Progress

A/N: Sorry for this, but I'm going to try and write these chapters in third person perspective since it would be some much-needed practice. With that, enjoy the chapter and have a good day!

It's been a little over a year since the young reincarnate began her journey into her family's study room. During this time, Artha has made remarkable progress in forming her mana core.

Alice, concerned with Artha's constant trips into the study room, contemplated transforming the room into a toy room for the young girl, who was disinterested in any toy the couple bought for her.

Alice was eventually relieved after learning that the girl would only sit in the study room for a few minutes before throwing her hands up in happiness. Alice wasn't sure why, but seeing her little girl happy like that made her happy as well.

Fortunately, the young girl only seemed interested in books, so Alice decided to buy more books for her. She, of course, picked those books very carefully, as some popular books have sensitive topics that she didn't want her precious baby girl to know.

Alice saw how excited Artha was when going outside, so she decided to go shopping for food once every other day instead of twice a week. That made Artha jump in excitement, as she wanted to see more of this world, and although Ashber was small, there were various talks around that would help her learn of this world.

Reynolds, who has given up being an adventurer, did not slack off on his training. Despite focusing on raising the young Artha, he trained a little on the side. He could see some cracks in the surface of his mana core, which indicated he was close to breaking through the light red stage.

In order to earn money, Reynolds got a job as a guard for the local farmers. While Ashber was safe most of the time, there were some periods of time when a pack of mana beasts would attack the town.

He was a former B-class adventurer, and while he might not be the strongest, reaching this class at his core stage was nothing short of remarkable. The prices he asked for weren't too high and were affordable to the farmers, and the gold was enough to support his family.

Reynolds used this as training. Aside from what the farmers made him, he made money from the beast cores that naturally became his belongings. Reynolds would sell those beast cores in Ashber's market in exchange for coins, which would allow the Leywins to have some luxury.

Artha's progress in forming her mana core seemed to be inherited from her father, as they both possessed incredible cultivation speed. While she might have been a reincarnate that knew how to form a mana core, she almost finished forming her mana core while she was barely over two years of age.

The advantage of having the mental capacity of an adult meant that she could manipulate the mana inside her body to move as she wished. Of course, it was slow, but schools in her old world taught everyone how to do this, so she knew to be patient.

Although forming a mana core would happen naturally, Artha wanted to be as strong as possible. By forming her mana core early on, she would have more time to cultivate, and in turn, become stronger faster. It would mean she'd get more attention, but then again, Artha finds it better to be strong, even if it means getting attention.

Her daily routine consisted of checking herself out for a few minutes, spending all of her limited energy to make progress in forming her mana core, and acting like a child to avoid suspicion from her parents.

Unfortunately, Alice was an extremely sharp and careful woman, so Artha had to be more cautious as she grew older. Although she did scare Artha a little, Artha would often catch glimpses of her mother drooling while staring at her like a type of premium meat.

That made her feel flustered, nervous, and scared because she knew just how strong of a grip her mother had and did not want to test it for herself.

On the other hand, her father was not so careful and sharp. Sure, some babies might like getting thrown into the air despite motion sickness, but that doesn't mean you can use mana to fling a baby into the air like a high-speed projectile!

Fortunately, Alice always kept a firm grip on Reynolds' leash. And that's meant in a literal sense, as Artha could often hear her mother and father copul- Ahem, talking about collars.

Artha was quite embarrassed while hearing those screams, shouts, gasps, and moans but could only pretend not to have heard them. Fortunately, her parents didn't think she could hear that or knew what they were doing, which saved her a lot of effort from denying it.

As a little girl barely past two years old, Artha had to adapt a new way of talking in very basic and plain sentences. After Artha first said "mama" to let her know she wanted more food, she almost burst into tears of joy. It's been a while since Artha saw someone crying from happiness, so she decided to keep on using simple sentences to talk to her mother while constantly repeating "mama."

That made Reynolds sulk all day, as Artha would keep repeating mama but would shake her head when Reynolds asked her to say "Dada."

Currently, Reynolds was training outside while Alice prepared food for him. When she left the house, Artha, pretending to be asleep, crawled out of her crib and marched towards the study room for what would hopefully be the last time.

While Artha and the Leywins were having fun, she hadn't wasted those years at all. She didn't hate her family and living with them at all. In fact, she actually enjoyed this life. Despite her peaceful life, she didn't like being helpless and weak. Soon, she would change that.

After a lot of effort, Artha had managed to gather all of her mana into her solar plexus and was in the midst of finishing the process when...