In the dormitory room, Enrico remained seated in a meditative position, concentrating on controlling the flow of mana within his body.
The magic circles in his heart were spinning rapidly, one red and the other blue, remaining side by side as they traveled along their orbits. Their speed gradually increased, causing mana to circulate through his body with ever-growing intensity. Vapor began to escape from his skin, which was slowly taking on a reddish hue.
[Stop!]
"Huff... Huff..."
Enrico immediately opened his eyes and stopped the technique. He placed one hand against his chest, trying to control his breathing as he felt his heart beating alarmingly fast. For a few moments, he remained motionless, concentrating on restoring his heartbeat to its normal rhythm.
'How did I do?'
'You really... did it. You created a unique technique that can accelerate the development of your magic circles.'
A new message appeared before his eyes.
[Circular Breathing Technique]
[Effect: When used during training, it allows the percentage of magic circles to develop twice as fast.]
[Disadvantage: Prolonged use may cause a heart attack.]
Enrico stared at the description for several seconds.
The technique he had developed was far too dangerous to teach to other people without first finding a way to make it safer. After all, if the System hadn't intervened a few moments earlier, he might have suffered a heart attack during the attempt.
That didn't mean he would have certainly died, but he would undoubtedly have been on the brink of death.
'Thanks for helping me with this.'
[If I hadn't helped, my entertainment would have come to an end.]
Enrico let out a tired laugh at the response.
Thanks to the System's intervention, he had managed to stop the process before the strain overwhelmed his heart. Now that he knew exactly where the limit lay, he could explore the technique's potential more carefully.
Developing it hadn't been easy at all. For it to work, he had needed to keep at least two magic circles spinning simultaneously, side by side, at a specific speed.
If they spun too quickly, the strain on his heart could cause a heart attack almost immediately. If they spun too slowly, there would be no significant improvement in the speed at which the percentages developed.
Furthermore, simply making the circles spin wasn't enough. Enrico needed to force all the mana in his body to circulate continuously, keeping the process active throughout his training. It was precisely this combination that extraordinarily accelerated the development of his magic circles.
'My problem now is figuring out how to keep the technique active while training.'
Although he had achieved the desired result, he still needed to figure out how to control the strain without putting his own life at risk. Until then, he would have to be careful not to push beyond his limits.
Standing up, Enrico decided it was time to sleep. He had stayed awake longer than planned to develop the new technique, and at that moment, his body needed to rest.
However, when he approached the bed, he found three figures lying down, hugging the pillow he usually used to sleep.
They were Yumeha, Rina, and Aoi.
'I can't believe they actually let these three start living here.'
[Not only that. The king of Sanos ordered that you have your own space in the dormitory, where you would live alone, with several maids responsible for taking care of the place. In practice, it's almost as if they've stationed guards around you.]
Enrico looked at the bed again, unable to hide his bewildered expression.
There were other dormitories available for the three of them, but ever since they had arrived the previous day, they had simply preferred to sleep in his room, and apparently, none of them intended to give up that privilege anytime soon. For a moment, he remembered the words those three had said.
"You need to take responsibility, my Ketsumei."
"That's right, darling."
"I don't like this, but they're right, Master."
Enrico stared at the three girls, who seemed perfectly satisfied with their own words.
The way they spoke made it seem as though he had committed some kind of unforgivable crime. However, everything that had happened up to that point had been nothing more than a series of encounters and a few kisses.
Even so, the girls were surprisingly good at making him feel as though he had an enormous responsibility toward them.
'If they're already like this now, imagine when we actually sleep together...'
[Wait! You're already thinking about that? Please, stop acting like this!]
'Don't worry. For now, it'll only be kisses. I'm already taking enough risks, so I won't do anything beyond that until I'm old enough.'
Enrico knew he needed to act carefully. His goal was to grow closer and closer to the girls and strengthen the bonds between them. Rejecting them unnecessarily could damage their relationships and even affect their motivation to continue growing stronger.
