Chapter 24

The room was spacious and well-lit, with tall windows that stretched up to the vaulted ceiling, offering panoramic views of the surroundings. The twisted wooden frames of the windows and the wallpaper patterned with golden leaves and red flames on the walls were a nod to Sigrún's magical affinities.

To one side of the room, an eternal fire fireplace, akin to those on the facade, emitted a pleasant warmth that enveloped the space. A small magical wool rug, capable of changing patterns at will, spread out in front of the fireplace, providing a comfortable spot for nightly reflection.

The furniture was elegant and functional, with a large, plush bed that seemed to float slightly above the ground, and a carved wooden desk in front of one of the windows, where one could study under natural light. The desk was laden with magical scrolls, phoenix feather quills that never wear out, and inkwells with ever-changing colored inks.

A corner of the room was dedicated to alchemy practice, with shelves filled with jars containing rare ingredients, a magical gold cauldron that always maintains the perfect temperature, and a series of magical protection runes etched into the floor around the workspace.

"This looks impressive, master."

"It's good that you like it, Erik."

Erik began to look around his room from all angles, checking various objects multiple times while the wolves sniffed everywhere and rubbed against the walls. At the same time, they placed many of their smaller toys, which Sigrún had gifted them on the ship, in various spots, especially under the bed.

"Well, Erik, familiarize yourself with the place. Tomorrow, I'll begin your lessons," Sigrún showed him a clock that seemed to have been carved from a single piece of moon crystal, which shone with a soft and ethereal glow. The face of the clock resembled that of an ancient sundial, with magical runes representing the hours of the day engraved on the smooth crystal surface. The clock hands were not physical but appeared as shadows dancing across the clock face, guided by a mysterious inner light moving around the edge of the crystal.

"This clock will sound tomorrow when it's time to wake up, and we'll meet in the study I showed you."

"I understand, master. I will be there without fail."

After Sigrún left the room, the wolves began to explore, lying down in various spots before standing up again and continuing their exploration. This made Erik suspicious, and he immediately commented.

"You won't be staying here; this is MY room."

Hearing Erik's words, the wolves pounced on him and began mercilessly licking his face.

"No matter what you do, I won't give in; this is my room now!"

The wolves barked powerfully, then lay down on top of Erik, pinning him to the ground while he panted with his tongue out.

"Well, we'll just stay like this then. This is MY room, and I'll never give in!"

By the end of the day, he ended up sleeping with the wolves in his bed.

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….

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 calculation classes progressed very well since they were just an adaptation of the math he already knew.

He also learned basic knowledge of alchemy and Artificery, and though they didn't let him practice yet, at least he could identify different materials and plants and several runes and magical circles.

On the other hand, his power level increased, and he was now officially a peak apprentice, although, according to his master, that was only in his mana level since he still lacked knowledge and techniques. But an interesting thing Erik discovered during this time was that he could pass his rune knowledge to his wolves. Now they could shrink themselves or return to their normal size at will. For this reason, his master had built a couple of 33-foot tall huts for them in the garden. She also gifted them several super-large toys.

…

In the vast garden of Sigrún's mansion, Erik was doing his usual exercises while the wolves, standing a little over 4 meters tall, ran all over the place, jumping and biting each other.

Not far from there, Eleonora and Sigrún sat in garden chairs in front of a beautiful table that had a couple of cups of hot tea and cookies, which they ate and drank while watching Erik's practice.

"That bio-mystical technique never ceases to amaze me no matter how often I see it," Eleonora broke the silence, intently observing Erik's movements and the flow of Myst around him.

"It's truly fascinating, and it seems that with each passing year, it becomes more refined. Even though I've tried to replicate it a few times with Erik's permission, it doesn't show even a tenth of the effectiveness that Erik displays," Sigrún added, elegantly sipping her tea.

"Yeah, it's really made just for him..."

Eleonora seemed to start reflecting deeply on something, but Sigrún quickly interrupted her.

"Your right, but let's discuss the schedules going forward."

"Have you told Erik that we'll begin with magic?"

"No, not yet. I first want to define the schedules. So far, Erik has shown great compatibility with the Aegis system and sacred geometry, as well as alchemy and Artificery. Therefore, I was thinking of only giving him Sundays off and letting you take Saturdays."

"Sig, are you sure you only want to give Erik one day off?"

Sigrún wore a sardonic smile at Eleonora's question and replied, "Erik seems to be bothered by idleness. As soon as he learned to read, he spends all day buried in the library when he has nothing else to do."

"Fufufufu, our disciple is very diligent."

"But I'm genuinely a bit concerned about that attitude, Eli. Erik hasn't even left the mansion in the past two years."

"You're right, aside from us, my disciples, and the assistants, Erik doesn't know any other human beings... maybe we should talk to him about it. By the way, the results from the investigation into Erik's background just arrived."

Sigrún looked a bit surprised at Eleonora and quickly asked, "What did you find out?"

"Let me check..." Eleonora pulled out a small wooden tablet full of runes from her ring, which she quickly imbued with mana. Her expressions shifted from sadness to murderous intentions that almost spiraled out of control, until the tablet turned to ashes.

Eleonora took a deep breath, quickly took another rune-filled wooden tablet from her storage ring, and sent out some orders.

"I want the old apothecary and the ruffians in Luminary before the end of the month."

"What happened?" Sigrún asked, somewhat puzzled.

"You'll understand soon enough, but it more or less confirmed everything Erik said. There really was an old blacksmith connected to the Jade Lotus Union, albeit at a very low level. That's why he was familiar with the concepts of chi. The exercises that the old man practiced were variations of some exercises that elderly civilians practice in their lands, the same ones Erik showed. It was well known that he often practiced them in his workshop."

"And what about his background?"

"That was the trickiest part. Erik was abandoned in an orphanage the very day he was born, so the orphanage director took care of him. But she died when Erik was only three years old, and the new director was very xenophobic. Since Erik didn't look at all like someone from Azure Coast, she threw him out of the orphanage when he was just 4 years old."

Sigrún's eyes became menacing, releasing a terrifying bloodlust. She looked at Eleonora and asked, "Is she still alive?"

"Unfortunately not," Eleonora responded with an equally dangerous smile.

"That's a shame," Sigrún's murderous gaze faded as if it had never existed, and she elegantly sipped her tea, continuing, "Tell me the rest, how could my Erik survive on the streets at such a young age? Who helped him?"

Eleonora's dangerous smile also faded, leaving a slightly complicated expression as she replied.

"Well, it can't really be said that someone helped him. After Erik was thrown out of the orphanage, he went to sleep on the streets of the town's bazaar. There, he helped people find better prices, since he apparently learned to calculate prices just by watching and listening to the merchants. Thanks to that job, he managed to get food and some clothes."

The expressions on Sigrún and Eleonora's faces were not pleasant to see, resembling a mix of sadness and terrifying murderous intentions. However, they held back, and Eleonora continued discussing the investigation's findings.