Chapter 211 - 180: Spring

After returning from his aunt’s place, Richard took the ink bottle out from the depths of his schoolbag.

Pushing his Spiritual Vision to its maximum, the entire ink bottle floated into view.

Under his Spiritual Vision, the body of the bottle turned semi-transparent, and Richard could see the conductive silver threads the alchemist had personally embedded inside.

The third layer in was the ink reservoir.

The ink itself was a type of Ether Condensate, but its concentration had been reduced to an extremely low level, allowing it to be used like ordinary ink.

At its very core was a small, rotating structure—the central circuit of the entire bottle.

The way the circuit operated was extremely similar to the Light Tree in his own micro-circulation, but its conversion efficiency was very low.

He tried placing his hand on it to absorb Points.

Judging by the rate of increase, he estimated the residual Ether reserves in the ink bottle were worth a little over half a point—about the same as the antique he had bought from Donal.

But he had no intention of draining ninety-five percent of it.

If he absorbed too much, the circuit would be ruined.

With this in mind, he began to consciously control the absorption speed of the Points.

The [Available Points] on his panel began to climb.

It took fifteen minutes for his [Available Points] to climb from 1.75 to 1.85.

It took another ten minutes to go from 1.85 to 1.99.

Richard stopped and reactivated his Spiritual Vision to inspect the bottle.

There was no change in the rhythm of the circuit’s operation, but the silver mesh at the edge of the core circuit was beginning to show signs of stress.

If he went any further, he would personally destroy the bottle’s "never-ending ink" enchantment.

Richard absorbed that last, extremely fine wisp of Ether.

His [Available Points] stopped at exactly 2.0—enough for his needs without damaging the ink bottle.

’I can’t ruin the first gift my aunt ever gave me.’

Richard looked at his panel.

[Available Points] 2.0

(For ease of calculation, progress bars omit decimals.)

[Breathing] Level 3, 9% progress.

[Eating] Level 2, 59% progress.

[Sleep] Level 2, 63% progress.

[Walking] Level 2, 29% progress.

[Scholarship] Level 2, 87% progress.

[Perception] Level 2, 21% progress.

Now that he had two points on hand, he decided to try previewing the changes to [Breathing] after its next advancement.

He invested two Points into [Breathing], and the panel quickly displayed a preview message:

"The next advancement for this skill requires:

Level 4 at 100% progress; 2 Available Points; complete mastery of one Advanced Breathing Technique."

"Unlockable Effect Preview—Breathing: Spring: Enhances the original Healing effect and allows for the storage of life force with each breath. Greatly accelerates self-healing when injured, or can be used for Energy Introduction to heal others."

Richard sat motionless.

He read the text on the panel again from beginning to end.

’Greatly accelerates self-healing when injured.’ This part addressed the dangers of combat.

Those on the Scholar path lacked the explosive Ether bursts of a Hunter, nor did they have the protective Spirit aura of a Secretive One who could pull out a pile of alchemical equipment at a moment’s notice.

His Covering Armor could only block blades, not Piercing firearms, and the Moon Nail was for offense, not defense.

If he could acquire [Spring], it would be a reliable, life-saving trump card.

The "Energy Introduction to heal others" part was also extremely important.

He immediately thought of his mother’s illness.

Even if he couldn’t completely fix her circuit, just being able to stop the one that had been idling uselessly for over a decade, to make the dull ache in her lungs that flared up on rainy days slowly fade away—that would be amazing.

Unfortunately, he still had a very long way to go before he could obtain [Spring].

The progress bar for [Breathing] climbed very slowly. He had reached Level 3 some time ago, yet his progress was still under 10%.

Once he became a Practitioner and acquired an Advanced Breathing Technique, the speed should increase.

Thanks to the many new things he had learned recently, all involving Mysticism, the progress for [Scholarship] Level 2 wasn’t as difficult to raise as [Breathing] had been.

He still had a lot of materials on hand waiting to be deciphered. If he maintained his current study pace, he could reach 100% in another two weeks.

After hitting 100%, once he independently deciphered the practice materials for Double Overwrite, he would meet all the advancement conditions for [Scholarship] Level 3.

