Chapter 227: Ethan Who Is Not Human

Rising from the pool, which had turned into ordinary water, Ethan dried himself off with a towel, then began putting on the clothes he had prepared earlier.

He didn't bother avoiding Diana's gaze. After all, she had been watching for hours. What was the point in hiding now?

Glancing at the tattered piece of cloth lying nearby, Ethan rolled his eyes, picked it up, and tossed it into the trash.

After dressing, he glanced at the bright sky outside the window. He wasn't planning to rest. In fact, after soaking in the enhancement solution for a few hours, he felt better than ever. It was far more effective than sleeping.

"How do you feel?"

As Ethan buttoned his shirt, he heard Diana's question. Only then did he take a moment to assess his own condition.

With his spiritual power becoming increasingly refined, it only took him a brief moment to thoroughly examine his body inside and out.

What he discovered surprised him. Not only did he no longer feel that physical training had reached a plateau, but his body had even improved slightly.

Touching his own muscles, his arms—already strong from years of constant training—felt more solid than ever.

"An illusion?"

There could be some margin of error in judging physical condition. After all, it wouldn't be strange to feel stronger after absorbing energy overnight.

However, the changes in his spiritual power were much clearer. His spiritual energy had become more powerful, not just in density and weight, but also in terms of the magic it produced—the spiritual water symbolizing his mana had grown significantly stronger.

Initially, Ethan's mana had been like a small spring. Though it continuously regenerated, the total amount remained limited. For a long time, he could only cast minor spells or use magic as an auxiliary tool.

But now, after just one night, his magic had begun to accumulate into a clear spring. At this rate, it wouldn't take long to become a small pool. Following normal progression, these "springs" would begin to flow, forming a stream that would eventually merge with the spiritual land in the distance, which would then continuously produce new "spring water."

This would be a perfect cycle, marking the completion of the primary stage of magic cultivation. At that point, he could finally cast spells freely.

"I wonder if there's been any change in the nature of my spiritual power?"

Fortunately, the enhancement hadn't forced any special attributes onto his spirit. Ethan's magic remained "pure," though thanks to his understanding of water and fire elements, his mana could now more easily channel those types of magic.

In addition, his mana exhibited some spatial traits. If this trend continued, water, fire, and space would likely become the first three energy attributes he fully mastered.

Opening his eyes and looking at Diana, Ethan could now clearly sense that the gap between himself and "ordinary humans" was growing. Even without considering his enhanced physique, the magical energy in his body alone was far beyond what a normal person could possess.

"It worked better than expected."

Diana nodded, then began to study Ethan seriously.

"What?"

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but you seem… different somehow."

"Maybe it's just an illusion."

Ethan touched his chin, then looked at his reflection in the glass. He still looked familiar, but—huh? He touched his cheek again and did notice something different.

"My skin seems smoother."

Diana never held back when it came to Ethan. Upon hearing this, she reached out and touched his face several times without hesitation.

"It really has improved a lot."

She suddenly remembered something. When her divine power had gradually awakened, her body had undergone optimization, including ideal body proportions and even facial features that evolved in the best possible direction.

The main ingredient in Ethan's potion was divine blood. Did it have the same effect?

Ethan wasn't sure, but he believed the likelihood was high.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I didn't say it wasn't."

He just wondered if it would make him taller. His height had never been short, but compared to the people around him now, it seemed a bit lacking.

Even Diana, in her high-heeled battle armor, was slightly taller than him. He had silently complained more than once about how unnecessarily high the heels of that armor were.

He had once hoped that he might still grow a bit, but time had passed, and now that he was beyond the age of rapid growth, his height hadn't changed much. Relying on natural growth to get taller was now clearly a pipe dream.

Leaving the room with Diana, they stepped onto the deck. Ethan thought he was up early and that no one else would be awake yet. To his surprise, Logan was already stretching on deck.

"You're up early?"

Logan was also surprised to see Ethan this early. Lately, Ethan had only appeared during meals or his scheduled exercise time. The rest of his time was spent in the workshop.

If he was out now, that meant the experiment had succeeded?

Staring at him closely, Logan noticed that Ethan seemed slightly different, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what had changed.

"You seem different somehow."

Logan's animal instincts gave him an intuition he couldn't always explain, but the feeling was there, persistent. He could sense that Ethan had changed.

"I'm not entirely sure myself. It'll take time for the more obvious changes to appear."

Ethan's response told Logan that the experiment had indeed succeeded, though perhaps not in the way he had expected. Wasn't it supposed to be a one-time enhancement?

"This method makes it easier for me to absorb power gradually, and it prevents any accidents."

It also reduced the risk of side effects. After a brief explanation, Logan understood Ethan's current situation.

All in all, the future looked promising.

Even Loki offered his congratulations when he learned of Ethan's success. As it turned out, Loki could be quite amicable when he wasn't scheming—after all, he was a prince of Asgard.

Only Selene still didn't fully understand the situation. Her only impression was that something about the mage Ethan had changed. She used to think Ethan, without magic, was just an ordinary person. But now, even when he wasn't casting spells, she had no desire to suck his blood at all.

Ethan, completely unaware he had been rejected by a vampire, continued his enhancement process over the next few days. However, just a few days later, the Goddess of Dawn returned to the central island.

He now had to divert some attention to other matters.

For example, sorting out the "loot distribution" with the Eternal, checking and processing the supplies and food aboard the Goddess of Dawn, and sending the ship to the docks for routine maintenance.

At the same time, he and Cleo needed to visit Brent, who had posted the recruitment notice, to find out what exactly Brent had in mind.

But before he could take care of any of that, he had one final task: sending Diana back to her world.

"Are you ready to go back?"

"After all, I still have responsibilities to fulfill."

Diana's greatest responsibility had been eliminating Ares, and she had done that. But she believed it was also her duty, as an Amazon of Themyscira, to continue protecting humanity, so she would definitely return.

Ethan understood Diana. He knew she couldn't stay in this world for long, so he didn't try to convince her otherwise. He had even deliberately conserved space-time energy for this exact moment.

"Then I'll take you back."

"Can't you just activate the Circle and let me go back by myself?" Diana wasn't proficient in magic, but she understood how it worked. In theory, the Circle should be usable that way.

"I can't guarantee there won't be deviations using that method, so I need to go with you personally."

"And how long will you stay?"

Ethan shook his head.

"I won't be staying. I have to return immediately after sending you back."

He had only saved enough energy for a single round trip. Since this entire voyage had been conducted alongside Cleo's ship, he hadn't had the chance to go off on his own to collect more space-time energy. The only reason he could manage this trip now was that his understanding of space-time energy had been steadily improving.

A magic circle activated in front of everyone. As the fleeting light faded and blinked out, Ethan stood alone on the deck.

"You sent her back?"

Ethan nodded. It had been close. He'd only just managed to exchange a few parting words with Diana, promising to meet again when time allowed, before the Circle forcibly pulled him back.

Looking around at the people nearby, he realized that for the foreseeable future, Diana would no longer be his support. He couldn't expect Loki to help unconditionally if danger arose.

"Fortunately, I've broken through the bottleneck. The next step is to train hard. After all, only by growing stronger can I truly stand strong."

(To be continued.)