Green Eyes', according to what he told me," Sigrún's expression turned a bit sad as she spoke.

"That's very sad. I'll make sure to give our little Erik lots of love and care to comfort him for his tough childhood."

The woman's expression in the mirror also showed some sadness, though she didn't forget to tease Sigrún in revenge for her blatant attempt to boast in front of her.

"What love and care? Do that for your disciples, don't bother mine. I'll take care of whatever he needs."

Sigrún's expression instantly shifted from sadness to annoyance at the woman's words, replying in an offended tone.

"Sig, aren't you curious to see what a child of the Myst could achieve when taught by both of us? Think about it, he would have your aegis system and my sacred geometry at his disposal, combined with your alchemy skills and my refinement abilities. And don't forget, if he uses Myst constructions, sacred geometry will benefit him the most."

Like a demon tempting a naive soul, the woman began to entice Sigrún, who found it increasingly hard to refuse. After all, she was genuinely curious to see what could happen—a genius like Erik combined with the best they had to offer. The thought alone made her shiver.

"..."

"You're dying to know, aren't you, Sig? I feel the same way. What do you say?"

"Let me think about it..."

"Fufufu, alright. Now, tell me more about the boy."

…

…

…

The moment Sigrún left the room, Erik dropped his bag on the floor, placed his machetes on the desk, and jumped onto the bed. It didn't make a sound, and the mattress easily absorbed the impact, leaving him feeling the best comfort and coziness he had ever experienced.

"This bed is amazing; I've never felt a bed this good before. I feel great..."

The boy lay on the bed with a relaxed expression on his face, but after a while, he closed his eyes and began to meditate on what had happened that day.

(Today was a crazy day. That woman, or rather, my master, is a damn monster. I almost died of fright when she suddenly appeared on the roof of my cabin. Her presence is too terrifying, I've never felt anything like it before.

Being in front of her is like being a tiny firefly in front of the sun, too terrifying. I didn't even have the courage to lie and only told half-truths, as I have the strange feeling that she can tell if I'm lying. And being a thousand-year-old monster, it wouldn't be strange if she could do something like that...

Moreover, things changed too quickly. I went from surviving in the wild to accepting a monstrous master who does magic and flying in an interstellar ship through space to the center of the galaxy. Although, well, I finally found the answer to why a medieval world had the concept of planet and galaxy... Things are so exciting!!! Hahahahaha...)

A strange smile formed on Erik's face as he stretched lazily on the bed, but he quickly returned to his thoughts.

(Although, there's still the possibility that I'm nothing more than merchandise for a human trafficker, so I shouldn't celebrate too soon. But then again, it's not like I could do much about it. That woman is a monster in more than one sense, and I can't see myself escaping in any way. So, I better not think about it and just go with the flow. Maybe I'm lucky...

Setting that aside, the question is, where am I? Is this the same world from my past life but at a different time, or is it a parallel world? Mmmm, that's hard to answer. Although, if I found Earth, there would be a chance to get answers. But well, it's not particularly useful to know that anyway...)

While Erik continued thinking about random things and since it had been years since he lay in such a soft bed, he slowly fell asleep, drifting into the world of dreams with a small smile on his face.

…

…

…

Several hours later, Erik woke up a bit confused and looked around, trying to understand where he was. But he quickly remembered what had happened and began to explore the place with curiosity.

"This is really something else, it's practically a luxury hotel. No, come to think of it, this place is better..."

After marveling at every detail and admiring the intricate and detailed runes carved around, Erik arrived at the bathroom, which had a shower, bathtub, and all the necessary equipment to bathe. So, without further thought, he took off his clothes and started showering.

"This is the life. Although the bathroom in my cabin wasn't bad, bathing with hot water and shampoo is something else."

After a thorough shower, Erik stepped into the bathtub, which filled with hot water incredibly fast. He began to relax in a bubble bath. The foam started to release the 'water' on its own as the bathtub filled, surprising him a bit, but considering this was a real mage's place, such a trick seemed insignificant.

After some time, Erik got out of the bathtub and went to look for his clothes in his bag. Remembering his master's words, he decided to check the closet. Inside, he found various white garments of different styles, perfectly smooth and hanging.

Driven by curiosity, Erik began to look through them one by one, realizing after a while that they weren't just robes like his master's. There were also some jacket and pants sets. Without much thought, he decided to put on one of those.

Before changing, Erik curiously checked the drawers of the closet and, to his surprise, found men's underwear, socks, and other items, all in white, which brought a big smile to his face.

"Finally, underwear. I missed you, baby."

With a broad smile, Erik put on the underwear and the jacket and pants set, which looked quite funny on him since they were several sizes too big. Surprisingly, runes on the clothes lit up, and they quickly shrank to fit him perfectly, something he watched with evident interest.

Full of curiosity, Erik continued exploring the closet and soon found a pair of white boots that suited his taste. He quickly put them on, and like the clothes, several runes lit up, and the boots soon adjusted perfectly to his feet, as if they were custom-made.

After putting on the boots, Erik found his machetes and arranged them again at his waist. He then admired his new appearance in a full-length mirror in the corner of the room.

"I look really cool, hehehe."

Erik commented with a small smile on his face, clearly amazed by the elegant and 'casual' style he now had. Although the matte leather color of his belt and machetes clashed with the pure white of his clothes, it still looked good enough not to bother him too much.

Once he finished appreciating his new clothes, Erik decided to go out to meet his master, holding back the saliva that threatened to escape as the delicious taste of cookies came to mind, leaving him eager to discover what other delicacies awaited him.

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[lordanl]

When Erik stepped onto the upper deck of the ship, he found his teacher sitting in the same chair, sipping tea with a calm and serene demeanor, exuding an ethereal and refined charm. Meanwhile, Kaiser and Tiberius were happily eating large chunks of meat in a secluded corner.

"Hello Erik, you look great in those clothes," Sigrún commented with a smile when she saw Erik, to which he responded as he walked over to her.

"Hello, master, and thank you. These clothes are great, although it's a shame they're all white."

"Oh, you can change that if you don't like it," Sigrún said with a smile, pointing at Erik's clothes.

"Really? How?" Erik asked curiously, looking at his clothes.

"It's quite simple. Just send mana to your clothes and think of the color you want."

After hearing Sigrún's words, Erik quickly sent his mana to his clothes and imagined them in black and gray. Shortly after, they started to change color with a small glow, which left him intrigued and curious about how this peculiar 'technology' worked.

"How does this work, master?" Erik asked, surprised and full of curiosity.

"It's a magical inscription on the clothes. You'll learn to make them in the future."

"That's amazing."

"And what would you like to eat, Erik?"

Sigrún asked while gesturing to the other chair for Erik to sit, which he quickly did while answering.

"Anything is fine, master."

With Erik's response, Sigrún gently waved her hand, and various delicacies appeared on the table in plates that looked expensive and artistic, making Erik's eyes light up. He then started eating with an expression similar to that of the wolves.

Seeing Erik eating happily brought a beautiful smile to Sigrún's face, who soon commented warmly, resting her face on one of her hands, giving her a mature and somewhat maternal charm.

"You mentioned you don't know how to read and write, right, Erik?"

Erik nodded in response without stopping his meal, totally entranced by the incredible taste, making Sigrún shake her head in amusement as she continued speaking.

"Well, that's the first thing you need to learn, but the problem is the language you speak. Although it originated from the Western language, many generations have passed, and now it's quite different. So, you'll have to learn four new languages and how to read and write them."

"Four languages?" Erik looked up from the delicious food to look at his master.

"Yes, Western, Nordic, Eastern, and Galactic. Although there are more, those are the most important in the galaxy, so it's essential for you to learn them well."

"Hmm, okay, though it sounds tough..."

After a small sigh, Erik returned to his food, making Sigrún laugh cheerfully as she commented amusedly.

"Hahaha, don't worry about that. You'll learn them before you know it."

"If you say so, master..."

"Yes, you'll see. For now, the first thing we need to do is determine your affinity so we can figure out which paths are most viable for you."

"Affinity? What is an affinity?"

"Well, magical affinities are, to put it simply, the elements into which you can convert mana, such as fire, water, darkness, etc. There are quite a few, and everyone has an affinity, and in rare cases, more than one. This doesn't mean you can't use others, it's just that they'll be much less effective and consume several times more mana to cast a spell."

"Hmm, I understand. And what are your affinities, master?" Erik nodded in understanding before asking with some curiosity.

"Oh, why do you think there is more than one?" Sigrún asked with a curious expression.

"Because you said it's rare, and I suppose the 'greatest genius in the galaxy' can't have just one," Erik replied without stopping eating.

"Hahaha, you're right, I have more than one affinity. Although this doesn't automatically make you more powerful, it does make you more flexible and unpredictable. But it requires more time and effort to master them. In my case, it's fire and wood."

"Fire and wood? That sounds like a really good combination."

"Exactly, one of the best for alchemy. So, your master is not only one of the most powerful sorceresses in the galaxy but also one of the best alchemists."

"Alchemist? Can you turn lead into gold, master?"

Erik put down his food and turned to look at his master with eyes that seemed to sparkle with excitement, making Sigrún laugh heartily before she answered.

"Hahaha, in theory, it's possible, but it's not worth doing. After all, it's much cheaper to simply take a gold asteroid if you need it."

"You're right... but being able to transmute things is amazing. Will you teach me, master?" Although his master's words dimmed the sparkle in his eyes a bit, Erik still asked with excitement.

"Hahaha, while transmuting elements was something alchemy did a long time ago, it's not something we do nowadays because it's useless. It only works with basic elements, and there are plenty of those in the galaxy. The truly useful and rare ones can't be obtained through transmutation.

And although some can be synthesized artificially, they're much worse than the natural ones. So nowadays, alchemy focuses almost entirely on the production of medicines and the refinement of raw materials."

"Really? That's a bit sad. The dream of transmutation was achieved and turned out to be useless..." Erik's expression fell, and he commented somewhat dejectedly, to which Sigrún responded cheerfully.

"Don't worry about that, I'll still teach you how to do it if you want to learn."

"You're the best master." Erik's excitement peaked again, and he continued eating happily.

"Good to know, hehe," Sigrún added with a smug smile on her delicate face, to which Erik simply nodded and casually added.

"Of course, master."

...

...

...

Some time later, Erik could be seen standing on the upper deck of the ship in front of the wolves Kaiser and Tiberius, who were sitting and wagging their tails happily. Beneath them, different runes were glowing softly, creating a magical and otherworldly display.

"Alright, Erik, everything is ready. Now you just need to send your mana to the runes and say, 'I, Erik, accept Kaiser as my servant and guardian' while placing a drop of blood on Kaiser's head, and the same for Tiberius."

"Okay, master."

Following Sigrún's explanation, Erik quickly bit his index finger while sending his mana to the runes, which began to glow more intensely. He then started to say the words his master had instructed.

Soon after, Erik dropped a bit of blood on the heads of his wolves. To his surprise, the blood was quickly absorbed by their fur, and shortly after, they began to glow a pale white.

Along with the glow, beautiful runes floated in the air, one above the boy and the two wolves, before entering their bodies. A few minutes later, the glow disappeared, and two luminous runes appeared on the back of Erik's right hand, which quickly faded away.

As Erik looked curiously at the back of his hand, he quickly noticed a sort of connection with the wolves, something similar to what he had felt before when he was able to sense the wolves' approximate location, but much stronger.

Through this connection, Erik began to feel a curious emotion, something akin to excitement, though a bit different. He quickly concluded that these were the feelings of the wolves, who pounced on him and started rubbing their heads against his body, their tails wagging at a blinding speed.

"Okay, okay, calm down."

"Haha, those guys really love you. Make sure to take good care of them."

Sigrún commented with a small smile, while her new disciple gained more positive points in her heart. After all, mystical wolves are very special magical animals, and one of their main characteristics is that they are very resentful and evasive. They never approach anyone with excessively violent or volatile tendencies.

So, the fact that the wolves were so close to Erik was not only a sign of how good he had been to them, but also spoke highly of his character. At the very least, he was a firm, determined person, and from what she had seen in the camp, quite creative and capable.

"Of course, master"

Erik responded with a small smile while petting the giant heads of the wolves, completely unaware of Sigrún's thoughts and the significance of the wolves he had started to raise, following his father's teachings.

After a while, the wolves calmed down and returned to playing with their toys or running around the immense upper deck. Erik and Sigrún sat back down in the chairs by the table, which now had a beautiful tea set and a plate of cookies, putting a huge smile on the boy's face.

"Well, Erik, how about we start by studying the Galactic language? It's the most spoken language at the Arcane University and the one you'll need the most when we arrive."

"That sounds good, master."

After that brief chat, a notebook and a pencil appeared out of nowhere in front of Erik, while a whiteboard appeared behind Sigrún. She stood up from her seat and began writing several unfamiliar symbols on the board.

As Sigrún wrote on the board, the tea set disappeared from the beautiful table, which began to transform, soon becoming a firm and elegant desk, marking the beginning of Erik's first official class.

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[lordanl]

One month later, on the deck of an elegant cruise ship sailing through space, Erik could be seen sitting at a beautiful wooden desk, occasionally jotting down notes in a notebook while Sigrún spoke and wrote some things on the floating blackboard in front of her.

"Well, with this, the class is over. After all, we don't have much further to go," Sigrún commented in a relaxed voice, and the floating board vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Thank you very much for everything, master," Erik politely thanked her and set aside his notebook and pencil, which disappeared into thin air. He then commented with a tone still tinged with surprise, "These space rings are truly wonderful, master."

On Erik's right index finger was an elegant silver ring, intricately carved with detailed miniature runes, which he looked at with affection and evident curiosity.

"Hahaha, I'm glad you like it," Sigrún responded warmly.

A week ago, Erik had mastered reading, writing, and speaking the galactic language. Although his level wasn't very advanced, he could speak fluently and understand most basic and intermediate books written in that language.

Pleased with her disciple's diligence, Sigrún decided to reward him and gave him a 50-square-meter storage ring. Although it wasn't much for a Master-level like her, it would be a great treasure for an ordinary person.

"I love it, master. Thank you so much. I never imagined something like this was possible. I assure you, I won't let your efforts on me go to waste," Erik responded with joy and a touch of conviction.

"Hehehe, that's good. I can't wait to see your future achievements," Sigrún replied happily, looking at Erik with a bit of pride.

A while later, the familiar sight of colorful horizontal lines outside the ship disappeared and was replaced by a beautiful dark landscape illuminated by millions of bright points—the vastness of space. But what surprised Erik the most was the planet in front of them.

The planet stood out in the darkness of the void with a radiant blue color, adorned with imposing continents and endless stretches of crystalline seas. But what truly astonished Erik was something else.

The beautiful planet was surrounded by a gigantic, semi-transparent sphere composed of hexagrams emitting soft white light. From the equator, something Erik had only seen in science fiction movies emerged: a space elevator.

The space elevator was topped with a gigantic saucer from which ships of all kinds, sizes, and shapes constantly entered and exited through what seemed to be several ports, while a vast number of various ships waited their turn around it.