He would need 1 Point for the advancement and another 1 Point to unlock [Rationality]. His [Available Points] were just enough.

Richard let out a breath.

He raised his head and glanced at the glass ink bottle on his desk.

The line of Latin on the side of the bottle looked soft and gentle under the lamplight.

"Veritas ardua, sed amabilis."

On the other side of the desk, the list of thirty-six books Isabella had left him last night was pinned to the wall with a small thumbtack.

"Truth is difficult, but lovable," Richard murmured.

"...But with my [Scholarship] and [Rationality], she might just be simple and lovable instead."

He heard his sister tossing and turning in the next room.

Richard turned off the light.

’The manuscript just needs to be handed over to Charlotte before February 15th.’

’The Divine Pantheon Salon’s February gathering is also mid-month. I still have a month to prepare.’

Richard lay down in bed and pulled the covers over himself.

He closed his eyes.

The leaves of the Light Tree in his chest swayed gently, spreading [Breath Healing] throughout his body.

In less than three minutes, he sank into the high-quality deep sleep brought on by [Sleep] Level 2.

.........

「At 7:25 in the morning」

Isabella came to the Williams Family home alone.

When she knocked, Margaret was already waiting behind the door.

"Morning."

"Morning," Margaret said, pulling the door open to let her sister in.

"Where are Sofia and Clara?"

"I left them at the inn. Let them sleep in a little."

Isabella took off her overcoat and hung it on the hook behind the door.

"You get self-conscious when outsiders are around for things like a massage."

Margaret almost laughed but held it back.

"I’m not that..."

"You are."

Isabella walked to the center of the living room.

Margaret had already closed both doors leading from the living room to the hallway.

She then walked to the kitchen doorway and shut the half-open door completely.

"Evelyn!"

A very reluctant "Yeah?" came from upstairs.

"Go play with your brother!"

"I’m already upstairs!"

"Then just stay there and be good."

"...I know."

Isabella let out a soft laugh.

"Sis, your daughter is a handful."

"I know." Mother sighed. "Just let her be."

A small head poked out from between the railings at the turn of the staircase. The blue ribbon on top of her head was crooked again, covering half of her ear.

Richard tiptoed out of his room, slipped behind his sister, and tapped her on the head.

"Bro!"

"Shhh..." Richard held a finger to his lips. "Keep your voice down, don’t let Mom hear that you came down."

"You’re peeking too!" Evelyn argued in a hushed voice.

"I’m different from you."

"How are you different?"

"I’m..." Richard searched for the right word. "I’m studying."

Richard pushed his sister toward his room.

"Go back to your room. On my way home yesterday, I bought a bag of almond crisps and put them in your room. After you eat them, just pretend I never came down."

"Are you bribing me?"

"It’s a partnership."

Evelyn stared at her brother for a moment, then turned, slipped into her room, and pulled the door almost shut behind her.

Richard went back to the top of the stairs, crouched down, and peered into the living room through the lowest gap in the railing.

Mother was already lying face down on the sofa.

Her back faced upward, her face buried in the sofa cushions, her shoulders rising and falling slightly.

Isabella walked to the side of the sofa and knelt down.

She rolled up her sleeves, baring her forearms.

She clasped her hands together, palms facing, and slowly exhaled.

A thin film of Ether condensed between her palms.

Richard watched with his Spiritual Vision and saw his aunt press the film of Ether onto the center of his mother’s neck and shoulders.

His mother’s whole shoulder trembled for a moment, then slowly relaxed.

"Does it hurt?"

"...Doesn’t hurt."

"Is it warm?"

"It’s warm."

"Warm is right." His aunt’s hands slowly pressed and pushed along the two main channels on either side of his mother’s spine.

With each pass, whenever she reached the area around the seventh vertebra, his mother’s entire body would tremble with pain.

Richard could see it clearly. That was the spot where the circuit had exploded all those years ago.

When the round of treatment was over, Mother let out a long breath on the sofa.

"How is it?" Isabella asked.

"..."

"Sis?"

"...I haven’t felt this relaxed in years," Mother’s voice was muffled by the sofa cushions.

Isabella rolled her sleeves back down, picked up the teapot from the coffee table, and poured her mother a glass of warm water.

