A week passed in what felt like no time at all. During that span, Lukas had barely left his guest house, only venturing out in the early morning to train with Akira. It wasn't any form of Stockholm Syndrome that kept him from venturing out of the Anuk Estate, but his desire to learn as much as he could. There was so much he didn't know, and all he wanted to do was fill those gaps before the chance to do so disappeared. As a result, he found it harder to do anything other than read and experiment—just like when he'd first started to learn alchemy.

Lukas had never been a one‑track‑minded kind of guy—he could split his focus between multiple things at once—but when it came to magic he found it so fascinating that he couldn't pull himself away; it was magic, after all. Each answer that came brought more questions and opened up new horizons right before his eyes. He consumed books on basic magical theory and rituals at a startling pace, filling notebooks with diagrams and notes one after another.

With such an appetite for knowledge, he made quick progress on his rituals and their underlying principles. Each ritual was made up of various sigils, runes, and foundational shapes like circles or pentagrams. In the beginning Lukas wondered how each ritual was discovered. Had some caveman somewhere accidentally scribbled a bunch of nonsense on a cave wall, only to have it activate a magic circle? The answer to that was a resounding "no," because it was a dumb question.

Every individual part of a ritual, array, or formation had specific properties that, when put together, created an effect. These individual parts could be seen as letters and words that came together to create a story, the layout of those words dictating the end result. It's because of this that new rituals, arrays, and formations can be created. So long as one knew what each part of a ritual did, they could alter the effect of a ritual. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as changing the words in a sentence, since sigils and runes had a habit of interlocking with—and being dependent on—a whole host of other runes and sigils.

Despite these complexities, Lukas was making good headway in his understanding of rituals and the like. He was far from being able to read what a ritual did just by looking at it or creating rituals of his own, yet he had learned a few of the sigils and runes. Of course, those were the easy ones that could be spotted in almost every ritual in existence, but it was a start.

Lukas hadn't touched alchemy at all over the last week, leaving the lab upstairs empty and dusty. He was still gaining more inspiration for his concoctions, however, so he didn't feel too bad. His idea was based on the way parts of a ritual interacted to come together and create a whole, as well as the flow of mana through his channels during meditation. He still had a way to go before he had a real, concrete understanding of what he needed to do, but he was confident enough to start experimenting soon. He just needed to do a bit more research on minor magical resonance—the study of magical interactions within a magical emplacement.

It wasn't just Lukas's knowledge base that saw improvement, but also all the training he did with Akira. Lukas's meditation technique was refined in leaps and bounds, and while he was no master of channeling mana, he could at least circulate mana through all of his abilities for a minute or two before losing control. This was due to the fact that whenever Lukas wanted to ponder or think over something he'd learned, he would meditate—something that happened a lot—being sure to channeling mana in order to get into the habit.

There wasn't much to say about his martial‑arts training, as he wasn't really learning any martial art yet. He was still focusing on fundamental movements and whatnot. He was a bit annoyed at that fact but kept his complaints to himself to avoid Akira's ire. There was progress, however, and Akira informed Lukas that it wouldn't be much longer before she'd start teaching him actual techniques.

What saw the largest improvement was, unsurprisingly, Lukas's aura technique. Between his insane soul strength and the god‑awful method he'd been practicing before, progress came quick and easy. He was in no way a master after a week, but he had picked up the basics without much effort. He had yet to learn to suppress someone with his aura and had asked Akira about it a few times, with her telling him it was still being figured out—growing more and more annoyed with every subsequent inquiry.

Movement training was the subject that had seen the least improvement by far. This was because Lukas was already rather proficient at moving through complex environments. Granted, he learned a few things, mostly how to better leverage his increased agility and strength. Other than that, it was just learning to move quicker, trying to get more used to running through the thick brush.

Even Akira thought Lukas' overall progress was great, though she chalked it up to him being so bad that any improvement was good. While Lukas didn't agree with the sentiment, he also couldn't entirely disagree because he was terrible and had a long way to go.

To summarize, Lukas was improving in all areas.

***

Lukas wasn't the only person to see progress, as Akira made leaps of her own—even if dealing with Lukas consumed more of her free time than she liked. With what free time she did have, Akira spent it out completing contracts, and that week she'd completed enough to finally move up and be able to take on real contracts—ones that would actually challenge her. Up to this point she'd been stuck dealing with things far below her level. How was she meant to progress by killing things at least twenty levels weaker than she was?

