Amon walked out of his classroom and headed toward one of the open areas of the academy, where several large trees provided enough shade for students.
The place wasn’t particularly crowded at this hour.
Amon was glad about that because he didn’t want anyone bothering him.
He found an empty spot beneath one of the trees and slowly lowered himself toward the ground.
Although the process was considerably harder than it should have been because of his still-heavy body.
Amon finally managed to sit down and leaned against the tree while letting out a deep breath.
’This is going to take some getting used to.’
His attention soon turned toward the [Frost Monarch Cultivation Method], and the moment he thought about it, a familiar blue panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[Would you like to transfer the complete information of the Frost Monarch Cultivation Method into your mind?]
[Warning: The process may cause temporary mental discomfort.]
[Yes / No]
Amon stared at the panel for a moment before selecting yes.
The moment he did, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head.
"Ah!"
Amon clenched his teeth as countless pieces of information began flooding into his mind.
Complicated diagrams, mana circulation routes, breathing techniques, and countless other details appeared one after another.
The information continued pouring into his mind for several seconds before finally coming to an end.
’That fucking hurt.’
He rubbed his forehead for a few seconds before slowly closing his eyes.
Amon began to circulate his mana according to the method he had just learned.
The mana inside his body immediately began moving through a completely different route.
At the same time, the Perfected Origin Body was reconstructing his body from the inside.
His Mana Furnace was also constantly working, taking the excessive fat stored throughout his body and converting it into usable energy.
Now, the Frost Monarch Cultivation Method had joined the process and was constantly strengthening his mana pathways.
Amon couldn’t help but feel that the three abilities were almost made to work together.
His lips slowly curled upward. ’This is actually fucking ridiculous.’
He continued circulating the mana through his body while thinking about his current situation.
There was still one thing he didn’t understand.
...His affinity.
Amon had never received any information about his natural affinity from the System.
As far as he knew, the System didn’t simply tell people what their affinity was.
Most people discovered their affinity through an affinity stone provided by the academy.
The stone would react when mana was introduced into it, revealing the elemental affinity of the person using it.
Amon wondered what his own affinity would be.
’Fire? Ice? Lightning?’
His eyes slowly opened as he looked at the mana circulating around his hand.
There was no way to know yet.
Amon continued cultivating for several minutes before another thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
’...The Tenfold Return.’
He still didn’t completely understand how the ability calculated its rewards.
’If I give Seraphina one hundred coins, will I get ten times that amount back?’
Amon thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.
That couldn’t be how the ability worked.
If it did, he could simply keep giving her money and receive ten times the amount every time.
Which would create an endless source of wealth without any real investment.
The System had already mentioned that the reward depended on how much the investment actually benefited his wife.
’So it’s not about how expensive the gift is.’ Amon looked down at his hands. ’It’s about how much it actually helps her.’
A cheap object could potentially produce an enormous reward if it solved a serious problem for his wife, while something extremely expensive could produce almost nothing if it didn’t benefit her.
Amon’s eyes suddenly brightened. ’Then what if I give her the Frost Monarch Cultivation Method?’
The thought made his heart beat slightly faster.
If the incomplete cultivation technique had already given him a Diamond-grade technique in return.
Giving Seraphina something even stronger should theoretically produce an even better reward.
Amon immediately tried to bring up the System option.
A notification appeared.
[Warning.]
[System-provided items cannot be gifted through the Tenfold Return System.]
[System-generated rewards are excluded from investment calculations.]
Amon’s expression immediately fell. ’Of course.’
He should have expected something like that.
The System wasn’t going to allow him to give away its own rewards and create an endless loop of increasingly powerful items.
Amon sighed before returning his attention to cultivation.
He continued circulating his mana until he felt a strange sensation forming in his right hand.
Cold mist was slowly gathering around his palm.
He stared at it for a moment before concentrating his mana toward his hand.
A thin layer of frost appeared across his fingers before quickly spreading across his palm.
Amon stared at the growing frost with surprise.
A few seconds later, a small piece of ice formed in his hand.
