Jaden sat in a chair and looked at Maria, who was circling him with a confused look.

"What are you?" She questioned with a hand on her chin.

He sighed and mumbled, "I am just as... normal as you are..."

"No... You are different from us. Isn't that what you told Yuka? Now look at you standing before me as an Expert rank arcane knight after just two months," she added with a shake of her head.

"I said that because I wanted her to teleport me to the arcane library," he replied in a serious tone.

She stopped pacing around, looked him in the eyes and asked, "Tell me the truth, Jaden. The truth."

He looked into her eyes and said, "It is the truth."

She clicked her tongue and turned around to leave, but before she could leave, he called out.

"Big sis..."

She stopped in her tracks and turned toward him before asking with a frown., "What do you need? What else do you want me to do after everything I have already done for you?"

He turned silent at her remark because he understood that Maria was pissed and he couldn't just not tell her anything... it would make her lose trust in him.

He took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I am different from others, but I don't know how or why. The only thing I know is that I get stronger by killing and learning."

She looked at him and muttered in a surprised tone, "You aren't lying?"

He shook his head and said, "I am not."

"Hah," a silent chuckle escaped her and she began to pace around the room in deep thoughts while mumbling,

"Is he lying again?"

"Is it even possible for something like that to exist?"

"Is he just playing with me?"

"He is one heartless man, alright."

Jaden lowered his head upon hearing her. He could understand that those words didn't just stem from his absurd statements but also from her chipped trust in him.

A few minutes passed in Maria's mumbling, and she finally asked him, "Can you prove it?"

He lifted his head and answered with a nod, "I can but... can't you already see? I became an expert after learning and mastering all of the spells within the arcane library."

Silence fell into the room as she stared at him with a tilted head.

After a few minutes of his silence, she blinked a few times and replied while chuckling at his nonsensical words.

"Haha! Learned all spells within the arcane library? Right... even if you learn a 1-star spell in a week, which is considered the lowest time to do so, you still won't be able to learn ten per cent of the spells that were in the arcane library."

'I know it's absurd,' he thought, and she replied, "No, no. It's not just absurd, it's nonsensical and a stupid lie... something that I won't expect from you, who has reached Sovereign rank in lying."

He heaved a sigh, looked into her eyes and replied, "I am not lying. I was able to learn them because I enter a mental realm whenever I learn any spells or martial arts."

She looked at him with eyes that said; Yeah, sure — and turned around to leave.

"I am not lying!" He stood up from his chair and shouted after seeing that she still couldn't trust him.

Maria turned towards him with furrowed brows and replied flatly, "You want me to believe those absurd things you have just said to me? Jaden, I only help you because I can see a talent never seen before and... I need that talent—"

"You want revenge, don't you?" Jaden asked with a calm expression.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and stared at him before nodding. "I do."

He nodded, placed his left hand on her shoulder and said, "Looking at how things are going, I don't know if I can ever help you get your revenge, but I am not lying to you."

She looked at him and raised her hand, silver red sparks appeared on her palms and took the shape of a book. She offered the spell book to him and said, "Learn this."

He nodded, took the spell book from her, and a blue screen appeared before him.

[Found learnable magic spell [1] within the vicinity.]

————[System]————

Learnable spells:

Shadow

• Shadow Projection – Create a lifeless clone of yourself. ★

————[System]————

"A shadow spell?" He muttered in confusion.

'Hmm? How did he know? He hasn't even opened it...' she thought while replying, "It's a spell I got from Zaria... she said it was for some apology."

His eyes brightened in understanding, and he mumbled, "I see..."

He blinked and thought, '[Epiphany Zone].'

The world shifted, and he found himself in the vast white realm of the [Epiphany Zone]. He didn't look around and began to read the spell.

"Hmm... Its difficulty is near a 2-star spell, but it can be a very useful spell, and the timing is just right," he muttered before he began to practice it.

A few seconds later, a clone that looked the same as him stood beside him.

He dismissed the clone, sat on the ground and mumbled, "Shadow Projection."

His shadow core flared up, and the shadow mana covered his body for a few moments.

He stood up and turned around to look at a clone of himself who was sitting in his previous position with everything similar to his pose, expression... everything.

"So it copies the main body's physical form when the spell was activated.... It's even more useful than I thought," he said and called out to the [All-severing Moonlight (Replica)].

At the same moment, ice elementals shifted, and a plane, faceless mask of silver ice appeared on his free hand.

He stared at the mask for a few moments before he dismissed it and stepped out of the [Epiphany Zone] with a single thought.

'It's time for some escapades.'

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