Chapter 10: The Guard’s Subtle Intentions

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Morning at the Kane family estate.

Last night, for some unknown reason, Master Lees’s magical experiments ceased early. The usual incessant “boom boom” sounds that had lasted for days were gone, and the servants throughout the estate felt their sleep quality greatly improved.

The young maid, Rosie, pushed open the dining room window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Her long brown ponytail, hanging down to her waist, happily swayed back and forth.

As Master Lees’s personal maid, Rosie thought that although his experiments had been running late into the night recently, it was still better than before when he would shut himself away in the laboratory and bedroom for entire days.

Compared to those times when she sometimes didn’t see Master Lees at all for a whole day, despite the exhaustion, being able to give him massages and hear him occasionally laugh and chat with her in recent days made her feel that she was becoming an increasingly competent personal maid.

“All right, Rosie, keep up the good work today!” Rosie patted her smooth, youthful face, encouraging herself.

It was time to wake the master. Lately, he had been staying up late and looked a bit rundown. Usually, she was the one to wake him. Maybe today she should prepare some invigorating black tea for him.

Just as Rosie was about to head upstairs to wake him, she turned around and saw Lees already seated at the head of the dining table, enjoying his breakfast.

Lees waved his hand, signaling his adorable maid to have the kitchen bring an additional serving of ham chunks bread.

Tender, fresh ham pieces nestled within soft, white bread, paired with a rich creamy mushroom soup, greatly whetted Lees’s appetite.

Of course, it was probably also because Lees was in an exceptionally good mood today.

Last night, he had successfully improved his very first exclusive arcane spell and completed his transformation into an arcanist. This was a significant first step toward becoming a legendary mage.

The blue orb spell he had refined was judged by the system to be a level three arcane spell, which was an unexpected delight.

Typically, spells improved from level one would only yield level one arcane spells. To increase power and advance to higher tiers, more complex elemental circuits and magic runes were required. Yet his blue orb spell defied this norm.

If it wasn’t a problem with the elemental model, then perhaps the reason lay within himself?

Maybe his soul was more attuned to fire magic since in his past life he had also specialized in fire spells?

Lees allowed his thoughts to wander. The issue of elemental model compatibility with the soul remained unresolved even to this day; there was no way to determine the exact nature of the situation.

After all, the soul was the most profound and mysterious part of any living being — even gods could not fully fathom its secrets.

While Lees enjoyed his exquisite breakfast and indulged in his reflections, Butler Joyce approached from outside, seemingly wanting to speak with him.

Upon seeing Lees, he was momentarily stunned; even his usually composed demeanor seemed to freeze for a moment.

Lees noticed Joyce’s unusual behavior and asked curiously, “Joyce, is something the matter?”

Joyce then recovered and, with impeccable manners, bowed slightly:

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“Master Mora has just sent word reminding you not to forget to attend his birthday banquet tonight.”

That fellow...

Lees was somewhat speechless. Hadn’t he already accompanied him to the library to remind him once? Yet now he had to send someone to urge him again.

If he weren’t busy preparing related matters, he might have come personally to drag him there!

It wasn’t like Lees had been... uh...

He thought back and realized he indeed had skipped several times before.

Sigh, since the invitation was so earnest, he might as well reluctantly go.

“I understand. I’ll return early today.”

“Very well, Master. I will have Rosie prepare your formal attire for the banquet in advance.”

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Belaire Street

Bang—

On the flat ground outside the warehouse, two figures touched and separated instantly. One was Lees, panting heavily and supporting himself with a spear; the other was his clearly less exhausted guard, Dyson.

“Master, when you wielded the spear just now, you strained your waist too much, causing your movements to distort. When exerting force, you should have...” Dyson put away his weapon and began pointing out flaws in Lees’s recent technique, seeing that he was near exhaustion.

Lees nodded, wiping sweat from his forehead with his hand, while observing the information popping up in his field of vision.

[Intermediate Warrior Dyson teaches you spear techniques. Your spear weapon proficiency (novice) has increased.]

[...94%...95%...]

After several days of training, his proficiency with single-handed and two-handed swords had already risen to intermediate level, and spear proficiency was close behind.

Moreover, as he trained more, the variety of combat skills he learned expanded. He felt a certain intuitive crossover effect, making it easier to handle other weapons. The most direct sign was the accelerating speed at which his weapon proficiency improved.

This was likely due in part to his [Versatile] talent.

Originally, it was estimated that raising proficiency in ten weapon types to intermediate level would take about one and a half months. Now it seemed one month might suffice.

That was good news, considering his limited time. While increasing his strength, he also needed to research how to avoid the tragic cannon-fodder fate awaiting him.

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[...98%...99%...100%]

[Your spear weapon proficiency has increased to intermediate level.]

[Intermediate Spear Mastery: You have basically mastered spear usage techniques. When wielding a spear, your power moderately increases.]

Good, that was the third intermediate level!

After training with Dyson a bit longer, Lees finally broke through to intermediate spear proficiency. He then stopped, tossed the spear aside, and said to Dyson:

“I don’t find the spear very interesting—too simple. Teach me the saber next.”

Dyson was momentarily taken aback, not understanding why Master Lees suddenly lost interest in the spear, especially since his spear skills had been improving steadily.

However, the usually taciturn Dyson said nothing and simply nodded. He walked over, retrieved a standard-issue saber from the weapon case he had prepared earlier, and began demonstrating royal family saber techniques.

Welf, standing nearby, saw Lees toss aside the spear and have Dyson bring out the saber to begin training, and his mouth twitched involuntarily.

He had seen this scene a couple of days ago—he was teaching Lees single-handed sword techniques just fine, then Lees suddenly stopped to try something else. It seemed Master Lees was once again uninterested in the spear and wanted to practice the saber.

Bill, standing beside Welf and noticing his somewhat exasperated expression, whispered:

“I don’t know what our master is thinking. He’s only trained a few days before getting impatient. Isn’t this the fourth weapon he’s tried now?”

Welf shook his head. “That’s not for you to say. Master Lees just wants to experience various weapons. Once he finds one that fits and he likes, he won’t be like this.”

Bill quickly added, “Hey, boss, I’m just telling you in private, but considering he’s already a Golden Warrior, even the noble lords would show him some respect. Spending so much effort to teach Master, and yet he keeps switching and being picky—it’s a bit...”

Welf glanced at Bill but didn’t stop him from continuing.

“These past days we’ve been goofing off with Master Lees during the day, and at night he makes such a racket that none of us get proper rest. The brothers have some complaints.”

“Complaints? Probably just you and Lance and a few others. Dyson and the rest don’t seem to mind.”

“That’s not quite the same. Dyson and those few were raised by the Kane family since childhood. Us brothers all recognize you as our leader. Otherwise...”

Welf waved his hand, cutting Bill off. This guy was getting out of line. Still, Master Lees was indeed a handful. Maybe it was time to speak to that gentleman about it.

Seeing Welf had heard his words, Bill fell silent. Being a man of leisure, he certainly didn’t want to spend every day sparring and training with this young master. Wouldn’t it be better to spend some time in Golden Lily Lane, enjoying the company of a lady?