"Amazing," Erik commented softly as he gazed dreamily at the impressive scene.

"It really is, though you'll get used to it over time. But get ready; we'll be docking at the orbital platform."

"Don't we have to wait our turn like them?" Erik pointed to the other ships that seemed to be waiting around as he asked.

"Hehehe, that's for everyone else. Your master is a very important member of the Arcane Order and the university, so I have several privileges," Sigrún commented proudly as the ship moved towards a distant, very exclusive-looking port.

"You're amazing, master"

Erik commented with bright eyes, playing along with Sigrún, who responded cheerfully while adopting a casual yet elegant posture, the most fitting to accept the compliments of her adorable disciple.

"But of course."

When the ship docked, a large sphere of soft white light extended from the port, connecting the cruise ship to the orbital station. Then Sigrún disembarked with a serious expression, followed by Erik and the wolves, which now measured about a meter each.

A few days ago, Sigrún had taught Erik how to make them smaller, a task that turned out to be quite simple, requiring only a small rune applied to them. Erik managed it without any problems, which led to the discovery that he was very compatible with the Aegis system, something that made Sigrún very happy, as she couldn't wait to show off to someone.

By the time the group reached the end of the disembarkation ramp, they encountered two guards dressed in futuristic black armor with several softly glowing runes engraved on them.

The guards bowed respectfully to Sigrún while she simply murmured something, causing the ship to shrink to the size of a small toy, after which it disappeared.

"An honor to be in your presence, Master Eldurdóttir," the two guards said in unison in the galactic language. Sigrún only nodded and pulled Erik closer by the shoulder, then spoke in a solemn voice.

"This is my first disciple, Erik. Remember him well. Disrespecting him is the same as disrespecting me."

The guards' eyes almost popped out of their sockets at that declaration, causing them to look at Erik as if he were a legendary monster. They quickly regained their composure and spoke again in unison.

"Understood!"

"Very well, let's go, Erik," Sigrún said in a serious tone and led Erik into the saucer while the guards bowed as they passed. Just as they were about to enter, the guards spoke again in unison.

"Welcome to the Arcane University, Master Eldurdóttir, direct disciple Erik!"

Erik glanced one last time at the guards before entering the 'saucer', and what he found inside surprised him greatly. Despite the exterior resembling a saucer made of dark metal, the interior looked completely different, essentially a roofless city teeming with people, with a perfect view of the ships outside.

The city was beautiful, featuring a curious blend of the technological and traditional, with runes, geometric magic circles, and even Asian characters in various places. Some buildings were square, similar to what Erik was used to in his past life, but there were also classic, Victorian, and Asian-style castles, alongside all sorts of futuristic-looking buildings.

The city had a radio concentric layout, with gigantic circular towers at the center where the elevators operated continuously, with people of all shapes and colors, as well as huge containers presumably filled with all kinds of goods, moving in and out incessantly.

"Don't just stand there, Erik," Sigrún turned to call Erik, who had been stunned by the city, to the point that he had stopped moving.

"Sorry, master," Erik quickly apologized and picked up the pace with his wolves behind him, until he was back at his master's side.

"Hahahaha, you look so cute, like a country bumpkin gawking around," Sigrún teased her disciple a little.

"Well, I really am a country bumpkin, but that's not something I consider bad or a disadvantage in any way. In fact, I think it's an advantage. After all, I have valuable knowledge. For example, how many of these people do you think could survive in my situation on your island, master?"

Erik wasn't bothered by his master's joke, as it was true. In his past life, he had shown that a country bumpkin like him could outperform 'city folk'. After all, he achieved an enviable economic level and positioned himself as an elite. In his mind, being a 'knowledgeable city dweller' wasn't an advantage or something to be proud of; rather, it was a great disadvantage for many.

For her part, Sigrún was a little surprised by her disciple's reaction, but quickly smiled and responded.

"Hehehe, you're right about that, Erik. Not many of them could do the same, but don't look down on them either. Many here could have easily made it from a deserted island to the continent without much effort," Sigrún agreed with her disciple but also tried to caution him.

"I know that perfectly well, master. What I mean is that the way I've lived gives me an advantage because I know things they don't. Likewise, sooner or later, I'll learn what they know. But the opposite is difficult for them. Therefore, being a country bumpkin isn't a bad thing; in fact, it's quite good."

"Hahaha, what an interesting philosophy you have there."

"It's pure logic, master. If knowledge is power, I'll eventually be more powerful than them because I'll know more. One thing is to read about it, another is to live it, and I doubt many of them are willing to leave their comfortable lives."

"Hehehe, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Sigrún commented with a mischievous smile as she listened to her disciple's arguments, finding him even more endearing the more he tried to justify himself.

"If you say so, master, but going to war and milking a cow are very different things. You can live without a war, but not without eating."

"From the Sage-level onwards, you can live without eating, but not without resources, you know that?"

"Really, you can live without eating. Then why do you eat, master?"

Erik looked a bit surprised at his master, though it was no longer so unthinkable for him. After all, he was not only beside a '1,000-year-old baby' but also casually walking through the orbital station of a space elevator without a spacesuit.

"Because it's still delicious, but I could live without eating easily."

As Sigrún and Erik talked about random things, they kept walking until they reached the center of the city. They approached one of the towers or tubes that everyone else avoided using and where there were two guards dressed differently from all the other guards Erik had seen in the city.

The guards wore loose white robes with an emblem embroidered on the left side of their chest, the same one Sigrún wore. When they saw her, they bowed respectfully and spoke in a solemn voice in unison.

"Welcome back, Master Eldurdóttir."

After that, the same scene from the entrance repeated, and the guards were surprised when Sigrún introduced her disciple. However, unlike the entrance, these guards not only showed surprise in their eyes but also a lot of envy and ill intentions mixed in.

The vicious look of the guards caused an instinctive reaction in Erik and his wolves, who immediately assumed combat positions, the wolves growling and ready to attack, while Erik placed his hands on the machetes at his waist.

But the actions of the boy and the wolves were halted abruptly when the guards disappeared from their sight, followed by two clear slapping sounds and then a loud thud from a blunt impact.

Surprised, Erik looked in the direction of the last sound, only to find the guards several meters away, their faces battered and almost unconscious. At that moment, a monstrous pressure that seemed to increase gravity began to flood the city.

Along with the monstrous pressure, a cold voice loaded with murderous intent resonated in the place, making time seem to stand still.

"What is the meaning of that look towards my first disciple? What gave you such guts? Do the Blackthorn and Xuanling families think they have enough to openly go against me? You have three seconds to speak, or I will personally go seek an explanation from your families."

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[lordanl]

Erik was stunned by what had happened. Although he had truly felt in danger from the look the guards gave him, which prompted his instinctive reaction to grab the handles of his machetes, he hadn't thought anything would actually happen.

In Erik's mind, those looks might have been some sort of test by the guards or perhaps a bit of envy, since he was his master's first disciple and had appeared out of nowhere. However, Sigrún's reaction left him completely speechless. Shortly after, a calm male voice resonated in the place.

"Calm down, Master Sigrún. There's no need to make such a scene. The most likely thing is that the boys were just surprised by your new disciple, that's all. Let's let bygones be bygones and stop the problem here."

"Sigrún? Who the hell do you think you're talking to, Theodore Blackthorn?!"

Sigrún's cold voice, full of murderous intent, responded as the pressure in the city doubled, and she was enveloped in deep blue flames, like a blazing star.

The man, Theodore Blackthorn, immediately stepped back in panic when he saw Sigrún's state, looking at her with evident fear before speaking in a trembling, terrified voice.

"Don't think you can do whatever you want and get away with it, Sigrún Eldurdóttir! My family won't stay silent if something happens to me!!"

"Hehehe, let's find out then,"

When Sigrún spoke, her words dripping with evident mockery and disdain, a multitude of runes appeared in the air, as if written by an invisible hand. Each rune had defined and sharp contours, with every stroke and curve pulsating with energy. Just then, an ancient voice, resonant with power, echoed through the space.

"Calm down, Sigrún, don't make a scene."

"Tsch."

As soon as the voice sounded, the runes and the fire around Sigrún vanished, and she clicked her tongue in annoyance. At the same time, white spheres of light appeared around the guards and the terrified man, only to disappear with a bright flash.

Shortly after, two different guards appeared in front of the tower, dressed similarly to the previous ones. They bowed respectfully before Sigrún.

"Welcome back, Master Eldurdóttir."

Sigrún simply nodded with a cold expression and entered the elevator behind the guards, followed closely by Erik and the wolves, while the star-haired boy still had a look of confusion on his face.

After taking a seat in the elegant elevator, which resembled a first-class airplane cabin with beautiful and comfortable leather seats that automatically adjusted to the body's shape, Erik looked out of the corner of his eye at his master. Curiosity was etched on his face.

As the elevator door closed, Sigrún asked in a calm and relaxed tone, as if she hadn't been exuding that monstrous pressure just moments before.

"Are you wondering if I've always been this explosive?"

"..." Erik merely looked at his master without saying anything; after all, if she was that explosive, it was better not to provoke the lion. However, knowing this in advance might help him avoid trouble in the future.

A joyful laugh escaped from Sigrún's alluring lips as she saw the blank expression on her disciple's face. She then cheerfully commented,

"Hahaha, don't make that face. Although I must admit I have an explosive temper, it's not as exaggerated. This time was just a small scene to make my point."

"… Am I in danger?" Erik asked with a bit of surprise.

"Hehe, you catch on quickly. You could say, in a way, yes. Although no one will have the guts to attack you directly, many will try to make your life difficult at the university. After all, envy is very common here, as most have overly fragile egos."

A beautiful smile graced Sigrún's lips, growing happier each month with her decision to take on her first disciple. After all, it's always a pleasure to talk to intelligent people, and the star-haired boy had proven on more than one occasion that he possessed a sharp mind, capable of quickly grasping the essence of things despite his young age.

"So, what you did was send a message that said something like, 'Even a wrongly directed look at my disciple is an offense to me. Imagine what will happen if I find out they are doing something to him'?"

"Hehehe, as smart as always."

Sigrún replied in a singsong tone while smiling at her disciple, who responded by bowing respectfully, clearly imitating the guards, and spoke in a respectful tone.

"Thank you very much, master."

"Hahaha, you're really very sweet. But don't try to imitate the guards; you don't have to do that, not with me or anyone else. I'm your master. Think of me as an older sister. Your problems are my problems; that's how it is with a disciple and master."

Sigrún responded while looking tenderly at Erik and reached out to ruffle his hair, which made the boy look into her eyes for a moment, as if confirming something in her gaze, before replying with a slight smile.

"I understand, master."

Sigrún and Erik continued talking about random things, mainly about the orbital station and such, until suddenly a light started blinking, and at the same time, an emotionless voice announced.

"Landing will be achieved in 5 minutes from now."

Erik was completely surprised by this information. After all, they had been in the elevator for less than 30 minutes, and he hadn't felt anything. For him, the cabin hadn't moved at all since he entered; he even thought they were waiting for more passengers or something.

When the 5 minutes passed, the door opened, and Sigrún led Erik through a corridor filled with thick metal doors guarded by guards dressed in futuristic black armor, who had quite 'large' presences, though far from Sigrún's.

But something curious Erik noticed was that, from time to time, he felt like he was passing through some kind of invisible membrane, so he kept 'looking' at them with curiosity, which Sigrún noticed right away and casually explained.

"Those are detectors. Everyone entering needs to have valid identification. In your case, it's the rune that recognizes you as my disciple."

"That's impressive."

"Hahaha, yes, and quite expensive too."

"But master, why is there so much Myst here?"

Something Erik noticed as soon as the elevator door opened was the incredible amount of Myst flooding him. It felt like an uncontrollable tide constantly crashing into his body, causing great discomfort to the point where he even had some difficulty breathing.

"Oh, that's thanks to the magical arrays covering the planet. They not only help protect it but also greatly increase the concentration of Myst, which is very useful for training and things like that. So it's killing two birds with one stone."

"I see..."

By the time they traversed the entire corridor, Erik felt like he was in an airport. After all, the place was very similar, with waiting chairs, lots of shops, what looked like ticket counters, people with luggage, many types of signs, and beautiful giant glass panels as walls.

When they reached the exit door, Erik noticed something impossible to overlook. Amid the crowd, a figure stood out greatly due to her supernatural beauty and elegant demeanor, with bright golden eyes, brown hair that fell in soft waves to her shoulders, and a colossal presence on par with Sigrún's.

The beautiful woman was dressed in a robe with the emblem embroidered on the left side similar to Sigrún's, but in her case, the robe perfectly fitted her body, highlighting her curves, giving her an authoritative yet incredibly attractive air.

The woman's expression was calm and serene as she waited, emitting a peaceful yet incredibly powerful aura, making her tremendous power clear to anyone. But the moment the woman saw Sigrún, a smile adorned her beautiful face, and she approached with elegance.

"Welcome back, Sig," the woman greeted with a soft and melodious voice, to which Sigrún immediately responded with a smile.

"Hello, Eli."

The beautiful women embraced, creating a lovely scene that caused several passersby to turn their heads for a moment, though they quickly reacted and continued on their way. Soon the hug ended, and the beautiful brown-haired woman turned her gaze to Erik and greeted him with a smile.

"So, you're the little Erik. You're very handsome. Come, greet your master."

The woman's words surprised Erik, who immediately turned to look at his master with a face full of confusion, but Sigrún quickly spoke with annoyance.

"That's something that hasn't been decided yet. Don't force it."

"Fufufu," the woman looked playfully at Sigrún, but quickly turned to Erik and continued, "Well, little Erik, your master still wants to play hard to get, so for now, greet your future master."

"Hmph."

Sigrún huffed in annoyance and turned her head, leaving Erik between a rock and a hard place. So, without having many options, he decided not to anger someone with a presence as monstrous as his master's and greeted formally.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Erik, and I am Master Eldurdóttir's first disciple," Erik spoke in a serious voice while slightly bowing his head.

"You're very polite, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Erik. My name is Eleonora Silverwood. You can consider me your master's older sister."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Silverwood."

"Fufufu, come on, I'll take you to my house."

After Eleonora's words, an incredibly beautiful and intricate geometric magic circle appeared under the group's feet. It started to glow, captivating Erik a bit, but he suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled slightly.

Erik quickly regained his composure and looked around, only to be surprised to find that he was now on what seemed to be a balcony of an impressive mansion, adorned with an incredibly large garden that looked like something out of a fairy tale, full of flowers and bushes of all kinds of colors and magical lights floating around.

"Fufufu, you're very cute looking around like a little mouse, Erik."

"I apologize, Miss Silverwood," Erik immediately apologized to Eleonora, to which she responded amusedly.

"There's no need to be so formal. I'll be your master in the near future, so just call me Eleonora."

Eleonora commented in a cheerful voice as she sat in a beautifully decorated crystal chair, next to a similar circular table where a tea set and plates of cookies appeared, making Erik's eyes shine with great intensity.

