Within the grand library filled with towering bookshelves, a boy stood by the window, gazing outside as the warm morning sunlight shone on his figure.

His deep, jet-black hair almost reached his neck, swaying gently in the wind. His piercing grey eyes remained fixed on a tree outside, a few meters away.

Adrian’s appearance had changed significantly in the past five years. He had grown taller, much taller than his five-year-old self. His face had lost much of its lingering baby fat, making his features sharper.

Sharper to the point that his expressionless face now looked cold instead of seeming strange.

He raised one arm, pointing at the tree. Mana began gathering on the tip of his finger. It twisted unnaturally and formed strange patterns akin to constellations in the night sky before materializing into a dark-starlit sphere about the size of an apple.

With one mental command, the sphere shot forward at an incredible speed, colliding with the tree trunk. The moment it collided, the sphere rapidly expanded to several times its size before suddenly vanishing into nothingness.

The result, however, was horrific. There was a large, perfectly symmetrical hole in the tree trunk where the orb had collided before vanishing. No splinter of wood could be found anywhere on the ground.

It was as if the starlit sphere had devoured that part of the tree trunk before it vanished into nothingness.

Adrian lowered his arm and turned away.

[Impressive. It looks quite lethal, to think it’s only a second-tier spell.]

He glanced back, only to find a black bird now sitting on the window frame, looking at him. It was Alisardarc.

Adrian sighed.

"It’s not really that strong."

The bird tilted its head.

Instead of elaborating, Adrian picked up a wooden stick that was hidden behind a bookshelf. Walking back to the window, he held the wooden stick outside with one hand.

Taking a deep breath, he sharpened his focus as he coated the stick with a large amount of his mana, creating a thick layer over it that perfectly covered the stick. He raised his other hand and pointed it at the stick, now covered in a thick layer of mana.

Mana gathered at the tip of his finger, creating the starlit sphere once again. Adrian fired it at the stick, but the moment the sphere made contact with it, it bounced off, landing on the ground a few feet away.

Touching the grassy surface, the sphere expanded rapidly before vanishing, leaving a small, perfectly symmetrical circular crater on the ground.

Adrian turned to Alisardarc.

"Did that demonstration change your evaluation?"

What Adrian had just used was a spell he had created over the past five years. He called it Space Implosion.

It created a physically materialised sphere using his space element. When the sphere collides with a physical object, it rapidly expands in size while devouring the surrounding space before collapsing into itself and vanishing.

But this spell had a critical flaw: it could devour space, but it struggled to devour mana.

...which made little sense, to be honest.

If one thought logically, this flaw was illogical. After all, mana was present inside space. How could something devour space itself, yet struggle to devour something that existed within that space?

It was the same flaw as his Infusion Art, which could apparently cut through space but couldn’t cut through mana as easily, according to Sir Joran.

’When Sir Joran told me about this flaw, I hadn’t realised how crippling it was.’

But it had become painfully clear to him now.

If one needs to use mana in any situation, then their opponent will most likely be a mana user as well. This meant that the space element was basically the most useless elemental affinity one could have since it became significantly weaker against mana.

Alisardarc flew off the window frame and landed on his shoulder.

[My evaluation remains the same. After all, it’s you we are talking about, feeble one. You would not waste your time creating something so obviously flawed.]

"Looks like you have come to understand me well. By the way, stop calling me feeble."

Alisardarc wasn’t wrong; there was indeed a solution to that problem. Although the minimum amount of mana required to cast Space Implosion was very small, one could intentionally expend more mana while casting the spell. The spell’s strength was entirely dependent on how much mana was used to cast it.

Adrian had intentionally added this function while creating it.

With this, the spell would theoretically be able to devour anything as long as enough mana was consumed while casting it. However, currently, the result wasn’t going to be all that significant, even if he used up all his mana while casting this spell.

More than that, it meant that this spell would remain useful to him no matter how high he climbed on the Phase ladder, unlike other spells that apparently become useless after the user climbs to higher Phases.

’Though creating this spell was easier than I expected.’

When he had first made the decision, Adrian was quite unsure, since he had no knowledge of the topic. But as it turned out, creating a spell was quite simple. As long as one was creative enough and had sufficient theoretical knowledge, one could create it.

