"See to it that no one sets foot in the office for a while."
Despite the late hour, Luke Frontel had returned straight to the main family estate from Thorn Hill.
"You have traveled a long way... Are you perhaps pushing yourself too hard...?"
"I am fine, so there is no need to worry."
Ignoring the servant's concern, Luke offered a faint smile and quickly closed the door. Having lived a life far removed from idleness, this level of exertion was hardly a strain for him.
...More than anything, he felt that if he didn't have some time alone, he wouldn't be able to compose his chaotic emotions.
"Hah."
Luke let out a deep sigh and swept his hand down his face. The tension left his body, causing his shoulders to slump.
"Why did I do such a useless thing... how foolish and stupid..."
He was berating himself for his clumsy behavior. If he could, he would have banged his head against the wall.
The image of the wound etched onto Kroha's cheek kept resurfacing in his mind. He couldn't even fathom how frightened that young child must have been.
'I only intended to scare him moderately and return...'
Although Luke sat in the seat of the Vice Family Head, ironically, he was a man who did not view the family's succession method positively.
That was the reason he had personally visited Kroha.
He needed to inform his youngest brother, who was still green and tender. He needed to tell him exactly what kind of domain he was trying to step into.
And he had intended to make him give up.
He didn't want to encourage unnecessary competition. The fact that they were half-siblings meant nothing to Luke.
The brothers of the Frontel Family lived worse than strangers, forming their own factions and keeping each other in check.
He was simply worried that Kroha might end up the same way.
If things had gone according to plan, he should have succeeded in excluding Kroha from the succession competition, but...
'Normally, his will should have been broken.'
His actions were born from experience.
Those Luke had met until now would easily lose their will in the face of overwhelming martial power.
However, in the end, Kroha did not give up.
'I just became a bad brother who tried to harm his younger sibling.'
Thinking about it again made him sigh.
Bang—!
At that moment, the office door was thrown open violently, causing a commotion.
"M-My Lady! The Vice Family Head said no..."
"Oh come on, I said it's fine, didn't I?"
Appearing along with a piercing voice was the fifth of the eight siblings, Yuri Frontel.
The servant, who had been following Yuri with a troubled and restless expression, finally withdrew only after Luke waved his hand.
"Brother Luke, I heard you went to see the kid?"
"Yes."
Yuri reacted to Luke's dry answer as if she were vexed.
"Ugh... I was curious too!"
News about Kroha had already been fully delivered within the family.
Most people seemed to regard it as insignificant so far, but it appeared that Yuri was the exception.
From what he heard, Yuri, like Luke, had intended to visit Thorn Hill using the Family Elixir as a pretext.
Of course, her objective would have been slightly different.
"So, how was he?"
It wasn't a question asking about trivial matters.
Does he possess the qualities to satisfy the qualifications of a Frontel successor? That was the simple meaning implied in her words.
The younger sister in front of him was a simple type who was fanatically obsessed with fighting, even among the successors.
She was essentially the only person who would welcome the appearance of a new successor.
"It was fascinating."
Luke Frontel was evaluated as someone born with the love of mana and who had inherited the blood of Frontel more thickly than anyone else.
Yet, he had no way to explain it other than with such a vague expression.
Luke needed time to ponder how to explain what Kroha had shown him.
"What!"
It seemed to come as quite a shock to Yuri.
It was Luke Frontel, not anyone else. There was no way a mediocre level of talent would have caught his eye.
That fact alone gave credibility to the talk about Kroha.
"Perhaps, even more than you at the same age."
"Really? Ha, I knew I should have gone myself!"
Yuri clenched her fists and shouted.
"The Family Head wouldn't have allowed it anyway."
In a way, it was fortunate for Kroha.
If Yuri, not Luke, had gone there, something truly troublesome would have occurred.
Yuri seemed to know this as well, as she continued speaking without minding his comment.
"Hmm, then I'll have to wait over a year to see the kid."
"One year..."
That was all the time left until Kroha would come to the main family. It wasn't a long time, but to Luke, it felt slightly distant.
"By any chance... if I were to leave a scar on your face, what would you do?"
Yuri blinked at the sudden question. It was because it was the first time she had ever received such a question.
"What? Are you saying you'll spar with me?"
Though Luke didn't get a proper answer in the end.
"No."
"...What? How boring."
If one could call it pure, she was pure. At least to Luke, she was better than the other desolate siblings.
That was why Luke could ask something like this.
"Then... do you know what kind of gifts kids like these days?"
'...Did I overdo it?'
It was the result of circulating excessive mana using the River, which hadn't even been properly perfected yet.
Fortunately, Anet and Ronne didn't seem to notice, but symptoms of poisoning were manifesting in Kroha's body.
'As expected.'
Small blue spots had settled all over his skin.
It was the early symptom of mana poisoning. His muscles were paralyzed, accompanied by extreme fatigue.
