The familiar light-blue panel spread open in front of my eyes.
Name: @!$!@#$@
Rank 0
.
Species: Draconic-Blooded Human [Rank 1]
.
Stats:
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 5 → 8
Endurance: 1
Intelligence: 104 → 109
Spirit: 7 → 10
.
Classes:
Shadow (Click to check class details)
Alchemist (Click to check class details)
Mage (Click to check class details)
.
Class: Alchemist
Rank 0
Grade: Apprentice Alchemist → Journeyman Alchemist
Perks: Improved Ingredient Comprehension, Steady Hand (New)
.
Class: Mage
Rank 0
Grade: 0-Star → 1-Star
Alignment: Space Element
Innate Spells: Magic Bullet, Telekinesis (New)
…
I scrolled through twice, just to be sure I hadn't missed anything, then dismissed the screen.
For the first time in months, I actually felt like it was worth looking at.
My stats were high for my age, and the foundation I had worked so hard to build finally looked solid.
I had power now.
Not power from luck or some miracle gift, but power carved out of effort, planning, and everything I had dragged with me from the last timeline.
My gaze shifted toward Seris.
She had curled up on the wooden floor, one hand loosely holding the hem of her dress as if she'd simply dropped where she stood.
The faint glow of the alchemy materials and the swirl of mana in the air hadn't stirred her. Even my chanting earlier hadn't woken her.
'She's really out. She must've been exhausted after the party.'
A small knot in me loosened. I'd been half-worried she'd woke up in the middle of my chanting, but she hadn't moved once.
'I should put her on the bed.'
I raised my hand, gathering mana and chanted a Normal Spell. It was one of the Spells I knew from my last life.
A magic circle flared and vanished.
"—Portal."
A swirling oval of silver light appeared beside her, mirrored above the bed. Through the portal's frame, the top of the mattress came into view.
I lifted my other hand, calling on the next spell. Another circle flared, brighter this time.
"—Telekinesis."
A faint glow wrapped around Seris, cradling her small body like invisible arms.
Slowly, carefully, I lifted her into the air.
She drifted forward, slipping into the portal, and emerged on the other side, gently placed onto the bed.
The portals faded with a ripple.
I let out a quiet laugh, and shook my head. 'That's better.'
At one-star, I could only make a single pair of portals.
It was limiting, but enough for now.
I could open them within sight, to a place I had been before, or to a location I knew the coordinates of.
The longer the distance, the more mana it consumed to create portals.
The efficiency was bad at this stage, since I was only 1-star Mage rank, but it still brought a huge leap in my combat strength.
In battle, even a bad portal could save my life.
'I want to make a spatial inventory,' I thought as I glanced at my hands. 'But that can wait until tomorrow.'
Sleep tempted me, but now that I had access to the Space Element, I couldn't waste time.
Portal spells were tricky.
If I wanted to use them in actual combat, I had to master them to the point where I didn't need to chant and the magic circles didn't appear at spell activation.
Those two things would slow me down, and alert the enemy of my incoming attacks.
In a real fight, it would be enough to get me killed.
I straightened, stretched my shoulders, and began training.
First Shadow Summon, then Magic Bullet, then the new portal spell.
I worked them in cycles, weaving one into another, pushing for fluidity and speed.
Shadows shifted at my call. Sparks of mana burst across the room. Portals flared open and closed in a blink, fading before their ripples could disturb the air for long.
Minutes blurred into hours.
Sweat soaked the back of my shirt, my chest heaved, and my reserves of mana drained again and again until I was forced to stop, breathe, and restore them.
When I could move again, I went back to it. The repetition hammered itself into my body.
Eventually, I reached a point where I didn't need to chant for portals or magic bullets.
The circles still appeared—brief flickers before the activation—but I had cut out the words.
That much progress in a single night wasn't something most mages could dream of.
My high intelligence helped, but the real secret was the Mana Constellation Creation Technique.
It pulled the chaotic space elementals into patterns and stabilized them. I could shape more the space mana easily, which made Space-element spells flow faster and smoother.
I was just about to start another set when I felt it.
A subtle shift in the air.
A movement—barely audible—whispered through the room like the flutter of cloth.
'Is it mom or dad? Or a guest from the party?'
I panicked for a second, then quickly shut my eyes and collapsed back onto the bed. I adjusted my breathing, as if I were asleep.
The sound hadn't come from the hallway.
"Lord of Shadows, someone is at the windows," Yuna whispered in my head.
A faint breeze brushed my skin. The window had been opened. Cold night air slipped into the room.
No footsteps followed.
My body tightened. Whoever it was moved without sound.
An intruder.
"Damn it! L-Lord of Shadows, don't panic! It will be alright! J-Just—"
'Yuna. Calm down.'
I spoke to her through thought.
'Tell me where the intruder is, where they are moving, and how many of them are here. I'll handle the rest.'
"Understood, Lord of Shadows," she answered, though her tone still shook.
The window slid open wider, but no one stepped through.
Then I heard it.
A woman's voice.
"You're awake?" she said softly.
I stayed still, and acted asleep.
She let out a breath. "The sleep gas did its job."
Sleep gas. That explained why Seris hadn't stirred even when I lifted her earlier and used alchemy.
"L-Lord of Shadows, the intruder… it's her. Your uncle's girlfriend. She is the only intruder."
That made me open my eyes.
"L-Lord of Shadows, wait—keep acting asleep!" Yuna begged.
I ignored her.
The woman stood in the room now.
She wore a skin-tight black suit under a loose jacket. Her hair was tied back neatly. Red eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
Liana Ferndale.
I remembered her face from the party earlier. The woman my uncle had brought with him.
"You are awake? Was the dosage too light?" she murmured. Her voice was calm.
She didn't flinch even when she saw me staring. To her, I was just a one-year-old child.
"Now, shhh. Stay like that, alright? Let me do my job," she said gently, her words like a poisonous honey.