Chapter Seven

Lilith was busy dusting the cabinets in Windsor Manor. As she dusted, her mind became preoccupied, as it often did, with thoughts of Raiden. Ever since she gave him that book three years ago, she'd been seeing less and less of him. If Raiden wasn't wandering off to gods know where, he'd be outside their house doing strange activities. Lilith usually saw him doing squats with a long, wide log on his shoulder, or he would place the log on his back and do push-ups or lunges with it.

A small smile appeared on her face, a memory of her husband Ivan. He used to pour himself into anything he did, and it was one of the reasons she fell in love with him.

She had finished cleaning the hallway, so she walked into Melissa Windsor's room. Melissa was the only daughter of Sir Reginald Windsor and Linda Windsor. Melissa was a girl with bright auburn hair, light brown eyes, and sharp feminine features that were becoming more and more prominent as she grew. She was fifteen years of age, the same as Raiden. Melissa had a busy schedule and a temper, which was why Lilith cleaned her room first.

"Ms. Windsor, this will be on your admission test. I'd advise you to memorize it," Melissa's tutor said.

The tutor was a man in his mid-thirties who loved wearing suits, specifically his tastes lied in three-piece suits. He wore small black glasses, his black hair had a few streaks of gray, and his eyes were blue. He had a sharp jawline, nose, and chiseled cheekbones.

"But I've memorized almost everything else. Isn't that enough?" Melissa whined.

"Ms. Windsor, Longhorn Academy is an extremely prestigious school. Countless houses seek admission, and even the royal family studies there. So the competition is high. Enough isn't good; we want perfection," the tutor explained.

"But how good can it be if peasants are allowed admission?" Melissa muttered.

Lilith froze in place when she heard that. A school where peasants are granted admission with quality teachers and books. If it's true, then this would be a wonderful opportunity for Raiden. She was contemplating asking, but her nerves got the best of her, so she resorted to her work.

Melissa and her tutor were completely engrossed in their studies, which made them unaware of the cleaning lady staring at them with her hands tightly clenching the cleaning tools. She was gathering the courage to ask.

"Excuse me," she finally managed to say.

The two turned their gaze to her, and her words were caught in her throat. She was regretting it, but since the ball was already rolling, she clenched her fist.

"Is what the lady just said true?" she asked.

The tutor stared at her for a moment as if he was contemplating whether he should bother answering her, but Melissa beat him to it.

"Yeah, it's true. Why do you want to enroll?" Melissa joked.

"No, not me. I have a son I'd like to enroll, so I'm asking for him," Lilith said quickly due to the embarrassment that she was now feeling, but then the two glanced at each other and chuckled.

"Yeah, right. The school is in the city, so unless we pay you in gold, forget about traveling there. Second, even if you do get the fare, which I hardly doubt unless you sell yourself," at this point, Melissa was circling Lilith, her eyes scanning her from head to toe, "and the school is a haven for all races, so a bumpkin in a huge city and surrounded by different races seems funny to think about. And last, and definitely not least, unless that son of yours has a core, then it would be best to bury those dreams, just like you're burying your head."

After finishing her venomous words, Melissa went back to her tutor, and the two continued where they had left off, completely ignoring Lilith. Lilith quietly got out of the room; her eyes were welling up with tears. She quickly dashed to the laundry room; she knew that it would be vacant. She placed her palms on her mouth, and she let it all out. As soon as she was done, she resumed all of her daily tasks.

"Unless that son of yours has a core, then it would be best to bury those dreams, just like you're burying your head." Melissa's words rang in Lilith's ears. But instead of those words drawing out negative emotions, they instead gave her hope because Raiden did have a mana core, which meant that there was still hope, and as long as it was possible, she would find a way to admit Raiden.

---

In these past years, I've managed to completely master the mana circulation method Henry taught me. I built a body that resembled a Greek god; my eight-pack abs were gorgeous, as were my chest, back, and legs. Oh, I would kiss myself if I could. Also, practicing fusion martial arts was difficult without my teacher, but I still managed to be proficient in it. Proficient, not a master, but proficient. Yuck, proficient. That's like an undercooked meal; it fills your stomach, but it's painfully disgusting. Other than that, my quest to fill my cells with mana was complete.

Upon completing this task, my perception of mana and my mana sight improved significantly. I could see mana clearer and even see their attributes. And of course, I saved the best for last; my mana core was now at orange. If my calculations were correct, in another six months, I would finally be in my light orange stage. The only thing I'm looking forward to is the red stage; at that stage, you unlock your affinity with the elements. Also, a minor detail, I hit my growth spurt. 181cm while I'm just fifteen; who would believe it?

"Are we there yet?" Alvin whined as we were maneuvering through this rocky path.

After the beatdown I gave the three, I would request twenty percent in all their dealings. Usually, I wouldn't lift a finger, but today, Mike said that they found a goblin stash, and that they needed my help in carrying things. Of course, I agreed because if there's one thing goblins collect, that would be gold and jewelry. You know, anything shiny. Mike and Sam were the ones who found it; they also said that there were only three goblins who were in the cave, so the four of us could take 'em. So while we were walking, I filled my core up with mana, but I didn't send any of it anywhere; I was simply saving it for the goblins.

"We are finally here!" Sam said as he pointed to something.

Mike and Sam were at the front, then Alvin and I were at the back of the line. I wasn't going to entrust my back to either one of these guys, so I'd rather keep my eyes on them. Sam was pointing to a cave. I couldn't really see the inside of the cave, but by the shadowy outlines, I could see spiky outlines at the ceiling of the cave. In five seconds, a colony of bats flew out; yeah, that's not ominous at all. We carefully approached the entrance of the cave, but what was strange was that we didn't encounter a goblin.

According to the books, goblins are four-foot-tall green bastards. They are not really strong, but they travel in groups. Also, they are strategic; basically, what they are lacking in strength, they make up for it with intelligence.

So not spotting even one could mean that we were walking into a trap. Until when we were at the foot of the cave entrance, I saw two goblins lying dead on the ground with daggers protruding from their guts. At the spot where they had been stabbed was oozing a dark green substance, which I could only assume to be goblin blood.

The goblins had sharp, pointy ears; they were bald, and they were covering themselves with animal skins from the waist down. I walked over to one of the goblins, squatted down, and pulled out the dagger. The dagger was made of a dark brown hilt; at the beginning of the sixteen-inch blade was slender, but the blade widened till the tip.

I ran my index finger along the blade, and the blood was still warm, which could only mean that the goblins were recently slaughtered.

"Hey, Raiden, if there's one thing that goblins love more than gold, I'd say it's revenge," Sam said, and he sent mana to his limbs.

Before I could even turn, I felt three pairs of hands on my back pushing me into the abyss in front of me. I easily tumbled forward due to my squatting position. I rolled down because the landscape in the cave was a slope. After a good tumble downward, I finally landed on solid ground.

There were torches hanging on the cave walls, which made the interior of the cave visible. That should have been a good thing, except in front of me was a group of thirty, give or take, goblins. And at the end of the cave was a nine-foot hobgoblin sitting on a throne made of bones. All the goblins were wielding axes and daggers, and all their eyes were trained on me. I quickly stood up, and I firmly gripped the blood-stained dagger in my hand. The dagger immediately caught the hobgoblin's attention.

"Garrnushka!" The hobgoblin yelled, and almost immediately, the goblins started rushing at me, screeching.