"Having your innate element be light both has benefits and negatives," Louie told Isaiah, managing to catch his attention. "Since it's a rare element, the learning resources about it will be hard to access. On the upside, the demand for your expertise will be higher due to the limited supply of light mages."

Isaiah responded, "I don't need light spells; I can create them. What I need is material on mana." Louie nodded when he heard this. "That's how most mages create their spells since every mage has unique strengths and weaknesses, such as in mana capacity, mana sense, or mana control. They opt to create their spells that play into their strengths."

Isaiah had many ideas on what spells to create, but that had to wait for a bit. "You should report back to the government that the project is a success."

"First, you should go home and get cleaned up. We can start the talks tomorrow," Louie said, while they had reached an agreement with the government beforehand, it was still prone to change.

Isaiah quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes, then they started leaving the mine's premises. While they were walking on the tunnel towards the exit, Isaiah remembered that Nollie had warned him not to walk deeper into the mines and asked, "Uncle, why are the deeper parts of the mines considered risky? Is it because of a possibility of collapse due to a weak foundation?"

Louie nodded, but then also added, "While it's true there is a possibility of collapse since the deeper parts of the mine have yet to be stabilized, the main reason is the presence of rock monsters." Hearing this made Isaiah want to go to the depths of the mines. He had heard of monsters from the locals, and ever since then, he wanted to study these creatures. These mines continued to increase in value in his eyes, first the mana gems, now the possibility to study monsters, "Creatures born from mana, how interesting", he mused.

They exited the mines after saying their goodbyes to the stationed government officials. They made their way to Louie's vehicle. Seeing the vehicle and having just entered Rank 1, Isaiah asked, "Uncle, can I drive it?"

"Sure," Louie threw him the keys, while the vehicle didn't need keys to start an "engine" since it had none. You still needed the key to open its doors. They both got in. Isaiah spread his mana throughout the vehicle, this way he also obtained information regarding the inner workings of the car. Above each wheel stood a formation; you controlled the wheels via the formations. Another unique feature was that the wheels could move 360 degrees in every direction, which explained the smooth road experience.

Due to Isaiah's sublime memory, he didn't need to ask for directions despite using the road only once. Louie noticed that since he was ready to give the directions. "You have a good memory, just like your uncle," he laughed. He couldn't help but boast about himself whenever he found the opportunity.

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Isaiah didn't bother with his uncle's joke; he was busy trying to memorize the formation used to move the wheels. It was clear that it used a more advanced formation than what he had access to at the moment, his current knowledge didn't give any insights into it. When they arrived at Isaiah's café, he had only managed to memorize its fundamentals, such as how the rotation movement was achieved, and how the mana moved. Due to time limitations, he couldn't yet figure out how the formations held the wheels in place so stably nor how such a smooth controlling experience was provided.

He gave the keys back and turned around to see that his uncle hadn't exited the vehicle. His uncle moved over to the driver's seat, then said, "I have a dinner date with your aunt. Love doesn't wait, kiddo." Right after dropping that line, he sped off. Seeing his uncle and aunt still in love after all these years made Isaiah chuckle. It reminded him of his first wife, the woman who taught him even he was capable of love, his first love. He sighed and shelved the thought.

He entered the café and saw Lily behind the counter, hard at work. He made a conscious attempt not to ring the bells hanging on the door and sneaked up on her with slow steps. He got behind her shoulder and simply tapped it with his index finger. The simple gesture took Lily's soul out, causing her to scream from the depths of her lungs. Isaiah patted her shoulder while he laughed, "Calm down, it's me."

When Lily noticed it was her boss, she sighed a sigh of relief, then a cute pout appeared on her face. "Boss, you are so mean. You nearly gave me a heart attack," she held her chest; her heart was still beating wildly.

After she calmed down, she managed to get a better look at him and noticed the scars on his hands. "What happened to your hands, Sir?" she asked, her voice riddled with worry.

Isaiah, rather than answering, let out his Aura. He didn't let the pressure weigh on her but only let out enough for her to feel it. Lily's eyes widened as she felt her boss's aura gently caress her body. "Boss! How did you reach Rank 1 so fast? You are only 23!" Her reaction made him laugh. "Do you now realize how great your boss is?" While he boasted in a joking tone.

Lily smiled, hearing her boss boasting. "What is your innate element, Sir?"

A devious smile formed on Isaiah's face, and he said, "Take a guess."

Lily thought for a minute, pointing her index finger to her chin. "Umm, could it be Win-" Suddenly, her vision was blinded by a wall of light; all she could see was pure white. It was as if she had closed her eyes, but black was replaced with white. She held her eyes, but the light didn't strain them. Isaiah was intentionally more gentle with his prank compared to the one he pulled on his uncle.

Lily, after regaining her vision, pouted once more. "I have been fooled twice." Isaiah laughed as he told her, "Don't be disheartened; no one is safe from my pranks." With that, he left the café and went up to his apartment room. He first took a shower to freshen up; water also washed the dried blood on his wounds. After the shower, before getting into a fresh set of clean clothes, he tended to his wounds with medicine he had bought just in case of an emergency. It did indeed come in handy.

He got in bed and quickly dozed off to sleep, while his body had been enhanced from ascending a Rank. His wounds had still taken a toll on him, coupled with the mental energy he spent performing self-surgery. He needed a good night's rest.