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Alphonso's death made Adam realize something. No matter how hard he had developed his magical abilities, it was impossible for him to match a mage with A or S-class talent, especially those suited for combat. This crisis stirred within Adam.

Adam himself wasn't overly emotional about his father's passing. He did feel a bit sad, but more than that, he felt worried and anxious about the future.

Unlike Adam, who wasn't very emotional, Katarina fell into a coma for a week. Even after recovering, she became quieter and immersed in sorrow. Their mother, too, fainted upon hearing about Alphonso's death.

Soon after, the funeral took place in the city of Fiora. The Florent Kingdom had no religion, but local customs dictated how funerals were conducted in Fiora.

Under the dark, cloud-covered sky and raindrops moistening the ground, Adam bowed his head and prayed for Alphonso. Though Alphonso's status in Adam's eyes was lower than that of Adam's father in his previous life, Alphonso had cared for him since he was little.

After praying for a while, Adam walked over to where his sister stood, both of them being drenched by the rain. He then used the umbrella he brought to shelter them.

"Are you going back to the Academy?"

"Yes, I want to become stronger. Those people, I want to investigate who they are!" Katarina's determination was evident in her eyes. Adam was sure his twin sister might get lost in seeking revenge.

Ultear and Denis managed to escape, and the investigation into their identities hit a dead end. Usually, every mage's identity would be recorded, whether they were rogue mages, academy students, national defense forces, or others. This was because during a talent assessment by an academy, they would record the identity of each child and their abilities.

However, neither Ultear nor Denis were recorded in the Florent Mage Association database. Eventually, the Association only listed them as fugitives.

Shortly after, Katarina finally returned to the capital with James, Vania, and the others. Meanwhile, Adam resumed the previously postponed training classes. This time, he also recruited several orphaned children, instilling loyalty in their minds and allowing them to train alongside the four participants in the training class.

He didn't intend to help the orphaned children join the national defense forces but aimed to build a loyal power base.

On the other hand, his mother still hadn't recovered from her depression. Adam, not very close to his mother, could only let Celine take care of her needs. Now, after his father's death, Adam was also responsible for all the assets owned by his father, including fruit orchards, agriculture, rented land, inns, cash, gold and jewelry, among other things.

Adam would investigate all of his assets before slowly making changes to enhance profits and more.

Setting aside the issue of assets, there was the matter of implementing bonds in the training class. He needed to be within a kilometer's range of the target, but sometimes Adam needed to travel, like when Katarina was kidnapped. He felt he had to find a way to use his powers even when far from the target.

"Could it be an magical gem?" Adam asked himself. If he wanted to expand the training class into multiple branches, he needed to find a way to activate his mage powers from a distance. He felt researching magical gems might provide a breakthrough in that regard.

"Well, then there are a few things I need to resolve in the coming years," Adam murmured.

Transforming Alphonso's assets into something bigger and more profitable, researching the application of enchanted gems, developing a group loyal to him, and attempting to break into the F-class talent.

Time kept flowing, and finally, after three months, all four participants of the training class had graduated and were ready to take the national defense force recruitment exam. The progress experienced by Pierce and the other three was quite rapid. Now they could face Vinswall one-on-one for a considerable amount of time before eventually being defeated. It was a great achievement considering Vinswall was older, stronger, and more experienced.

Moreover, some experiments like mass permanent suggestion implantation and rat experiments had yielded results.

For the permanent suggestion implantation, Adam found that most people retained the suggestion as long as it didn't contradict their interests. However, some individuals fundamentally opposed to the suggestion would break free from it. Simply put, those who refused to work hard wouldn't accept the suggestion to become hard workers.

The rat experiment proved that permanent suggestions indeed had an effect on the subsequent generations of rats, but only in psychological terms, and this effect was also weakened. Adam would continue this experiment to observe what happens if he continuously strengthens the same permanent suggestion across several generations of rats.

The orphaned children Adam recruited weren't just learning how to fight but also acquiring various other skills. Adam wanted to make them well-rounded individuals. Going further, Adam wanted them to become professional agents who could assist him in gathering intelligence from various countries.

Adam knew information was crucial. He needed to master it, whether to foresee possible conflicts, for business purposes, or anything else.

At night, under the moonlight, Adam stood on the balcony, enjoying the beauty of the night.

"My rebirth in this world surely holds significance. I don't know who or what caused my rebirth, but for me, changing the world while protecting myself is a pursuit worth undertaking," said Adam, reminiscing about this dual life.

He had read many novels about rebirth where the protagonists changed the world with their strength and wisdom. However, his mage powers and talents made it impossible for Adam to follow in their footsteps. He couldn't be the sun shining on everyone.

"Because fate doesn't allow me to walk on a bright path, I can only walk in the shadows," the young man murmured with a smile.

He believed his talents would become stronger. When that happened, Adam wouldn't only gather ordinary people but also mages themselves. No matter how many ordinary people he trained, they wouldn't match the strength of mages. Even if there were a ratio of 1000 ordinary individuals against 1 A-class mage, the mage would likely emerge victorious.

Developing slowly and steadily while trying to avoid attracting attention from others—that's all Adam desired.