The next morning, Zane woke up early.
After getting out of bed, he stretched his arms and looked around the enormous castle.
It was strangely quiet.
There were no maids walking through the halls. No servants preparing breakfast. No guards stationed inside the castle.
There was only him.
Zane sighed.
"Well, if nobody else is going to take care of this place, I guess I have to do it myself."
He started with the garden.
The grass had grown too long, several plants had begun to wither, and weeds had spread throughout the flowerbeds. Zane grabbed the gardening tools and began working.
He cut the grass, removed the weeds, watered the plants, and repaired several broken sections of the garden fence.
After that, he returned to the castle.
He cleaned the dusty hallways, repaired a few broken pieces of furniture, and even moved several decorations around.
The castle had once been beautiful, but after being abandoned for so long, it no longer looked like the residence of a prince.
Zane decided to change that.
"If I’m going to live here, I might as well make the place look decent."
He spent several hours rearranging furniture and changing some of the castle’s decorations.
By the time he finished, the sun was already high in the sky.
Zane looked outside.
"It’s already afternoon?"
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I need to rest for a while before training."
After eating a quick meal, Zane rested for a short time before heading toward the underground training ground.
As he walked through the castle, however, something suddenly caught his attention.
For the past few days, ever since he had learned how to sense mana, he had felt something strange.
Someone was watching him.
Zane stopped walking.
"Hmm..."
He looked toward the windows.
"I’ve been feeling like someone is watching me ever since I learned how to sense mana."
He continued toward the underground training ground.
"System, are there any other people around here besides me?"
The system screen appeared in front of him.
[YES, MASTER.]
[THERE HAS BEEN A MAN COMING TO THIS LOCATION FOR YEARS.]
Zane’s eyes widened slightly.
"For years?"
[YES.]
[HE USUALLY STANDS NEAR THE MOUNTAINS AND WATCHES THE CASTLE BEFORE LEAVING.]
Zane frowned.
"Why didn’t you tell me about him?"
[MASTER’S BODY WAS TOO WEAK AT THE TIME.]
[I KEPT THIS INFORMATION SECRET BECAUSE I DID NOT WANT MASTER TO BECOME TOO CURIOUS AND PUSH HIS BODY BEYOND ITS LIMITS.]
Zane stared at the screen for a few seconds.
"So you’ve been hiding things from me?"
[I HAVE BEEN PROTECTING MASTER.]
Zane sighed.
"Fine. I’ll let it go for now."
He entered the underground training ground and walked toward one of the targets.
"Now let’s see how magic really feels."
Zane raised his hand.
He gathered the mana inside his body and pushed it toward his palm.
"Fireball."
BOOOOOOM!
A gigantic ball of fire exploded from his hand.
Zane’s eyes widened.
The fireball slammed into the training target and continued into the stone wall behind it.
The entire underground chamber shook.
When the flames disappeared, a huge hole had been blasted into the wall.
Zane stared at the destruction.
"...That was huge."
He looked at his hand.
"I didn’t even use that much mana."
He thought for a moment.
"Maybe I’m releasing too much mana at once."
Zane raised his hand again.
"This time, I’ll try compressing the mana before releasing the spell."
He continued experimenting.
At first, his spells were wildly unstable.
Some fireballs exploded too early.
Others were too weak.
Sometimes he released too much mana and destroyed parts of the training ground.
But Zane didn’t give up.
He experimented with fire, wind, water, earth, and other basic spells.
Every day, he trained until his mana was completely exhausted.
Then he would rest, recover, and start again.
Two weeks passed.
During those two weeks, Zane’s control improved dramatically.
He could now control the amount of mana he released, and his spells no longer consumed unnecessary amounts of energy.
One afternoon, Zane was walking around the castle when he suddenly stopped.
He sensed several people approaching.
"Huh?"
He looked toward the mountain road.
In the distance, a group of armed guards could be seen riding horses.
In the middle of them was a large carriage.
Zane stared at them.
"Looks like I have a visitor."
He smiled slightly.
"I wonder who it could be. No one has visited me since Mother died."
Zane walked toward the main entrance.
The guards eventually reached the castle.
However, when they arrived, none of them bowed.
They simply stopped in front of the castle.
Zane didn’t react.
He already understood why.
They didn’t consider him important.
After all, he was the prince who had been sent away because of his condition.
Zane remained silent.
One of the guards walked toward the carriage and opened the door.
A beautiful young woman stepped out.
She had long, shining black hair and bright blue eyes.
The moment she saw Zane, she smiled.
"It’s been a while, little brother."
She walked toward him and hugged him.
Zane froze for a moment before gently pushing her away.
"What are you doing here?"
His expression became serious.
"I thought Father said no one was allowed to visit me."
Before the woman could answer, an old man stepped out of the carriage.
He wore completely black clothing and carried himself with an unusual calmness.
"Princess Sofia has been keeping an eye on you ever since you were sent here."
The old man bowed.
"Greetings, Young Master."
Zane’s eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, the system appeared.
[DING!]