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[lordanl]

Sigrún sat in another chair by the table, gesturing for Erik to sit, which he quickly did. She then handed him a plate full of cookies, which he immediately began to eat happily, like a mouse.

"You're really cute, Erik," Eleonora commented as she watched him eat, but Sigrún quickly cut her off.

"Did you bring the artifact?"

"Fufufu, there's no need to be so tense, Sig. I won't steal little Erik from you; we'll just share him."

"Hmph."

While the women engaged in their strange conversation, Erik decided to play dead in an act of pure survival and quietly ate his cookies. After all, it's important to have enough energy to run, right?

The almost humorous conversation between the two beautiful women was abruptly interrupted when, out of nowhere, a transparent crystal ball appeared on the table. Sigrún quickly turned to Erik and spoke warmly to him.

"Erik, try to channel some mana into the crystal ball."

"Sure."

Erik agreed easily, extending one hand toward the sphere and channeling a bit of mana while holding a cookie in the other. Shortly after, the sphere began to emit a faint, warm white light, almost ghostly in appearance.

"As I feared..." Sigrún commented seriously, which surprised Erik, who asked curiously.

"Is something wrong with me?"

"It's not that something is wrong," Eleonora replied. "It's just that you don't have an affinity for any of the basic elements."

Erik stopped eating his cookie, and his expression became somewhat serious. That sounded pretty bad, so without beating around the bush, he decided to ask the important question to quickly determine his next steps. He sat up straight in his chair and asked seriously.

"Does that mean I'm no longer a disciple or something?"

Eleonora and Sigrún looked at Erik, somewhat surprised, and then burst into laughter, confusing Erik. Not knowing what it meant, he decided to wait quietly for the answer.

"Hahaha, not at all, Erik. Although cases like yours are rare, it's not like there aren't any. Besides, there are several powerful mages and knights out there who were born without any elemental affinity. So don't worry. If Sig doesn't want to teach you, I will always be your master."

Eleonora responded between laughs, extending one of her delicate hands toward Erik, which Sigrún quickly took and lowered forcefully while giving the beautiful golden-eyed woman a 'deadly look', who just laughed amusedly.

"Hey!! Stop trying to steal my first disciple. And as this thieving cat said, you don't need to worry about that, Erik. Also, do you know the famous phrase of a powerful Master-level mage with no affinities?"

"I don't know... maybe something like: 'Having nothing only means I can have everything,' or something like that?" Erik responded, thoughtfully resting his right hand on his chin.

Erik's words stopped the women's laughter abruptly. They looked at Erik in surprise, and shortly after, Eleonora asked with some incredulity in her tone.

"How did you know that, Erik?"

"So it is true? Well, I just thought of something I would say, though I tried to make it sound cool and make me seem important."

Erik replied with a sincere smile on his face, which made the women unable to contain themselves and burst into laughter again, which would undoubtedly surprise anyone who knew them, as they were both respected Master-level mages.

"Hahaha, Erik, you're the best. You've given me great ammo against this woman, hahaha."

Sigrún laughed so hard that she held her stomach with her hands and leaned back in her chair, throwing out the serious and elegant demeanor she had shown earlier. Meanwhile, Erik resumed eating his cookies calmly, occasionally passing one to his wolves, who had obediently lain down beside him.

After calming down from the hearty laughter, Eleonora sighed and, still a bit amused, asked Erik in a cheerful tone, feeling a genuine desire to take the young boy under her wing. After all, she couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much, which made the starry-haired boy undeniably unique and endearing in her eyes.

"Erik, could you show me how you solidify the Myst?"

"Solidify Myst?" Erik asked, confused, and looked over at Sigrún, who was still having sporadic fits of laughter but managed to respond.

"She means your 'crystal arrows.'"

"Ohhhh," Erik exclaimed with a look of realization, then formed a few arrows and sent them in front of Eleonora before continuing, "These are them. Is it called solidifying Myst?"

Although Eleonora knew that Erik could solidify Myst and control it at will, she was still surprised by the speed and ease with which he did it. After all, doing something like that went beyond the limits of complexity and entered directly into the realm of impossibility.

To solidify Myst, you generally needed a complex spell, a lot of concentration, and a significant amount of mana, just for the solidification part. Not to mention creating a functional construct and, worse yet, moving it, which was even more complex to achieve, usually requiring special 'tricks.'

"Yes, this is Myst solidification," Eleonora replied in a low tone filled with surprise as she analyzed the 'crystal arrows,' but she quickly turned to look at Erik again and added with an elegant smile, "Tell me, Erik, wouldn't you like to improve the strength of these 'crystal arrows'?"

"Don't pay attention to her, Erik," Sigrún quickly cut off Eleonora, her expression no longer showing the laughter from a moment ago but instead looking much more serious and alert.

"Come on, Sig, you know that sacred geometry is the best in terms of structure, and what these arrows lack most is an improved structure. Besides, you must know it too. Instead of having no affinity, it's more likely that Erik has a very rare affinity that allows him to do this so easily."

"..."

Sigrún remained silent after hearing Eleonora's words. After all, she knew she was right. Sacred geometry excelled in precision and mana efficiency, which translated into a very solid and stable structure.

Although sacred geometry also had its disadvantages, such as being less flexible and versatile compared to, for example, the Aegis system, the problem was that what Erik needed most was to improve the structure of his Myst constructs. It was almost certain that this was due to a very rare affinity.

After all, if Erik had no magical affinities, the best path he could take was to enhance his strengths, and his ability to solidify Myst and move it was a very important one. Moreover, there was a clear path to follow: extrapolating the literal mountains of spells and studies on mana constructs from sacred geometry.

"Fufufu, I'll take your silence as acceptance." Eleonora turned her gaze to Erik, who was still happily eating his cookies, and continued, "So, now you can greet your new master, Erik."

Erik stopped eating his cookies and looked Sigrún in the eyes, almost as if asking what to do, but she simply nodded reluctantly, accepting though clearly unwilling. So, the boy stood up from his chair and bowed slightly before speaking.

"It's a pleasure to receive your teachings, Master."

"Fufufu, I'll teach you a lot, Erik, but keep eating your cookies; you don't have to stand up."

"Thank you very much, Master." Erik sat back down but quickly spoke again.

"May I ask something?"

"Of course, Erik, ask whatever you want. Your master will make sure to answer you," Eleonora replied cheerfully, wanting to affirm her status as a master and also to tease Sigrún a bit, who had a difficult expression, as if she had swallowed a bitter and hard-to-swallow bug.

"Is a disciple really that important?"

"That's a great question, and the answer is yes, they are very important, especially for those who hold the title of Master, like us."

"Why?"

"Because it's a good way to show off, fufufu."

"Show off?" Erik looked at Eleonora with confusion at the unexpected answer. But it was Sigrún, now smiling amusedly at the little cookie devourer's astonished expression, who responded.

"Yes, at our level, it's quite difficult to show off since a serious fight would cause a lot of damage. But there are still many conflicts, disputes, and competitions. In those cases, the best way to compete is through our disciples."

Erik looked at his golden-haired master with a doubtful expression, struggling to digest what he had just heard. At that moment, Eleonora changed the subject, catching the boy's attention.

"Well, putting that aside, Erik, did Sig mention that she practices the Aegis system and is an alchemist?"

"Yes, my master also explained to me how alchemy works and some basic runes." Although still a bit confused, Erik quickly responded.

"That's good. Now, let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm a Master like Sig, but I practice sacred geometry and am one of the best Artificers in the galaxy," Eleonora said with a small smile, though her tone carried a hint of pride.

"Artificer?" Erik tilted his head, confused, as he looked at Eleonora, who responded casually.

"Yes, it's basically the profession dedicated to making things like Sig's ship or the storage ring you wear."

"Really?!!! Will you teach me artificery, Master?" Erik jumped with joy and exclaimed excitedly, looking at Eleonora with shining eyes.

Sigrún, on her part, had a bitter smile seeing Erik's excitement, as the reason she hesitated to let Eleonora teach him was precisely that. From the beginning, Erik had shown a great interest in magical artifacts, from clothes to the ship; he was always looking at them and trying to study them in his own way.

Although Sigrún taught him basic alchemy and tried to tempt him to follow that path, Erik was, at best, mildly interested in alchemy, while his true passion was clearly magical artifacts or, in other words, artificery.

As for Erik, he was genuinely thrilled. Since a certain event in his childhood in his first life, his greatest passion had been building things and mechanizing processes. For that reason, he had chosen mechatronic engineering as his career in his past life, although it was also because he heard it paid well and at that time wanted to give his parents a good life.

"Fufufu, of course, Erik. Your master will teach you how to create artifacts," Eleonora said in a sing-song voice while giving Sigrún a proud look, which worsened Sigrún's bitter expression.

"That's great! Thank you so much, Master."

Erik thanked her with a big smile and then went back to eating his cookies, feeling genuinely happy. This was undoubtedly the happiest day of his new life, with a new master who would teach him to create magical artifacts and cookies that magically reappeared when they were about to run out. Truly paradise.

"You seem very interested in creating artifacts, Erik," Eleonora commented enthusiastically, unable to hide her smile at the boy's evident interest.

"Yes, they seem amazing, and I want to create them on my own."

"And what do you think of alchemy, Erik?"

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[lordanl]

"What do you think of Alchemy, Erik?" Sigrún asked, feeling a bit offended by Erik's excessive enthusiasm for artifacts, as her first disciple seemed to have forgotten that she was his master in the first place.

"It's the foundation for everything, I'd say. It doesn't just create medicines but also all kinds of incredible materials, so I'm dying to start learning as soon as possible."

Erik replied with a big smile, which made Sigrún's expression change to a broad smile as she shot a smug look at Eleonora, who responded only with an elegant smile, not letting her little sister's games get to her.

Sigrún's joy was due to the fact that Erik wasn't lying, something both women could easily tell. The starry-haired young man truly thought highly of alchemy and was eager to start learning, which not only made Sigrún very happy but also filled her with a great sense of duty and belonging toward her new disciple.

"Well, it's great that you're so enthusiastic about studying, but the first thing you need to learn is the languages and basics of magic, so it'll be a while before you can start with alchemy or artificery."

Eleonora threw a bucket of cold water on Erik's excitement. He looked a bit surprised and then went back to eating his cookies in silence, emanating an aura of deep disappointment, which elicited a soft laugh from the two women.

Some time later, the joyful chat between the masters and their new disciple was interrupted by the arrival of two new people on the balcony—a young man and woman dressed in robes similar to those of Eleonora and Sigrún, white and embroidered with the same emblem on the chest.

Despite her appearance as a young girl of 18, the woman possessed an aura of maturity and unique elegance, with sapphire-colored eyes and long, wavy chestnut hair framing her delicate, feminine features. Her white robe clung to her athletic and well-proportioned body, accentuating her slight curves.

The young man, on the other hand, had a dignified bearing with an imposing stature and athletic build, his skin like polished ebony, smooth and radiant, contrasting beautifully with his immaculate white robe that framed his slender and well-proportioned figure. His dark, deep eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence, and his closely cropped hair gave him an air of sophistication and elegance.

"I'm glad you've arrived," Eleonora turned to look at the newcomers and greeted them gracefully.

"Greetings, Master." The young woman with chestnut hair bowed slightly and greeted in a warm, melodious voice, while the young man placed a hand on his chest and bowed with a dignified expression, greeting in a firm voice, "Your teaching is our guide, Master."

Erik, meanwhile, looked at the strangers with curiosity. Although they didn't seem much older than him and, aside from being quite attractive, they didn't seem to have anything special, the presences he could sense with his 'mental radar' told a very different story.

In the case of the woman, her presence was at least four times more powerful than his own, but the man's presence was on another level—at least twenty times his own. If he hadn't already become somewhat accustomed to the monstrous presences of his masters, he would have run away without looking back.

Eleonora smiled at her dear disciples and then turned her gaze to Erik as she commented, "Well, Erik, let me introduce you to my disciples." Eleonora raised her hand towards the young man, who approached, and continued, "First, this is my first disciple, Desmond Atticus, and..." Eleonora pointed to the young woman, who also stepped forward, "Liliana Faye, my second and youngest disciple."

Erik stood up from his chair and introduced himself in a serious and formal tone. "Nice to meet you, my name is Erik."

"Erik is Master Eldurdóttir's first official disciple and will also be under my tutelage, so I expect you to look after him as your younger brother," Eleonora completed Erik's words and added in a serious tone.

Eleonora's words greatly surprised the young disciples, who looked Erik up and down, the boy who had returned to happily eating cookies thanks to a signal from Sigrún. But they quickly composed themselves and greeted him properly.

"Hello, Erik, from today I will be your older sister, so if you have a problem or a question, don't hesitate to come to me," Liliana said in a cheerful voice.

"Welcome to magical learning, fellow disciple Erik. Do not hesitate to seek my help if you need anything," Desmond said in a firm and serious tone.

"Thank you, I will make sure to keep that in mind", Erik said, slightly nodding his head before returning to his cookies, as there were now some with different flavors, and he was really fascinated discovering them.

"Well, now that you all know each other, I'd like you to show us some of your abilities, Erik. Sig told me a bit about them, but it's better if we see them for ourselves." Eleonora waved her hand towards the balcony railing, which began to twist and form a staircase to the garden. "Let's go to the garden."

Erik took one last reluctant look at his plate of cookies but ultimately accepted his fate and descended the stairs, a bit downcast, until he reached the garden. When he turned around, he noticed that the only one who had used the stairs besides him was Liliana; everyone else was flying.

"What should I start with?" Erik asked as he watched his masters land in the garden not far from him.

"I had a better idea, Erik. You're going to have a little practice bout with Liliana. That way, we can see your abilities more clearly," Eleonora announced, to which Liliana bowed slightly and approached Erik.

"Alright."

Erik drew his two machetes and took a combat stance that appeared free and light, while Liliana stepped back a bit. Suddenly, a huge and intricate magic circle appeared beneath them, and shortly after, they were covered by a transparent sphere emitting a soft light.

"Well... begin!"

After Eleonora's signal, two magical circles with beautiful lines and shapes forming an intricate geometric design appeared in Liliana's hands. Immediately after, she raised her right hand towards Erik.

A beam of light shot out from the magic circle towards the boy, who only moved slightly with light and elegant movements, perfectly dodging it, before launching himself forward at a blinding speed.

A frontal charge was something very easy for Liliana to handle, so she smiled softly as she prepared to intercept him. However, before the new magic circle in her left hand could change, she quickly jumped back purely on instinct, sensing five invisible arrows heading towards her vital points at great speed.

After landing, Liliana tried to look at the impact zone of the arrows, but again felt a great source of danger, this time from her left side. Through her ethereal projection, she could sense the range and speed of the attack, and it was evident she couldn't dodge it again.

With quick thinking, Liliana crouched down rapidly and struck the ground with one hand, causing a large geometric magic circle to appear beneath her, and a sphere of yellow light enveloped her completely.

