I have Jarvis bring me every book about fire and lightning magic that is in the library. I also have him bring me any books about spells to enhance natural forces. I am hoping that somewhere in these books I will find a hint about what I am missing.

Lin and I curl up together in the chair, each with a stack of books to read. We cuddle and read for the next couple of hours until Lin is ready to go to bed. After we have some fun and she falls asleep, I go back to the library and continue reading.

I manage to read all of the books by morning, but unfortunately I don't find any hints. It isn't too surprising, I doubt anyone has had a reason to research this kind of magic. At least not in current times, maybe the tower library will have something I can use.

From what Yui told me, the ancient mages did a lot of research on all sorts of subjects. If there is nothing in the tower library, I will probably have to give up for now. If I have the time later on, maybe I will try doing the research for myself.

However, with everything that I have to do, having free time is a pretty big if. For now, I wake up Lin, have a little quality time with her, and then we have breakfast with the kids. After breakfast, Lin starts the magic lesson and I head to take another bath.

Unfortunately, I can't read manga in the bath anymore, the manga won't survive the heat. So, I keep the bath short so that I can go upstairs and read until lunch. After lunch, Chloell shows up and goes with the kids to explore the shadow plane.

Lin goes to the library, but I stay in the main room and read my manga. This way, I will be here when the kids return from the shadow plane. I'm not too worried at this point, but it is still possible for something to go wrong.

Since the kids are not using it, I tell Jarvis to have the gargoyles use the training room. One of the illusions that I created was of the castle itself, so they can train in defending it. Their programming will improve from the practice, even against fake enemies.

It will also give Jarvis more experience in controlling the training room and commanding the golems. Hopefully, it will also help to keep him from getting too bored, which is one of my fears. Too much boredom can drive someone insane and I don't want Jarvis to go insane.

With his programming, it shouldn't be too much of a risk, but there are no guarantees. That is why I want to keep him from getting too bored if at all possible. I am probably just worrying over nothing, but it is something that I can't stop my brain from doing.

Luckily, I have manga to distract me and keep my thoughts from repeating over and over. The kids don't return until quite late, it is to the point that I was getting worried. They tell us all about it over dinner, but it isn't what I was expecting, they found a city.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Nothing dangerous happened, they just got distracted exploring and lost track of time. From their descriptions, it is not the same city that I found when I first went there. For one thing, it is much larger than the city I found and has a lot more people.

The city center has several portals to other worlds, but the kids wisely didn't go through them. Although, after they tell me about them I am seriously tempted to go see where they lead. Without me even having to say anything, Lin smacks me on the head and tells me no.

She automatically knew what I was thinking, she obviously knows me too well. The kids and Lin all have a good laugh at my expense, but I can't get mad at them. Lin is right, me going to explore new worlds would be a bad idea, especially now.

It would be the perfect way for me to avoid, or at least delay, dealing with politics. However, that would also mean that I would be avoiding my marriage, not something I want to do. Not to mention how pissed both Lin and Myria would be, with good reason.

After dinner, I read until Lin is ready for bed, then we have some fun until she falls asleep. I am tempted to read more of my manga, but in the end I decide to work on my core. I work on my core until it is time to wake Lin up in the morning.

Core Upgrade Progress: 88%

I wake Lin up, spend some time with her in bed, and then we join the kids for breakfast. When she starts the kids' lesson, I go back to working on my core. I am close enough to reaching the next rank that I want to finish it today.

Core Upgrade Progress: 97%

I am tempted to skip lunch to finish, but I don't want to give up spending time with the kids. Finishing it after lunch will be soon enough, so I join the others for lunch. We talk about all sorts of random things while we eat, it is a good time.

I keep Lin and the kids company until everyone is done eating, then go back to working on my core. The kids head for the training room and Lin heads up to her library. Once I start, it only takes me about an hour to finish upgrading my core.

Core Upgrade Progress: 100%

Core Upgraded from Rank 13 to Rank 14!

Upgrade Benefits: +1,000 HP, +500 MP, +300 DP, +25 to all Stats!

Even though I don't know where I am going with the ranks, the rewards are really good. In fact, the rewards keep getting better each time I increase my rank. Right now, working on my core is my best bet for getting stronger.

However, for now I am going to take a break and take a nice long bath. The reason is that with this latest core upgrade, I somehow started sweating black gunk. Going from what I have read in cultivation manga, I think I am expelling impurities.

I can't be sure, but this stuff matches the descriptions that I have read. Especially the smell, which is why I don't waste any time in getting into the bath. The heat burns off the impurities as soon as I even get near the bath, which feels good.

I actually don't need to get into the bath, just the heat cleans the gunk off of me. However, I still climb into the tub and soak for a while, just because it feels good. After my bath, I read my manga until I get called to join Lin and the kids for dinner.

After dinner, I go back to reading my manga until Lin is ready to go to bed. I follow Lin to bed, play with her until she passes out, and then I go to sleep. I planned to sleep through the night, but I end up waking up about four hours later.