[MASTER, THAT MAN IS THE PERSON WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING YOU.]
Zane’s eyes widened slightly.
So this was the mysterious person.
"I see..."
He looked directly at the old man.
"You’re the one who’s been watching me all these years."
The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"You were able to sense my presence?"
Sofia looked at Zane in surprise.
"You actually sensed the Black Butler?"
Zane smiled.
"Yes."
Sofia took a few steps backward.
Her expression became serious.
If Zane can sense the Black Butler’s presence, then he must be capable of using mana.
But how?
He was supposed to have the same mana corrosion disease as Mother.
That disease has no known cure.
She looked at her younger brother carefully.
Could he have somehow cured himself?
The Black Butler had reached the same conclusion.
"It seems the Young Master has not only overcome his illness..."
He looked at Zane with curiosity.
"He has also improved his abilities considerably."
The guards began whispering among themselves.
"The Fifteenth Prince cured himself?"
"He can sense the Black Butler?"
"Does that mean he can use mana?"
Zane ignored them.
Instead, he looked at Sofia.
"So, what brings you here?"
Sofia folded her arms.
"You aren’t even going to invite your sister inside?"
Zane blinked.
"Oh."
He quickly opened the door.
"No, no. Of course. Come inside. I’ll make you some tea."
Sofia smiled.
"That sounds better."
A short while later, Zane placed two cups of tea on the table.
Sofia picked up hers and took a sip.
"I heard you have been living here alone since Mother died."
Zane nodded.
"Yes."
Her expression darkened.
"Explain that."
Zane scratched his cheek.
"I don’t really know what happened. The servants simply left one day. They said someone had ordered them to leave."
Sofia’s hand tightened around the cup.
"And you were left here alone?"
Zane nodded.
"I managed."
Sofia suddenly slammed her cup onto the table.
CRACK!
The cup broke.
"I’ll investigate this when I return to the palace."
Zane stared at her.
"Why do you care so much?"
"Because you’re my little brother."
Her voice softened.
"Whether Father remembers you or not doesn’t change that."
Zane remained silent.
After a moment, Sofia smiled.
"By the way, if you can sense the Black Butler, that means you can use mana."
She stood up.
"So I want to test your abilities."
Zane calmly continued drinking his tea.
"I’ve learned some spells, but I don’t have any real combat experience."
"Then don’t fight."
Sofia smiled.
"You attack."
She stood.
"I’ll defend."
Zane raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you so interested in my abilities?"
Sofia turned toward him.
"I want to know your limits."
She paused.
"And it may become important in the future."
"What kind of future?"
Sofia looked toward the sky.
"A war is coming."
Zane’s expression changed.
"A war?"
"With who?"
Sofia shook her head.
"You’ll understand when you’re older."
Zane clenched his fist.
I don’t know what kind of war she’s talking about.
But if one is coming...
I need to become stronger.
I have a new family now.
I’ll protect them.
Zane and Sofia went to the underground training ground.
Sofia stood several meters away from him.
She raised one hand.
A translucent magical barrier appeared around her.
"Give it everything you’ve got."
Zane smiled.
"Okay, Sister."
He raised both hands.
For the past two weeks, he had been wondering about something.
I’ve learned that different elements can interact with each other.
So what would happen if I combined two spells?
He looked at Sofia’s barrier.
She’s strong enough to defend herself.
This is the perfect opportunity to test it.
Zane gathered mana into his right hand.
Flames erupted around his palm.
At the same time, wind began spinning around his left hand.
The two elements moved faster and faster.
Sofia’s eyes widened.
"Zane..."
The flames and wind began merging.
The pressure inside the training ground increased.
Zane gritted his teeth.
"Come on..."
The two elements finally fused.
A massive spiral of fire appeared in front of him.
The flames rotated violently as the wind pushed them faster.
Zane stared at it in amazement.
"I did it."
He thrust his hand forward.
"Fire Tornado!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The spell exploded forward.
The violent tornado of fire slammed into Sofia’s barrier.
CRACK!
A crack appeared across the magical barrier.
Sofia’s eyes widened.
The barrier shook violently before finally dispersing.
The remaining force pushed her backward.
She landed on the ground and coughed.
"Cough... cough..."
Zane immediately ran toward her.
"Sister! Are you okay?"
Sofia slowly sat up.
"I’m fine."
She looked at the destroyed training ground.
Then she looked back at Zane.
"That spell..."
One of the guards stared in disbelief.
"Is that really the power of someone who only recently learned magic?"
Zane looked at his hands.
He suddenly felt something inside his mind.
[DING!]
[NEW SPELL CREATED.]
[FIRE TORNADO.]
Zane’s eyes widened.
Another notification appeared.
[REWARD: GOD SLAYER SWORD.]
[GOD SLYER SWORD POWER IS SEALED : 1% POWER THAT CAN BE USED ]
Zane froze.
"God Slayer... Sword?"
The training ground suddenly became silent.
Even Sofia noticed Zane’s strange expression.
Zane stared at the system window.