The moment the sphere formed, a powerful invisible flying slash collided with it, violently deforming it until it exploded, revealing Liliana once again. She had a slightly surprised expression on her beautiful face, but quickly composed herself and thrust her hands forward from her crouched position.

Shortly after extending her hands, a large magic circle with intricate details, different from the ones she had used before, formed in the air in front of Liliana, who ignited her mana to the maximum. While a small whisper couldn't help but escape from her beautiful cherry-colored lips.

[Light Arrows]

With Liliana's whisper, hundreds of light arrows, large enough to completely destroy a human, and even more so the young boy in front of her, formed in the air and shot towards Erik from all directions at blinding speeds, trying to surround and attack him from all angles.

But Erik, with great calm, simply sent a few of his own 'crystal arrows' towards Liliana. At the same time, the boy used 'crystal walls' occasionally to slightly delay the light arrows or directly dodged them with ethereal movements. He even had enough flexibility to occasionally send invisible flying slashes towards Liliana.

As the exchange of arrows and slashes continued, all the spectators watched the battle with some surprise. Although the level of skill displayed was nothing extraordinary for beings at their respective levels, what the fifteen-year-old boy was showing was not something you'd expect from someone his age.

The boy seemed to use mainly two different movement styles: one agile and ethereal for dodging and another fast and aggressive, primarily for attacking. He combined them with incredible ease and fluidity, while simultaneously sending arrows towards his opponent's vital points, keeping Liliana in a constant state of alert and pressure, preventing her from unleashing her full power.

The battle continued with their almost choreographed exchange of attacks until, suddenly, Liliana summoned a new magic circle and aimed it at the sky, causing a shower of light bursts to rain down on Erik, leaving the boy with no escape route.

Liliana smiled beautifully, seeing her opponent without a way out, knowing it would be the end of the match. At the same time, she felt the frustration she had accumulated during the battle slowly dissipate. After all, not being able to finish off someone at a lower level than her, and younger too, was even embarrassing, not to mention that he was her junior disciple.

Meanwhile, the spectators' eyes widened in shock when the light bursts were about to strike the boy. But Erik, showing a calm and composed expression, indicative of his extensive experience in similar situations, suddenly changed his movements to ones that were more 'fluid' and elegant.

Using his machetes like batons, Erik moved as if following some kind of flow, and to everyone's surprise, the light bursts quickly followed his movements. Shortly after, they returned toward Liliana, but this time much more dangerous, as Erik had added more mana to them and shaped them into light slashes, taking the beautiful chocolate-haired girl by surprise.

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Seeing her own spell reflected back at her, Liliana reacted quickly, hastily creating a light barrier to intercept the attack. Although she managed to stop it, the clash between the 'light cuts' and her barrier produced a bright flash that overloaded her senses, disorienting her for a moment.

By the time Liliana recovered, the first thing she noticed was that she was surrounded by flying cuts and invisible arrows coming from all directions. Without wasting a single second, she quickly conjured a new, much larger spherical barrier composed of multiple layers. While frustration surged back like a tidal wave, making her feel like a turtle in a bottle, only able to defend herself.

Liliana's layered barrier successfully stopped the attacks but was destroyed in the process, revealing her in a state of shock. Meanwhile, Erik was now standing right next to her, pointing his machete at her neck with a calm and composed expression, without a drop of sweat on his body.

"Erik really read her like a book, guiding her step by step from the beginning, inducing a mistake which he then exploited to win. It's a very effective way to win against someone stronger but quite difficult to achieve.

He must have faced countless situations where he was the weaker one. You really can see the difference in experience despite the vast age gap" Sigrún analyzed with a satisfied smile as she looked at her disciple with delight.

"How can a child his age have such combat experience, Master Eldurdóttir?" Desmond asked in a dignified and elegant manner, though he couldn't hide the surprise and curiosity in his tone.

"Hehehe, well, he just had to survive for years on an island completely alone, surrounded by hundreds of magical animals stronger than him. Believe it or not, you learn a trick or two in that situation," Sigrún boasted proudly of her disciple's achievements, to which Eleonora added, equally surprised.

"You really didn't exaggerate his abilities. That exquisite mana control and that refined mystical confluence are truly a beautiful spectacle to witness in someone so young… and for him to truly master communion with the Myst is on another level."

"Hehehe, he is my first disciple after all. Something like this is the minimum requirement."

Desmond looked somewhat puzzled at the Masters talking about advanced and master-level techniques, things neither of the two combatants should be able to master. To clear his doubts, Desmond decided to ask his master in his typical serious tone.

"Master, could I ask what you mean?"

"Fufufu, my dear Desmond, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, young Erik is just an advanced apprentice and didn't use a single spell or artifact during the fight."

Desmond's eyes widened in astonishment upon hearing his master. He really couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all, the speed and strength the boy displayed were not something an advanced apprentice could achieve, let alone a 15-year-old.

From the beginning, Desmond thought the boy was using some kind of magical artifact or perhaps a technique from the Zazen Discipline to achieve the feats he saw, but his master's words suggested something entirely different.

From what he had heard, it seemed that the boy put on such a display using only mana control and harmony with the Myst techniques, things that were supposed to be auxiliary skills used for training, spell preparation, detection, and such, not for what he had done.

"What a monster…"

Desmond's words came out as a whisper while Eleonora smiled softly and waved her hand, causing the sphere of light covering Liliana and Erik to disappear. The young ones then walked slowly towards their masters, one with a slight smile contrasting sharply with the unpleasant expression on the face of the other.

"How do you feel, Liliana?" When they were close enough, Eleonora asked, looking at Liliana with a small smile.

"Very frustrated…"

"Fufufu, that's a good thing. What you lacked in that fight wasn't power, but experience. You will improve with time."

"Thank you for your guidance, Master," Liliana thanked her master, bowing slightly and then stepping aside with her head down, hiding her face that struggled to show innumerable emotions.

"Did you understand what you're lacking, Erik?" Sigrún asked with a smile at Erik, who was petting his wolves that had been barking worriedly since the beginning of the fight.

"Yes, Master, I lack everything, especially the ability to cast spells like she did. I really had to study a lot with my arrows and the mana sphere." Sigrún quickly corrected him, "It's Ethereal Projection," so Erik promptly corrected himself, "Right, the Ethereal Projection. As I was saying, only after studying them a lot did I get an idea of how to deflect them, but it was incredibly more difficult than with animals."

"Hahahaha, of course it's more difficult. After all, the structure is much more compact and organized. I must say you were a bit lucky that she underestimated you and used low-level spells. With higher-level ones, you wouldn't have had a chance to do the same."

"Yes, I was quite lucky. If it had been a real fight, I could have died." Erik put a hand on his chin, considering various things before looking back at his master. "I want to start learning as soon as possible, Master. It's very uncomfortable being a fish on a chopping board."

"Hahahahaha, don't rush. First things first, you need to learn the languages very well before moving on to anything else."

Eleonora and her disciples were a bit speechless watching the conversation between Sigrún and Erik. Despite having won against someone not only stronger but also much more skilled and knowledgeable, it was clear that Sigrún was the most proud of the two for the great achievement, with a bright smile on her face.

On the other hand, the monstrous boy who did something beyond anyone's expectations was humble and composed, deeply thinking about his mistakes and ways to improve, making the onlookers wonder who the truly mature person was between the two.

"And you also need to learn a lot of mathematics. Sacred geometry is achieved through rigorous calculations, so get ready, Erik," Eleonora joined the conversation, hoping to see a fun reaction from Erik, but instead, the boy simply nodded and said calmly.

"That's fine, I've always been good at math."

"Hahahaha, well said, Erik."

Sigrún smiled happily at Erik's response, then quickly approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder before continuing.

"But I think it's time for us to go home. It was a pleasure meeting you all, and you're welcome to visit us anytime. However, we'll be a bit busy since MY disciple has to learn the languages from scratch, so…"

"Hey! Don't try to escape like that, Sig. We still need to set our schedules for teaching Erik," Eleonora cut in, looking at Sigrún with annoyance.

"Tsk."

Sigrún just clicked her tongue in frustration and looked away, which caused a small smile from Eleonora, as it meant her younger sister had obediently conceded. She then asked casually.

"Fufufu, how about you take Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I take Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

At Eleonora's suggestion, Sigrún reluctantly nodded, and immediately after, a large number of runes surrounded her, Erik, and the wolves. Shortly after, they all disappeared from the place with a flash.

After the group disappeared, Eleonora smiled wryly at her friend's attitude. Shaking her head a bit, she turned to her disciples and asked with a smile.

"What do you think of Erik?"

The emotions on the young disciples' faces were very different in response to their master's question. Desmond had a slightly bitter and surprised smile, while Liliana had an annoyed and frustrated expression.

"He's a monster, the greatest genius I've ever seen, without a doubt," Desmond commented firmly, but Liliana looked at him as if he were crazy and quickly retorted.

"What genius? He's just a pesky nuisance with annoying spells from the Zazen Discipline."

"Fufu, is that what you think, Liliana?" Eleonora looked at her disciple with a mischievous smile as she asked.

"What else could it be? He only beat me because I let my guard down, but that will never happen again." Still annoyed, Liliana commented while crossing her arms.

"Then let me tell you, Erik is only 15 years old and didn't use a single spell during the fight. In fact, he doesn't even know the languages, much less the magical systems or spells."

"Impossible! How can he be only 15 years old? He clearly used ethereal projection, and those cuts and the way he deflected my spell are definitely spells." Liliana looked angrily at her master, thinking she was trying to fool her, but Desmond quickly reprimanded her for her tone.

"Don't forget who you're talking to, Liliana." Desmond gave Liliana a piercing look, making her jump like a scared rabbit and quickly apologize to Eleonora, bowing deeply.

"I'm sorry, Master. I apologize for my disrespectful behavior, but it's not fair for you to mock me like this."

For her part, Eleonora didn't take Liliana's outburst too seriously, finding it more amusing than anything else. With a cheerful smile, she began explaining to her younger disciple who she had faced and what an absolute monster he was.

"Fufufufu, I forgive you. I understand what you must be feeling, but I must say you're mistaken. I'm not trying to mock you. Erik really has no idea how to cast a single spell. In fact, you just heard Sigrún say he still has to learn the languages because he doesn't know them. So, do you think someone who can't even study the languages can learn spells?

The feats you saw him perform in the match were nothing more than a masterful demonstration of mana control and harmony with the Myst techniques, to the point where they looked like spells to you. Also, he really is only 15 years old—his bones don't lie."

Incredulity was all that could be seen on Liliana's face, as what her master was saying seemed absurd. Not even Master Eldurdóttir, the greatest genius in human history, would be that absurd, so she quickly commented, feeling a bit annoyed.

"I can't believe it, Master. That flying cut was able to shatter my light barrier, and it's impossible for him to deflect my spells with just harmony with the Myst. Even with the best resources and teachers, I've never heard of anyone capable of mastering ethereal projection under the age of 30."

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Upon hearing the words of her young disciple, a smile of understanding escaped Eleonora's lips, but she quickly responded with a serious expression.

"That is precisely why Desmond called him a monster. He is really only 15 years old, and you will see for yourself when you reach the revealed level. Now let me explain a bit about how he achieved what he did without using a single spell."

Liliana and Desmond watched their master closely, as the latter took out a notebook and a beautiful pen from his storage ring, intending to take notes on what Eleonora was about to say.

"First of all, that distant slash he sent was a very creative combination of several techniques. As you can imagine, that slash is a combination of intermediate techniques of emission and shape control.

But if it were just that, it wouldn't be so powerful. What really made it powerful to the point of seeming like a spell was that Erik also used Essence Transformation and Mystical Confluence, where he used his mana to influence the Myst and applied essence transformation to the set, making them incredibly sharp, also known as magical edge."

Liliana and Desmond stared at their master with their mouths wide open, struggling to believe what they were hearing, especially Desmond. Unlike Liliana, he mastered all those techniques, or so he thought until now, because he definitely couldn't replicate what Erik did.

Despite being much stronger than Erik, Desmond was fully aware that in 'technique' or perhaps 'talent,' the star-haired young man had far surpassed him. After all, even if his new younger brother had trained since his mother's womb, in just 15 years, he had mastered techniques that took Desmond decades or even centuries to master, and he was even better at them. But Eleonora didn't stop and continued.

"Secondly, there are those 'arrows'. Although it may be even harder to believe, that is solidified Myst."

"IMPOSSIBLE!!"

Desmond and Liliana exclaimed at the same time, completely incredulous. After all, something like the solidification of Myst was well-known, although it was very complicated to do. In the end, it involved using Mystical Confluence and Applying Essence Transformation to solidify the whole, but besides being terribly difficult to achieve, it was something they could understand, unlike moving it, which was almost impossible.

At the moment Myst solidifies, something very curious happens that still confuses mages today. For some reason, the mana user loses almost all connection with the solidified Myst, making any attempt to move it futile.

However, it was said to be 'almost' impossible because one of the properties of solidified Myst is that it maintains relative position with the planet once formed. This could be changed with a spell by linking the relative position of the formation to an object. Moving the object would then move the Myst structure with it.

But that didn't mean it was easy. Not only was the spell to link the position of a solidified Myst formation to an object quite complex and advanced, but perfect timing was also required. If applied a moment too soon or too late, it would be useless.

"Fufufufu, yes, it's crazy, but it's real. Although we are still unsure why Erik can do that, we believe it is an ultra-rare affinity. But let's continue with what Erik did in the fight."

"There's more?!" * 2

Eleonora laughed, amused by her disciples' stunned, incredulous, and exhausted expressions, and continued explaining.

"Fufufu, yes, although just a couple of very simple things, actually. The way he could read Liliana like a book was due to Ethereal Projection, which you should already know about." Eleonora looked at her students, who nodded like chickens, before continuing, "But what really allowed him to reach a level of power sufficient to face Liliana's barriers was [Communion with the Myst]."

Desmond and Liliana, who thought they could no longer be surprised, now felt dizzy from the new information. Communion with the Myst was a master-level technique, something that could take thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years for a normal person to master.

Although geniuses occasionally appeared who could master it in a couple of centuries, they were super geniuses of a generation, and even then, it took them centuries. Someone like Erik could only be called a monster.

Despite the monstrous difficulty, communion with the Myst was the dream of anyone who used mana. After all, it meant having a near-total fusion with the Myst, allowing for an almost uninterrupted flow of mana, along with a profound understanding of the Myst, elevating their abilities several levels above those who didn't master it.

"Master, how can someone like that exist?"

Desmond looked up at the sky, heartbroken and on the verge of depression at the sight of someone so extraordinary. After all, he, who was called one of the greatest geniuses of this generation, a title that made him proud, now seemed nothing more than a joke.

"Don't be discouraged, Desmond. It's true that Erik is undoubtedly a unique genius, greater than you, but that doesn't mean you are any less or that you don't have a chance. After all, look at me.

