Emily stood at the very front, facing two wooden doors towering before them. “Good morning, Emily here,” she called out in a clear voice.

  A moment later, the sound of hurried footsteps came from inside.

  The doors opened, and Krovane lifted his gaze, half expecting Davon’s face to appear.

  Instead, a small voice rang out.

  “Emily, you promised you would play with me today, right…?”

  Krovane lowered his gaze and saw a young girl, maybe around ten years old. She had curly brown hair, the same color as Davon’s. The girl hurried over to Emily and grabbed both of her hands.

  “Emily, you did not forget your promise, did you?” she asked excitedly.

  “Yes, of course. We will have plenty of time to have fun later,” Emily replied warmly. She then turned toward Krovane and Hugo. “This is our friend, Krovane. And Krovane, this is Liora.”

  The girl turned toward Krovane with wide, curious eyes and waved her hand. “Hi, Krovane,” she said.

  Suddenly, the atmosphere between them felt a little… awkward. Or maybe it was just Krovane freezing up.

  Hugo nudged Krovane’s shoulder.

  “What are you doing, huh? She is greeting you. Do not just stare at her like that,” Hugo joked.

  Krovane snapped back to his senses. “Sorry. Hi. Nice to meet you, Liora.”

  Emily let out a quiet sigh and continued, “Your father is inside, right?”

  The girl giggled and nodded in response.

  Liora opened the door wider, and Emily stepped inside, followed by Hugo. Krovane walked in last.

  “Krov…” Hugo whispered softly. “You really need to watch how you act around new people. Freezing up and staring like that in front of a girl doesn’t look good at all.”

  “Yes, sorry. I know,” Krovane replied in a low voice. But… there was one thing, one reason, that made him act that way.

  “Hugo,” he whispered again. The boy glanced back at him.

  “What?”

  “It is impossible for someone to see mana particles with the naked eye, right?”

  “Huh? What kind of question is that? Of course it is impossible,” Hugo answered casually.

  Because… or maybe Krovane had seen it wrong. Maybe his eyes were tired after being exposed to sunlight for so long. But earlier, he had seen it. Elemental particles around Liora.

  Not now, but just a moment ago. Krovane had seen them. And they were elemental particles, not the normal white mana particles. They were the same ones he had seen during his meditation. The purple ones. The ones that should have been dark elemental particles.

  Or maybe Krovane was simply mistaken. After all, just as Emily and Hugo said, it was impossible to see mana particles with the naked eye, especially for novices like them, right?

  Next, they waited in the living room until the person they were supposed to meet finally appeared.

  “Hey, you’re already here. Come on, I want to show you something,” Davon said.

  The four of them stood up and walked after him.

  Davon walked in front, with Emily and Liora following close behind, while Hugo responded to their conversation with random comments like he always did. As usual, Krovane stayed quiet and simply followed along.

  “I’ll be leaving the city for a few weeks, maybe up to a month,” Davon said. “But I’ll need your help, Emily, to train magic together with Liora, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. I’ll do it as part of my job here.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll pay you well,” Davon said. “Liora seems like she can learn better from you, especially since you’re closer to her in age.”

  “Yes, I’d be happy to study together with Emily,” the girl replied right away.

  “That’s to prepare her to enter Elaris Academy when the new school year starts,” Davon continued.

  “Oh, you’re really going there, Liora? I’m happy to hear that,” Emily said.

  “What about you joining as well, Emily?” Liora said. “I’m serious. I’m sure you’d stand out there. With your skills and the way you learn, you could become someone truly remarkable.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I do,” Liora replied. “You have talent.”

  “No, I can’t. Not yet. But I’ll follow later,” Emily answered after that.

  Krovane simply followed behind, taking in their conversation in silence. Even so, Emily, who had only been in this world for a little over two months, had already earned enough trust to train together with Liora. Just how deeply had she learned everything about this world? She was truly impossible to ignore.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Some time later, they came out through the side area where several small, separate buildings stood. They walked past a small fish pond, along with trees and flowers that were clearly well cared for.

  “So, Hugo and Krovane, since today you’re allowed to use the rooms here,” Davon said. “That way Emily won’t have to travel back and forth between this place and where you’re staying. And don’t worry, you can pay for it by helping take care of the farm. That’s more than enough to cover the rent, if you don’t want to stay for free.”

  “Yes, we want it, yoohoo!” Hugo answered right away, full of excitement. “Yes, finally we can live somewhere without feeling indebted to Emily. Just imagine how hard it is living with someone as bossy as her.”

  “Hugo!” Emily looked annoyed and crossed her arms. “That’s how you thank me? You only got a place to stay here because of me!”

  Hugo looked shocked for a second, took a small step back, then laughed nervously. “W wait, I was just joking. You know that, right? You’re amazing, Emily. Truly. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

  “You!” Emily snapped. “You really know how to test my patience. One more word and I swear you’ll regret it.”

  Hugo immediately turned around and ran, laughing as he went, with Emily chasing after him. Liora, standing between them earlier, could only laugh at their behavior.

