Summer

It didn't take long for his teacher to finish the book about the fire element. And after him, it was Ethan's turn. As expected, he was able to finish it quickly, and he even understood it perfectly. Even things that he read previously and thought that he understood now felt very different, and Ethan realized that he made some mistakes in understanding the meaning behind the words when he was reading alone.

[Um, it looks like you were right, teacher. I was able to finish this book in such a short time and understand everything perfectly.]

[Then there is one more reason for you to help me read more books.]

[Um, yes, I think so too. So should we start with another book?]

[I'm not against it. But before that, I was curious: do you perhaps train on your own?]

[No, I was just walking at a fast pace like usual.]

[Then it's strange.]

Ethan furrowed his brows.

[Um, what's strange?]

[It's strange because you were able to lift without problem a rifle, whose weight should be around three kilos, but a week ago you weren't even able to lift the sword, whose weight wasn't even a kilo.]

When his teacher told him about it, Ethan remembered that it was indeed what his teacher said.

[Let me check one thing. Bring out the wand with the 'Analyses' spell and let me control your hand and mana.]

[Okay.]

And shortly after, the wand appeared in Ethan's hand, and his feeling of his hand disappeared. The wand pointed at him; his mana started to move, and this time he was able to see colorless mana flowing towards him from the tip of the wand.

And when Ethan's parameters appeared, there were some changes. Although his name, type, IQ, and affinity parameters didn't change, others had some changes in them. He was two centimeters taller, he had more weight, he was calm, and his physical condition showed that he was healthy.

[So, somewhat, you become healthy in one week.]

His feeling of his hand returned to him, and Ethan put the wand in the ring again.

[Um, is this strange that I became healthy in one week?]

[Yes, I thought that would take you a month or more. But you recovered in such a short time. More questions and no answers.]

[Then what should we do?]

[Study, of course. So bring out another book.]

[Um, okay.]

***

Three months have passed...

It's summer now. And Ethan was now the mage of the first circle, or, to be precise, the first sphere mage. He was able to carve it thanks to his teacher's help. After all, he had done all the tests and trials on himself. Although his teacher didn't tell him about it at first, when he began carving the first version of the sphere, Ethan saw an illusionary sphere around his mana heart, which disappeared shortly. So he asked his teacher about it, and he told him that it was a test of the sphere. And the reason the sphere disappeared was because his teacher's body was blown up due to incorrect mana flow.

It happened several times before a stable sphere was formed, but his teacher destroyed it voluntarily, several times, before the sphere that satisfied his teacher was created.

And for Ethan, he was left only to follow the illusive sphere and carve his own mana sphere. It took some time; he started to carve it after dinner yesterday but finished it deep in the night, depleted of all of his mana. All this time, his teacher guided him.

During these three months, his physical condition and shooting skills also improved rapidly. About his physical condition, his teacher told him that it could be because he has inhuman regeneration capabilities or because of the local food in this world. Though it can't be checked without deep analysis, but there was a way to know a little about Ethan's regeneration capabilities; he only needed to cut his palm a little.

It was his teacher's idea, and Ethan, being a sane person, refused it. Who would agree to wound himself for the experiment's sake? His teacher would, but he wasn't sane from the beginning.

Lena, too, wasn't slacking off. Now she was able to read and write without any problems. The time to awaken her mana is near.

***

After a tiring night, Ethan was sleeping peacefully, and through his slumber, he heard a faint voice.

"Big bro... Let's play..."

It was a little girl's voice. Ethan thought that he was dreaming. So continue to sleep.

And through slumber, he felt that someone crawled up on his chest; although it wasn't heavy, it became slightly difficult to breathe. Someone shook him slightly, and the voice became louder.

"Big Bro! Let's play!"

Ethan opened his eyes and saw two beautiful amethyst eyes looking at him, not far from his face.

"Huh, Millicent?"

And the little girl smiled brightly at his recognition.

Ethan looked around and saw that Alice and Ella were near his bed. And behind them stood Helen and his maid, Lena; they were both smiling warmly at this little exchange.

"I'm sorry, young master. But I wasn't able to stop them."

Helen said it apologetically, and Ethan knew that it wasn't her fault. But it was different for his maid, who looked innocently at him.

"It's not your fault, Helen."

He looked at Lena menacingly.

"I told you yesterday not to let anyone disturb me, or did you forget?"

"I didn't forget. But it was yesterday; today is different. And it's your fault for not waking up on your own."

She showed him her tongue.

"Big Bro can't play?"

Millicent asked innocently. She wasn't the only one who was curious. The other two pairs of eyes were looking at him expectantly. And Ethan wasn't able to turn them down.

"Of course I play with you. But I need to wash my face and eat something."

"Yay!"

It was Millicent. Though Alice and Ella have timid personalities, they too were happy with his agreement. It was shown by their smiling faces.

Ethan, after helping Millicent come down from his bed, patted the three girls little heads.

They, along with two maids, left the room. And Ethan started getting himself ready.

[This won't do. Your playing with kids started to take too much time.]

[It can't be helped.]

[You promised me that you would help me read all the books inside your ring, but I was able to read only half of them.]

[Um, sorry.]

[If you feel sorry, then find for me some mithril.]

[Um, are you wanting to create an artifact?]

[Yes. It will help me read whenever I want, without your help. And I already have a draft for it.]

[I'll talk with my uncle about it later. He should be in the mansion today.]

[Good. Then, do it.]

***

In the Count's office.

"Ah, Ethan, good day. Come, sit down."

"Good day, Uncle."

Ethan came to the table and sat down opposite his uncle.

Karl looked at him curiously.

"Hmm, did you break through recently?"

"Yes, actually, I finished my breakthrough at night today."

"Congratulations! You are now a full-fledged mage. So how about a little party tonight to celebrate your breakthrough?"

"Um, is this okay? I can't even use spells yet."

"It's fine; I tell James immediately to begin preparations."

He called his butler.

"Did you call me Master?"

"Yes, Ethan broke through, so I want to throw a little party."

"Understood, everything will be perfect."

"Can you make it a little more special?"

"Yes, I'll send someone to the city for the necessary goods."

"Good."

Ethan was hesitant at first, but after hearing about the city, he decided.

"Um, can I go with them to the city?"

Karl was slightly baffled by such a sudden request.

"Hm, why do you want to go to the city?"

"Um, I want to buy some mithril."

"You could just ask me. I can give it to you immediately."

[Agree. The faster you can get it, the earlier I can make an artifact.]

But Ethan ignored his teacher's advice. After all, it wasn't his main reason to go to the city; he asked to go to Anselm because he wanted to buy other things that no one else could buy. He told about buying mithril because the real reason was a bit embarrassing to talk about. But it looks like if he doesn't tell his uncle the real reason, he won't be able to go to the city. So he tried to bury his rising embarrassment.

"Um, I want to go to the city because... you know, there will soon be the birthdays of Alice and Millicent. And, um, Lena can now read and write. So to congratulate them, I want to prepare some gifts."

Though he wanted to hide his embarrassment, in the end he wasn't able to do it. When he started to talk about Lena, his cheeks involuntarily reddened.

Two grown men smiled at him warmly.

"It looks like my daughters have a great big brother. And your sweetheart will be happy too."

"Um, we're just friends..."

Karl turned to his butler.

"You heard him."

"Yes, I'll prepare everything immediately."

He bowed and left.

"Why don't we talk a little before everything is prepared?"

"Okay."

The talk was mostly about Karl's daughters. After all, he cherished them greatly, but due to his responsibilities, he wasn't able to spend much time with them.