I stared at Alexandra, my eyes wide with disbelief. "Y-you… you're joking, right?"
I braced myself for a laugh, a smirk, any sign that this was an elaborate prank. Instead, I was met only with her impassive crimson gaze, staring back at me without a flicker of emotion.
Goddamn. She's completely, utterly nuts.
I looked back into the spatial ring's dimensional space, my mind struggling to process the sight.
It wasn't just a pile of coins. It was a mountain. Tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of platinum coins, each one gleaming with a soft, inner light, stacked in neat, impossibly high columns. The sheer volume of wealth was staggering, a dragon's hoard casually gifted to a teenage boy.
Fucking hell. I'm rich. I'm actually, stupidly, obscenely rich! A silent scream of pure, unadulterated joy exploded in my head.
This wasn't just money. This was financial power that dwarfed the treasuries of most earls and marquesses. It was a sum most nobles would only fantasize about over generations, and she had handed it to me like a spare piece of candy.
In this world, currency was tangible—bronze, silver, gold, and the pinnacle: platinum. With this fortune, I could buy a small country, retire to a private island, and live a hundred lifetimes in decadent luxury without making a dent. The possibilities were dizzying.
I fought to maintain my usual indifferent mask, but a traitorous, giddy smile tugged insistently at the corners of my mouth. If she asked me to have sex with her right now for this, I'd do it without a second thought!
This… this was what life-changing wealth did to a person.
Alexandra watched the small, triumphant smile break through my composure. A warm, secret satisfaction bloomed in her chest. I was the first to give him a gift, and he liked it… In truth, she'd agonized over what to get him. She, who had never bought a present for a man, let alone a boy, had been at a loss. Giving money had felt impersonal, almost crude. She'd worried it wasn't enough and had nearly added more. But seeing that unguarded spark of happiness on his face was reward enough.
"Thank you, once again, Alexandra," I said, finally managing to wrestle my expression back under control, though a hint of the smile remained.
"You are welcome," she replied with a regal, nonchalant nod, even as a separate, more primal thought whispered in her mind: I wanna fuck him.
She shook her head slightly, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks as she pushed the distracting thought aside. With a more business-like tone, she asked, "Now that you have awakened… have you decided which path you will follow?"
The question brought me back to reality. I now had to make the choice that would define my future in this world of magic.
There were two primary paths: the Mage and the Martial Artist.
The Mage's path was one of spells, incantations, and vast, external power. Its practitioners formed intricate magic circles around their hearts—a delicate, dangerous process where failure often meant death. Alexandra herself walked this path.
The Martial Artist's path was one of the body, the blade, and internal energy known as Aura. They forged a dense mana core within their dantian, an equally perilous endeavor with mortal stakes. It was a path of raw power and physical mastery that stood toe-to-toe with the mightiest mages.
Both were formidable. But choosing just one felt like accepting a limitation. If I wanted to stand at the absolute peak, I needed the full arsenal.
With a look of absolute conviction, I met her gaze. "I want to be a Mage-Swordsman."
A flicker of a frown touched Alexandra's brow before it was smoothed away by her usual icy composure.
"Are you certain?" she asked, her voice low. "You understand the difficulty. You know the consequences of failure."
I knew them all too well.
Mage-Swordsmen were not unheard of. Many attempted the dual path. But few ever reached greatness. The reason was simple: balance.
Managing both a mana core and a magic circle was a monumental task. They were two separate, powerful energy systems that demanded equal attention. Let one fall behind, let the balance tip, and the result wasn't just stagnation—it was often catastrophic instability that could cripple or kill. Only a rare handful in history had ever mastered the equilibrium, and those who did became legends.
Alexandra knew this intimately, as she was a Battlemage herself, a variant that blended magic with physical combat.
"Yes," I said, my voice leaving no room for doubt. "That is what I want."
My desire wasn't just born from a lust for power, though that was part of it. In my past life, I had devoured stories of magic-wielding warriors. The archetype called to me on a fundamental level.
Alexandra wanted to argue, to list the risks again, but seeing the unshakable resolve in my eyes, she merely sighed in resignation.
"Well, if that is your choice, who am I to stop you?" she conceded, though a trace of concern lingered in her eyes.
She stood up, stretching her lithe form with a languid grace that was unconsciously captivating. "Since you are determined to walk the swordsman's path, I will assign you a mentor to guide your first steps."
"A mentor?" I asked, intrigued.
"Of a sort," she confirmed. "Arthur. He is a Mage-Swordsman himself, and his primary affinity aligns with yours."
My eyebrows shot up. "Arthur uses Lightning?"
I'd never seen the Empress's right-hand man in serious combat. The revelation was a surprise.
"He does," she nodded. "Ah, I forget you've never seen him fight. If you wish to witness his capabilities, you need only observe the imperial army's training grounds. He oversees much of it."
She was right. Arthur was a central figure in the military's training regimen. Seeing him in action would be as simple as taking a walk to the barracks.
I had no objections. Learning from a master of Lightning was an incredible opportunity. But a new worry surfaced. "That's great for Lightning… but who will teach me about the Cosmos?"
"I know what you're thinking," Alexandra said, reading the frown on my face. "No one has ever wielded the Cosmos affinity. There is no master, no grimoire, no established path. You will have to discover it for yourself."
She continued, a note of practicality in her voice. "However, once you begin to manifest its subsidiary aspects—space, perhaps time or light—then I can assign specialists to guide you in those areas."
"What a pain," I muttered, though there was no real annoyance in it. Beneath the words was a thrum of excitement. An uncharted territory of power, mine alone to explore? The prospect was thrilling.
As I was lost in thought, Alexandra's hands went to the buttons of her nightgown. "I will send Arthur to you later. You may decide with him when you wish to begin your training."
The silk gown began to slip from her shoulders. But just as a glimpse of pale skin was revealed, my vision warped. The opulent bedroom dissolved into a swirl of golden light.
An instant later, I was standing in the familiar, much plainer surroundings of my own chambers. The teleportation had been so abrupt it left me slightly dizzy.
Her final, teasing word hung in the air, echoing in my ears as if she'd whispered it right beside me.
"Pervert."
I stared at the empty space where her room had been a second before, then shook my head with a disbelieving laugh.
"Why the hell did she send me back?" I said to the silent room. "It's not like I haven't seen everything already."
******
As I promised, I'm back :D
And thank you for the large amount of collections, it went from 19 to 34 collections in 4 days, you don't know how happy I was after seeing it. Thank you very much! （づ￣3￣）づ╭❤️～