Ugh!
Raven groaned as he staggered on his way back to his room.
His body was filled with bruises, and he was dead tired.
"Hey," He called out to a maid.
"You called, young master?" One of the maids passing by bowed.
"Go and prepare a medicinal bath for me." His voice was also hoarse.
"As you wish, young master." Bowing again, she dashed towards his room.
'13 hours of training on the first day?' He grumbled inside.
And Eve didn't even break a sweat in this entire session.
'What a monster.'
That was almost unreal to see how unbothered she was the entire time.
It wasn't like she stayed idle either, but she was just on a whole other level.
He wobbled back to his room and went straight to his bathroom, where the maids were just finishing up preparing his bath.
Ahhh!
The first step into the hot water pool felt heavenly.
The steam rising from the body felt like stress evaporating away from him.
It felt so good that he didn't want to get out of the pool, but he knew he had to.
The tub filled with medicinal water was necessary for his overall rejuvenation.
So that he can go back to his training again tomorrow.
Ugh!
He dragged his body out against his will and walked into the tub after a grueling 5 seconds of walking.
Keuk!
He whimpered.
It felt like antiseptic liquid to an open wound.
Maybe that was exactly what it was, but with mana imbued into it.
Since it was supposed to fully heal minor injuries overnight.
As the pain slowly subsided, his brain went into autopilot.
He started pondering over his next step and his future.
According to the diary given to him by the messenger, Arthur, as long as he travels far enough, he is supposed to stumble upon his first clue to his Divine mission.
Apparently, the entire purpose of the mark wasn't merely to harass his mental sanity all the time, as he thought.
It also acted as a guide, holding some powers of fate to guide him when he needed it.
So, he needed an actual way to go outside for a while.
But the only way he could think was running away in the middle of his journey to the Holy State of Solis with his sister.
Since the screening tests would happen in the Holy State, he would follow her back there in 3 weeks.
That would be his chance.
As he was delving deeper into this, he remembered the incident from this morning.
The Gods were deliberately hiding even a basic advancement in the magic.
Or was it because science isn't supposed to be developed by now?
Is it because they want this world to advance technologically as well before they access those methods?
Whatever it was, it had a purpose that he wanted to know.
The curiosity was gnawing at him.
But more importantly, it also worked in his favor.
They were hiding this information, but not holding it back.
This meant that not only could he continue using this, but also integrate more modern ideas into his power.
An edge that many people barely had.
'What else could I use?' He thought, but there was another limitation.
He simply didn't know about the magic and how it worked.
'It's time this functionally illiterate body learn something.'
He made a mental note to visit the library tomorrow.
Being in a rich household really was a big advantage.
Books were already quite rare in this world, but having an entire private library full of them?
It was the ultimate flex one could have.
And the Marlowe family had one.
Exiting the bath after an unknown amount of time, he changed and ordered his dinner to be delivered in room.
He didn't have any energy left in his body, and his stomach was grumbling.
As he waited for his food, he took out his Arbiter Handbook and started reading it.
He was hoping to find some loopholes he could exploit to escape.
But there was nothing.
He kept reading, his face becoming darker and darker with each page flip.
And there weren't many pages to begin with.
But there was one line, a single sentence, that brought back the glow of his face and his appetite.
[The Branch headquarters locations for newbies are located in classified cities outside the Capital.]
As he finished reading that, the dinner arrived, and so did a smile on his face.
This meant he no longer needed to run away.
As long as he didn't come across the Pope and the Apostle.
An Apostle was still acceptable to a limit, but not the literal strongest being in the world.
But his ceremonial position chained him to the Holy City.
With this fresh and relieved perspective on this job, he quickly gobbled down his scrumptious meal and crashed into his bed.
'We meet again, my love,' He mumbled, as he hugged his pillow and burrowed his head in it.
The ultimate pleasure one could have.
A scrumptious meal, a soft bed, and a day full of hard work.
It didn't even take him a minute before he fell asleep into the sweet world of dreams.
…
[Dear Fredrick,]
In a dimly lit room, with nothing but a single Lantern illuminating the desk, Jennifer was writing a letter to someone.
She bit the back of the quill, a shy smile adorning her doll-like face, as she was mulling over something.
[Everything is fine here, and hope the same for your side.]
[Today, I finally had enough guts to reveal our situation to our father. Even my mother was here, which gave me the perfect opportunity.]
[I was finally going to discuss you to them in secret, but…]
Her smile faded, and a bitter expression made its way to her face.
[My nasty brother hoarded all the attention again, albeit this time, it wasn't for a good reason.]
She bit her lips as she wrote the next sentence.
[He is finally leaving the house and going to do something to be independent.]
[I should relish this punishment of his, since I now have something to tease him with, but for some reason, it worries me.]
Her writing was a bit shaky at this point, and her expression wasn't good either.
[My intuitions have never failed me, and something about this is bugging me.]
[It feels like this would change everything in my household forever, and I would never be able to gain what I would lose here.]
She took in a deep breath, calming herself down.
[I don't like this feeling, Freddy. I don't want to lose what I have right now.]
[What should I do, Freddy?]
She lay beside her letter, her eyes following the flickering of the lantern flame.
Closing her eyes, she finished the letter using her muscle memory and wrote below.
[Yours truly, Jennifer Marlowe.]
After this, she zoned out again and started deliberating the feeling she was feeling lately.
'Eve, I'm counting on you to protect everything.'
…
The next morning, Raven woke up rather early, since he slept early, and freshened up.
He was thinking about the magic spells so much that he had dreams about them.
He no longer wanted to wait, as he rushed to the library.
The library he reached wasn't anything grand.
It was like a mini library, and the sole reason for that was that they weren't nobles.
But it had everything he needed at the moment.
He immediately grabbed a few books on the workings of the magic in this world.
How it worked, what factors were involved, what the steps were involved, and ways to evolve it.
There were a lot of books that fit the criteria he was hoping for, and he decided to read them all.
After all, the training still had a few hours before it started.
.
A few hours later, he stood up, partially disappointed with his progress for today.
But he was also thankful for this opportunity.
An opportunity that made him realize it's possible.
It was a lot to take in, and that was why it would take him at least a week before he could finally start experimenting with new things.
It wasn't simple.
Many laws, conditions, and properties governed how magic worked inherently.
And he had to start from the basics.
His 3-week crash training had started, and he was determined to do it.
…
For the next 3 weeks, Raven followed a grueling yet rewarding routine.
Waking up with sunrise, he spent a few hours in the library before spending around eight hours with Eve, who trained him nonstop.
She trained him in different techniques as a warrior, and she also taught him the basics of the magic, which gave his theory study sessions a huge boost, since it was easier to learn that way.
Following that, he practiced his pre-firing spells before finally hitting the hay.
The entire household was shocked by this sudden determination of his.
Was this really the same Raven they knew?
And before long, it was finally time.