Chapter 15

The children proceeded to the second stage of their special training.

Belois repeatedly operates the magic lamp to gain mastery of mana.

Shine repeatedly goes to the double-sword fighting stance, 'Break the Beehive' and cancels it in the middle stage.

Evan, however…

"Master, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing physical training with slime training."

Evan was still killing slimes. Of course.

He was doing physical exercises while killing slimes, and honestly, it looked very strange.

Shine found it difficult to figure out what he was doing.

"Why are you not doing special training like us?"

"I don't have a certain aptitude like you, Shine and Belois. Once you found your aptitudes, you just have to train it repeatedly, but if you haven't yet, you can learn other skills and learn your specialty later."

"You haven't found a skill that suits your aptitude, so…"

"Yes. That's why I'm focusing on raising my existence level and training my body."

Evan's explanation was rational and persuasive, but watching him explain while doing weird things with his body makes it hard for anyone to focus on what he's saying.

However, Shine nodded.

Although he looks like a child, Master is awesome, he thought.

Shine recalled the moment Evan grabbed the dagger and moved to teach him the double-sword techniques.

Evan didn't seem to have noticed, but his momentum as he held the swords was enough to frighten the children. If they didn't know that he was their ally, they might have run away.

Besides, while he was just swinging the sword, his power was enough to be felt in the air.

It meant that those seemingly silly acts of popping slimes and doing gymnastics are not meaningless.

That's why Shine believed in the instructions Evan gave him and Belois.

In fact, it seems that my movements while wielding the swords are indeed easier and more natural than before. I've only trained for half a day…

After confirming that his stamina has been restored to some extent, Shine went back to doing the basic stances of double swordsmanship.

I am becoming more proficient. My power is greater. It would still be impossible to defeat monsters like this, but at least… I'm going in the right direction. All this in less than half a day!

Cross the dagger, bend the knee, release the posture!

Just then, Evan suddenly stopped moving. The necklace he was wearing was shining.

Belois, who was wrestling with the lamp, also stared at him.

"It's really growing…" Evan muttered.

"Growing?"

"Yes, it's a growth-type artifact. Like people, there are artifacts that level up. This is one of them."

As he spoke, one of the jewels in the necklace continued to glow green.

It was as the Marquis told him.

Of course, there have never been any postings on the community forum that included the Miraseul's Necklace as a growth-type artifact.

It was not so great to be kept a secret by other players.

It means that it was only Evan who has leveled up the necklace.

He had never expected it in the first place, so he had no sense of accomplishment.

He frowned, then glanced at Shine and Belois, who were watching him intently.

Then, he summoned slime over his left palm as usual.

<Squeak!>

Cute slime appeared, no different from the ones before. Belois still looked charmed by the appearance of the cute slimes, but Evan squashed the slime ruthlessly.

"Oh…"

Exactly three seconds later, the slime died. There seems to be no change in its endurance.

The level of the summoned slime seems to be unchanged.

"How about the rate of mana recovery… it seems a little faster, but I'm not sure."

I didn't expect anything, so I wasn't disappointed, Evan thought.

He continued his slime training as before.

However, a thought passed his mind quickly.

Information about the artifact suddenly became etched in his brain.

It was almost as if he had searched for the game information.

Is this the result of being chosen as the owner of the artifact?

Evan was thrilled by what he found out instinctively.

"Oh my God, now I can summon slime on both palms simultaneously!"

Until now, he had only summoned one at a time, fearing that he will be unable to control them, and he would face the same tragedy as in the game.

But… but it's different now! As a result of staying together for three months, his connection to the artifact is deeper. He can now have detailed control of the summons!

"Um… okay?" Shine looked confused at his Master's joyous appearance.

"Do you know what this means? It means my training speed will be increased dramatically!"

Shine simply nodded. He didn't fully understand.

Evan shouted proudly and summoned two slimes, one on each palm.

So far, he has never trained slime with his right hand, but he was able to grab it as proficient as his left hand – he seemed to have developed a Grip skill!

<Squeak!>

<Squeak!>

Exactly three seconds later, the slime on his left hand died.

Compared to the left hand that he had trained for six months, his right hand took five seconds to kill the slime, but that's great for the first time!

"This is fantastic!"

Evan was thrilled and went straight to training.

Although the timing varied from hand to hand, it doesn't matter. What matters as is that he can now summon two slimes to his preferred location. It became the level where he gained more control.

"I don't know what it is… but I understand Master has improved on the slime training."

"I want to do it, too…"

Belois was attracted to the cute slime, but in the end, she quietly returned to training with her lamp.

Meanwhile, Shine's head was full of thoughts as he watched his Master.

Can I really trust him?

Evan always seemed calm and mature, but right now, he seems to have taken a step back from being a normal human…

Maybe it's just because of his mood.

"The training speed is almost double! The rate at which mana is restored did not change, but with two slimes at the same time, I am now more efficient!"