I am the sworn sister of the greatest genius in the galaxy, someone who shattered my records one by one by an insurmountable margin and managed to reach my level and become a master at an age when I was merely a peak sage, making it clear that surpassing me is only a matter of time.

But you know what? It doesn't matter if she ends up surpassing me because, no matter what, she is still my younger sister, just as Erik will always be your junior disciple."

Eleonora smiled softly at Desmond and Liliana, who looked at her in surprise, but she didn't stop and continued speaking.

"So, don't worry about Erik's brilliance. Live your lives at your own pace, and don't forget that you yourselves are geniuses above the vast majority. You will still achieve great things and be the future pillars of our galaxy.

And if all that is still not enough for you, think of him as a young version of Sigrún, someone who will one day stand at the top of the galaxy. You can help Erik now with all you can, learn a lot from him, and he might even return the favor in the future. And even if he doesn't, you will still be able to tell your descendants that you contributed to the rise of a star. It will be a great anecdote."

Eleonora looked at her disciples with almost maternal affection, who seemed lost in their thoughts, deeply reflecting on many things.

...

...

...

When the flash of light faded, Erik found himself in front of an imposing Victorian-style mansion, with pointed towers and steep roofs intertwined with pulsating runes embedded in the brick walls, while the chimneys emitted a soft red glow, as if a fire dragon resided within.

The mansion's doors and windows seemed to be made of rare living wood, rooted in the foundations and twisted into exquisite and symbolic shapes, while the perfectly maintained gardens were filled with flowers that seemed to burn with a soft fire of different colors and wooden trees carved into shapes of various magical animals.

"Hehehe, what do you think of your new home, Erik?" Sigrún asked with a small smile, looking at the astonished Erik, who could only respond in a low voice.

"Your house is truly impressive, Master."

"Now it's our house."

Erik turned to look directly into Sigrún's eyes for a few seconds, almost as if trying to see through the stunning woman, but shortly after, he withdrew his gaze and sincerely thanked her.

"Thank you, Master."

"I already told you, Erik, I am now like your older sister. You don't need to thank me."

"I understand, Master."

"Well, follow me now. I'll show you the house and your new room."

Sigrún entered the beautiful mansion with Erik at her side, looking around with interest that quickly turned into surprise when he found two rows of men and women in elegant maid and butler outfits standing on both sides of the main lobby.

As the perfectly lined-up people saw Sigrún, they quickly bowed respectfully. While an incredibly beautiful woman, in no way inferior to Sigrún or Eleonora, who appeared to be around 25 years old, with ink-black hair and white skin, approached with an elegant and dignified step.

"Welcome back, young lady." The beautiful woman bowed formally in front of Sigrún, wearing a beautiful Victorian maid dress with exquisite details, which gave her a dignified and elegant aura.

"Hello, Sera. Let me introduce you to my first disciple. His name is Erik, and from now on he will live here. Consider his orders as my own."

The beautiful Victorian maid looked at Erik for a moment, then commented with an elegant smile on her lips while bowing respectfully.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, young master Erik. My name is Seraphina, and I am the housekeeper of the young lady's mansion. I will be at your service from now on."

"Mmm..." Erik looked at his master doubtfully, but she just nodded with a smile, so he decided to continue. "Then I will be in your care from now on, Miss Seraphina."

"It will be my pleasure, young master. Do not hesitate to ask me for anything you need."

Erik only nodded, looking incredibly uncomfortable as he reflected.

(Although I was quite wealthy in my past life, no one ever called me something like 'young master.' What an uncomfortable feeling…)

After laughing for a while at Erik's reactions, Sigrún proceeded to show him the interior of the mansion herself. It was a labyrinth of alchemy labs, spell libraries, and elegant quarters, with each room filled with incredibly interesting magical artifacts.

Meanwhile, the high ceilings were decorated with magical frescoes depicting scenes of humanity's conquest of the galaxy, with stars and planets that seemed to move and shine with their own light.

"Well, Erik, this will be your room."

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With Sigrún's words, Erik looked around the spacious and well-lit room with curiosity. It seemed more like a wizard's chamber than the suite he had used on the cruise, which resembled a high-end futuristic presidential suite.

This current room had tall windows extending up to the vaulted ceiling, offering panoramic views of the surroundings. The twisted wooden frames and wallpaper with patterns of golden leaves and red flames were a nod to Sigrún's magical affinities.

On one side of the room, Erik noticed a ghostly fireplace, similar to those on the facade, which emitted a pleasant warmth that filled the space. A small wool rug, capable of changing its pattern at will, lay in front of the fireplace.

The furniture was elegant and functional, with a large, plush bed that seemed to float slightly above the floor, sofas, chairs, various tables, and a carved wooden desk in front of one of the windows. The desk was cluttered with what appeared to be magical scrolls, bird feathers, and inkwells with color-changing inks, alongside pens Erik was more accustomed to.

However, the most striking part of the room was a corner apparently dedicated to alchemy practice, with shelves full of jars containing rare ingredients, a shiny golden cauldron, and a series of runes engraved on the floor around the workspace.

"This looks impressive, master. Thank you"

"I'm glad you like it, Erik."

Erik started examining the room, checking each object several times while the wolves sniffed around and rubbed against the walls. They also tucked their small toys, gifts from Sigrún on the ship, into various places, especially under the bed.

"Well, Erik, get familiar with the place. We'll start your lessons tomorrow."

After showing Erik a clock that seemed to have been carved from a single piece of moon crystal, which glowed with a soft, ethereal light, Sigrún announced with a small smile on her lips.

"This clock will chime when it's time to wake up tomorrow. Seraphina will have breakfast ready for you in the main dining room, and then we'll meet in the study I showed you earlier."

"I understand, master. I'll be there without fail."

After Sigrún left the room, the wolves started to roam around, lying down in different spots before standing up and continuing their exploration. This behavior made Erik suspicious, and he immediately commented.

"You're not staying here. This is MY room."

Upon hearing Erik's words, the wolves immediately jumped on the star-haired boy and began licking his face 'mercilessly,' to which he quickly responded in a strict tone.

"No matter what you do, I won't give in. This is my room now!!"

The wolves barked powerfully in protest, then lay down on Erik, pinning him to the ground while panting with their tongues out. Erik exclaimed in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

"Well, we'll stay like this then. This is MY room. I will never give in!"

At the end of the day, the star-haired boy ended up sleeping with the wolves in his bed.

...

…

…

Nearly two years have passed since Erik arrived at the arcane university. In this time, he finally mastered the four languages of the galaxy. His magical calculus classes also progressed well, as they were just an adaptation of the mathematics he already knew.

Moreover, he gained basic knowledge of alchemy and artificing. Although he wasn't yet allowed to practice unsupervised, he could recognize different materials and plants, as well as several runes and magic circles.

His power level also increased significantly, and he was now officially a peak-apprentice. According to his masters, this was only in terms of mana, as he still lacked the knowledge and techniques to be on par with mana users of the same level.

But something interesting that Erik discovered during this time was that he could pass his knowledge of runes to his wolves. Thanks to this, the wolves could now shrink or return to their normal size at will. They would now shrink to stay with him in the mansion and return to their original size to play in the mansion's gigantic 'garden'.

Because of this, Sigrún built them a pair of 10-meter-tall cabins in the garden and also gave them several huge toys. But the truly surprising part was how Sigrún 'built' the cabins, which was literally by casually waving her hand and causing branches to sprout from the ground and form the cabin.

(Damn it, magic is cheating...)

That was the only thing Erik could think of when he saw such a scene, all the while remembering the time he spent working on his humble cabin and those for the wolves.

…

In the grand garden of Sigrún's mansion, Erik was performing his usual exercise routine while the wolves, standing a little over 4 meters tall, ran around, jumping, chasing, and 'biting' each other.

Not far from there, Eleonora and Sigrún were sitting on garden chairs in front of a beautiful carved glass table, with a couple of cups of hot tea and cookies on it. They ate and drank while watching Erik practice.

"That bio-mystic technique never ceases to amaze me, no matter how much I see it," Eleonora broke the silence, watching Erik's movements and the Myst around him with great detail.

"Yes, it's truly fascinating, and it seems that with each passing year, it becomes more refined and efficient. But that technique is quite rare; with Erik's permission, I've tried to replicate it a few times, but for some reason, it doesn't show even a tenth of the effectiveness it offers him," Sigrún added while elegantly sipping her tea.

"Yes, it's truly made just for him..." Eleonora seemed to start reflecting deeply on something but was quickly interrupted by Sigrún.

"Yes, but let's talk about how the schedules will be from now on."

"Have you told Erik that we'll start with magic?"

"No, not yet. First, I want to define the schedules. So far, Erik has shown very good compatibility with the aegis system and sacred geometry, as well as alchemy and artificing. So, I was thinking of only giving him Sundays off and having you take Saturdays."

"Sig, are you sure you only want to give Erik one day off?" Eleonora asked with a tone that revealed a hint of concern, causing Sigrún to respond with an ironic smile.

"Erik seems to be bothered by having nothing to do. As soon as he learned to read, he spends all day in the library when he has nothing to do, so it's not a concern."

"Fufu, our disciple is very diligent," Eleonora commented with a slight, elegant laugh that mixed some amusement with a bit of pride, to which Sigrún responded with a worried expression.

"But I'm really a little concerned about that attitude, Eli. Erik hasn't even left the mansion in the last two years."

Sigrún's words made Eleonora nod, who then turned to look at the star-haired boy training, while she commented in a more serious tone.

"You're right. Besides us, my disciples, and the assistants, Erik doesn't know any other humans... maybe we should talk to him about it…"

After giving Erik a deep look, Eleonora turned back to Sigrún and commented with a serious expression and a grave tone.

"By the way, the results of the investigation into Erik's background arrived a moment ago."

Sigrún looked a bit surprised at Eleonora for a moment but quickly recovered and asked, "What did you find out?"

"Nothing yet, I haven't reviewed them. I wanted us to be together."

"Then take them out quickly."

After being urged by Sigrún, Eleonora took out a small wooden tablet covered in runes from her storage ring. Then she quickly imbued it with mana while closing her eyes, but soon, her expressions began to change visibly.

Eleonora's expressions were a strange combination of sadness and rage, quickly escalating to terrible murderous intent that almost burst out uncontrollably, until the tablet turned to ashes.

After taking a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm, Eleonora quickly took another wooden tablet covered in runes from her storage ring and issued some orders in a strict, emotionless tone.

"I want the old apothecary and the ruffians in Luminary before the month ends."

"What happened?"

Sigrún asked, a bit confused and somewhat surprised by her sworn sister's outburst, who responded seriously after taking a sip of tea to adjust her mood.

"You'll understand soon, but more or less everything Erik said was confirmed. There really was an old blacksmith with connections to the Jade Lotus Union, though at a very low level.

That's why he knew about chi concepts, and the exercises the old man practiced were a variation of some exercises elderly civilians practice in their lands. They are the same ones Erik demonstrated, and it was well known that the blacksmith practiced them frequently in his workshop."

"What about his background?"

"That was the most complicated part. Erik was abandoned at an orphanage the day he was born, so the director of the orphanage took care of him. But she died when Erik was only three years old, and the new director was very xenophobic. So, because Erik didn't look like anyone from the area, she ended up throwing him out of the orphanage when he was only four."

Sigrún's eyes turned dangerous as she released a terrifying bloodlust and looked Eleonora in the eye while asking.

"Is she still alive?"

"Unfortunately, no" Eleonora replied with an equally dangerous smile.

"That's a shame."

Sigrún's murderous look vanished as if it had never existed, and she elegantly sipped her tea before asking.

"And tell me, how did my Erik survive on the streets at such a young age? Who helped him?"

With Sigrún's question, Eleonora's dangerous smile disappeared, replaced by a slightly complicated expression as she responded.

"Well, it can't really be said that anyone helped him. After being thrown out of the orphanage, Erik slept in the town bazaar's streets and helped people find better prices and such. Apparently, he learned to calculate prices just by watching and listening to the merchants, and thanks to that 'job,' he got food and some clothes."

Sigrún and Eleonora's expressions were not pleasant to see; they seemed a mix of sadness and terrifying murderous intent. But they quickly restrained themselves, and Eleonora continued sharing the investigation's findings.

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"It was at that moment that he earned the nickname 'Green Eyes', and rumors of his intelligence reached an old apothecary who hired him as an assistant in exchange for some food and a place to sleep. During that time, young Erik learned to make various medicines by watching the old woman and began selling them at the bazaar for some money.

However, some ruffians, under the old woman's orders, beat him up and took all his savings, which he had intended to use to pay a teacher to learn to read and write," Eleonora narrated with a complicated expression that conveyed a mix of sadness, melancholy, anger, and murderous intent.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with those guinea pigs," Sigrún commented with a sadistic smile on her face, understanding Eleonora's previous orders.

"Yes, I'll leave the old woman to you, but I'll handle that lowlife scum personally."

"Leave me at least a couple, or I won't be able to release this anger."

"Then leave me a bit of the old woman."

"Deal."

Eleonora and Sigrún shook hands, smiling wickedly, almost like demons casually deciding the fate of miserable humans. Then they quickly reverted to their elegant and refined demeanor, and Eleonora continued speaking.

"Well, continuing on, after being beaten... Erik managed to survive thanks to the medical knowledge he had learned from the apothecary. But because he was threatened by the ruffians to never 'try to steal the business' again, Erik didn't return to the old apothecary. Instead, he moved to the other side of town and started working as an assistant to the old blacksmith.

Unlike the apothecary bitch, the old blacksmith paid him a decent salary and provided him with a place to sleep, allowing Erik to have a better life. But just a year later, the old man was summoned by a local noble to work.

Due to the high cost of traveling to the noble's territory, the old blacksmith decided to go alone, so Erik had to find another job. That's when he started working at the docks as a cleaner, as the pay was significantly better.

While working at the docks, Erik learned that the captain of the 'Salt Dragon' was recruiting young workers, so he quickly applied. As it was well-known that several teachers would be traveling on the ship."

"So he never gave up on his desire to learn..." Sigrún and Eleonora looked at the green-eyed boy practicing his exercises in the distance with eyes full of tenderness.

"He's our Erik, after all, fufufufu."

"He's my Erik, I just lend him to you occasionally," Sigrún replied arrogantly, to which Eleonora responded with an amused smile.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, fufu."

"Hmph, finish your story already. You still haven't told me how he got to the island," Sigrún exclaimed, annoyed, while Eleonora elegantly sipped her tea but quickly continued.

"Well, actually, that was the hardest part to find out because there were no surviving witnesses. I even had to send an experienced arcane, and what he discovered honestly surprised me."

"How so? Is it that complicated?" Sigrún asked with a more serious expression, to which Eleonora smiled playfully.

"Actually, it's the opposite. It was all a coincidence, and you could say it was indirectly caused by you. The ship Erik was working on usually covered the Azur Coast-Quayhold route, but on that occasion, it was hired to go on an expedition to your island.