And Adrian had worked hard over these five years, learning all the necessary knowledge by reading books.

[By the way, that engagement is merely a few days away, yet you don’t seem to care.]

He put the stick back where he had picked it.

"Quite the opposite, actually. I am looking forward to it."

If his guess was correct and that girl was a reincarnate just like him, then he may end up with a lot of new information.

What were the circumstances of her reincarnation? Had she figured out something he hadn’t? Did she possess any vital pieces of information?

They could both even team up and work together if their goals aligned.

’No, I’m getting ahead of myself. There is a high chance she isn’t a reincarnate. I don’t have any basis for my speculation.’

Alisardarc twisted its head unnaturally.

[You seemed to hate the idea of engagement quite a bit a few years ago. Why the sudden change?]

Adrian ignored that question; he had no intention of sharing anything about reincarnation with anyone.

He arranged all the books neatly on the table and left the library.

Alisardarc hopped to his other shoulder.

[I don’t get you, feeble one. You are chasing after strength as if your life depends on it, but it doesn’t. You won’t really die even if you remain weak—]

Before the bird could even finish, Adrian dismissed the black bird as its figure faded into wisps of mana.

Walking through the hallway, he paused as he saw his reflection in the metallic surface of a silver shield hung on the wall as decoration.

He could see his figure enveloped in a bluish aura. An aura abnormally massive and thick for his small body. He still remembered how shocked he had been when he first saw this massive aura around him.

Now he understood why so many people didn’t give him the treatment a child was supposed to receive.

He had reached the second phase two years ago. Thankfully, it didn’t happen during his sleep like the first time; it had happened while he was training. And it was quite a strange experience.

Apparently, you gain the ability to see and sense presence after reaching Phase Two, which was what this bluish aura was—the mana that can’t be stored and is thus constantly leaking from the body.

Since reaching the next phase, the rate at which his mana reserves were replenished had surpassed the amount of mana constantly being consumed to maintain Alisardarc. Which meant that he could now maintain one copy of Alisardarc indefinitely.

Although useless, Alisardarc was rather knowledgeable about this world, so it was convenient to have it around and explain things when he needed.

He entered the dining hall, which was empty, and sat alone at the large dining table. The servant nearby quickly went and brought his meal as he saw Adrian waiting.

After quickly finishing the meal, he stood up and left. Walking through the familiar route, he reached the spot where he had trained for five years.

He picked up the wooden sword lying on the grass and gripped it with both hands.

’Focus.’

Releasing his mana, he coated the wooden blade in a thin, bluish aura. Adrian tried his best to maintain the aura in the shape of a sharp blade, but it still distorted and flickered constantly.

While struggling to maintain the aura’s shape, he adjusted his stance and swung down the sword in a swift, precise motion.

He had mastered the first level of his infusion art about a year ago, and right now, he was trying his best to learn the second level.

The first level involved gathering mana in your hands and releasing it in a single burst during the swing, while the second level involved coating the weapon with mana and swinging it.

’Sir Joran had said that the first two levels are exactly the same for all Infusion Arts.’

Apparently, the only difference in the first two levels was the combat technique itself, and the other differences only exist starting from the third level.

After continuing his training for a few hours, Adrian tossed away the wooden sword as he wiped the sweat off his face.

’It should be time.’

He entered the mansion and walked along the path to the library. As he reached his destination, he saw a maid standing by the library’s door.

He walked up to her.

"Is the librarian present?"

"Uh, no," she bowed politely. "He had to finish some urgent work outside, so I am afraid he will not be back before tomorrow. But if you need anything, Young Master Adrian, then you can ask me. I was ordered to manage the library during his absence."

"No need." He shook his head. "But make sure that you don’t disturb me while I am in the library. Do not enter without my permission."

The maid hesitated, but gave a small nod in the end. Adrian turned away and entered the library, closing the door behind him.

’Everything seems to be going well up to this point.’

He knew that the librarian would be absent right now, which was something he had been waiting for. The library was one of the emptiest places in this entire mansion, a place where he was least likely to be disturbed.

And now that the librarian was absent and the maid outside had been dealt with, nobody was going to disturb him for a while.

And he needed that, for what he was about to do. Now, he was finally going to test the true result of all his efforts over these five years.