Taking her with me, I quickly left the academy gate. My convoy and Ronald were standing by, and I instructed them to take the cars to the mansion. Then, I got into the car with Lina. She remained completely silent, perhaps afraid of being slapped again. Surprisingly, no one stopped us as I took her out of the academy, but that's understandable since this academy is practically mine. However, I pushed that thought aside and turned to Lina, sitting beside me. I noticed the mark of my slap on her cheek, and seeing it brought tears to my eyes. After all, I had failed to control my emotions when I hit her.
I hate myself for hurting her. I lost my composure after hearing her say she thought I was just someone who lusted after her body. She even said she would willingly become my plaything. That made me very angry. Even after my rebirth, I still cried for her. I didn't forget her even in death. Hearing her say those things drove me to lose my sanity in anger.
Yet, I felt remorse. I knew she didn't have any memories of her previous life, unlike me. With that thought, I moved closer to her. When she saw me approach, she flinched a bit, but then she showed determination. She turned her face to me and said, "Amar, I'm sorry for my earlier behavior. I understand why you hit me, and I think I deserved it. I promise I won't do it again, so please don't take out your anger on the orphanage."
Her words seemed nonsensical, and I felt like I was doing something wrong. I felt like a villain from a terrible novel, forcing the heroine to love him through blackmail. It disgusted me.
But I took a deep breath, controlled my emotions, and looked at her. Not wanting to hurt her further, I said, "Lina, I know you think badly of me. You see me as a rich scumbag who only desires your body. I won't make any excuses because nothing I say will convince you, especially after I slapped you."
"Believe me, I love you, and I will do everything to make you happy," I added.
When she heard my words, she fell silent for a moment but eventually relaxed a bit. The rest of the journey was quiet. To distract myself, I read the report Ronald sent. Before long, we arrived at my mansion.
Our convoy stopped at the mansion gate. I took her hand, and we both stepped out of the car. In front of us, the maids stood in line to greet us. Before they could say anything, I said, "No need for formalities. Our guest is in a hurry, so we're heading to the training hall."
I walked toward the training hall located by the side of my mansion. As we walked, I told Ronald, "Get the recent shipment from the spirit mines and bring it to the training hall."
"How much of it, master?" Ronald asked.
"All of it," I replied.
Understanding my command, he nodded and made a call to a worker. Soon, we reached the training hall. This separate space was built for training because my parents wanted to practice while staying at home. As high-level martial arts experts, they designed the hall to be sturdy and equipped with the latest technology.
Once inside, I guided Lina to a nearby bench and sat with her, waiting for the shipment to arrive. Shortly after, several men carrying large boxes entered the training hall. Following my order, they unloaded the contents of the boxes.
A huge amount of awakening stones spilled out. I had them brought to use because I ran out. I actually own several mines of awakening stones, so getting a large amount isn't difficult.
The reason I took out so many awakening stones is that I realized Lina did have talent; it just required a lot of energy to awaken. These stones should be enough for her.
Once the awakening stones were arranged in a semi-circle, I told Lina to sit in the middle and absorb energy like she did earlier. She looked at me and said, "Amar, I think this is too much. I could never afford this many awakening stones, even if I worked my whole life. What if I still don't awaken?"
Hearing that, I simply met her gaze and said, "You don't have to worry. No matter what you think of me, as long as I'm here, you won't need to care about anything. If these stones aren't enough, I'll get more. For now, just focus on your dream and concentrate on awakening."
I directed her toward the center of the training field. Following my words, she sat in the middle of the awakening stones. She stared at me for a moment before focusing on the awakening process. Like before, she began absorbing the energy from the awakening stones, and I soon saw many of them turn gray.
Then a strange phenomenon unfolded in the training room. A vortex of energy swirled around Lina, gradually absorbed by her. At some point, a faint golden light began to surround her, accompanied by the sound of a distant dragon roar.
The roars grew louder, enough that people around me covered their ears. Then, an incredible sight occurred. I saw the shadow of a dragon around her, then multiple shadows that multiplied into many dragons. Various types of dragons spun around her—some with majestic wings and horns, while others had serpentine bodies.
Seeing this, Ronald and the other servants of the mansion stepped in front of me to protect me in case anything went awry. But I told them to stand down. I wanted to witness her awakening. Surrounded by those colorful dragons, she looked like a goddess. I was mesmerized by her beauty.
As the awakening phenomenon peaked, a bang erupted. A golden light shot from her, piercing through the roof of the training hall. I was sure that this pillar of light could be seen from miles away, and it would create a huge uproar in the city.