In a void inside Enrico's mind, he opened his eyes, seeing that panther and the egg it always guarded behind him. Sighing, he sat with his back to the emptiness.
"Are you going to give me your body now?"
"You're very insistent and annoying."
This had been happening for a long time — from time to time while he slept, at least twice a week, ever since the first time he had entered this place. He didn't care too much, but the problem was that when he returned to the real world, he immediately forgot these encounters and couldn't warn the system.
"How irritating."
"The truly irritating thing is having to focus on this place and not being able to leave. So come on, get a little closer."
"So you can take over my body? Not a chance."
Releasing this guy who claimed to be his worst side would be a disaster. He didn't know what would happen to him outside, nor what would happen if he got trapped inside.
'To make matters worse, this bastard says nothing except trying to take my place.'
He hated this being before him, because one of the only things it said to try to convince him was that only it could truly understand him. To be honest, Enrico believed that might even be true, since it had seen his life, but there was one irritating thing.
'He talks as if I were a child, when he seems more childish than me.'
Among the times he had visited this place, Enrico realized that the panther was quite impulsive whenever things got out of control. There was one time Enrico had taken advantage of a moment of lowered guard and quickly snatched the egg, bringing it close to him.
What happened next was an explosion of darkness trying to rush into the area, and the panther seemed extremely irritated. Enrico gave the egg back right after, since he didn't know what to do with it and it seemed indestructible somehow.
"Let me out."
"No. Besides being my bad side, you're too impulsive."
"You're blaming me for that? It was your fault. You stole something important, and I just lost control over that. I swear I can stay calm with other things—wait, are you already leaving?"
Closing his eyes, he decided it was time to go away. There was no way he could stay with someone so annoying pestering him. It was better to focus on sleeping instead.
"Come on, stay a little longer, I feel like I'm close to convincing you."
"Wrong. You're not even close to that."
Disappearing from that place, Enrico opened his eyes to see the ceiling. Noticing it was already morning, he got up and began to get ready, since he had to go to the neighboring city.
[Did you rest well?]
"To be honest, I don't think so, since I woke up in a bad mood…"
[I can tell by your face, it must have been a nightmare.]
Erasing his irritated expression, he opened the door, left, and quickly went down the stairs, seeing Titanza sitting there. Among them all, she was the one who always woke up early to take care of her tasks.
"You woke up early, and by your expression, you're used to it."
"I use this time to train."
"…very good, keep it up and focus on becoming stronger, since Virelle believes a lot in you."
"Right, I'll go out for a run outside."
After her nod, he left the house. Titanza walked to the window and saw him start running, doing exercises around the mansion for two full hours. The servants outside couldn't believe what they were seeing, since Enrico was never like that. Platina arrived behind Titanza, seeing the training below without surprise.
"Impressive, isn't it, Mother? This is only the beginning."
"He's changed a lot, and I hope he stays that way."
Seeing Enrico talk with one of the servants and then start running away from the mansion, both became doubtful, while the servant reported that Enrico wanted to visit the city of Braig.
"City of Braig? Platina, I want you to follow him."
"Right, Mother."
Platina ran outside while Titanza noticed Valerio walking toward where Enrico was going — he must have received the same order from Matteo.
"Wait, what is Taíra doing?"
Her youngest daughter was running as fast as she could, at least trying to follow him, even though he was many levels above her.
"Why are children your age always like this?"
Sighing, she went back inside to wait for Angela, but was surprised to see her already sitting there, drinking tea, having been there for a while. That showed how strong she was, and that this alliance had to be made.
Meanwhile, Enrico was running quickly, since it was already time to start a small battle in that city. The level wasn't very high, but from this battle a villainess would be born. Of course, there was magic above his power there, but that was exactly why he had told them where he was going, since Matteo and Titanza would surely send someone to keep watch on him.
'Since they're going to be strong, I won't have to worry beforehand.'
Arriving in the city and wiping his sweat, he went to the square while admiring some vases he saw in the shops, even stopping in front of one to examine the vase's texture through the window.
"This one is far above normal… I think I'll buy it."
Entering the store that sold items for houses, he made the purchase but stopped, a little surprised, because he saw three people in another section buying things.
'Aren't those Arvanys and Dorian? I didn't think I'd see them so soon.'
"He said to buy this, didn't he?"
"I think so. I hope we picked the right thing."
Thinking further, it was a surprise. He didn't know the third person, who was covered by a cloak, but he could use them.
'Let's see… I'm definitely being followed, but in the confusion I can put on my Kael outfit so the two of them will see me and maybe help me.'
With a plan forming, he left the store and saw a barrier beginning to rise above, covering half the city where he was.
'Looks like their suicidal attack has begun.'
"Professor?"
Hearing a voice behind him, at first he thought somehow he had been mistaken, because how could someone call a teenager "professor"? Turning around, he recognized who it was.
"You're Kaela?"