It might be okay for now... but he couldn't leave it neglected like this.
'One wrong move and the parts of the River I've painstakingly built might be damaged.'
However, he couldn't inform the family and ask for help. If he were going to do that, he wouldn't have taken the risk in the first place.
In the end, the only thing immediately usable was...
'Is this the only way?'
The Frontel Family Elixir received from Luke.
He couldn't specify the effects, but at the very least, it wouldn't be an item harmful to the body. There was no other choice.
Gulp.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Kroha drank the Family Elixir without delay.
'Ugh, tastes like dirt.'
The bitter taste lingering on the tip of his tongue made him frown.
Soon, his nerves were irritated as if needles were pricking muscles all over his body. It felt like parts of his physical structure were being twisted.
It was fortunate that he was somewhat accustomed to pain; if it were an ordinary child, they would have already been rolling around the bed like crazy.
'To feed something like this to kids so casually, they certainly aren't sane.'
The grumbling was brief. Originally, the moment right after taking a Family Elixir was the most important.
Kroha closed his eyes and closely examined the changes in his body.
He could feel the mana running wild due to the poisoning symptoms.
'Wait a moment... this is...'
The separation phenomenon of the Dissolving Ice was decreasing, albeit slightly. It was even more dangerous in a situation where poisoning symptoms had manifested.
'Were the rumors underestimated...? I wondered why they tried so hard to hide it...'
The cause lay in the Family Elixir. The Dissolving Ice was ultimately a problem of resistance.
Because he possessed a constitution fatal to mana, his dantian instinctively rejected it.
The fact that this function had decreased could only be seen as an increase in the dantian's resistance.
'It was an item intended to increase mana accumulation and dramatically raise the level of the core.'
But Kroha did not have a core.
Even if the dantian's resistance increased, he couldn't see a dramatic effect, nor did it help in curing the poisoning symptoms.
...If he hadn't constructed the River beforehand, that is.
'Perhaps it won't take a long time to reach the realm of my past life.'
Originally, building resistance was something possible only by investing a corresponding amount of time, and it was also the most troublesome part of growing the River.
Even if he increased the inflow of mana, if the Dissolving Ice separated just as much, the amount of circulating mana would remain the same.
However, this Family Elixir ignored that providence to some extent and increased his resistance.
'Enough to complete the River right now.'
There was only one thing to do.
'Stop breathing until the Dissolving Ice separates all the mana.'
Intentionally guiding mana to the heart had clear limits.
Therefore, he needed to train his body. So that mana would gather in the heart, not the dantian, even without conscious effort.
If he only succeeded, making the poisoning symptoms subside would be an easy task.
"Ugh...!"
As the mana inside his body rapidly disappeared, thick clots of blood surged up his esophagus.
It was also a more dangerous action than any other time. A body with no remaining mana could not function.
30 seconds remaining.
Within that time, Kroha's breath could be cut off. His body was slowly cooling down...
'...It should be?'
Something was off.
It wasn't that a problem was occurring with the completion of the River. Rather, mana was gathering in his heart faster than expected.
If there was a cause for this anomaly, it was this alone. The marking on the back of his hand, which had unknowingly taken its complete form.
The marking was flashing, constantly emitting light. It wasn't something Kroha could control.
Soon, the light that had only been flashing spread to fill the room in an instant, and Kroha had to shut his eyes tight.
'What is this?'
As he opened his eyes again to grasp the situation, the crushed shapes of objects were slowly becoming clear. And at the center of it was...
'...A person?'
That couldn't be. The only ones staying here were his mother and Ronne.
However, this thing floating in the air was clearly the silhouette of a human who appeared to be around the same age as Kroha.
'Strange.'
It was right in front of his eyes, yet a mysterious feeling radiated from it as if no one existed there at all. Along with a sense of déjà vu of unknown origin.
"Phew—! I thought I was going to die."
"You... can speak?"
At the sudden voice, Kroha muttered. At first listen, it was presumed to be a woman, no, a girl.
Only then did the girl seem to notice the existence of another, narrowing her eyes to observe Kroha.
"...What kind of insignificant creature are you?"
That was what Kroha wanted to say. It was just that he couldn't easily speak due to the unexpected situation.
Instead, Kroha thrust the marking on the back of his hand forward. If the girl was an entity derived from here, she would know something.
As if his guess wasn't completely wrong, the girl looked back and forth between the marking and Kroha.
"Ha! People do all sorts of things now."
"...Shouldn't you reveal who you are first?"
"To expect a kind introduction after committing such an act, you are truly a foolish creature."
The girl, who had been giggling while spouting incomprehensible nonsense, soon hardened her expression and continued speaking.
"Did you not commit this knowing everything? Even knowing that this body is a Progenitor Human, Kali."
Kroha had no choice but to doubt his ears.
Because he hadn't even imagined that name would come out here.
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