6 More Years

'Woah, what was that? Is this the Magus version of A.I.?' Raz thought.

Without missing a beat, Raz whispered to Athena, "Start data collection and observation."

[Confirmed.]

[Warning: Athena still lacks the necessary upgrades to conduct such a function properly.]

[Only superficial data can be gathered.]

[Does host wish to proceed] [Y/N]

Giving his consent, Raz replied to the voice, "Thasium."

The voice went silent before, but the sphere continued to glow and fluctuate.

Soon, the voice, in a somewhat artificial cadence and tone, replied, "Connecting to Treye Webway. The material or information known as 'Thasium' has been found. Connecting to Central Division: East."

The white room seemed to start blurring in a myriad of colors like blurred photos. The walls rippled like a stone tossed into still water.

As the ripples subsided, the blurred colors started to sharpen as the entire room transformed into an office-like space.

A rather typical old man with a cloak and glasses sat behind a desk that was covered in natural sunlight coming from a large stained glass window behind the man.

Seemingly reading using an almost identical book-like device that Sarah used, the old man seemed to pause for a second before exclaiming, "Ah! Someone who actually wants to buy some Thasium?"

He paused as he finished his sentence while muttering to himself, "Is this a dream? Have I gone senile?"

"Ahem," Raz coughed as the old man didn't seem like he would snap out of it anytime soon.

Coughing a bit and acting like nothing happened, the old man asked, "I just want to confirm that you are asking for Thasium, and the current price to transfer to your preferred location is about 20 gold per pound or 5 pounds per mana shard."

Raising his eyebrows, Raz thought, 'So cheap? It can't be cheap to transport or ship a material even if it was by hand instead of teleportation from wherever the man was located.'

Seeing the surprise and confusion, the old man explained, "It's cheap because we have a rather large bulk supply we bought from Cridor, but honestly, no one wants to buy any, and it's more costly, actually providing a space for it to be stored.

"Let's see here," the old man said as he readjusted his glasses, "if you confirm your order today, I can probably squeeze it into our next shipment to the Iron Wolf Kingdom next week, which means it should get to you within two to three weeks. If that's alright with you, how much are you planning to buy?"

Athena already told him how much to buy, so he replied, "Seven pounds."

Writing something down on a piece of paper with a quill, the old man traced something in his book-like device before he voiced, "Alright. I'll have your shipment ready the moment I receive confirmation of payment. Be sure to pay with the attendant at your branch. Good day."

The scene suddenly disappeared as the room returned to its white color, and the orb asked if he had something else he would like to purchase, which Raz declined.

After everything was settled, Raymond and William both paid for their own purchases.

William raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw what Raz wanted but couldn't be bothered to ask who knew what his son was thinking at times.

The rest of the trip was relatively normal.

Raz spent the next and last day exploring the Alden estate, which was by no means small and even watched Alistair practice his swordsmanship.

He even gave some advice and pointers on some mistakes that the boy was mistaken, and Alistair didn't mind.

Meanwhile, William and Fay took the last day to have a little romantic getaway.

Raymond, on the other hand, was so busy that he didn't leave his office at all until he had to send off the family.

With everything taken care of, the family journeyed to the Tessar teleportation hall, where they went back to Colth and started the long journey by carriage back to Levir.

About 17 days later, a package with three eyes on the side arrived for Raz.

Sitting in his room as the heat and brightness of the noon sun shone through his windows, Raz took out the seven pounds of Thasium as Athena's voice suddenly rang out.

[Material: 'Thasium' detected]

[Would the host like Athena to utilize it?]

[Y/N]

"Do what you must," Raz replied.

[Please place both hands on the material.]

After Athena did whatever it did with the material, a notification was announced in Raz's mind.

[Initalizing upgrade.]

[Calculating.]

[Current progress: 0%]

[Estimated time remaining: three days.]

Raz sighed as he thought, 'If only wished time could move faster.'

Just like that, roughly six years passed in the blink of an eye.

A teenager was walking down a hallway with two suitcases in hand.

As he gently strolled down the smooth stone hallway, his naturally messy, curly, long hair swayed at his shoulders while a patch of red was splattered alongside his hair like a painter throwing a bucket of paint onto a canvas.

While walking down the hallway, a few of the maids and butlers he passed by bowed respectively as they were still amazed their young master, who was roughly eleven and a half years old, was already 5'6 (168cm), which was already the average height in the Iron Wolf Kingdom and the majority of the continent.

His rather broad shoulders and decently muscular frame, alongside his height, would make anyone think that Raz was a teenager.

Walking to the front door that was open, Raz heard his mother's voice suddenly ring out as she sniffled, "I can't believe my baby boy is already going off to the academy."

Wiping her damp eyes, Fay continued to sniffle as she pleaded, "Can't you wait a few more years? There's no rush to go to the academy."

Giving his mother a bear-like hug, Raz soothed Fay, "Don't worry, I'll only be gone for a year or two at worst."

Meanwhile, William also comforted his wife as he soothed her, "Plus, our brilliant son has already digested the material and info that Dean Apollyon sent over. He's even practiced with some basic magic to an incredible proficiency."

"Plus, we can always visit when we have the time. It's not like we are sending him off to war or battle."

"I know. I know. I was just hoping for a few more years," Fay responded as she sighed.

The three, alongside Ed, departed for the city closest to Seven Star Academy. The capital of the Iron Wolf Kingdom: Howlis.