He listened to Evan murmuring strange words quickly as he clasps and unclasps his hands repeatedly.

Am I making the right choice?

Shine started training again. Cross the daggers, bend the knees, release the pose, cross the daggers again…

Well, I'm doing strange things, too.

From today on, I will train my body harder with the butler.

That afternoon, Shine returned to the butler.

He was told that they would be starting a new, more difficult training, but nevertheless, he remained calm.

It was because he is convinced that the hardships he was suffering through would eventually make him stronger.

"You look good. How was your time with the young Master?"

"It was strange, but… it was good. I knew he is a special person."

One day. It was a very short time, but it was enough to understand how unique and awesome Evan's abilities and knowledge are.

It was also enough time to learn his aptitude that he didn't even know existed.

"Huh, it seems that spending time with the young Master has already made a difference. Good. Starting today, I will teach you more direct movements to help the Master."

"Okay!"

"The butler must move quietly so as not to interfere with the owner, have a deep understanding of what the owner wants at once, and be able to promptly search for external information to protect the master."

It certainly doesn't sound like a butler's job; Shine smiled a little as he thought about it.

"First of all…" The butler raised his finger.

Suddenly, an amazing thing happened. Even when the butler was in front of his eyes, he could not sense his presence!

"You seem far away!" Shine said.

"A butler must always have a low profile," a voice seemed to come from somewhere other than in front of him.

"First of all, I will teach you how to move your body as if it was a shadow; how to act quietly and secretly… Can you follow it? This is your last chance to give up."

Shine nodded energetically. "I will do my best!"

To become a butler of a noble family, he must learn this magical skill!

Wouldn't the noble family be invincible if the house was filled with servants who can act like knights?

Shine was astonished and vowed to learn his teachings.

In reality, the butler learned that Shine had the aptitude of the double-edged sword, and decided to pass on to him a high-level technique that goes well with it.

The training intensity will be the same as training an ordinary butler apprentice, not a child.

Every day would be worse than the last one.

Unfortunately, Shine didn't know it yet.

That night, after her training with the chief maid, Belois sat down in the corner of the mansion hallway and held the lamp.

Of course, it was easier to practice in the maid's quarters, but there are other maids there. They might ask why she received a gift from Evan.

It would not look good, so she decided to practice alone.

"It's tiring…"

She was from a common family and had never used magical tools, and of course, she had never dealt with mana, so she was struggling with how to operate the lamp.

Evan was able to instruct her with the utmost sincerity, but he couldn't interfere more than necessary because he had no choice but to let Belois feel and understand her magic herself.

I should work quickly, she thought.

Shine appeared to be quite accustomed to double-sword fencing in just one day.

I promised Master than I would help him, I can't keep failing like this.

Belois clenched her teeth and kept trying to operate the lamp.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared from behind her.

"Oh, is that a lamp?"

"Ah… eh, don't, don't."

Surprisingly, it was the Marquis' first wife, Redine D. Sherden.

Belois was startled and almost dropped the lamp, but desperately held on to it because it was given by Evan.

The Marquis' wife was surprised to see it. This little child should not be holding something like this.

"It's a huge old artifact. Did you take it out from the warehouse? Wait, are you the kid Evan brought in? Evan gave it to you?"

"… Yeah."

"Are you sure? Liars go to hell, so tell me the truth."

"Master gave it to me, to train mana, to be familiar…"

Evan knew that the lamp he gave Belois wasn't very small and that it must be noticed by someone else.

He also planned how Belois would excuse herself if someone asked.

The words he gave the child had a surprising effect on the wife of the Marquis.

"What? He deliberately drove you to deal with complex artifacts, making you learn the basics of mana? That makes sense. I think it will be quite effective. Did Evan really do that? You don't look like you have the talent…"

"Master said I have talent!"

Belois screamed reflexively, then, realizing what she had done, put her head down in fear.

The Marquis' wife was surprised, but soon laughed gently.

"Then, I know. I don't have an eye for talent. Evan does. I'm sorry I made a mistake. Thank you for being angry for my son."

"Oh, no… I'm sorry. Sorry."

No matter how lucky Belois is, yelling at the Marquis' wife would not end well for anyone. Belois felt depressed. She bowed her head, almost in tears.

The Marquis' wife, however, as she looked down at her, was thinking about something else.

I couldn't feel the mana reaction… but it is said that Evan's eyes were correct. This child doesn't have the talent to do magic, so she would not be able to learn… but I really don't know.

It's fun. It's fun to have a son with great eyes, and it would be fun to have another child with outstanding talents inside the Marquis' mansion.

I am excited to see what these children would look like when they grow up.

"I'll help you," she told Belois.

Belois looked up at her with sparkling red eyes.

"I'll help you practice. But you must keep this a secret to Evan, okay?"

Belois stared at the twinkling green eyes of the Marquis' wife and nodded innocently.

"Well, then… shall we start playing witches?"