'Yuna, I promise you that I won't die.'
Yuna smiled.
She hovered closer and settled on top of my head like she always did, a faint warmth glowing where she sat.
"I will heal you a bit more, Lord of Shadows," she said.
Her glow spread a thin, steady light across my shoulders. I felt something ease, as if a tight rope loosened just a little.
She was pushing herself to make sure I was in the best condition to fight.
Slowly, I pushed myself up, using the wall for help.
My arms trembled and my breaths came shallow.
Breathing felt a bit easier than before.
I knew, even then, that one of my ribs was broken. Maybe more than one was.
Pain shot through my side with every movement.
My head was clear, though, and I knew what I had to do.
'Going to kill Frank in this condition is stupid.'
There was no arguing that.
'I'm too weak right now, even if I ignore my injuries.'
Still, I didn't have the luxury of time.
He couldn't be allowed to regroup. Especially if he realized Liana wasn't coming back.
Luckily, she'd done me a favor before dying. She put everyone in the house to sleep.
That included the guards.
That included my parents.
I raised my hand and drew a small portal into the air.
A silver shimmer opened, showing the familiar dark of my parents' bedroom.
I crawled through, dragging my body like a sack of stones. Pain sharpened with each inch of movement.
Dad lay asleep, chest rising and falling with soft snores.
Mom wasn't there. She must have gone to the guest room with Seri's mother.
I stayed low and looked around the room.
Behind the bed, our family photo hung in a heavy frame.
It showed me, Mom and Dad. They were laughing while I tried to stop them from kissing my cheek from both sides.
I had been trying to stop them from taking the photo of an embarrassing moment like that.
Despite my reluctance back then, just looking at the picture gave me a sense of peace, and warmth.
The warmth turned sharp.
I pushed it down and reached out with Telekinesis. I used whatever mana I had recovered for the Spell.
The photo frame moved, heavy and slow, as if I were lifting something much larger.
Behind it was a little vault built into the wall.
I extended my hand and conjured a second portal inside the vault's interior.
It was cramped, filled with small velvet boxes, stacks of important documents, wads of cash, and bars of gold that about the size of building bricks.
I pulled the gold bars out one by one.
Yuna watched me do a theft in my own house, but she remained unusually silent.
She understood why I was doing this.
I dropped gold bars beside me and created portals inside all vaults hidden in the house, the ones I knew of.
There were many vaults like this in the mansion. Dad was careful. He always spread his assets around in case of emergencies.
'I'll use all the gold I can find to reach 3-star Mage.'
It was a reckless plan, honestly.
Normally, it was recommended to wait until a child's body matured.
Advancing to higher Mage grades before physical growth risked damaging the internal structure of the body, especially in children.
The Magic Core could overburden the nerves, and the muscles would struggle to keep up with the increased mana flow.
But I didn't have the time to wait for my body to grow stronger.
If I didn't act now, Frank would try again.
And next time, he might use someone far stronger than Liana.
Or he might just decide to kill my parents now instead of waiting until a few years later.
'There's no other way.'
I planned to handle everything through a silent assassination instead of revealing myself, and fighting directly. That wouldn't burden my body too much.
For now, I focused on getting the gold.
With difficulty, I pushed the bars into the Spatial Inventory tattooed on my palm. I would convert them into mana in my room.
After gathering all of the gold, I took a deep breath. My ribs protested, but I gritted my teeth and bore through it.
Every time my injuries opened due to the movements, Yuna used the healing spell on me. She was getting more and more exhausted.
Of course, both of us conveniently ignored the fact that I was robbing my own house.
'This is a good excuse.'
The idea came together quickly.
I could act like a thief came to steal the gold. He found my toys nearby. I tried to stop him. He attacked me.
That would be the story.
It would explain the missing gold.
It would explain the blood.
It would explain why I was injured.
As for my toys, I could hide them in the Spatial Inventory on the floor.
It was perfect.
Now, for the hard part….
'I need to reach 3-star Mage grade.'
I drew runes on the floor of my room with Liana's blood. Then, I dumped all the gold bars at the center of it.
Chants escaped my lips.