The carriage journey through the lower noble district was a study in stark contrasts.
Outside the tinted glass windows, the cobblestone streets grew wider, cleaner, and increasingly patrolled by armored city guards wearing the silver crest of the Capital.
Inside, the heavy velvet curtains kept out the morning light, trapping the lingering scent of lavender oil, fresh leather, and the static heat of newly awakened mana.
Sitting opposite Barn on the plush crimson velvet bench, Rosalina removed her hood and half-mask once more.
Her face was flushed—a mixture of residual heat from her newly awakened core and the rapid, pragmatic calculations racing through her sharp mind.
She stared at him intently, her brown eyes tracking every breath he took.
’He looks completely unbothered,’ she thought, watching Barn lean his head back against the cushioned seat with his eyes closed.
‘He just shattered a spiritual bottleneck that usually takes years of bitter training or fortune-altering elixirs…
and he acts like he just tossed a copper coin to a beggar.’
”Where are we going first?” Barn asked without opening his eyes, his voice a low, casual rumble over the creaking of the carriage suspension.
”To a private estate in the lower noble district,” Rosalina replied swiftly, crossing her legs.
“It belongs to House Artecus, but it is rarely used by the main branch—mostly for discreet preparations before major public functions.
My personal tailors and servants are already waiting there with high-grade attire suitable for a noble retainer.”
”So was it for someone special, like your fiancé?” Barn asked quietly.
He knew that nobles often brought their partners to private estates to select attire and prepare for grand events together.
”Barn…
about your ‘Master’ skill,” she began, completely bypassing his question as if she hadn’t heard it, her tone dropping into a guarded, serious pitch.
“Does it have a limit on how often you can use it?
Or how many souls you can awaken?”
Barn opened one eye, not actually offended by her dodging the question, looking at her with a faint, amused glint.
‘She’s already planning three steps ahead,’ he thought, recognizing her ruthless efficiency.
‘She wants to know if I can build her an army, or if I am a weapon she has to hoard—or perhaps a partner with true power.’
”It requires deep spiritual resonance,” Barn answered smoothly, maintaining his cover story without missing a beat.
“And a massive expenditure of my own soul energy.
I cannot simply walk through the streets turning every commoner into a High-Rank Mage.
The subject’s body must also possess the latent potential to handle the influx, or their core will simply implode.”
Rosalina let out a small, barely audible sigh of relief, though a flash of pride flickered across her face.
‘So it wasn’t just anyone…
he chose me because my potential was worthy, and because he holds that kind of energy for me.’
”Good,” she said, her lips curving into a sharp, confident smile.
“You can only awaken someone if they have potential.
A power that cannot be easily replicated is a power the high nobility will fear above all else.”
Barn smiled faintly and closed his eye again, shifting his attention inward.
Deep within his spiritual sea, the ambient glow of his newly acquired classes—Earth Mage (Level 5) and Nature Mage (Level 5)—was settling into his soul matrix.
He could feel the practical, structured pathways of magic forming alongside his raw, compressed soul power.
’Hey,’ Barn called out mentally to his soul.
‘The operatives outside…
did they recognize what happened?’
’They do not possess the conceptual capacity to understand it,’ the quiet, echoing voice resonated in his mind.
‘To them, you are a localized natural disaster—an ancient entity masking its presence in the body of a young man.
Their reports to their superiors will be fragmented, born of terror rather than clarity.
They will advise caution, not aggression.’
’Good,’ Barn thought, his jaw tightening slightly.
If the Royal Family or the Grand Nobles act too quickly, it creates unnecessary noise before the Royal Gala.’
’You intend to interfere directly in the narrative?’ the voice inquired, a note of subtle curiosity lacing its tone.
’Interfere?’ Barn countered mentally, a cold, unyielding resolve hardening his inner thoughts.
‘I am going to destroy it.
The original protagonist can play with his System all he wants, and the Crown Prince can indulge his foolish political games.
But the moment they try to drag Rosalina and Lady Nyxara Nightbane into the dirt to fuel their artificial drama…
I’ll show them what happens when a World-level existence steps onto their fragile little stage.’
The carriage slowed to a gentle halt, pulling into a secluded, stone-walled courtyard tucked behind rows of manicured cypress hedges.
”We’ve arrived,” Rosalina declared, her voice snapping back into the crisp, commanding tone of a noble lady.
She pulled her cloak over her shoulders once more, adjusting her cowl.
“Stay close to me.
The servants here are loyal to my coin, but high-society walls have ears.”
The carriage door opened, and an elderly butler dressed in an immaculate black suit bowed low, his white-gloved hands holding a heavy leather umbrella to shield them from the faint morning mist.
”Welcome, Lady Rosalina,” the butler said, his voice smooth and disciplined.
“The master tailors from the Silk Pavilion have arrived as requested.
The fitting room is prepared.”
”Excellent,” Rosalina replied, stepping down onto the damp cobblestones with effortless grace.
She turned back and gestured for Barn to follow.
“Bring him in.
I want him dressed in the finest shadow-silk coats we have.
Make sure he looks like someone who commands respect without uttering a single word.”
The butler’s eyes flicked over Barn’s frayed tunic and worn leather boots for a fraction of a second.
An ordinary noble servant might have displayed a hint of disdain, but this old man was well-trained.
Having been quietly informed earlier of Barn’s arrival directly by Lady Rosalina via a communication artifact, he was not shocked in the slightest.