Apparently, someone had noticed that the area where you created the island had become inaccessible for a couple of centuries. Seeking support for the expedition, they managed to interest a noble enough to finance the entire project. However, since they had convinced the noble that there were incredible treasures in that place, they decided to do everything in secret, passing off the researchers as 'teachers.'

That's why Erik didn't know anything and, having never traveled before, didn't notice the difference in travel time, which was done on purpose. That's why they specifically sought 'young workers.' All non-sailing personnel on the ship were replaced with orphans or people without families who had never been to sea. They were told it was just a trip to Quayhold, and the plan was to kill them all upon return.

But during the journey, they were attacked by a juvenile kraken, and the ship was destroyed, killing most on board. The few survivors perished shortly after in the sea, except for Erik, who, when the attack began, hid in a ration barrel and secretly threw himself into the ocean.

The reason he entered your island is undoubtedly related to Myst itself. According to the arcane I sent, Erik was so full of Myst in his unconscious state that it could have caused a confusion in the formation, allowing him to pass through as if he were a magical animal or something similar."

Eleonora handed Sigrún the tablet with which she had given her orders earlier and continued speaking.

"I usually don't punish for something that didn't happen, but if you want to do something, you can give the order. Additionally, the noble house that financed the expedition intends to repeat it, as they still believe it's a treasure-laden area."

"Thanks, Eli," Sigrún looked gratefully at her sworn sister but returned the tablet and continued, "Though it's true that bastard deserves to die for his plans against my Erik, the fact is that if it weren't for that, I might never have met him. As for their expedition attempts, they won't get far. Not everyone is a child of Myst like Erik, and even if someone manages to get through, last time I left several sensors to warn me if anyone enters again."

Eleonora gave Sigrún a big smile and said cheerfully, "That's good, Sig."

"But in a way, it's a relief that it was just a coincidence. But in the end, where does Erik come from?"

"Well, it turns out Erik is a direct descendant of the previous Astral Emperor."

"What?"

Sigrún quickly turned her gaze to Erik and his impressive black hair, which seemed to be made of a piece of outer space, full of stars and galaxies that appeared to sparkle with dark blue glints in the sunlight, and commented quickly.

"But the defining characteristic of the royal family of the Astral Empire is their pupils, which look like a starry night when they use magic, not their hair."

"Well, that's because Erik didn't inherit anything from the previous monarch. His hair and eyes were inherited from his mother, who was the youngest princess of a small vassal kingdom of the Astral Empire called the Valley of Sylphium.

Apparently, from what we discovered, the previous emperor was fascinated by the little princess's beauty and believed her hair was some sort of divine sign or something like that, as she was the only one in the entire royal family who had it. A family whose defining characteristic was their green eyes.

Due to that stupid belief and more likely tempted by the young woman's incredible beauty, he forced the kings to hand her over and impregnated her against her will, intending to consume the newborn's blood essence to increase his own talent and forcibly become a Master.

The princess was only 16 years old when this happened and was practically destroyed, so she asked her most trusted companion to escape with the baby before she died. However, he was discovered some time later and immolated himself, exploding his magic core, but he had already managed to hide Erik and took the secret to the grave."

Sigrún rose from her chair, indignant, exuding a dark intent so terrifying it seemed to darken the sun itself, while the air around her trembled violently, and a massive pressure that seemed to affect gravity itself began to wreak havoc on the surroundings.

But since Eleonora had predicted what would happen and had erected a barrier to contain Sigrún's murderous intent, as well as her own, which was no less intense, the phenomenon didn't alert anyone. Not even Erik, who was just a few meters away.

"That son of a bitch must die!" Sigrún announced with deep hatred in her words.

"Calm down, Sig, I'm not finished yet." Despite what she said, Eleonora's words were laden with a bloodlust that would frighten even the bravest.

"What are you going to tell me, Eli? I haven't heard that the previous Astral emperor is dead."

"Well, he's not really dead, but his current state is much worse."

"What do you mean?" Sigrún asked somewhat confused, causing the terrifying murderous intent she was releasing to waver slightly.

"The reason the princess's servant was able to escape from the capital planet of the Astral Empire was because the previous emperor's castle was in chaos, giving him the opportunity to flee with the child.

The day Erik was born, the previous emperor suffered a violent Myst tribulation, leaving him in a state worse than death, where he is kept alive only by an ancient treasure of the imperial family, and they are now forced to spend an exorbitant amount of resources to keep the treasure active."

"After all, the old bastard is their greatest combat force, and the current emperor is barely an Expert-Sage, not even an Arcane-level. So, that son of a bitch ended up becoming a cancer for the empire, depleting its resources and national strength."

Upon hearing Eleonora's words, Sigrún sat back down, while wicked smiles full of sadism and ill intentions formed on the exquisite faces of both women. This contrasted sharply with their elegant mannerisms as they drank their tea, as if they were savoring the misfortune of the former Astral Emperor instead of tea.

"That's really good to know, but I think I'll start making things difficult for the Astral Empire. I want to see its downfall as soon as possible," Sigrún commented in her melodious voice that sounded like the whispers of the cruelest and most ruthless demon.

"Don't worry about that. I already have a couple of very good ideas to make it happen, fufufu" Eleonora replied with an elegant laugh, but her typical elegant mannerisms, now gave the impression that it was the Empress of Demons herself speaking.

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Noticing the 17-year-old approaching, drenched in sweat but with a wide grin on his face, the macabre conversation between the two women of celestial beauty halted immediately. Their wicked smiles vanished, taking with them the barrier that cloaked them, transforming them back into the elegant and beautiful women they were.

As Erik drew closer to his masters, who looked at him with tenderness, he used a small trick they had taught him, managing to clean the sweat off his body using his mana. Though it wasn't as effective as a real bath, it at least eliminated any strange odors.

Upon reaching Sigrún and Eleonora, Erik sat in the only free chair at the table, upon which a plate full of cookies immediately appeared. This made the star-haired young man's eyes sparkle, and he began to eat them with delight, like a mouse.

"Masters, I think I'm about to reach the ascended level," Erik commented enthusiastically after savoring the exquisite cookies.

"That's great, Erik, but it's better to wait a bit and not advance yet," Sigrún said gently, stroking Erik's starry hair.

"Why?"

Erik asked his master, a bit confused. However, it was Eleonora who responded, giving him a special cookie that she had made herself, much more delicious than the regular cookies, which were Erik's and the wolves' favorites.

"Because starting today, your magic classes will begin."

"..."

Erik opened his eyes in surprise, which made him look a bit funny since he was about to bite the cookie, while ignoring his wolves who were 'crying sadly' near him, in their one-meter size, all the while looking at the cookie in his hand with longing.

"Fufufu."

Amused, Eleonora put a big smile on her face and gave him 5 more cookies, so Erik quickly shared two with his wolves and kept the rest, while responding with a big smile.

"That's awesome, I can't wait to learn. What will I do first?"

"In your new schedule, you'll learn the aegis system with me on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on Fridays, you'll help me as an assistant in the alchemy lab," Sigrún said warmly, though a hint of envy could be seen in the corner of her eyes as she looked at Eleonora.

"What are the rules for my work as an assistant, Master?"

With Erik's question, Sigrún and Eleonora sensed a moment of sadness in the young star-haired boy's eyes, which nearly triggered their murderous intentions, but they quickly calmed themselves, gritting their teeth.

Filled with complex emotions, Sigrún hugged Erik tightly and spoke to him in a soft, tender voice, lovingly caressing his head.

"The only rule is to attend. You can even destroy the lab if you want; you're my first disciple, and you're the most important thing to me. Nothing else matters."

"I won't destroy the lab, master. I just wanted to know if there was anything I should know before starting," Erik replied calmly, returning his master's hug.

Over the past two years, Sigrún and Eleonora have felt increasingly close to their shared disciple. Everything about him seemed endearing to them: his serious expression in class, his constant effort to learn, how he played like a little child with his wolves, how he argued with the assistants who tried to enter his room to clean it, his addiction to cookies. He could eat them like a mouse all day without tiring. And how he always greeted them with that huge smile, which, to them, was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

The impact was especially strong for Eleonora, as she already had two disciples, one of whom she had been teaching for over four centuries. But the love she felt for Erik was incomparable to that for her other disciples.

Although it wasn't that she didn't love them, it was just that Erik was somehow special. Around him, she felt calm and at peace, and it was a delight for her to see the sincerity with which he treated them. He rarely lied, and when he did, it was usually about things that only made them feel affectionate towards him.

For example, once Erik arrived late to a class with Eleonora and lied, saying he had overslept. Curious, the two masters investigated a bit, only to find out that Erik had actually been taking care of Kaiser, who had gotten injured playing in the forest.

But if they had to point out what they enjoyed most about interacting with Erik, it would undoubtedly be his attitude. Despite having great respect for both of them, he didn't treat them like goddesses, terrifying beings, or mere objects of desire or admiration, as they were accustomed to being treated.

Whenever he interacted with them, he treated them like people. He might have been slightly more respectful than with others, but he was not rigid or servile. He was more like a younger brother, a very sweet and obedient one.

"You don't need to worry about that. You're my disciple; you can do whatever you want. Just don't sell what you create. You need a license for that, so if your monthly allowance isn't enough, let me know, and I'll increase it," Sigrún said warmly, trying to conceal the anger eating away at her.

"Hehehe, thank you, master, and don't worry, I won't sell anything. After all, I still don't know what to spend my monthly allowance on. I don't lack anything."

Erik spoke with some embarrassment since they had so many mana crystals, the currency used in the galaxy, that they formed a small mountain. He hadn't worked for any of them; his masters gifted them to him every month and never asked for anything in return, which was quite frustrating for someone as independent and used to earning his keep as he was.

Although at first Erik tried to refuse to receive them, as he really didn't need them, they said they were good for training and half-forced him to accept them. So, to this day, he kept accumulating them in his storage ring and didn't even use them for training because they weren't as effective as his own exercise routine or, well, bio-mystic technique.

As she continued to lovingly hug Erik, Sigrún noticed him glancing at his cookies now and then, probably worried his wolves might steal them. So, with a smile, she released him, and he resumed eating happily.

She really hated the fact that despite being an incredible alchemist, she was a terrible cook. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bake a cookie that didn't burn, which meant the cookie territory was entirely dominated by Eleonora, who was slowly stealing her precious disciple away.

"As for my classes, from now on, you'll learn sacred geometry on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plus, on Saturdays, you'll be my assistant in my workshop."

"Really?!" Erik looked at Eleonora excitedly, causing the beautiful and elegant woman to hug him as well.

"Of course, you're my disciple too. So try to learn as much as you can. When you get better at the magical systems, we'll properly teach you how to be an alchemist and an artificer."

"That's awesome, master. You really are the best," Erik said, returning Eleonora's hug with enthusiasm, melting her heart with his words.

The most beautiful thing for Eleonora and Sigrún was hearing his completely sincere and unselfish words of affection. He genuinely loved them and considered them his family, filling them with tenderness and happiness. Receiving such pure love was something they had always needed, but never realized until Erik came into their lives.

"Well, Erik, go take a bath. We have class," Sigrún said in a neutral voice, but she was giving Eleonora venomous looks, to which Eleonora only smiled smugly.

"Alright, master."

Erik let go of Eleonora, who gave him one last tight hug. Then he quickly grabbed his remaining special cookies and ran to his room, with his wolves chasing him at full speed, barking happily.

"Jealousy is an ugly thing, Sig, fufufu."

"Hmph."

...

…

…

A couple of hours later, Erik arrived at the place where he always had his classes—a beautiful study with warm reddish wooden walls and tall ebony bookshelves filled with books and scrolls. They have titles shone with golden letters under the warm glow of the floating mystic fire lamps.

In the center of the magical study was a large mahogany desk carved with intricate runes, where Sigrún and Erik usually worked side by side during language classes. But now, it was filled with all sorts of spread-out scrolls.

"Well, Erik, today will officially be your first magic lesson," Sigrún said cheerfully, watching the excited boy sit beside her with his notebooks and pens.

"Yes, master, I am very excited," Erik nodded several times as he spoke, clearly struggling to contain his excitement.

"Well, how about we start with something simple? What do you think magic is?"

At Sigrún's question, Erik's excitement seemed to fade as he thoughtfully placed a hand on his chin. After a moment, he responded, though his tone indicated he wasn't entirely sure of his answer.

"Could it be the ability to affect reality?"

Sigrún smiled, satisfied with her disciple's response, and nodded before explaining in a clear and calm voice.

"Hehehe, that's correct, but to be more precise, magic is the ability to understand, manipulate, and harmonize with the fundamental forces and energies of the universe to create specific, desired changes in reality. It's not just about releasing fire or lightning, but also about deeply understanding how the universe works and our connection to it."

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" I understand," Erik nodded seriously at the words of his master, who soon asked him another question.

"Erik, what do you think is the most important thing to achieve magic?"

"Imagination?" Erik responded hesitantly, which made Sigrún smile brightly before she explained.

"Haha, you're not entirely wrong, but the most important thing is 'Orders.'"

"Orders?" Erik looked at his master confused, and she gently patted his hair before continuing.

"Yes, Orders. Do you remember the concept of an algorithm you learned with Eli?"

"Yes, a set of ordered steps to achieve a goal."

"Exactly, and a spell is essentially the same thing. Each step is giving a specific order to your mana to act in a certain way to produce a specific result."

"But master, if they're just orders, why are runes and magic circles needed?"

Erik asked, confused. After all, the concept of Orders was easy to understand since, in a way, the mental instructions he gave his mana to do something could be interpreted as 'orders,' but he could do that on his own without the need for the runes or magic circles he saw his masters or Liliana use.

"A great question. It's not that they're strictly necessary to cast a spell. For example, practitioners of the Zazen discipline only use their minds and bodies to cast spells, but that comes at a cost and is precisely the disadvantage of this magical system.

To cast a powerful spell that is adaptable, error-tolerant, and has a compact and organized structure, maximizing its power and minimizing its flaws, a large number of very precise orders are needed, which is quite difficult to do.

That's where runes and magic circles come in, as they are, in a way, a set of pre-recorded orders. Through them, you can cast complex spells without having to pay much attention to each individual order, and thanks to that, your repertoire of spells will be as large as the runes or magic circles you know.

For the same reason, the Zazen discipline is the most complex to master. Although it undoubtedly has the greatest versatility and control over a spell, the amount of time it takes to master them is exponentially greater than for other systems, as they have to execute each 'order' for themselves."

"Master, does that mean I've been using spells like the Zazen discipline until now?" Understanding his master's reasoning, Erik asked intrigued, to which Sigrún replied happily.

"Hehe, technically yes, but in reality, your flying slashes or the solidified Myst arrows can't be considered proper spells. After all, you use very few orders, which makes their structure very flimsy and scattered, decreasing their power and making them prone to failure.

It's precisely because of that flimsy structure that your arrows are so fragile. Additionally, your attacks lack important orders, and for that reason, you have to first get used to the Myst concentration in the area to launch your slashes, as it compensates for that deficiency."

"I understand..."

