Chapter 3: Cultivation.
The same translucent screen appeared before him, glimmering brightly with characters.
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FATE INVESTMENT SYSTEM
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[Investment Detected]
└ Status: Investment Confirmed
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[Investment Targets]
└ Athena Sterling
└ Isolde Sterling
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[Cause of Investment]
└ The investor patiently fed both targets.
└ Personally escorted them to their chamber.
└ and ensured they rested comfortably before attending to his own needs.
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[Investment Evaluation]
└ Emotional Value: High
└ Resource Cost: Low
└ Fate Influence: Minor
└ Final Investment Grade: [LOW]
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[Investment Returns]
└ Calculating Investment Returns...
└ Returns Successfully Generated.
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[Reward Obtained]
◈ [Aetherblade Ascension Art]
└ Grade: Profound
└ A cultivation art that guides both Mana
└ Core refinement and sword mastery through a single path.
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[Effects]
└ Mana Core Refinement
└ Sword Aura Foundation
└ Increased Mana Absorption
└ Enhanced Sword Affinity
└ Stable Mana Circulation
───────────────────
[Investment Status]
└ Investment Completed.
└ Minor Fate Ripples Recorded.
└ Future Investments toward the same targets may yield greater returns.
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Ethan’s eyes widened again, and his jaw dropped slightly as he read the entries thoroughly. A sudden realization flickered past him. ’Wait... I’ll have to go through that pain once again?’
He flinched once and closed his eyes. He was preparing himself for what was about to come; a few minutes passed, but nothing of that sort happened.
The only thing inside his body that changed was the core; it had begun to ignite, and his body strengthened.
Right away, the scriptures, which weren’t in his mind before, suddenly clicked inside his memory.
Every movement of the blade, every route mana should travel through his body, every breathing rhythm, and every principle behind the art unwrapped itself before him with complete clarity.
He instinctively placed a hand over his chest, pressing his palm against it. A strange warmth radiated from deep within. "It... it feels hot," he muttered under his breath.
A frown formed on his face as a bead of sweat appeared on his temple. "And... what’s with these memories?" he whispered. "I don’t remember knowing any of this before."
His eyes widened slightly as realization dawned on him. "It was one of the rewards... but I never expected it to take effect this quickly."
Instantly, excitement erupted through his stomach, and a cheerful smile crept onto his face. "I’ll try cultivating my mana." He muttered to himself.
He quickly placed himself on the floor, crossed his legs, and sat there smoothly. He positioned his arms over his knees just as mentioned in the scriptures. After closing his eyes, he started taking deep breaths, controlled them inside his lungs, and then passed them through his mouth.
His mana, which wasn’t there a few hours ago, finally began traveling through his veins. The circulation of mana was identical to ’the heart pumping the blood.’ The mana core pumped the mana through his circuits, which connected his mind to each meridian inside all his body parts.
Slowly, the mana had reached all over his body. Although it wasn’t much, it was enough to make him feel that something had formed.
As the hours passed, night settled over the land. Pale moonlight filtered through the windows, its soft silver glow washing over the chamber and lighting up the dining table in a quiet glimmering glow.
He finally opened his eyes and stretched both of his arms up in the air as a yawn left his mouth. He looked at the clock, which was kept in the cupboard placed in the corner of the room.
Currently, it was 2:30 a.m. Ethan had begun cultivating at 9:00 p.m. He hadn’t even realized that five and a half hours had passed. Yet, there wasn’t the slightest hint of stress or fatigue on his face.
"So being a superhuman really is different, huh?" He muttered to himself.
Slowly, he pushed himself back up and looked at the food, which was still kept at the table, completely untouched. "I should have eaten it before; now it might be spoiled."
He picked up the plates, made his way towards the kitchen, and gently put the plates in the sink. He was trying his best to not make any sound because he knew both of his wives must be asleep soundly, and if he made any noise, they’d be the first ones to wake up.
The moment he had awakened his core, he noticed that his hearing capacity increased severalfold. That means a superhuman has better hearing than normal humans, and then there were his wives.
As one of the most influential figures in the world, even the faintest whisper could not escape her ears.
He slowly made his way to their bedroom. He opened the door and walked through it. To his surprise, both of them were still on the bed, quietly waiting for him.
He had expected them to be fast asleep by now. Their decision to stay awake and wait for his return was something he hadn’t anticipated.
"Why are you both not asleep? It’s been five hours since I left you here." Ethan asked softly.
Isolde, who was sitting with her legs crossed, reacted to his words first. "It’d be strange to sleep alone when you were somewhere else."
She knew what he was doing because when one cultivates their mana, the mana waves radiate through their body, which makes it easier for experts to trace whom it belongs to. But she didn’t question him nor press him further over this topic.
Athena, who remained lying on the bed, broke her silence; her voice sounded neutral. "Were you cultivating your mana?" She asked directly; no kind of remorse was in her voice, maybe because she used to be a ’tower master.’
Ethan instinctively took a step back, but he knew that lying would not neutralize this situation and would create further trust issues.
"Yes, I was. I never felt that I had a mana core before, so I decided to try my luck and began cultivating. Fortunately, I managed to subdue my mana, something I honestly didn’t expect to accomplish. I was only able to do it thanks to the books I read back at the Pendragon Estate."
His words still raised enough suspicion in both of their minds, but none of them tried to persuade him any further.
"Don’t try it recklessly if you don’t have proper training, or else you’ll suffer mana backlash and die," Athena said.