When Akira had been told that she'd be able to take on more difficult contracts, she'd been elated, completing jobs like there was no tomorrow—sometimes taking multiple at a time. As a result of her enthusiasm, Akira found herself returning home later and later every night as she tried to squeeze in one last contract. Her mother was thrilled to hear about her promotion but frowned upon Akira's increasing tardiness. Recently she'd insisted on having dinner every night in order to ask Akira about her day and to ask after Lukas.

It annoyed Akira to no end, but there was no denying her mother.

"The rate at which he devours knowledge is terrifying," Akira told her mother. They were in their private residence in the main lodge, eating a lavish dinner together in the opulent yet rustic dining room. "We split up after training in the morning, and he just goes straight to studying. Then, when I show up in the evening to see what he's up to, I find he's gone through another half‑dozen books. I don't even know how he finds time to go to the library if he's going through that many."

Kora smiled. "I found him there two days ago, picking out new books and writing down some information on a few others. I just told him to take as many as he wanted, and the next moment he'd put an entire shelf's worth of books into that storage ability of his."

Akira grimaced. "He really should be more careful about that before someone finds out."

"Someone will eventually; he knows this and is quite careful. There was no one else in the library but us at the time, so it's fine. One might think he was a schemer based on how paranoid, suspicious, and forward‑thinking he is. But he's too easy to read and is obviously a hermit who's not comfortable in any social setting."

"Yeah, good luck getting him to attend any kind of soirée."

"He'll be reluctant," Kora agreed, "but the political reality is that we'll have to show him off eventually; otherwise all the other families will be breathing down our necks."

"Attempting to tear down the gates sounds more likely," Akira scoffed.

"Probably," her mother laughed, taking a moment to stir her tea before continuing. "You said he hasn't left his guest house in a week?"

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"That's right. He only leaves in the morning, and I have to drag him away from what he's doing half the time. Most nights he doesn't even sleep; he's so focused on his studying. At this point he probably knows more about ritualism than most people."

"Don't discourage him," Kora scolded lightly. "He's in a new world; let him learn all that he can while that passion is still burning. But that's beside the point. Why don't you take him out to the city tomorrow?"

"What?" she asked, looking up from her meal.

"Take him to the city. You said that the armor he wears was taken from someone he killed, right?"

"You want me to take him to get proper armor?" Akira frowned, setting her fork aside.

"That's right," Kora nodded.

"Don't you think it's a little early for something like that? Good armor is expensive, and for all we know he could still run off in the night once he reads all the books in the library."

Kora chuckled before sipping her tea. "You might be right, it is a bit early, but this way you can show him a bit of the city while fitting him with a proper set of armor. We can't have his traipsing around the grounds in something so low quality.

"And as I said, he knows his situation, and he knows that he's going to need backing of some kind. Better to stick with the people who treat him like a person rather than an asset."

Akira scowled at her meal. "I don't like that. It feels like he's being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, and he's stuck with us. It feels slimy."

"It's true—he's stuck between a rock and a hard place given his situation. All we can do is our best to make him feel welcome and safe here. He'll get plenty of offers and deals in the future from families and groups with more power and resources than us, but so long as we build a good rapport with him, he won't be tempted. Part of that is getting him ready for what is to come, so take him out to the city to get proper armor. Spare no expense, treat him as though he were family, and afterwards show him around the adventurer district; I'm sure he'll find that interesting."

Akira grimaced at the prospect of spending more of her time with Lukas, "Are you sure I'd be the best person to bring him? I get a lot of attention when I'm in the city. That attention will only intensify if I'm seen walking around with a strange human no one's ever seen before."

"It should be a familiar face that takes him, not a servant or random member of the family—that would only cause unnecessary friction. It can't be me who takes him; that would draw even more attention. We'll have him use his ability to change his aura—he'll disguise himself as an elf—then, if anyone asks, we can say he's a distant family member."

"But do we even know if that's something he can do?" Akira asked.

"I strongly suspect that it's something he's capable of, and once he does that all he needs is a hood to cover up his ears."

"What if someone tries to take a peek at our auras?"

"Come now, Akira—you're just looking for excuses at this point," Kora tutted, "You know as well as I do that no one would be stupid enough to do something like that."

"Fine," Akira relented, "but it'll take most of the day."

"It's alright to take a day off now and then, dear. You've worked so hard lately, and you finally got the promotion you so obviously deserve. Take a day to relax; rest is an important part of training, too."

"I know," Akira admitted. "I'll take Lukas out tomorrow. Is there anywhere else you think I should take him?"

"I'll leave that up to you and him."

