“Oh, right, Alex—you've angered the Bolton family. You need to be careful,” Cassandra warned, her expression serious.She knew firsthand how ruthless the Boltons could be.Years ago, her family, the Hathaways, had fallen into one of their traps, losing more than 70% of their property.Forced into an alliance with the Boltons, they had yet to recover fully and were on the verge of losing their noble status.“I’m aware,” Alex replied with a faint smile.“The Boltons are too worried about their reputation to act against me openly. They’ll likely wait a few months before making a move. By then, I’ll be ready.”Seeing his calm confidence, Cassandra felt reassured.With Alex, no problem seemed too big, and her admiration for him deepened.Without him, her life would have felt so empty.She discovered a paradox: loving him until it hurt left no more room for pain, only for deeper love.Even if he never reciprocated her feelings, she resolved to stay by his side until he noticed her devotion.
Alex drew a deep breath, trying to quell the excitement thrumming through his veins.For ages, he’d wanted a chance to get close to Sofie, but he didn’t want to intrude.With her engagement to Vlad still unconfirmed, he felt an urgent need to strengthen himself.Only by becoming more powerful could he challenge the Bolton family and win Sofie away from Vlad."You guys go on ahead. I've got something to take care of," Alex said to Ethan, Carlos, and the others.Ethan and Carlos exchanged glances, following his gaze to where Sofie sat at the library table.Clutching an ancient book, she read quietly, resembling an ethereal figure."I bet Alex strikes out in under five minutes," Carlos smirked. "The prettiest girl in class won't even look his way.""Three minutes. Let’s hope he doesn’t take it too hard," Ethan murmured.They hid around a corner, watching Alex approach her."She’ll probably ignore him," one of the commoner students whispered. "Even Vlad hasn’t managed to get close to her.
Sophie felt a mix of relief and admiration.She'd consulted professors and even the vice-principal, but none had spotted the flaw."And the other scroll?" she asked, her eyes filled with newfound hope.Alex held it up, his gaze thoughtful."This is 'Blizzard Magic,' originally a silver-ranked inscription from the Earth Empire. But the scribe didn't fully understand it and tried to compensate for missing runes to make the whole inscription work.""Can it be fixed?" she asked, hope creeping into her voice."Yes, by restoring its original structure." He extended his hand toward her. "May I have a pen?"She handed him a special inscription pen filled with mana-infused ink, their fingers brushing briefly.A slight blush warmed her cheeks, but she focused intently as he began to draw.With swift, confident strokes, Alex redrew the inscription runes, adding complex patterns that intertwined seamlessly.The ink glowed softly as he worked."This is the complete version," he explained, stepping
"Die!" Vlad roared, his face contorted with rage as he recklessly channeled mana into his fists and launched a wild assault on Alex.But Alex's combat experience far surpassed Vlad's; he had faced countless battles, honing his skills to perfection.He didn't need to raise his own mana for protection. With smooth, effortless movements, he evaded all of Vlad's clumsy attacks.Vlad was like a raging bull—full of brute force but lacking precision.His use of mana was crude; he merely tried to overwhelm his opponent with sheer power.To Alex, it was amateurish. Mana wasn't meant to be used like this.He saw openings all over Vlad's approach; if he wanted, Vlad would already be lying unconscious on the floor.But Alex saw no point in causing unnecessary harm; Vlad posed no real threat, now or in the future.Would a tiger consider a rabbit a threat? Even if it grew bigger, it would still be harmless—a laughable notion.Oblivious to his own limitations, Vlad felt invincible.A grin spread acr
In Miracle City, there was an Alchemy Association with a long history.A beautiful 25-year-old woman named Carmen served as its director.Despite her youth, she had proven herself a capable leader, surpassing many of her older colleagues.Initially, some whispered that she had used her beauty to attain her position, but her talent and genius in alchemy soon silenced the doubters.This morning, as Carmen sorted through the association's emails, she deleted the usual love letters from her device without a second glance.Her attention was caught by an email titled "15 Applications of Gotu Kola Grass in Alchemy."She frowned slightly. Gotu Kola Grass was commonly regarded as worthless, used only for making tea for digestive problems.Intrigued but skeptical, she opened the email.Inside, the author described over fifteen uses for the herb.Notably, adding a small amount to the Mana-Gathering Pill and Body-Strengthening Pill could boost their effectiveness by 35% and increase the success r
As night embraced the quiet elegance of her room, Sofie sat at her desk, immersed in her research.She pored over the texts, searching for anything about the "blizzard" magic pattern that Alex had drawn, but even her family’s old volumes offered no clue."Where did Alex find this inscription pattern?" she murmured, frustration curling in her voice.Just then, a graceful woman entered, her movements poised. "Princess Sofie, you called for me?" she asked with a gentle smile."Teacher Tatiana, you're a master in magic inscriptions. Have you ever seen this pattern before?"Sofie’s eyes shone with a sliver of hope as she looked up at her private tutor.Tatiana’s gaze dropped to the drawing on the desk, and her eyes widened."Where did you find this? I've never seen anything like it," she said, her voice touched with awe."Even you don’t recognize it?" Sofie whispered in disbelief. If Teacher Tatiana—a master—didn’t know it, could Alex have created this pattern himself?"It does resemble 'B
Meanwhile, Alex sat down across from Sofie."So, how are you doing?" he asked with a gentle smile.His calm confidence set him apart from other boys his age.Sofie felt a mix of curiosity and admiration. She was impressed by his vast knowledge; even her teacher Tatiana thought Alex might be a great master of inscriptions."Alex, I tested the inscription pattern you gave me," Sofie began. "It's indeed the complete version of the 'Blizzard' magic pattern.""Oh," he replied simply. For him, it wasn't something to boast about.Sofie realized that despite his talents, Alex remained humble.She felt a bit ashamed of her own pride. Compared to him, she had little to show off.She began to admire him more. Though it wasn't love, he was the only boy she felt comfortable around."Here's the talent crystal you asked me to bring," Sofie said, handing it to him."Inject your mana into it," Alex instructed.As she did, Alex carefully observed her elemental affinities and the form of her mana. He wa
"Really?" Alex's eyes narrowed as he stared down Vlad, a cold smirk playing on his lips."I don't see how you plan to kill me today."Vlad's face twisted with rage, and he began to signal to his lackeys.But before they could act, the library doors swung open.Carlos, Ethan, and a crowd of commoner students poured in, their gazes locking onto Vlad with open hostility."You all better stay out of Bolton family business with this loser," Vlad snarled, his voice dripping with menace. "You'll regret it."Ethan stepped forward, his jaw set and eyes blazing. "Even if I have to take you down for big brother Alex, I won't regret it.""Yeah!" Natalie and several other students shouted, their voices echoing off the library walls.Their numbers swelled, quickly surrounding Vlad's six lackeys.Vlad's confidence wavered as he felt the weight of their united stares.His plan had been to eliminate Alex quietly, but now, with so many witnesses, he felt trapped.Even though Richard Bolton waited just