  Until, a moment later, the girl stopped laughing and fell silent. She turned her head toward Krovane. At that moment, he realized he had once again been staring at her for too long.

  Liora waved her hand and smiled brightly at him. Krovane looked startled, then quickly returned the gesture with an awkward smile of his own.

  He had to forget what he thought he saw earlier, because the elemental particles he believed he noticed were no longer appearing around Liora. But what if he tried closing his eyes and focusing? Would he still be able to see what he saw before? Or maybe, he did not need to try that just yet.

  Krovane and Hugo spent the whole day organizing the room they had been given. Inside, there were two separate beds, along with a wooden wardrobe and a table with chairs. It was clearly much more spacious than the inn room they had been using to stay until now.

  They also spent some time walking around the area to learn more about what they could do to help out. After being accompanied by the other farmers for a while, Hugo eventually decided to take on a full time job at this place. It would be much easier for him, since he would not need to go in and out of the area.

  Meanwhile, Krovane chose to work only part time, as he still wanted to focus on studying blacksmithing.

  **

  That afternoon, Krovane found himself back at the smithy where he would be doing his part time work. The difference this time was that the moment he stepped inside, the people there turned to look at him. Not with the mocking looks he had received before, but with something closer to a welcome.

  “Hey, Krovane, you’re back. Your hands are fine, right?”

  “Good to see you again. We thought you might run off after yesterday,” another voice added with a grin.

  “Are you ready to start hammering molten metal again?”

  From another direction, one of the blacksmiths who was also the owner of the smithy approached. He was a tall, bald man, easily several heads taller than Krovane. He tossed something toward him.

  Krovane caught it and glanced at the item. It was a folded piece of cloth, the same apron used by the others, made of thick, solid looking leather.

  “Use that so you don’t go home with your clothes burned,” said Garreth after that.

  “Thanks, sir.”

  “You’ll do the same as yesterday. Refining,” Garreth continued. “But do it better. Use proper technique. I’ll teach you a more efficient method, because strength and endurance alone aren’t enough. Even now, you’re still far from where you need to be. A thousand hammer strikes should be an easy thing for you. That’s the standard.”

  Krovane simply nodded, a wide smile forming every time he received new information and guidance from the man in front of him.

  “You’ll be working here,” Garreth added, pointing to a workstation. “This spot has been prepared especially for you, so you can reach the anvil more easily with that very short body of yours. Hahaha.”

  Krovane could only grin in response.

  Krovane quickly prepared himself and put on the new dark colored apron he had just received. As he wore it, he felt the warmth of the thick cloth as it touched his shoulders and body. For some reason, wearing this smaller version of the apron made him feel proud and confident.

  He reached for the tongs and gripped them firmly. His hands still felt a little numb from what he had done the night before, but they were already much better than before.

  He also picked up the hammer, wrapped his fingers around its handle, and felt a new sense of strength flowing through him. He felt like he could handle this work better now, and he truly believed it.

  Krovane soon began to move in rhythm with the sound of metal striking metal that filled the area. The hot air, the burning roar of the forging furnace, and the sharp scent of high heat brushed against his skin. Strangely enough, all of it brought him a sense of calm.

  Did he actually like this kind of work? Whatever the answer was, as long as this job gave him a way to train his body and gain new skills, especially important ones, and also earn enough money to get by, it was more than enough for him.

  Garreth had also told Krovane that he only needed to come for up to four hours a day. He would be paid weekly, based on the amount of work he managed to complete.

  Even though it sounded strange and a bit irresponsible. Krovane knew that in the coming week he might not truly finish even a single proper job at this place. But at least now, he had a place to stay without having to rely on Emily anymore. That alone already felt like a relief.

  **

  Time passed, and Krovane barely had any space left to slow down. His days were truly filled with nothing but training, work, and meditation to cultivate his mana core. He only had time to rest long enough to drink and eat, and even when he slept, it felt less like rest and more like passing out from exhaustion.

  During the day, he trained with Rogan, pushing his body through long hours of running, then learning martial arts and basic combat techniques. In the afternoon breaks, Krovane did whatever work he could help with at the farm. Then from late afternoon until night, he went to do his part time job at the smithy.

  It was during this period that Krovane truly began to understand what leveling up meant. From initially being at level four, he advanced to level five, and after exactly three weeks, he had already reached level six.

  Then, one morning, as he and Hugo stood side by side with Rogan facing them, the man wore a challenging expression as he spoke to the two boys.

  “Now, we’re going to add something a little more fun to your running training,” Rogan said. “You’ll race each other. The loser will have to run another round. And I won’t forbid you from doing anything to win. Yes, anything.”

  Hugo immediately burst into laughter. “Finally I can really use my ability. Krov, get ready. I’m not going to make this easy for you!”

  Krovane smiled, clenched his fists, and took a step forward. “You think I’ll go down that easily, Hugo? You’re thinking too highly of yourself, hah!”

  “I like your confidence, weirdo!” Hugo replied.

  The two of them then lowered their bodies and took their running positions.

  Rogan raised his left hand and shouted, “Ready. Go!”

  The two boys immediately shot forward at full speed.