***

Later that evening, Akira went around to Lukas's guest house like she did most nights, and once again she found him engrossed in his growing mountain of books. It was to the point that Lukas didn't even acknowledge—or notice—Akira's arrival, even after she rang the doorbell and invited herself in. It wasn't until she stood directly in front of him that he peeled his nose from the book he was reading.

"You're here already?" he asked, confused.

"What are you talking about? I've been coming around at this time for the whole week."

From his spot on the couch, Lukas turned, craning his neck to look out the windows that made up the back wall, and saw that it was night. "Oh. I didn't realize it was so late. Time kinda got away from me."

"No kidding," Akira said, taking a seat on the couch—the part not covered in books and chalk dust. "Don't you ever get burnt out or need to take a break?"

"No," Lukas said, shaking his head emphatically. "The levels and the stats help a lot—I mean the amount of information I can take in in a single day is ridiculous. And I was never really a good student before coming here, but magic is magic. Who wouldn't want to learn magic?"

Akira just smiled and shook her head. "You really have a childlike wonder when it comes to magic, though I can't blame you. Growing up with magic, it's always been there, and it's just ordinary to me—but when I think about it, it really is an amazing thing."

"We have books back home filled with magic, but we never had the real thing. Realizing how much I marvel at magic makes me wonder what I would have thrown myself into had I not thought of it as ordinary."

"What about all that technology you've told me about?"

Lukas shrugged, wiping some chalk dust off himself. "I'm not so sure. There's a lot of crossover between here and back home; the only difference is how it's achieved."

"Still, I find it interesting to hear how some of those things are achieved without magic."

"There's not a whole lot I can tell you, unfortunately," he said, closing his book and setting it down on a nearby stack.

"Well, if you ever find a way home, I'm coming with you. I want to see a world without magic."

"Sure," Lukas said, his words full of melancholy, as he grabbed a nearby book and opened it.

Picking up on Lukas's obvious unwillingness to talk on the subject any further, Akira pivoted to another topic. "Well, I came by to tell you that we're going out to the city tomorrow."

"Why?" he asked, pulling his gaze from the pages, and she could just about see the incredulous look through his mask.

"To show you around a bit—as well as to get you a proper set of armor."

Lukas frowned beneath his mask and looked down at the armor he was wearing. "But I've already got armor."

Akira rolled her eyes. "What you have is someone else's armor. I'm talking about getting you armor that fits you and suits your needs as an adventurer."

"I don't know—something like that sounds expensive, and while I have a decent amount of coin, I don't know how much it's actually worth."

"You don't need to worry about that, my family will be the ones covering the cost."

Lukas's body language grew more hesitant, and Akira understood why. He thought it was a way to make him feel indebted to them—which was exactly what he thought. Lukas didn't like the idea of having them buy him things that were ridiculously expensive, because he would feel like he owed them. He had no qualms about tearing through their library, which cost them nothing except for a slight inconvenience if someone wanted a book he currently had in one of his piles, but what Akira suggested was something he had a problem with.

"You wouldn't owe us anything in return," Akira assured. "In fact, my mother said, 'spare no expense, treat him as though he were family.'"

"It doesn't feel that way. No matter what you say, that's always going to be hanging over me, and I'll feel indebted to you and your family. I like to think of my agreement with your mother as two individual parties coming together for mutual benefit, where both sides can act independently of the other outside of the agreed-upon terms. This feels like a not‑so‑subtle way for your family to sink its hooks into me."

Akira thought over the situation for a moment and had to agree with Lukas's assessment. She didn't like it, but it was true. She wondered whether her mother expected this response from Lukas or if she had tried to get her hooks into Lukas like he said. Either way, it annoyed Akira because it meant that her mother could test both Akira and Lukas at the same time—testing Akira to see if she could come up with a solution and Lukas to see whether or not he'd spot the potential problem. Whatever the case, it didn't matter.

"How about this: my family still pays for whatever you want to buy, but you pay us back over time."

"Like a loan?"

"Sure. That way you get the armor and equipment you need while also avoiding feeling like you owe us—besides the money, obviously. We won't even make you pay interest."

Lukas looked at Akira, thinking over the offer, his amber eyes boring into her own from behind his sleek black mask. "That… should be alright."

Akira nodded and stood. "Good. We'll go in the morning after training. Is there anything you need before I go?"

Lukas shook his head and turned his attention back to his books. "Nah, I'm good. I'll finish up what studying I can before tomorrow morning."

"Guess I'll see you then," she said, heading for the door.

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