Chapter 031: Miscalculation (Patreon)

Eris's tenth birthday celebration had wound down before anyone quite noticed.

Standing in the courtyard corridor, Rudy tilted his head back and looked up at the crack of fate spreading across the sky.

It kept growing larger, and yet nothing drastic had happened. Had he simply misremembered?

Maybe the true Fittoa Territory Teleport Incident hadn't been tied to Eris's tenth birthday at all — maybe it was tied to his own.

If that were the case, then the real disturbance was still two years off.

Still, what was done was done. No harm in having gotten a head start on a few things.

Paul, Zenith, Lilia, and the rest of them were all doing well enough in Donati territory. Sylphiette's family had no troubles either.

His research into space-based weapons had made a bit of headway — even his attempts to push past the nuclear level had advanced somewhat.

That took the edge off his eagerness to attend the magic university. After all, even if he went, who could say whether the place actually held anything that could help him break through the atomic-nuclear level?

Among the seven tiers of power in the current world, he already stood at the very summit. At that level, the accumulated wisdom of those who came before could serve, at best, as a passing reference. The real path forward, he'd have to carve out for himself, one step at a time.

Just then, Ghislaine came up beside him.

"What's wrong? What are you standing here thinking about?" she asked, puzzled.

Rudy turned to look at her. "Just marveling, without really meaning to, that Big Sister Eris is already ten," he said with a smile.

Ghislaine studied him, puzzled. "What, you want to hurry up and turn ten yourself?"

"Yeah," Rudy said, smiling. "This body's still a bit too frail right now."

Ghislaine laughed. "Frail? Are you thinking of branching into swordsmanship? I recall you saying your magic had gotten stuck at its current level."

"It's fine — I've already found a new direction to push through," Rudy said. "As for swordsmanship, I do have that idea. But not now. Only once I've broken past what's holding me back right now."

Ghislaine's curiosity only deepened. "You sound awfully confident. But in your training so far, you haven't even managed basic battle aura. Are you saying that breaking your magic bottleneck will let you produce battle aura too?"

"Maybe," Rudy said, smiling. "But really, whether it's battle aura or mana, they've always just been different ways of using energy. When we eat, we're drawing energy in from the outside world. Every action we take needs energy behind it. So — as long as I master the core rules governing how energy is generated, what difference does it really make whether it's mana or battle aura? Given enough energy to drive it, I can unleash terrifying power."

"Ohh..." Ghislaine nodded, looking thoroughly lost. She hadn't understood a word of it, but it still sounded impressive.

After all, this was coming from Rudy — an Emperor-rank existence. She could hardly imagine it: if he really pulled off this breakthrough, could he actually reach the God rank that everyone else could only gaze up at and never touch?

Seeing her expression, Rudy didn't push the explanation any further. Instead, he just smiled, took her hand, and pulled her toward Eris's room. "Speaking of which, Eris is still waiting on us. As her tutor, today of all days — her tenth birthday — I should give her a proper gift to celebrate."

Ghislaine's eyes went wide. "Ah, now that you mention it, I completely forgot!"

"It's fine," Rudy said, smiling. "It doesn't need to be anything precious. The thought counts more than the form."

"Oh..." Ghislaine nodded, letting Rudy lead her along obediently toward Eris's room, all the while racking her brain over what kind of gift to give.

Before long, the two of them reached Eris's room. The moment she saw them, Eris walked straight up and threw her arms around Rudy. "Thank you so much for today, Rudy."

"No need to be so formal — didn't you already thank me earlier?" As he spoke, Rudy glanced over at Sylphiette, who stood quietly to the side. "Sylphiette, have you given her your gift yet?" he asked with a smile.

Sylphiette nodded and smiled. "Yes. I gave Eris a really pretty hair ornament."

"A hair ornament? Well, that's quite a coincidence..."

"Huh, are you giving her one too?"

Rudy waved a hand and pulled out a triangular gem. "Mine's meant to be a necklace pendant," he said with a smile. "But since Sylphiette already gave her a hair ornament, I figure... this pendant could be set right into it instead. That way, Eris would end up carrying a wand on her without anyone even noticing."

"Huh, you can do that?"

Puzzled, Eris took the fine hair ornament out of her red hair. Rudy pressed the triangular gem straight onto it.

As his molecular-level magic took hold, the ornament transformed, growing far more exquisite and beautiful.

Under the lamplight, it shimmered with a rainbow of colors, dazzling to look at.

Gazing at the exquisite ornament in her hands, both Eris and Sylphiette's eyes lit up with delight. "It's so pretty!"

Even Ghislaine, muscle-headed as she was, couldn't help but steal a second glance at it.

"Happy birthday, Big Sister Eris."

"Mm, thank you, Rudy."