After witnessing what Silvia had done with light magic, Solomon grew completely restless.
He adjusted the position of his staff in his hand, trying to imitate the way Silvia held hers.
Silvia giggled, covering her mouth lightly with one hand.
“What?”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
“I’m a beginner.
Let me try.”
“Feel free.”
She stepped back, folded her arms, and watched quietly, leaving him enough space to experiment without interfering.
Solomon pointed towards another rock in the distance and began channeling his mana.
“Just in case, make your light magic output small since it’s your first try,” she warned.
“We don’t want you getting injured from a severe backlash.”
Solomon nodded and slowly poured mana into the staff.
He condensed it until it surrounded the weapon resting in the palm of his hands.
The layer of light was much softer than what Silvia had produced, but Solomon didn’t mind.
He was simply happy to have achieved the first step.
He adjusted his stance and gripped the staff like a blade before swinging it towards the stone, yet nothing happened.
He dispersed the light and tried again.
He couldn’t remember how many times he had repeated the process, but he kept going until Silvia gently tapped his shoulder.
He tilted his head in her direction, and she simply shook hers.
He understood that look.
It practically screamed, Give it a rest and try again later.
He was frustrated, but he knew she was probably right.
This body didn’t belong to someone blessed with extraordinary magical aptitude after all.
He was simply average, but Solomon didn’t mind that.
“No pain, no gain.
As they always say on Earth,” he muttered with a small sigh.
He walked alongside Silvia as they made their way back to the mansion.
Their footsteps echoed softly across the marble pathway while the morning breeze rustled the neatly trimmed hedges lining the courtyard.
As they stepped inside, a servant appeared before them carrying a scroll.
When Silvia motioned for him to come forward, the servant hurried over before kneeling with his head lowered and both hands raised respectfully as the scroll rested across his palms.
Solomon opened the scroll and carefully read its contents.
“Enrollment has been shifted three days ahead of schedule.
Once you have received this scroll, you are hereby part of the incoming class and cannot arrive late or risk expulsion.”
Solomon shuddered.
Expulsion was something he feared more than his own life…
and books.
Expulsion meant not being able to read new books.
That thought alone was terrifying.
He read through a few of the names listed on the scroll that were enrolling from each of the noble houses.
There were six heirs besides himself attending, which he didn’t find surprising.
He recognized a handful of the names from the novel and suspected the rest had eventually become side characters.
Solomon carefully folded the scroll, bid Silvia goodbye, and headed towards the library.
He planned to spend his afternoon reading, and that was exactly what he did.
Sunlight gradually shifted across the towering bookshelves as the hours slipped by unnoticed.
When he finally lifted his head from the magic book he was currently reading, evening had already arrived.
He gathered the stack of books in his arms and carefully returned every one of them to their proper sections on the shelves.
He paused briefly to admire his work before walking out.
He rubbed his stomach.
He felt hungry after all the reading he had done.
“Maybe I should get an early dinner,” he murmured to himself.
“I should ask Silvia if she wants to eat early too.”
One of the things he never gave up on when he lived as Ethan on Earth was sharing meals with his family.
He believed they had the power to strengthen the bonds between people.
Talking about random things they had experienced during the day, exchanging a little gossip, discussing their plans for tomorrow—heck, even reminiscing every now and then was enough to make a meal memorable.
He stopped in front of his sister’s door.
He reached for the doorknob before remembering that he should knock like any normal human being would.
He slowly raised his hand, but just as his knuckles were about to touch the wood, he heard Silvia’s voice from the other side.
The hallway was unusually quiet, making every word beyond the door easy to hear.
“…He’s changed?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Do you think it’s because of what happened?”
Silvia remained silent for a moment.
Or maybe he’s finally becoming himself.”
Solomon’s eyes widened.
He immediately withdrew his hand from the door and quietly stepped back before turning around and walking away as fast as he could.
A few seconds later, his brisk walk turned into a sprint.
He moved as though he were fleeing a crime scene where he was the culprit about to be caught.
When he reached the hallway leading to his room, he leaned against the wall and panted heavily, pressing a hand against his chest while trying to steady his breathing.
Several servants and maids gave him puzzled looks but said nothing.
Perhaps it was because he was their young master, or perhaps they had simply grown used to his strange behavior over the past few days.
He paid them no mind.
Once his breathing finally returned to normal, he opened the door to his room by the slightest margin, slipped inside, and gently closed it behind him.
The familiar click echoed softly through the quiet room.
He slowly looked around.
It was a room that had never truly been his to begin with.
A place where the original owner of his current body had lived for sixteen…
perhaps all seventeen years of his life.
“I wonder who he really was inside,” he whispered.
He took slow, careful steps towards the bed, studying his surroundings once more as if hoping they would reveal another piece of Solomon Ashbourne’s past.
Finally, he sat down before allowing himself to fall backward onto the soft mattress with a quiet sigh.
The room grew silent except for the gentle breeze drifting through the open window, causing the curtains to sway lazily.
Just as he began gathering his thoughts, the system refused to let him enjoy the peace.
Ding.
System Shop — Locked (6%)
Required: 10% Restoration
“So you’re hiding all the good stuff.”
Instead of feeling disappointed, Solomon smirked.
A spark of motivation flickered inside him.
He had made a promise to himself.
Looking at the system message once more, he finally found his first real target.
Unlocking the System Shop.
For the first time since arriving in this unfamiliar world, the path ahead didn’t seem quite as uncertain anymore.