Seeing the yellow glow appear within the orb in his hand, Kaiser feels astonished

"It's so beautiful" Kaiser said, feeling drawn to the yellow color shimmering before him

"It's not just yellow... It's golden!" Farah exclaimed, captivated by the situation

"Is it special?" Kaiser asked surprised by her reaction

"It is. Normally, a person's Mana has a blue color" Farah explained

"Does that mean I'm stronger than normal people?"

"Mana with unusual colors isn't inherently different from regular blue Mana—" Farah starts to explain

"—But it indicates that you belong to a noble family."

"Huh? A noble family?" Kaiser’s jaw drops at Farah’s words

"Yes, you heard it right. In this empire, no, across the entire continent, people with Mana of a different color are extremely rare. All of them belong to prestigious families" Farah continues

"Those families have a probability of giving birth to someone with special Mana. These individuals possess unique abilities to control Mana, specific to their bloodline”

"A unique ability?" Kaiser asked

"That’s one of the reasons why those families hold such power today"

"So I’m… a noble" Kaiser muttered

Farah pauses, her face turning serious as she looks at him

"Don’t get too excited about that," Farah said, her tone unusually stern

"What do you mean?" Kaiser asked, confused by her sudden change in demeanor.

"Don’t you remember your circumstances?" Farah asked

"You were abandoned at birth, and no one has ever come looking for you. Why do you think they’ve never bothered to search for you?"

"An illegitimate child..." Kaiser murmured, his face falling into a look of disappointment

He’s lived in this world long enough to know how harsh life is for an illegitimate child. They live as shadows within their own family, and even when hidden away from the world, they’re constantly despised by others

Seeing his expression, Farah tries to find a way to comfort him

"Don’t worry too much. From the start, you’ve survived without them, and you’ll continue to do just fine in the future" Farah says, holding his hand.

"And don’t forget about your beautiful older sisters" Farah smiles, patting him on the back.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

After a while, once Kaiser regains his composure, Farah decides to return to her role as his instructor

"Alright then, let’s begin learning about Mana" Farah said, pulling out a pair of glasses from who-knows-where

‘They don’t have lenses’ Kaiser noticed, realizing she’s just trying to look scholarly. Still, he decides not to point it out since she looks so adorable trying to act like this

"Mana is a form of energy present in nature. The process of controlling Mana can be divided into three stages: Absorption, Release, and Execution" she explained, adjusting her glasses

"As the names suggest, the Absorption stage is when your body absorbs Mana from the environment and stores it internally. The Release stage is when you release Mana from your body. Once released, the Mana is entirely yours, so you can control it to perform various tasks in the final stage. The Execution stage is the most challenging to master. In this stage, you shape the released Mana in a precise way to make it attack, form a defensive shield, or even create Mana Circles" Farah explained thoroughly

"What are Mana Circles?" Kaiser asked

"It’s a tool to help Mana change its properties. Let me show you" Farah said

She takes a few steps away from Kaiser and begins to demonstrate

After a few seconds, her blue eyes light up, and she extends one hand in front of her. A circle with a few simple patterns appears before her. From the circle, a small fireball, just slightly larger than her hand, emerges. The fireball is then launched toward a distant target, igniting it

"That’s how we do it" Farah said, looking at Kaiser, her expression clearly asking for praise.

"You looked really cool doing that," Kaiser said, understanding the look on her face

"It’s nothing special" Farah replied, her lips curling up slightly as she tried to hide a smile. However, the tail swishing rapidly behind her betrays her emotions

"You’ll learn how to do this too” Farah continues

"To improve our mastery of Mana, we’ll need to practice controlling it and increasing the amount of Mana we can absorb"

"Since your Mana level is about to reach the Adept threshold, you should focus on Mana control for now" she said, pointing to a glass orb nearly filled with golden energy

"Here, take this" Farah said, pulling out a bracelet and handing it to Kaiser.

"What is this?" Kaiser asked

"It’s a device designed to enhance Mana control skills. When you channel Mana into it, you’ll need to adjust its direction so it flows through the bracelet. If you succeed in guiding the Mana all the way through, it will light up to signal your success" Farah explained, pointing at the bracelet

"Today, we’ll learn how to do that"

"First, try absorbing Mana by imagining you’re pulling something invisible into your mind" Farah instructs

Kaiser follows her instructions, and before long, his ember-colored eyes begin to glow

"That was quick. Now, try channeling Mana into the bracelet by imagining you’re grasping the invisible thing in your mind, pulling it out, and directing it into the bracelet" Farah praised him before guiding him through the next steps

Kaiser follows what she says, but after a while, his face tightens in frustration

"I feel like there are a lot of barriers blocking me" he said

"That’s normal. You’ll have to learn to adjust the flow of Mana to navigate through those barriers" Farah explained

Their training continues until sunset. By the end of the session, Kaiser manages to channel Mana halfway through the bracelet. Farah reassures him, saying that progress this fast is already impressive

—

In a faraway place, a man and a woman with the same ember-colored eyes stand together. This time, the man speaks

"The Elziah Empire…" he murmured

"That place is very far. Should we send someone to investigate it first?" the woman asked, her voice tinged with worry

"I’ll go there myself" the man said heavily.

He then walks away from where they are standing, leaving the woman alone

The woman stands still, her sorrowful gaze fixed on a large painting before her. In the painting is the image of a man with an extraordinarily handsome face, golden hair, and, most strikingly, ember-colored eyes