(So basically, the runes and magic circles are like software running on the hardware that is my mana. Interesting...)

Erik seemed to reflect on various things while Sigrún watched him calmly, letting him process all the information he was acquiring. All the while savoring a delicious cup of tea that the beautiful black-haired maid, Seraphina, had brought just moments ago.

After taking notes in his notebook, Erik turned to look at his master, who put her tea aside and resumed the lesson.

"Now I will explain a bit about the specializations of mana users."

"Specializations?"

"Yes, although in combat there are basically only two: long-range and short-range, and each magical system calls them differently. In the Aegis system, long-range users are known as Seidr or Sorcerers and short-range as Hersir, though some call them berserkers.

In sacred geometry, there are mages and knights, while in the Zazen discipline, long-range users are called spiritual cultivators and short-range are body cultivators, but they are all basically the same.

Although those are the official names, the truth is that they are rarely used in the Arcane Order, and they are generally called knights for short-range and mages or sorcerers for long-range."

"Why do they have to be divided like that, master? Can't a long-range mage fight in close combat?"

"Well, it's not that it's impossible; there are even some who actively do so. But the differentiation is mainly because we develop differently, something that becomes more evident from the revealed level.

At that level, we, the long-range or sorcerers, develop a magical core, which greatly increases the amount of mana we possess. It also gives us significant improvements in controlling it, allowing us to perform much more complex spells at greater distances.

On the other hand, the short-range fighters, or knights, develop the cells of their bodies to store mana. This gives them a body that is several times stronger and more resilient, as well as superior regeneration compared to a mage. However, they lose a lot of control, so they can only perform simpler spells, usually at short range."

"So you're either one or the other…"

Erik exclaimed with understanding as the beautiful Victorian maid placed a plate of cookies on his desk, giving him a small smile, which the star-haired young man returned before taking a cookie.

"Exactly. Although many have tried to walk both paths simultaneously, it has proven not to be viable. Mainly because it's very expensive. To do it, such an amount of resources is needed that it could easily finance several short and long-range mana users to the same level.

Additionally, if you do more than one thing at a time, you can only give a fraction of your attention to each, which condemns them to fall behind over time. In a way, it's a taboo for the young, because falling behind with such short lifespans is basically suicide."

"I see… although it would be great to have super strength and super spells at the same time," Erik couldn't help but comment with a dreamy look on his face as he ate a cookie, which made Sigrún smile. Shortly after, she asked.

"Hahaha, many think the same, but let's continue. How about I explain the basic techniques of mana control and harmony with Myst?"

"Of course, master."

After Erik's nod, Sigrún gracefully stood up from her chair, and a board appeared in front of her, where she began writing a few things while commenting casually.

"Well, in reality, you managed to master several of them purely by instinct on the island, but let's review them anyway. First, the techniques of mana control and harmony with Myst are divided into four categories: novice, intermediate, advanced, and master. For now, we'll look at the novice level."

Erik nodded and began writing in his notebook, which made Sigrún smile as she quickly continued with her explanation.

"In the novice category, we have the most basic techniques that anyone wanting to start in magic must learn. First, we have Mana Control. After feeling mana for the first time, the first thing a novice must learn is to control and manipulate their own mana throughout their body.

Second is Mystical Breathing, which means that novices must learn a specific breathing technique to synchronize with Myst and thus improve their mana recovery."

Erik raised his hand intending to ask a question, and Sigrún quickly allowed him to speak.

"Ask away, Erik "

"Master, why can I do that without needing a special way to breathe?"

"Hehehe, actually, you do have a specific way of breathing; you just don't notice it. The exercises you practice every day are known as bio-mystical exercises, which are a combination of physical movements, breathing techniques, and mana movements in the body.

These exercises aim not only to refine the body and mana but also, the more advanced ones, help to better synchronize with Myst, accelerating mana and body recovery simultaneously. It also enhances the strengthening effects of the technique."

"Wow, I didn't know… so everyone has their own special exercises," Erik commented with surprise, but was quickly interrupted by Sigrún, who corrected him.

"You're mistaken, Erik. Bio-mystical exercises are very special. Well, those as powerful as yours are, so it can be said that you are a genius among geniuses who created his own set of bio-mystical exercises.

Those who have bio-mystical exercises like yours usually inherit them, passing them down from generation to generation, improving and perfecting them over time. The rest have to settle for publicly known bio-mystical exercises or pay large amounts to use something better."

"A genius? Me?" Erik pointed to himself while looking at his master, very confused.

"Yes, you are an unparalleled genius, Erik," Sigrún responded with a smile, which only deepened the confusion of the star-haired young man, who could only comment incredulously.

"But master, Desmond is almost the same age as me and is incredibly stronger. He must be a true genius."

"Hahaha!!"

Sigrún couldn't help but laugh heartily at Erik's confused and innocent expression, as he genuinely believed that Desmond was the same age as him. Meanwhile, Seraphina, the beautiful Victorian maid standing near the door, brought a hand to her lovely cherry-colored lips to hide her giggle while looking at the star-haired young man with interest.

"Erik, how old do you think Desmond and Liliana are?" Sigrún asked cheerfully, amused.

"I'd say between 18 and 20," Erik responded, not understanding his master's laughter.

"Hahahaha," Sigrún couldn't hold back any longer and hugged Erik tightly while laughing out loud. She finally calmed down, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and let him sit back down.

"Sorry, Erik, you're too sweet, and I couldn't help myself. To correct you, Liliana must be around 35 years old, and Desmond is over 500."

"WHAT?!!" Erik jumped out of his chair like a frightened rabbit while looking at Sigrún, who laughed like a little girl.

"Hahaha, let me explain how age works for us mana users so you don't get surprised like this all the time. First, you should know that the first time life extends is at the apprentice level, which reaches 150 years. From that moment on, all mana users stop aging and remain in their ideal state.

Therefore, how you look is more or less how you feel, but that changes in the last third of our life, where we start aging slowly until the end of our life. The last 50 years are when we begin to age rapidly and depart from this world."

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"... That's incredible, Desmond only seems to be around 19 years old and he already has 500..." Erik commented in a low voice, filled with surprise.

"And that surprises you? I'm over 1000 and look how young and beautiful I look," Sigrún said, smiling as she spun around, showcasing her exquisite beauty and tempting body.

"... Yes, you're right, master, I should have seen it coming from the beginning..." Erik began to reflect, but an idea quickly crossed his mind and he asked his master, "By the way, master, how old is Master Eleonora?"

"Hehehe, she's over 5000 years old."

"..."

Sigrún's cheerful words left Erik speechless, who looked at her in surprise while he seemed to be contemplating life, but the beautiful woman with golden hair quickly interrupted him.

"Don't worry so much about it, Erik. You'll get used to it. After all, we have a long life ahead of us together. Hehe."

With a small smile on her face, Sigrún hugged Erik briefly and then let go to stand in front of the board, where she wrote something else, all under the attentive gaze of the beautiful maid standing nearby with a professional look and an elegant smile on her face.

"Well, we got a bit sidetracked, but let's continue with the basic techniques. The third one is known as the Mana Pool, and this technique allows you to expand your Hugstjarna, or dantian as you called it, to increase your mana reserves.

By the way, the point where mana gathers in the body has different names depending on the magical system. Practitioners of the aegis system like me call it Hugstjarna, those of sacred geometry call it the Aurea Nexus or simply Nexus point, and in the Zazen discipline, it's referred to as dantian, so you can call it whatever you prefer."

Sigrún's brief explanation brought a question to Erik's mind, which he quickly asked after raising his hand.

"Master, what is the name of the place where energy gathers in the head?"

Erik's question truly surprised Sigrn. After all, that wasn't something the young star-haired boy should know, which inevitably brought an ironic smile to her face. But after shaking her head to dispel the strange feelings that arose in her heart, she answered.

"That point also has different names depending on the magical system. In the aegis system, it's called Hugljos, in sacred geometry, it's called Luminarium, and in the Zazen discipline, it's known as Niwan. It's a point directly connected to thought, intuition, and spirituality. But tell me, Erik, how did you learn about the Hugljos?"

At Sigrún's question, a somewhat nostalgic expression appeared on Erik's face, who soon began to explain, not without first sipping some tea brought by the beautiful Victorian maid.

"Well, I actually discovered that point in my head during my early years on the island, master. Since I always had a kind of sixth sense that warned me of danger, which was incredibly useful in that situation, I wanted to improve it somehow, and since mana somehow 'strengthened' everything, I thought it was a good idea to try to 'strengthen' it.

But since I didn't have a clear idea of how to 'strengthen' something like that, I just sent a lot of mana to my head, and accidentally discovered that strange point, which, if I infused mana into it, allowed me to sense the presence of others.

That little trick was so useful at the time that it at least tripled my effectiveness in the forest, so I kept it 'active' all the time, although it was hard to keep it active while sleeping, and eventually, it became a habit, to the point where it feels weird not to sense others' presence."

Sigrún could only put her hand on her forehead as she listened to Erik's words, who made it sound so easy to master an advanced and quite dangerous technique too. Many ended up with serious physical and mental problems trying it, and there were also those who died.

Meanwhile, Seraphina smiled amusedly, though without losing her elegant and reserved demeanor, as she listened to Erik's story. But shortly after, Sigrún let out a long sigh of exhaustion and gently reprimanded him.

"Erik, don't try those kinds of experiments again. What you're describing is an advanced technique called Mystical Awareness and it's very dangerous to master. Many have hurt themselves trying it."

"Really?!" Erik exclaimed somewhat surprised, then added in a low voice, thoughtfully, "although I never felt anything wrong, even when I flooded my head with mana..."

"That's because you have first-class mana control, but if it weren't for that, you could have died. So from now on, you have to inform me or Eli if you want to try something crazy like that, understood?" Sigrún demanded in a serious tone full of firmness, leaving no room for discussion.

"Yes," Erik nodded several times as he responded, after all, his master was giving him a rather terrifying expression.

"That's better... and for reference, mystical awareness can also accelerate thinking and improve the ability to sense the Myst," Sigrún commented in a satisfied tone before elegantly sipping her tea.

"Ah!!! So that's why."

Sigrún's words made many things clear to Erik, who always thought he saw everything slow when he fought due to adrenaline, although he never really paid attention to sensing the Myst as it became something natural for him over time. But if he remembered correctly, that started when he sent his mana to his head.

"Well, let's continue then. The fourth technique is known as Focusing, and it's basically learning to focus mana to increase the power of a spell or attack. The fifth and last of the basic techniques is Mystical Sensitivity, which is learning to sense the Myst around you."

Seeing that Erik started taking notes in his notebook, Sigrún let out a sigh of relief, glad that the young star-haired boy didn't mention any other crazy ideas, which for some reason improved the taste of her tea. She then asked him calmly.

"Which of these techniques do you think you still need to learn, Erik?"

"I'd say the mana pool and focusing, master."

"You're right, though more than learning them, you need to perfect them. You already use the basics of the mana pool and focusing, albeit in a very superficial way, and we need to improve that."

"Of course, master."

...

...

...

"Well, everyone, starting today, my disciple will come here every Saturday and assist me. I hope you all help him with whatever he needs and treat him with the respect he deserves."

Sigrún announced cheerfully in the middle of a large and beautiful alchemy workshop with walls of warm-aged oak, engraved with intricate runes that twinkled with a soft amber glow, and shelves of carved wood. Filled to the brim with glass jars containing exotic and mysterious ingredients.

Surrounding a large cauldron on an ancient dark oak desk, there was a group of eight people, four men and four women, dressed in dark blue robes that looked comfortable and functional, providing protection as well as ease of movement. They looked at Sigrún with serious and professional expressions.

After hearing Sigrn's words, the assistants looked at Erik with surprise. But quickly, a beautiful woman who appeared to be around 19 years old, with wavy copper-red hair and lively blue eyes, approached Erik. Unlike the others, she had on the right side of her chest a brooch with the emblem of a flame entwined with a tree. She then bowed respectfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, first disciple, my name is Valeria Fenixara, and I am Master Eldurdóttir's head assistant. It will be a pleasure to work with you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Fenixara. My name is Erik, and I hope to learn a lot from you," Erik, who was next to Sigrún, quickly responded courteously.

"I hope to be of help to you, Disciple Erik, and I'm already married, so you don't need to use 'Miss,' you can call me whatever is easiest for you."

Erik looked a bit surprised at the beautiful woman, after all, it was the first time he had met a married woman at the university. Then again, he didn't know many people, and for some reason, his masters' mansion assistants were all single.

When Erik discovered that almost everyone who worked for his masters was single, he got a little worried. So, he decided to confirm his suspicions by calling some aside to ask if his masters had anything against relationships or something like that.

But, to his surprise, it wasn't like that. In reality, romantic relationships were a very serious matter for mana users, to the point where they only started a relationship when both parties had firm intentions of starting a family and having children. It was quite common for mana users to remain single for a large part of their lives.

As a side note, Erik's little investigation into the romantic relationships of mana users caused Eleonora and Sigrún to tease him for an entire month, and they only stopped when he started ignoring them one day.

"I apologize, Mrs. Fenixara, I'm new here and still have trouble distinguishing things," Erik responded in an apologetic tone, to which the beautiful red-haired woman replied with a smile.

"Don't worry about that, Disciple Erik, and you can simply call me Valeria without any problem."

"Alright."

Meanwhile, Sigrún was trying her hardest to contain her laughter due to the expression Erik was giving Valeria; he literally looked like he was facing a rare animal, and she knew exactly why.

During the time Erik had lived at the Arcane University, he had never left Sigrún or Eleonora's mansion, to the point where he didn't know anyone besides the workers, assistants, and disciples, all of whom were single. So encountering a married person for the first time was quite interesting for him.

"Well, Erik, I want to explain a few things to you first."

"Sure, master."

Amused, Sigrún spoke while trying to seem serious, so Erik quickly took out his notebook and prepared to listen to her. However, she simply shook her head and spoke in a more casual tone.

"It's nothing important, just general knowledge about how things work here at the university."

"Alright."

Despite saying that, Erik didn't put away his notebook and just waited for his master to speak, so Sigrún could only give in and start with a somewhat amused smile.

"What I wanted to talk to you about is the assistants, precisely. First of all, why do you think I need assistants for my work as an alchemist?"

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"To make your job easier?" Erik could only respond uncertainly to his master's question, who smiled cheerfully before answering.

"Hehehe, no, you're wrong, it's so that knowledge isn't lost."

"Lost knowledge?" Erik asked, confused, prompting Sigrún to explain with a smile.

"Yes, things were different before. Artisans valued their knowledge so much that many died without passing it on, causing humanity to lose much valuable knowledge and countless resources have to be spent rediscovering it. In some cases, it was never possible to recover it.

To prevent this, the Arcane Order imposed a rule where any artisan wanting to trade their creations had to apply for a license that verified their skills and the quality of their products. But one of the requirements to obtain it was having a certain number of assistants actively helping in their work.