He merely bowed lower toward Barn.
”At once, My Lady.
Please, right this way, sir.”
Barn stepped out of the carriage, his posture relaxed, his dark eyes taking in the elegant archways and silent guards stationed around the perimeter of the estate.
’The curtain is rising,’ Barn thought as he stepped across the marble threshold of the estate.
‘Let’s see how this world handles a villainess who refuses to die.’
Inside the opulent estate, the air smelled faintly of polished mahogany, fresh roses, and heavy atmospheric warding.
Barn walked through the high-arched corridors, his worn leather boots making a soft, out-of-place thud against the pristine, snow-white marble floor.
Behind him, Rosalina remained in the main reception hall to review the political reports her personal informants had left behind.
Before him, an army of young maids—dressed in crisp, black-and-white formal dresses—had already gathered in silent anticipation.
To the maids, this mysterious young man—possessing sharp features, an unbothered demeanor, and a quiet, heavy aura—was like a rare, exotic beast brought into their quiet estate.
They giggled softly amongst themselves, exchanging knowing glances.
”This way, sir,” one of the head maids purred, making a polite bow.
Barn attempted to maintain a respectful distance, stepping back slightly as the group closed in.
But the maids, operating with disciplined, synchronized efficiency, practically swarmed him.
Before he could politely decline their touch, two maids took him by the arms while three others guided him from behind, playfully yet firmly maneuvering him up the grand spiral staircase.
They brought him to a secluded wing on the upper floor—a private, spatial fitting chamber heavily protected by low-tier containment wards and glowing runic circles etched into the doorframe.
The heavy doors swished open, revealing a spacious, mirror-lined room.
Waiting inside were two figures—a tall man with sharp, analytical eyes and a woman with silver thimbles fitted onto every finger, holding cloth, needles, and threads, ready to instantly craft a dress for him. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
A vast array of measuring tapes, enchanted shears, and glowing spools floating in mid-air surrounded them.
Barn immediately recognized the distinct, refined magic vibrating off their hands.
They were Magic Tailors—specialized spellcasters capable of weaving defensive enchantments directly into fabrics, manipulating spiritual threads, and shaping garments from pure elemental matter.
The moment Barn stepped across the threshold, he raised a hand.
The surrounding maids, recognizing the shift in his aura, instantly halted their playful banter and stepped a foot away from them, bowing their heads in quiet deference.
”I want a custom coat,” Barn stated, his voice calm, clear, and absolute.
“One that can shift its form, texture, and color according to my will.”
The two tailors exchanged a hesitant, startled look.
The female tailor stepped forward, bowing respectfully, though her posture remained tense.
”Sir…
a form-shifting, color-adapting weave of that caliber is certainly possible within our craft,” she explained carefully, her voice tinged with professional anxiety.
“However, it requires an astronomical volume of compressed Magic Cloth and high-purity Mana Thread.
Even if we drained our entire reserve, crafting a thread dense enough to sustain shapeshifting magic would take us weeks of continuous channeling.”
”Don’t worry about the material,” Barn replied smoothly.
He didn’t wait for their response.
Closing his eyes, Barn reached deep into his spiritual core.
He had never spun magical thread before, but the fundamental mechanics were simple enough: condense raw mana, stabilize its structure, and draw it out into a continuous, unbroken filament.
Buzz…
The air inside the soundproofed chamber suddenly turned ice-cold.
The ambient light dimmed as a golden-and-emerald magic circle—far more intricate and dense than any array the tailors had ever laid eyes on—ignited silently beneath Barn’s feet.
An immense volume of pure, compressed mana surged outward from his core at a rapid rate.
The air hummed with static force, causing the hanging mirrors to vibrate within their wooden frames.
Barn guided the overflowing energy, pulling the raw mana through the air and condensing it into a thread no thicker than a single strand of human hair.
The thread spun rapidly in mid-air, wrapping around itself again and again at terrifying speed until it grew larger than their heads.
Within seconds, a massive, glowing orb of pure, solid Mana Thread formed before them—pulsing with a blinding, ethereal light and radiating a pressure so dense it felt solid to the touch.
Phew…
”This should be sufficient, right?” Barn asked, exhaling softly as he severed the mana connection with a flick of his wrist.
Silence stretched across the room.
The two master tailors stood utterly frozen, their mouths open in unscripted shock.
The surrounding maids clutched their aprons, staring at the glowing sphere with wide, disbelieving eyes.
The thread sitting on the table wasn’t just high-grade material—it was a miraculous, hyper-condensed matrix of pure spiritual energy.
In the world of artisan spellcraft, a single inch of such thread was worth a small fortune; Barn had casually birthed an entire sun of it in less than thirty seconds.
The male tailor swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he bowed until his forehead nearly touched the floorboards.
”I-It is…
more than sufficient, My Lord!” he stammered, his voice shaking with profound reverence.
“With material of this absolute purity…
give us just one hour!
We will construct a masterpiece!”
”Good,” Barn said with a small nod.
Leaving the wide-eyed duo and the stunned maids behind, Barn turned toward the adjacent private washroom to clean off the grime of the slums, completely unbothered by what he had just done.
He had no idea that by casually solving a material shortage, he had just permanently altered the spiritual matrix of the two artisans—giving birth to two amazing tailors far above any of their kind and laying the foundation for a legendary pair of grandmasters who would start a new line of Great Fashion Mages throughout the continent.