The door to Rey's room creaked open.
Emmy slipped inside quietly, her eyes immediately locking onto the bed.
Rey lay there beneath the blanket, only half his face visible, breathing steadily, looking completely asleep.
She let out a small sigh of relief.
Careful with every step, she moved toward his drawer and slowly pulled it open, her hands searching through its contents with practised caution.
She was extremely careful.
Careful enough to not make a sound.
Careful enough to believe she wasn't being watched.
But she was wrong.
Beneath the blanket, Rey's eyes were slightly open, narrowed just enough to track her movements. He stayed still, curiosity outweighing the urge to speak.
What was she doing here this early?
After a short search, Emmy's fingers finally found what she was looking for.
A small pouch.
She opened it, checked the contents, and her lips curved into a faint smile. Without wasting time, she closed the drawer, turned around, and slipped out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.
Only then did Rey sit up.
Confusion was written all over his face.
"She came all the way here just to take my painting colours?" he muttered. "She didn't even tell us she had colour work today. I could've bought her new ones… borrowing them like this is just strange."
He swung his legs off the bed, about to head toward her room, when a familiar presence appeared.
Aiden floated in front of him, arms crossed.
"And where do you think you're going, kid?"
"To my sister's room. Isn't it obvious?"
"Oh, it is," Aiden replied lazily. "But what are you going to say? That you were awake in your tracksuit, spying on her while pretending to sleep?"
Rey paused.
"…No."
"Then don't go."
"I should still ask her."
Aiden sighed deeply. "Some things are better left alone. What just happened isn't bad. In fact, you might be thankful later."
"You sound like those idiots who pretend to know fate."
"Shut up and stay put."
"Bu—"
Before Rey could finish, his lips snapped shut.
His eyes widened in shock as he realised he couldn't open his mouth.
Aiden had sealed it.
Rey could only glare, cursing violently in his head while flailing his hands in protest. Making noise wasn't an option. Jasmine was downstairs.
After a few long seconds, Aiden released the seal.
Rey inhaled sharply, shooting Aiden a murderous look. He clearly wanted to memorise his face for future revenge, but wisely stayed silent.
Instead, he opened the screen he had meant to check earlier.
======
<
Health Points (HP): F- <1020/1020> [1:20 of Vitality]
Mana Points (MP): F- <975/975> [1:15 of Intelligence]
Strength (STR): F- [63/100] (↑7)
Agility (AGI): F- [68/100] (↑9)
Stamina (STA): F- [62/100] (↑11)
Intelligence (INT): F- [65/100] (↑16)
Vitality (VIT): F- [51/100] (↑3)
Endurance (END): F- [50/100] (↑5)
Luck (LUK): F- [Dependent on core]
Free Stat Points: 0
Attack Power (ATK): 262 [STR+AGL*2] | Magical Power (MGL): 130 [INT*2]
Defence (DEF): 168 [END+STA*1.5]
======
His stats hovered before him.
They had improved.
Not explosively, but noticeably.
When he had shown them to Aiden and Victor earlier, neither had said a word. Their expressions alone had been enough to hurt.
Disgust.
That was what Rey saw.
"This kind of training is what mortals do," Aiden had said bluntly. "Your body needs five to ten times more resistance to grow properly."
Running with hundreds of kilograms.
Training for kilometers under crushing weight.
Push-ups with mass equivalent to a car.
To them, those were basics.
To Rey, they were insane.
But he understood.
His training wasn't wrong. It just wasn't enough.
Still, stats weren't his true focus.
The most important part of his growth lay elsewhere.
His abilities.
Matter Manipulation.
Blood Manipulation.
Telekinesis.
These weren't just skills. They were foundations. Powers that could place him far above others if mastered properly.
Rey still studied for a few hours each day, mostly to keep his mother satisfied, but his real effort went into control and precision.
Matter Manipulation was overseen by Zero.
Strict. Merciless. Exact.
Once, she asked him to present an item he had repaired.
She destroyed it instantly.
"The surface is fixed," she said calmly, "but the inside is hollow."
She demonstrated by repairing a shattered spear in an instant, liquefying the broken section and fusing it perfectly from the inside out.
Rey tried.
Five minutes later, his result was still inferior.
One flick from him shattered it again.
Her spear remained intact no matter what he did.
That lesson stayed with him.
Internal structure mattered more than appearance.
His progress followed, but slowly. Even now, his repaired spears were only thirty to forty percent as effective as hers.
Telekinesis was worse.
Aiden trained him personally.
Rey thought he had talent. After all, he once controlled a dagger mid-battle.
Reality crushed that illusion.
He couldn't even move an object of similar weight now.
"That was a fluke," Aiden told him. "You don't understand Telekinesis yet."
He explained the true nature of the ability and spoke of a legendary physique his previous owner had attained.
The Telekinetic Sovereign Physique.
A terrifying existence.
Mental power beyond limits.
But the requirements differed for everyone.
Rey started small.
Matches.
Then heavier objects.
One day, he tried lifting his bed.
That mistake nearly tore his mind apart.
He woke up unconscious, his head splitting with pain, and earned himself a penalty.
Still, it helped define his limits.
Now, he could control seven daggers at once.
The eighth remained impossible.
Numbers training followed.
More items.
Less weight.
Precision over power.
And finally…
Blood Manipulation.
The most dangerous.
The one he feared the most.
And the one he was worst at.
What he managed to achieve in that area was…