Assistants, for their part, could not disclose the knowledge without the artisan's express permission while they were alive. But if they died without passing it on, the assistants would help recover the knowledge for the faction's database, preventing the loss of valuable knowledge."

"..."

(That's a terrible idea. If the knowledge is so valuable, the artisan will be killed without hesitation to obtain it...)

In response to Sigrún's explanation, Erik chose to remain silent, but his expression revealed his true thoughts about the regulation, something that made Sigrún smile proudly. After all, it was evident that her disciple was smart enough to instantly grasp the problems with that regulation.

"I can see you understand the problems with that rule, Erik."

Erik simply nodded without saying a word, prompting Sigrún to continue speaking cheerfully.

"And what you imagine really happened. After a couple of centuries of that rule being in place, many artisans were killed by those coveting their knowledge, and many of those murders were carried out with the help of the same assistants.

The madness reached such a point that the rule had to be abolished. But since the loss of knowledge was a real issue, many other solutions were tried, such as having artisans deposit their knowledge at the university database.

But none of them worked. There was always someone with more greed than principles, and the knowledge ended up leaking, leading to a great revolt among the artisans who refused to take the licenses. Many even went to other factions, almost causing a large-scale war.

After much discussion, it was agreed that assistants would be used, but they had to be chosen by the artisan themselves. Additionally, a special blood contract was developed, preventing assistants from harming the artisan in any way or using the knowledge for themselves without the artisan's express consent. If the artisan dies, the knowledge can only be used after 2000 years.

This greatly helped to ease the situation, and because several juicy benefits were implemented for artisans who shared their knowledge with the faction's database, along with the creation of the Auric Award, given every 500 years to those responsible for notable research, discoveries, or contributions to humanity, sharing knowledge is no longer a taboo topic as it was in the past."

"I see. So now the Auric Award is what fulfills the need to safeguard knowledge, as the recognition it grants is equal to, or even better, since anyone would want to have an award winner on their side. Therefore, power and resources would come pouring in, without the risk of being killed or kidnapped for their secrets, Erik replied thoughtfully, causing the assistants present to look at the boy in a new light.

"Exactly, once you win the Auric Award, the galaxy is yours," Sigrún responded with a proud expression, leading Erik to ask.

"Have you won it, master?"

"Hehehe, of course, and I was the youngest to receive it too."

"You're amazing, master."

Pleased, Sigrún affectionately stroked Erik's starry hair, while the assistants watched the scene in surprise. In all the centuries they had spent with Master Eldurdóttir, they had never seen this expression of affection and care she was giving her disciple. Specially, the way she spoke to him, that was something they had only seen when she was with her sworn sister, Master Silverwood.

After a moment, Sigrún removed her hand from her disciple's head and turned to look at her assistants before speaking in a more serious tone.

"Well, enough chatting, let's get to work. Today we will make a basic healing potion where Erik will be my main assistant, so make sure to help him."

Upon hearing Sigrún's words, the assistants quickly bowed respectfully, while Valeria, the beautiful redhead leading the group, spoke respectfully on their behalf.

"Understood, Master Eldurdóttir."

Satisfied with her assistant's response, Sigrún turned to look at Erik, speaking to him in a noticeably softer and more affectionate tone.

"Well, Erik, today we will create a potion called Radiant Elixir. It's not very difficult to make and is very useful for healing wounds and illnesses. Although it only works up to the Revealed level, it is one of the best-selling potions in the galaxy."

"I suppose it's because the number of customers is higher, right?" Erik commented, interested, which caused a cheerful laugh from Sigrún, who added.

"Hehehe, exactly, but we better start working."

With a calm step, Sigrún went to one of the shelves in the room, from where she began to take various things while explaining.

"The first thing we need to do to prepare a potion is to gather the ingredients. For this potion, we will need: Radiant Flower: the main ingredient and the one that gives the potion its name, Moon Pearl Powder: which acts as a catalyst, Star Salvia Extract: which complements the healing properties and helps stabilize and contain the potion's magical energies, Mandrake Root: the main stabilizing agent that will keep the potion stable and homogeneous, and Enchanted Spring Water: the base of the potion."

With a serious expression, Erik began to quickly write in his notebook while Sigrún spoke and showed him the ingredients one by one.

"We also need a magic cauldron."

Sigrún then approached the cauldron in the center of the room, which was a coppery gold color with evident signs of age, and its surface was covered with all sorts of carved runes, which she pointed to before continuing.

"This is a magic artifact and the most important tool for any alchemist."

In Sigrún's hand appeared a mortar that seemed to have been carved from a precious stone, milky white, which seemed to emit a faint golden glow. She then handed it to Erik, who looked at it curiously.

"This is a mortar, and it will be your tool for today," Sigrún announced cheerfully, while recalling the time her master had told her the exact same thing centuries ago.

For his part, Erik put his notebook aside and settled at a worktable next to the other assistants. The assistants quickly took their places while Sigrún drew what appeared to be a geometric magic circle surrounded by several runes around the base of the cauldron with a softly glowing white chalk.

"The first step is to prepare the magic circle that will help channel and concentrate the Myst and mana in the brewing."

With Sigrún's explanation, Erik looked at the magic circle, confused, as his master was a practitioner of the aegis system, and it was supposed that magic circles were part of sacred geometry, something Sigrún immediately noticed and explained.

"This is known as runic-geometric refinement, something developed a few millennia ago, and its efficiency is much better than previous methods. It uses a magic circle as a base because one of the advantages of sacred geometry is that it is very efficient and the most economical in terms of mana cost.

Moreover, magic circles are better for channeling and containing, so they are most commonly used for alchemy. And as I told you a while ago, although I am not compatible with sacred geometry, I can use it and know it very well. Although, well, Eli is much better at it."

"Does the aegis system not have alchemy, master?" Erik asked curiously, to which Sigrún nodded, understanding her disciple's doubt, and responded.

"It's not that it doesn't have it. In fact, all systems have their own methods of alchemy and artificery. It's just that they have advantages and disadvantages. For example, although the magical artifacts of sacred geometry are the easiest to make and can be mass-produced, they are absurdly expensive, as they require very rare materials.

This is because, instead of carving, they enchant the magical artifacts with special spells. On the other hand, the magical artifacts of the aegis system are harder to make and difficult to mass-produce, but they have an unbeatable advantage: they can create very complex things with many functionalities, unlike sacred geometry which only reproduces the spell with which the artifact was enchanted when mana is applied. And they are also several times cheaper."

"Couldn't sacred geometry simply copy the aegis system and carve magic circles?" Erik asked, a bit confused, to which Sigrún responded while crossing her arms beneath her voluptuous chest.

"They've tried, but it doesn't work very well. Although they can add more functionalities this way, they can't use more common materials like the aegis system and have a limit on the complexity and size of the magic circle they can carve."

"I see… and how is the alchemy of the aegis system, master?"

"Well, actually, the aegis system doesn't create potions. Instead, it creates a type of amulet that generates the same effects, like a spell, but they have a major disadvantage: they need to be activated, and they are much slower than potions. Although they have something similar called brews, these lose their effect very quickly if not consumed, and their effects are worse than those of potions. So almost no one uses the alchemy of the aegis system except for the Boreal League."

"And what do the Zazen discipline practitioners do, master?"

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"Well, the truth is that practitioners of the Zazen discipline go at their own pace, and their methods are hardly used in the arcane order. However, that doesn't mean they're not useful. For example, despite their magical artifacts seeming to combine the disadvantages of the other two systems, they have unique benefits.

The Zazen discipline artifacts require very rare materials and are difficult to make. Additionally, they can't be mass-produced. But in exchange for all that, they have a unique advantage called the spirit of the artifact, which is a kind of pseudo-artificial spirit that controls the artifact, allowing it to operate almost independently of the user.

As for their alchemy, it's quite interesting because they produce pills that can last for centuries or millennia without being damaged or losing their effects if stored well. This is unlike potions, which only last a few decades, or at most some centuries, if they are of high enough quality and stored in special containers."

Sigrún's calm explanation filled Erik with doubts, prompting him to ask.

"So why don't the Arcane Order use them more if they're so good?"

"Well, that's for several reasons, but mainly because the cost isn't worth it. First, the materials needed to make artifacts with those pseudo-artificial spirits are very rare and terribly expensive. Although their functionality is excellent, you can achieve a similar effect with runes for less than a third of the price.

The same goes for their pills, as maintaining their stability and longevity wastes a lot of raw materials, often tripling the cost compared to a potion with similar effects. Moreover, the effects of potions are almost instantaneous, whereas pills take time to take effect."

"Master, there's something I don't understand. Do spirits really exist?"

Sigrún didn't respond to his question. Instead, she elegantly extended her hand, causing a vivid blue flame to appear beside her. It took the shape of a beautiful bird in cobalt and turquoise tones, with a graceful and elegant body.

Seeing the magical phenomenon, Erik was utterly stunned by the beautiful bird that seemed straight out of a fairy tale. Sigrún, noticing his reaction, looked at him with a mischievous smile before saying in a cheerful and melodious voice.

"Yes, they exist and even make contracts with humans from time to time."

Erik stared speechless at his master and the bird, with thousands of thoughts racing through his mind. In the end, only one word escaped his lips.

"Wow..."

"Hehehe, don't be so amazed. You're just beginning your journey, and in the future, you'll see more and more incredible things."

"This world is crazy..."

"Hehehe, since it's a good moment, I'd like to introduce you to my first disciple, Ignis."

Amused by her disciple's expression, Sigrún touched the flame bird and spoke to it familiarly, prompting the bird, Ignis, to stare intently at Erik for a long time while he returned the gaze.

After a while, the curious staring contest between a bird and a boy ended when the bird elegantly bowed like a noble, showing respect. Then the bird spoke with an incredibly beautiful yet elegant and dignified female voice that seemed to contain countless mysteries.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, disciple Erik. I am Ignis Caelestis, and I am pleased that you have joined paths with my contractor."

"You can talk?!!!"

Erik jumped in surprise, his eyes wide as he looked at Ignis, while Sigrún watched the bird with no less astonishment. After all, Ignis was one of the most powerful and noble fire spirits, making her quite arrogant, to the point of refusing to speak to anyone other than Sigrún, her contractor. Who, incidentally, had obtained the contract purely by chance in an ancient ruin.

"Of course, disciple Erik. I am the spirit of mystical fire, revered for eons in this universe."

"You are truly amazing, spirit Ignis Caelestis. Do you know how I can make a contract with a spirit as cool as you?" Lost in the moment's excitement, Erik looked at Ignis with bright eyes as he asked eagerly.

"Fufufu, you can just call me Ignis, disciple Erik. But making a contract with a spirit like me is not easy. Even this girl," Ignis pointed with her left wing at Sigrún, who couldn't believe what was happening, "had to work quite hard to achieve it. I only accepted because we share the same affinities, and she made me laugh, fufufu."

Likewise, the attendees in the room watched in shock as the bird spoke casually with the human boy, who looked at it as if he were in front of a great celebrity. A scene that was practically turning their worldview upside down.

"So you can also just call me Erik, Ignis, and it's really a shame it's so complicated to have a contract. It would be awesome to have a spirit; you don't know this, but I have two wolves named Kaiser and Tiberius, and they are gigantic. Can you imagine how cool we'd look entering as a group, shooting lightning and fire everywhere? We'd be the absolute sensation wherever we went, hahaha."

Erik commented amusingly, not caring in the slightest about his image. After all, he had lived long enough not to worry about something so silly. In his books, it was infinitely better to live life cheerfully and go with the flow, like talking to an incredibly cool blue phoenix made of flames. After all, maturing is for fruits.

Meanwhile, Sigrún and the attendees smacked their foreheads in exasperation upon hearing Erik's words. It was the first time they had seen someone want a spirit for such a childish reason as making a grand entrance. Some even thought Erik had offended the spirit and would be punished, but Ignis's words left everyone stunned.

"You're right, it would be very cool, as you say."

"See! We'd have the best entrance of all time."

"Fufufu, you've convinced me, Erik. I'll talk to some of my acquaintances to see if anyone is interested in making a contract with you."

"Hahaha, thanks, Ignis; you're the best! If you want anything from me, just ask. Although I can't do much right now, I'm good at working with leather and cooking, and I can also make good tools."

Erik unbuckled his belt to then pull out the sheaths for his machetes, which he then showed to Ignis while speaking.

"Just look at these beauties. I made these sheaths from the leather of a giant deer I found, and the machetes are steel coated in copper, and that was on a deserted island without tools. Now I can make better things. If you like them, I can make something for you as a thank you."

Ignis observed the sheaths with interest, then nodded a couple of times before saying so to Erik.

"Mmmm, they are very well-made. I would like you to make me a leather bag with bird motifs. Can you do that?"

"Of course! I even have black leather from a giant bison, so tell me how big you want it, and I'll start working right away."

While Ignis and Erik enjoyed themselves like small children, the attendees looked at each other, doubting their own lives. Never in their long lives had they heard of a spirit helping someone secure a contract, let alone liking leather items.

But the worst part was that, although Erik's machete sheaths were nice and well-made, they were nothing extraordinary. The leather was from a very weak magical animal, and it wasn't even an artifact, so no matter how they looked at them, they couldn't understand what the honorable ancestral spirit saw in them.

On the contrary, in Sigrún's mind, a hypothesis was forming about what was happening. Erik was undoubtedly a child of the Myst and probably the only one among humans, so Ignis should be interested in that, and the bag was just an excuse to talk to her young disciple.

After Erik finished noting down all of Ignis's specifications for her bag in a notebook, he gave her a big smile and spoke in a cheerful tone, like a young craftsman who had gotten his first customer.

"Then, give me about 15 days, Ignis. I'll make sure to create an amazing bag."

"I'll meet with you in 15 days, Erik, and I'll bring good news by then," Ignis replied elegantly, though it was evident from the lightness in her voice that she was also quite happy.

"Hahaha, seriously, thank you. If you want anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

"Mmmm, then I'll take you up on that offer and ask you to give me a little mana." After hesitating a bit, Ignis commented casually, which confused Erik a little.

"Mana?"

"Yes, spirits like to consume mana. That's one of the reasons we make contracts."

"Mmm, will anything happen to my master's contract if I do that?"

"Not at all; I just want to taste your mana."

"Then that's fine, although if you like, I can give you the mix of mana and Myst that I give to my wolves. They like it quite a bit."

"Then give me that too."

After saying that, Ignis approached Erik with an elegant step, causing the young man with starry hair to ask, upon seeing Ignis's body made of flames.

"Okay, but won't I get burned if I touch you?"

"Not at all; I have perfect control of my fire."

As she spoke, Ignis extended her wing, causing blue fire to appear out of nowhere in the air, taking the shapes of different animals. These animals started walking around the place, and some even began nibbling on paper, which showed no sign of being burned.

For his part, Erik watched Ignis's impressive ability with great interest, deeply understanding the difference between a spirit and a magical animal. After all, no magical animal on the island had been able to do anything as crazy as what the blue phoenix was doing.

"Then I'll give it a try."

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