Arthur escorted the men out of the estate and watched them leave.
'I guess I got lucky with them.'
He thought as he watched the group of four leave.
'Or maybe its just thanks to the glasses.'
He mused as he went back inside, the lingering scent from their smoking was still there when he entered.
He sat down on the chair and stared into space.
'Without it, I might have had to resort to killing them.'
He had accessed something else.
It was something akin to a database, something he had found out about when he tried to scan them with the glasses.
Among the stats there was something else....
[Affiliation]
When he tried to get more information on it, he was given a short history of the Luther family, their connections and quite a few more things about them.
That was where he got the idea of going into the wine business, though he had just said that in the moment, but now he was thinking of starting one.
In the "game", the Luther family could make interactions with the player character. And in the same "game", they never had a bad ending.
Either way, if the affiliation tab hadn't popped up when he saw those men, he would have had a pool of blood to deal with.
"Now, the only thing left is to wait for the semester to start."
He murmured to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck.
A moment later, the sound of the front door opening echoed across the foyer.
The sound of footsteps echoed across the vast, but empty hall.
Soon enough, Celestine came into his view.
"I'm back."
Celestine announced as she came into view.
"I can see that."
He replied dryly without looking up.
At this point he didn't even bother to look up, he had already checked his own stats as well and nothing had changed.
He had deduced that for the affiliation status to show it had to be someone with actual connections.
Celestine, as far as he knew, had none.
He would check Adrian's own stats to see if anything had changed.
"Where is Adrian?"
Arthur asked.
He remembered distinctly that he had tasked Adrian with following and protecting her.
"He said he would make dinner, after that he's going to sleep."
He nodded.
'The man hasn't had enough sleep in awhile, I'll check his stats tomorrow.'
He decided.
"Also, I got your clothes for you."
"Thanks."
He replied.
"Also, Celestine, do you have a moment?"
He asked suddenly.
"Yes, I'll go drop this in my room first."
….
The training hall was one of the places in the estate that hadn't changed in the slightest, even after three years everything still looked the same to Arthur.
The whole place was embedded with the Ignis rune, and had lines with racked weapons commonly used by Adrian and the few servants who had awakened.
Arthur silently watched as Celestine tied her hair.
"You want to help me with my training?"
She asked, her voice laced with skepticism.
Celestine was well aware of the fact that Arthur had submitted the test today, and now he wanted to help her with her training.
It didn't take her a minute before realizing what he was helping her with.
It was the contents of her evaluation test.
"Yes, I think it would be good to pass the time before dinner was ready."
He answered almost immediately.
Even though Celestine hadn't talked to her brother in three years and only recently got him back, she could recognize some of his most noticeable habits.
"Sure."
She replied, not even bothering to pretend to take his words seriously.
Arthur let out a sigh.
"I want you to use a mana burst."
He said.
"Mana burst? The one where you release your mana at once?"
Celestine asked.
Arthur nodded in response.
"It will be good for you in the long run if you learn it now. When fighting someone with a close combatant class, a mage can't always move around, if you use mana burst once your opponent gets in range and then cast a spell as soon as they get thrown off, you could turn the tide of the battle."
Arthur explained.
However, Celestine barely bothered to listen to his explanation.
She had only heard the three key points of his explanation "mana burst", "cast spell" and "turn the tide of the battle".
But there was a slight problem with his explanation.
"How do you do that?"
She questioned.
"Do what?"
"Use mana burst and cast a spell directly after?"
Arthur stared at her.
"By doing it."
He replied in a deadpan tone.
Celestine just stared at him in response.
'Using mana burst and casting a spell directly after is impossible.'
It was a feat she doubted even high ranking mages could do.
However, from the way he spoke about it, it seemed like he had done it before.
"Give it a try."
He suggested.
She nodded in response.
"Okay."
Then, Celestine focused.
She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. A faint golden shimmer surrounded her, but that was only for a moment, until—
"Mana burst!"
The air rippled around her and a slight golden glow followed it closely, it enveloped her form almost as if repelling anything close to her.
It would have been able to repel a speeding projectile, throwing it off balance, and it would have been able to slightly set a sturdy awakened off balance.
"That was good."
Arthur complimented.
Celestine's expression barely changed, she knew what was coming next.
"But, you should try to achieve something like this."
Arthur had barely finished speaking before deciding to demonstrate.
The air visibly rippled.
And a pulse of mana that covered his body completed spread out.
There was no glow – an effect that was supposed to be there – almost as if his control of mana allowed him to negate that effect.
But, the pulse of mana was unmistakable.
Just as it was about to reach her it stopped and faded, almost as if it was never there.
He had stopped it forcefully before it reached her.
"Celestine, are you okay?"
Arthur asked, genuine concern laced in his voice.
"I'm...."
She paused.
'It's hot.'
She had been afraid for a moment.
Genuinely afraid.
"We can stop-"
Arthur began, but he was interrupted.
"Don't worry, I'm okay.... Let's continue, I want to be able to do it like you said."
"Okay."
He guided her, telling her how to increase the power of mana burst, and sometimes stopping to explain how important it was when you were fighting to survive.
She was improving, little by little.
Her control of her mana became a little better and she listened to his corrections silently.
"You would make a good teacher."
Celestine complimented him after they had finished training.
"I wouldn't, I'm better suited as a professor."
He replied.
"I'm sure you would."
She rolled her eyes playfully as they continued on their way.