Ethan looked at her with surprise on his face, then turned to look at the book. Was this really worth becoming an unpaid employee?
He turned to look at her again as she kept saying, "Please, Mr. Stark..."
He could see tears forming in her eyes, and most of her cheeks had gone red.
Of course, he wasn’t moved by those tears. However, a thought crossed his mind about how this might actually benefit him.
Aside from him and the other members of the household, she was the only other person with knowledge of what he truly was.
She had also said she knew what his father feared he’d become, so perhaps she knew even more about all of this.
But more importantly, this grimoire in his hands seemed like a much bigger deal than normal. Yes, it had quite a number of high-tiered spells, but the way she acted made him feel like maybe there was something more to it.
He decided he was going to find out for himself. Moreover, it wouldn’t be bad picking up powerful spells from the grimoire either.
So he came to the conclusion that keeping her closer would make it easier to monitor and prevent her from blabbing about who he was.
He’d be able to learn more about himself without inviting danger by inquiring elsewhere.
And most importantly, she would come in handy with deciphering the complex spells in this book.
Then maybe, just maybe, if he was truly satisfied with her conduct, he’d let her have the grimoire back.
After giving it a few more minutes of thought, his focus shifted back to her desperately pleading face, and he simply said, "Okay."
Her face lit up just a bit.
"But..." Ethan raised a finger slightly. "You’ll not be working in any of the industries. You’ll be working right here in the manor."
Her face widened in shock. Even Eduardo had the same reaction.
Then Ethan turned and walked back. When he reached Eduardo’s side, he said, "I know you’ll keep a better watch over that girl. So decide the best role for her in this place."
He tapped the butler lightly on the shoulder before walking past. "I’ll leave it to you now."
Eduardo simply inclined his head without saying anything further.
Ethan eventually made his way back to his room. He took one look at the grimoire before it disappeared into blips of light, storing itself inside his inventory.
A smile spread across his lips. But right after, his body’s exhaustion got the better of him, and he slumped involuntarily onto his bed, falling into sleep almost immediately.
——
The next morning, Ethan was staring at the system’s screens while stepping out of the shower in preparation for Belsorth Academy.
What he focused on while walking slowly around his room were his system rewards from the previous day.
[Self-imposed Objectives completed:
-Retrieving grimoire from gang: +2500xp
-Undoing Restrictions: +5000xp
-Uncovering A Con: +3500xp]
[Total Bonus Reward: +2000xp]
[Total Experience Points: 25,450]
"Hm..." Ethan muttered. He wasn’t exactly impressed with the experience points. However, he said, "Take caster level up."
[Caster Talent has been raised to SS Level]
[Total Experience Points: 18,950]
He chose to do this now, especially knowing that he had a spellbook filled with complex spells that he would at some point need to take a look at.
Raising his caster talent further was going to reduce the amount of time needed to understand them properly.
"Status," he whispered.
By this time, he’d dried his hair properly and was pulling on his dress shirt.
[OVERALL SYSTEM STATUS]
[Host: Ethan Alexander Stark]
[Age: 18]
[Race: Half-Demon/Half-Dragon]
[Classification: Hybrid]
[Demon Trait: Amplification]
[Dragon Trait: Inverse]
[Race Perks:
-Regeneration
-Dragon Physiology (Hatchling)]
[Special Perks: All Class, Infinite Mana, Eyes of the Sage]
[Talent Level]
-Summoner: Ex
-Caster: SS
-Saber: A
-Magi-Engineer: B
-Ranger: C
-Warrior: C
-Guardian: D
[Inventory:
-Ragnarok
-Jenner’s Grimoire]
[Experience Points: 18,950]
[SUMMONER STATUS]
[Summoner Level: 2]
[Summon Contracts: 3]
[Summoner skills:
-Basic Summoning
-Borrow (Lv.2)
-Bonding (Lv.1)]
[CASTER STATUS]
[Caster Skills:
-Fireball (Tier 4)
-Lesser Heal (Tier 3)
-Air Bullets (Tier 4)
-Air Bomb (Tier 4)
-Lightning Fury Bolts (Tier 5)]
[OTHER CLASSES HAVE NO STATUS TO DISPLAY]
"Hm... Highlight everything on my dragon side," he said.
[Dragon Physiology: Hatchling → Due to the restrictions that bound you, you were unable to grow any further than being a newborn]
[With the restrictions undone, your dragon side will now grow gradually toward maturity]
[Nature seeks balance, therefore your dragon half will develop rapidly to compensate for the years it was suppressed]
[Growth speed increases based on how frequently you utilize your draconic abilities]
[Hatchling Stage: Enhanced strength, enhanced senses, partial transformation (horns/scales/tail only)]
[Dragon Trait: Inverse → Converts non-lethal damage into healing and fortification]
[Passive activation of this trait occurs 5 minutes after taking damage (Hatchling stage)]
[Fortification at this stage grants 1% resistance to the damage received. Resistance stacks with repeated exposure and never resets]
A smile appeared on Ethan’s face for a second. Stacking damage resistance to an attack wasn’t bad at all and moreover it seems to only get better the further he grew.
But then he realized something. "You didn’t mention what family this came from."
[Due to their prideful nature, the dragon species do not keep family names in the way others do. They only acknowledge descendant lines while maintaining individual names and titles]
[But if you must know, this trait originates from the ancient dragon, Balerion]
[You are a descendant of Balerion’s lineage]
"I see..." Ethan said with a thoughtful nod. He sat down and pulled on his shoes while looking at different details of his status window.
Then he stopped for a moment, as if realizing something, and asked, "Just so we’re clear, how large again is this inventory?"
[Your Inventory is a limitless storage for items only]
He nodded slowly as he continued dressing. Although seeing as the sword Ragnarok remained there without being of any use to him right now put a mild sadness on his face.
He sighed, pushing the thought away as he stood from his bed. He was ready to leave.
Dismissing the status screen temporarily, he proceeded out of his room.
Ethan walked down the stairs, and at the bottom, Eduardo stood waiting with a slight bow.
"Are you ready to leave, Master Ethan?" Eduardo asked.
Ethan nodded. "Yes."
Before he could take another step, Francesca emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly made pancakes.
Ethan smiled the moment he saw her. He walked toward her, took one of the pancakes from the plate, and leaned forward to kiss her gently on the cheek. "Thanks, Francesca."
Francesca beamed and lit up with warmth. "Have a great day, Master Ethan."
Ethan nodded and turned to continue walking.
Eduardo, seeing the pancakes, extended his hand toward the plate. "Will you let me have—"
But Francesca quickly shifted her arm away and shot him a sharp look. "Get your dirty hands away from my pancakes, rust bucket."
She turned and walked back toward the kitchen without another word.
Eduardo scowled after her. "Your pancakes always did taste awful anyway!"
Francesca called back without turning around, "Then it’s a blessing you’ll never have another one!"
Ethan shook his head in amusement as he crossed toward the door. As he stepped outside, he came to a brief halt before the person standing there.
In front of him was Valerie, dressed in a formal butler’s uniform similar to Eduardo’s.
The tailored dark suit clung to her body in a such way that you could see the wideness of her hips.
The button of her white shirt barely held the curves of her chests together. Her hair was neatly tied back, and white gloves covered her hands.
She bowed slightly and said in a respectful tone, "Good morning, Master Ethan."