Ian looked at Elise’s innocent little face and felt stuck between laughter and tears.
Even at a time like this, how was she still thinking about her maid duties?
“If I don’t finish my work, I might be late to the cafeteria again later.”
“I’m afraid of what happened at the banquet happening again, so Young Master, could I go to work first?”
“After I finish, I’ll work really hard!”
Elise summoned her courage to make the request of Ian.
Thinking back on those previous events, her small face was stained with several patches of crimson.
Yesterday, after bathing with Annie’s help and returning to the maid dormitory, she had asked the other maids what exactly had happened the night before.
Because their wages had been increased, the other maids were more than happy to explain the situation to her.
That was how she learned that after she had fainted, the Young Master had held her on his lap and fed her dinner, one spoonful at a time.
To prevent such a thing from happening again, Elise had decided she must complete her work properly and eat on time.
Looking at the courageous Elise, Ian sighed before speaking to her.
“From today on, you don’t need to do your maid work anymore.”
“Other maids will take over your duties later. You only need to focus on following me and concentrating on your cultivation.”
Elise was a bit stunned by Ian’s words.
She didn’t have to do maid work anymore?
“As for meals, you will eat with me in the main hall of the Duke’s Mansion from now on.”
Hearing this, Elise hurriedly waved her hands in refusal.
“No, no! The main hall is where the Duke and you eat, Young Master. How could I eat there?”
Despite her refusal, Ian issued a forceful command.
“In order to pass the Entrance Test, eating well is absolutely necessary. Therefore, you do not have the right to refuse.”
“Alright, you don’t need to worry about anything else. For now, you just need to train seriously.”
“Yes, I will train hard,” Elise replied, nodding earnestly.
Elise was actually quite looking forward to practicing magic.
Moreover, it seemed that after learning magic, one could fly in the sky.
Elise wanted to learn how to fly!
She knew what a transcendent existence a Mage was in this world, capable of using many incredible spells, so she naturally yearned to become one.
Although everyone in this world could awaken magic, not everyone was a Mage.
One had to reach at least the First-tier to be considered a Mage; before that, they were merely ordinary people with mana.
“Good. First, hold this in your hand and absorb it.”
As Ian spoke, he tossed a golden stone toward Elise.
“What is this?”
Elise looked at the golden stone in her hand with confusion and asked Ian.
“That is a Junior Light Magic Stone.”
“Absorb the mana inside. It will speed up your cultivation.”
‘It can speed up my cultivation? The Young Master is actually giving me such a precious item?’
Elise thought to herself as she looked at the golden stone.
Although Elise came from a commoner background, she had learned a lot about Mages because she yearned for their life.
Naturally, she knew how precious treasures that could increase cultivation speed were.
‘The Young Master gave me such a precious thing; I definitely can’t let him down.’
Elise made up her mind.
Then, she gripped the Junior Light Magic Stone in her hand, sat cross-legged, and began to absorb the Light attribute mana within.
Watching Elise train, Ian estimated her progress in his mind.
‘With Elise’s talent, consuming three Junior Magic Stones should allow her to reach the First-tier.’
While magic stones were indeed precious in this world, he was the Son of a Duke.
The Duke’s Mansion had at least several hundred such junior stones, if not thousands.
In any case, as long as Elise didn’t break through to the First-tier, he would just keep throwing magic stones at her.
Having money was truly a luxury.
While Elise was absorbing her stone, Ian also pulled a Dark Magic Stone from his pocket.
Although he had a genius like Elise now, Ian didn’t plan to neglect his own cultivation.
After all, the Adelan Magic Academy’s Entrance Test was a team effort.
When strength was relatively equal, it was difficult to win by relying on one person.
Furthermore, there was only one month left for Elise to train.
Although her talent was strong, Ian estimated she could only barely reach the Second Tier at most, which would still make it difficult for them to pass the test.
Thus, his own strength improvement was indispensable.
Regardless of the circumstances, this was the only way he could think of that might allow them to pass the test.
He had to give it his all!
With those thoughts, Ian sat cross-legged near Elise, gripped the magic stone, and prepared to absorb it.
The moment Ian began to absorb the magic stone, an unpredictable scene occurred around him.
For a moment, the world spun, and everything around him disappeared.
When Ian sensed something was wrong and opened his eyes, he was met with a stretch of darkness.
In the center of that darkness stood a giant tree.
“Where did this bring me?”
Ian frowned as he looked at the darkness.
**[Congratulations to the host for successfully unlocking the System function — Magic Tree]**
**[The Dark Magic Tree has now been unlocked]**
Hearing the System’s voice, Ian was first dazed, then ecstatic.
‘A cheat code?’
‘Is this tree in front of me my cheat code?’