Despite that, the System didn't seem convinced by his justification in the slightest.
'Tsk. Using a girl's feelings like this... You're truly trash.'
'You made me feel bad for a moment there. But only for a moment, because I'll return their love in an enormous way.'
[I simply don't understand your personality... This is the kind of thing a virgin who has never done anything in his entire life would say.]
Enrico raised his eyebrows slightly.
'And who said I'm a virgin? I thought I'd already told you that. From what I can see, it seems you're the one who's never been in a relationship.'
He waited, expecting the System to immediately fire back with another provocation. However, the silence dragged on.
Enrico tilted his head, amused by the unexpected reaction. For the first time since he had started teasing her, he seemed to have managed to leave her speechless.
[Wait... You really weren't lying?]
'You should know me better by now. I don't usually lie about things that aren't important.'
[But this is very important to me, you idiot! How is it possible that you've already been in a relationship while I still haven't had one until now?!]
'Maybe it's because you're annoying.'
Enrico flashed a playful smile, pleased to have discovered a new way to annoy the System.
Until that moment, he had never imagined she could be so shaken by that kind of teasing. Now that he knew, he would certainly take advantage of this discovery whenever he had the opportunity.
'Looks like I've gained some new weapons.'
[You damn bastard! Imbecile! And many other things I can't say because the constellations won't let me!]
Enrico's smile widened as he heard her indignant response.
He was genuinely pleased. After all, few things were as entertaining as discovering a new way to irritate the System, especially when she herself kept giving him the opportunities.
After enjoying his victory for a few moments, Enrico finally turned his attention back to the girls.
He approached the bed and gently touched Rina's shoulder to wake her.
The girl moved beneath the blanket before slowly opening her eyes, still drowsy.
"My Ketsumei... What's wrong? Is it time for class already?"
"No. Class won't start for another hour and a half. I woke you up because I want to perform Shinketsu no Musubi with you."
The sleepiness disappeared from Rina's face almost instantly.
"My Ketsumei!"
She quickly sat up and hugged him, her eyes shining with happiness.
Until that moment, Enrico had intended to wait until he broke through his potential limits at least two more times before performing the ritual. However, with the new technique he had just developed, he could accelerate his progress and bring that moment forward.
And after reflecting on the situation, he had decided there was no reason to keep putting it off.
"What happened, Rina?"
Aoi was beginning to wake up when she noticed Rina hugging Enrico. Still drowsy, she sat up in bed and looked at the two of them curiously.
"I'm going to become my Ketsumei's Musubinin!"
Upon hearing the news, Aoi woke up completely. She smiled and approached to hug Rina, congratulating her on the achievement.
The two were beaming with happiness.
Even Yumeha, who initially pouted slightly when she realized what was happening, couldn't help letting a discreet smile slip.
However, her satisfied expression didn't last long.
"Even so, I'll still be Master's first, so don't get too excited."
Rina, who was still hugging Enrico, turned her face toward Yumeha.
"You may have been the first, but that won't stop me from becoming the principal wife."
"Please, you're already far too late to compete for first place. You should focus on winning second place."
Aoi, who had been following the discussion without directly participating until then, realized she was being left out.
Without wasting any time, she approached Enrico and hugged him as well, making it clear that she had no intention of falling behind. Judging by the way she looked at him, she seemed to be already thinking about getting another kiss to establish her position, just as Yumeha had done before.
"As if I'd let you do that before me!"
"Yumeha, that's not fair!"
The three girls' voices began to overlap as each tried to defend her position.
Enrico remained in their midst, watching the discussion with a calm expression. After all, he was already starting to get used to this kind of situation.
[It seems this is going to be much more troublesome than you imagined.]
'No. I can handle it.'
While the girls continued arguing about who would occupy the most important place in his heart, Enrico silently went back to teasing the System, looking for new ways to annoy her.
Apparently, that morning would be just as eventful as the rest of his life.