’So I can actually use ice magic.’
He looked at the small piece of ice with a strange expression.
’But does that mean Ice is my affinity?’
Amon wasn’t sure. He had only learned the Frost Monarch Cultivation Method.
There was a possibility that his current ability to manipulate ice came from the cultivation method rather than his natural affinity.
Amon looked at the ice in his hand before closing his fingers around it.
’I guess I’ll find out when the academy gives us the affinity stones.’
He slowly dispersed the ice and returned to cultivating.
For now, there was no reason to worry about something he couldn’t determine yet.
[Seraphina’s POV]
Night had already fallen over Langton by the time Seraphina returned to her room.
Her room was considerably larger than the one most academy students could afford.
A large bed positioned against the wall, several shelves filled with books, and a small desk near the window.
Seraphina sat on the edge of her bed while looking down at the small vibrator in her hand.
Her face became slightly red as she remembered everything that had happened inside the dungeon the previous day.
She had completely lost control of the situation.
Worse, she had actually agreed to marry Amon... well, it was just verbal.
Seraphina covered her face with one hand as embarrassment returned to her mind.
’What the hell was I thinking?’
She had always been careful about maintaining her image at the academy.
It was a huge blunder on her part because she had lost the remote in the middle of the ground.
Seraphina lowered her hand and looked at the device again.
Despite everything, a small smile appeared on her face. ’It was fun.’
The smile quickly disappeared when Amon’s face entered her mind as her expression became strange.
That boy was nothing more than an ugly duckling who had somehow gotten incredibly lucky.
At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.
She had been the victim of a ridiculous situation, and Amon had simply been in the right place at the right time.
’Still...’ Seraphina looked away as a strange thought entered her mind. ’It would be nice if he did more to my body.’
Her face immediately became red.
She quickly shook her head and pushed the thought away. ’What am I even thinking?’
She sighed before looking toward the cultivation manual sitting on her desk.
Her expression became complicated again.
The cultivation technique she currently used had been inherited from her mother.
It was considered an extremely powerful technique for someone with her ice affinity.
But there was a problem. The technique was unstable.
Every time Seraphina cultivated, the cold mana would slowly damage her internal organs and leave a faint chill inside her body.
She had already learned how to endure the pain.
If becoming stronger required suffering, she was willing to endure it.
Besides, she had no better option.
The technique was still the best one available to her. ’...He must have roamed around the market for quite some time to find it.’
Seraphina reached toward the book Amon had given her and slowly picked it up.
She opened the old cover and began reading.
At first, her expression remained calm, but soon her eyebrows slowly tightened.
The more she read, the more complicated her expression became.
The cultivation method was strange. It wasn’t simply powerful but was also incredibly stable.
The mana circulation was smoother than the technique she had inherited from her mother.
Several of the problems she had spent years dealing with simply didn’t exist within this method.
Seraphina continued reading for hours without realizing how much time had passed.
Eventually, she sat straight on her bed and stared at the cultivation method in disbelief.
’...No.’
After thinking for several minutes, Seraphina finally decided to test it.
She sat cross-legged on her bed and began circulating mana according to the method described inside the book.
The moment she completed the first cycle, the mana inside her body moved smoothly through her pathways.
There was no resistance or pain. She didn’t even feel the familiar sensation of freezing inside her chest.
Seraphina’s eyes suddenly snapped open. "...N-no way."
She looked down at the cultivation manual in her hands.
The technique Amon had given her was better than the one she had been using.
Seraphina’s breathing became increasingly hurried as she realized what that actually meant.
Her current cultivation technique had been passed down through her family for generations.
It was supposed to be one of the best techniques available to her.
"Mom!"
Seraphina suddenly jumped off the bed.
She didn’t even bother changing her clothes before rushing out of the room with the cultivation manual still clutched tightly in her hands.
Her footsteps echoed through the quiet house as she hurried toward her mother’s room.
She had no idea where Amon had obtained this cultivation technique, but there was one thing she knew for certain.
Her mother needed to see it.