‘I knew it. As a transmigrator, how could I not have a cheat code?’
‘Let me see what this is all about.’
Ian stood up in the dark space and walked to the front of the giant tree.
‘Is this a skill tree? But how do I unlock these skills?’
“System, how do I unlock these skills?”
**[Lacking in skill? Practice more.]**
?
Had he just been mocked?
Mocked by his own System?
“What do you mean by that?”
He demanded an explanation.
**[The host has misunderstood. What I mean is that you can practice according to the guidance on the tree. Once your proficiency increases, you will naturally master these skills.]**
Hearing the System’s words, Ian didn’t argue further and began to examine the tree from its base.
Junior Dark Magic — Night Stealth: Hide within the darkness and kill invisibly.
‘This skill is great. Not only can I ambush others, but I can also escape if I can’t win.’
For Ian, who was in desperate need of life-saving skills, this was like receiving charcoal in a snowstorm.
Thus, he reached his hand toward the skill, and the cultivation method for Night Stealth instantly surfaced in his mind.
‘Is this function really this convenient?’
The training method had popped directly into his head.
Furthermore, it seemed that within this space, practicing magic did not depend on the user’s aptitude.
No matter the aptitude, the cultivation speed was the same.
Heaven was truly helping him!
Originally, because Ian’s magic aptitude was poor, he couldn’t learn any decent magic.
Now that he had this cheat, everything was different.
He could finally learn those powerful spells!
This way, the probability of passing the Entrance Test was even higher!
With that in mind, Ian began practicing Night Stealth without pause.
Finally, at the very last moment when the Junior Dark Magic Stone in his hand was exhausted, he successfully mastered the skill.
**[Successfully learned Junior Dark Magic — Night Stealth]**
Returning to reality, Ian noticed the changes in his body.
It seemed his mana had even increased a little.
Looking at it this way, that space could not only allow him to learn magic easily but also increase his mana.
It was truly a case of killing two birds with one stone!
However, that dark space seemed to require magic stones to enter.
It appeared he would have to collect more magic stones in the future.
Ian thought to himself as he looked at the residue left behind by the absorbed stone.
‘By the way, did Elise finish absorbing her stone?’
He turned to look at Elise and found that she was still sitting cross-legged, absorbing the mana within her stone.
It made sense; Ian was at the Second Tier, while Elise had never practiced magic before.
The time it took her to absorb mana would definitely be longer than his.
Just as Ian was about to wait for her, Elise, who had been keeping her eyes tightly shut, suddenly opened them.
As she did, a holy aura spread from her body.
‘She’s already at the First-tier?’
Seeing the scene before him, Ian’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘She only absorbed one Junior Magic Stone? How did she reach the First-tier? Even Veronica, the protagonist of the game, had to absorb two magic stones back then to reach the First-tier!’
“Young Master, I seem to have some mana in my body,” Elise said to Ian with joy as she felt the flow of mana within her.
“Hmm, not bad, not bad at all. To reach the realm of a First-tier Mage after consuming only one magic stone… your talent is even more impressive than I imagined.”
“However, you must never be arrogant. Remember that there is always someone better out there.”
“Back in the day, your Young Master only spent half a magic stone to successfully enter the First-tier.”
“While your talent isn’t as good as mine was back then, it’s still very good. No need to belittle yourself.”
Ian’s words were pure bluffing.
When he had entered the First-tier, he had spent a full ten magic stones.
He was a pure magic failure who had essentially bought his way into the rank.
But how could he admit to being a loser in front of Elise?
Did he not care about his dignity?
“The Young Master is so amazing! I’m still far behind.”
“Even though my talent isn’t as good as yours, Young Master, I will definitely work hard to catch up to you!”
With her simple mind, Elise immediately believed the lie Ian had fabricated.
Seeing her innocent face, Ian actually felt a hint of guilt.
‘This is all to motivate her to train hard.
It’s definitely not because I’m inferior to my little maid and wanted to lie after my self-esteem was wounded.’
‘Definitely not!’ Ian hypnotized himself.
Just as Ian was feeling conflicted, a sound echoed from Elise’s stomach.
“Uh, Elise, are you hungry?”
Hearing her stomach growl, Elise’s face turned red with shame as she stammered her reply.
“I… I’m not hungry. I just… kind of want to eat.”
Ian found her response quite amusing.
Wasn’t “wanting to eat” the same as being hungry?
However, looking at the sun hanging high above, it was indeed time for lunch. Annie should have prepared the meal by now.
“Let’s go. We’ll eat first. You only have the strength to train after you’ve eaten.”
Hearing Ian’s words, Elise’s eyes, which were still filled with embarrassment, shot out beams of light.
“Yes, Young Master!”