She glanced up toward the top of the stairs.

Richard didn’t have time to pull back.

"Done peeking?"

"I was studying."

"Come down."

Richard resignedly walked down the stairs.

Isabella looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Your Spiritual Vision has decent range and precision, but you have absolutely no way of concealing it."

"...Is my Spiritual Vision that obvious?"

"Your focus warps the Ether Flow. Anyone with even a little bit of Perception can see it quite clearly."

Richard frowned. The fact that his Spiritual Vision was so easily exposed had indeed always been a problem for him.

Mother drank half of the warm water on the sofa.

"Isabella, my son..."

"Your son is doing great," Isabella cut in. "From what I’ve seen these past two days, he’s much stronger than I was at his age."

.........

「The next morning, on the station platform.」

His father hadn’t gone to work; he had specifically taken half a day off.

Mother had changed into the dress she bought with Isabella. The two sisters stood together, looking as if they were cut from the same bolt of wool.

Evelyn clung to her aunt’s waist and wouldn’t let go.

Beside them, Sofia watched her usually stern-faced Mentor at a loss, her shoulders shaking as she tried to stifle her laughter.

"Little Evelyn!" Under the threat of her Mentor’s glare, Sofia had no choice but to come and rescue her.

"Look over there," Sofia said, pointing to the other end of the platform.

"Look at what?"

"Isn’t that a really big cat over there?"

"..." Evelyn looked up skeptically.

"Really, it’s grayish-white and looks especially fat."

The little girl lifted her head from her aunt’s waist.

She wasn’t a fool; she wouldn’t be tricked by such a clumsy lie.

But as long as her attention was diverted, it was Sofia’s chance.

"Over there, over there..." Sofia seized the opportunity to peel her off Isabella’s waist, hoist her onto her shoulder, and take a couple of steps toward the other end of the platform. "Oh, dear, it looks like it ran away."

"You tricked me!"

"I didn’t trick you, my eyes were playing tricks on me."

"You owe me a cat!"

"...Where am I supposed to get a cat to give you?"

Isabella rubbed her waist and then smoothed out the wrinkles in her long skirt.

Just then, Clara walked over from the pile of luggage.

"Mentor, the ticket inspector is here."

"Got it."

Isabella turned and walked toward her sister.

Clara walked up to Richard, set the leather suitcase in her right hand on the ground, and loosened her wrist.

"Little Williams."

"Just call me Richard."

"Okay, Richard."

Clara’s voice wasn’t loud.

She stepped aside to let a middle-aged man who was rushing for the train pass, then moved half a step closer to Richard.

"That ink bottle..."

"What about it?"

"If you find anything unusual about it, you can send it back to the Imperial Capital for repairs at any time.

The address is written on the box’s inner lining. I’ll help you forward it to the person who made the bottle."

"The alchemist who made this ink bottle is my distant cousin."

Richard silently filed this information away.

"What kind of alchemical devices does your cousin mainly make?"

"He doesn’t just make support items; he also takes on weapon modification jobs."

Clara winked at him. "There are a few masters with Minor Mastery in the Imperial Capital who take these kinds of orders. He’s one of them. His work is very durable, but he’s got a bit of a temper."

Richard nodded.

"I’ll remember that."

"Okay." Clara picked up the small suitcase. "See you next time."

Sofia had already returned Evelyn to her mother.

The little girl buried her head in her mother’s arms for a moment before being gently pushed aside.

Richard walked over to say goodbye.

Isabella extended her right hand, Richard extended his, and the two shook hands.

It was an ordinary handshake, with no Ether flow.

Isabella’s lips moved.

"Study hard, and take care of your mother."

"I will."

"See you at the summer workshop."

"Okay."

Isabella released his hand.

The train whistle blew, and the ticket inspector waved the small Copper Bell in his hand.

"Little Evelyn, I’ll make it up to you with a real cat next time!"

Sofia shouted as she pushed her way onto the train.

"You have to bring one next time you visit!"

"Okay, a fat one!"

The train door slammed shut with a CLANG.

The train started moving, and Evelyn once again started running after the carriage.

She ran to the end of the platform and stopped, watching the train as it receded into the distance, her thoughts unreadable.