Three weeks had passed since the eliminations, and Victoria had advanced to the third circle a week earlier than expected. Hao was doing a good job as her instructor, even though she was still difficult to deal with, always wanting to refute the way she was trained.
'Well, she won't be the only one to reach the third circle.'
Name: Enrico Solcren Ferreira
Magic: Fire Circle 2 – 51%
Water Magic: Circle 2 – 52%
Mana Amount: 289
Unique Ability: Elemental Clone / Transformation
Soul: 81
'Looks like you finally managed to install my new unique ability.'
[Like I said, there are some guys trying to interfere with our development.]
Enrico was in his room, sitting inside a magic circle he had created himself after failing several times over the past week. Magic circles were mostly used to improve or enhance certain things rather than just for combat. Of course, they could be used in battle, but unlike people, these magic circles couldn't evolve — they could only be improved through deep research conducted by alchemists.
'The ones who use them the most are literally the alchemists.'
At least, that's how it worked in this world. The Elves were masters of this craft and held many secrets. At best, human alchemists had managed to develop a magic circle suitable for someone of the seventh circle.
'Let's begin.'
Pouring mana into the circle beneath him, a fire zone formed, causing the surrounding natural mana to be drawn inward, creating an atmosphere of concentrated mana within the three-meter-wide area Enrico had created.
'First, I'll focus the magic circle so that this natural mana passes through my body, and then I'll release it so it doesn't damage my own mana with this excessive amount.'
The mana in that zone began to flow into Enrico's body, connecting with his inner mana like strands of energy. Several veins began to bulge from his skin, and when he noticed one about to burst, he immediately deactivated the magic circle.
[Fire Magic Circle 2 – 53%]
[That's a 2% improvement, and besides that, you still need to defeat a few bosses in the false aquatic dungeon — that's great.]
'Still not enough. Serenya, Kai, and Valença managed to reach ninety percent, and that's why I'll use the dungeon Kai evolved for me.'
That's right — Enrico's current percentage was the same as Kai's when he first entered that warehouse dungeon. There was a special reason why Kai had evolved so quickly in just one day — time.
'Kai spent a total of two months inside, while here, only a single day passed.'
[I feel like I've seen something like that before.]
'I felt the same the first time — and honestly, now I wish it would be a whole year instead of two months.'
In that dungeon, the body's time didn't change, so he wouldn't age even a single day — something he was grateful for, since explaining even two months of disappearance would be troublesome.
'Well, since I can only use this training twice a week until the circle recharges, I'll stop for now.'
Enrico had already used this training before, but that time he used water magic — that's why the percentage was slightly higher at the beginning. Making the magic circle disappear, he left the false zombie dungeon — the secret place where he experimented freely, at least for now, until he improved the circle that caused the user's veins to burst after prolonged use.
'It was a great idea to use this place to test things that could get me killed.'
He had made a small deal with the system — in exchange for entering this dungeon once more per week, he wouldn't use it to train against the Nartheis, since they all vanished during his second visit. That meant he could only use it for experiments.
"System, send me back."
Disappearing from the place, Enrico awoke surrounded by girls on his bed — four of them, to be exact — since Valença and Serenya had started living there too after discovering that Rina and Aoi were already sleeping there.
[I can't believe Serenya actually bought a bigger bed just for this.]
Enrico's bed really was larger, all because Serenya had refused to sleep cramped with the others.
"If I'm going to sleep close to someone, it'll only be with my subordinate — not with these pests."
"What do you mean, pests? You spoiled brat, admit it — you just can't stand sleeping in a normal bed!"
"Silence, commoner, you have no right to speak here."
"Oh, I'll show you a 'right to speak' when I shove it up your—"
And because of that, Serenya and Valença often fought like animals marking territory. During one of these arguments, they even competed over who would get to sleep beside him.
'I had to step in before they caused a disaster.'
Enrico made a rule that the two girls would take turns sleeping beside him — giving everyone a fair chance. The girls from Tsuyokuni were pleased, and although Valença and Serenya were dissatisfied, they accepted it.
'Better not wake them up.'
Letting them sleep, Enrico quietly left the room and ran into Seraphina, who had just woken up and stepped out of her new room. She had discovered the situation too but had asked to sleep in the next room, which was easy since that section of the dorm belonged entirely to him.
"Good morning, Seraphina. I hope you slept well your first night here."
"Actually, it was great — especially knowing you were sleeping right next door."
"I see. But I'm curious — why didn't you want to sleep in my room like the others?"
"Because I wouldn't be able to hold myself back if that happened now."
Her face was completely serious, and Enrico could only stare in surprise at how sincere she was about it.
"You don't have to worry about holding back. In the future, you can ask me for whatever you want."
"I will."
"You know... I like that about you."