Chapter 8 - The House's Mysteries (1)

Nathan and Theodore took little time to walk and reach the house left behind by Farrell Hale.

Theodore planned to request Nathan to teach him how to cultivate mana.

The beginning of cultivating mana was to open the meridian in the body. A person could complete this step with the help of other mana users or other assisting medicine.

It was why Theodore could not start cultivating even after receiving his future memory for some time. His uncle, Dante, prevented him from doing so.

Moreover, his future self practiced regular exercises and encountered many limitations due to his low aptitude.

Now that he had a teacher, asking for Nathan's guidance was better.

Theodore contemplated how to start this conversation; asking someone to impart their knowledge was a big affair, and he did not want to do it lightly.

When Theodore was thinking, he heard Nathan's voice interrupting his thought.

"We seem to have yet to perform a teacher and disciple ceremony," Nathan said with a smile; he could guess Theodore's concern.

"Do you want to be my disciple?" Nathan continued.

Theodore took a moment to return from his daze; he hastily bowed to Nathan and said seriously, "Disciple meet the teacher."

Nathan nodded in response before allowing Theodore to rise.

"Tomorrow, I will test your aptitude for becoming a mana user. After the examination, I will start guiding you." Nathan told Theodore his plan.

Theodore was a little worried because his talent for cultivating mana was average.

In his previous life, Nathan was more of his guardian than his teacher, and his talent did not matter; it was different from the present situation.

Theodore was afraid Nathan would not be satisfied with his talent; his face showed subtle unease, and his hand clenched the plushie tighter.

"Don't worry. Talent might affect your path; it was not everything." Nathan gently consoled Theodore. He also added, "Moreover, what I will test is not just the talent."

Nathan then convinced Theodore to rest well to prepare for the test.

...

Theodore came back to his room.

็He placed his duck plushie on the bed. He prepared to shower and rest earlier for his teacher's examination; Nathan's test did not seem as simple as the one he once had.

Theodore recalled the situation of his future self.

After his future self chose to enter the Roxarth Academy, he and Nathan quickly went there. Nathan then got busy getting him enabled to join the academy.

Also, he could not start practicing earlier but needed to cultivate using the exercise from the academy. He got delayed until he was eight to wait for the start of the new semester.

Theodore bitterly smiled, thinking of his other future as he walked to the bathroom.

Reaching and seeing the interior of the bathroom carefully, Theodore was stunned.

Many pieces of furniture required mana to work, ranging from the toilet, the bathtub, and the washbasin.

How could he forget that this was not an ordinary house?

He also remembered using these unique utensils when he was at the house in his previous life; at that time, he already graduated from the academy and was a 2nd rank mana user, so there was no complication.

These devices that require mana were not unique to only the Hale family.

There were such things for the senior class in the Roxarth Academy and other places where Theodore had traveled to.

The problem he had now was that he could not use mana. He currently was just an ordinary boy who had not yet received any training; how could he use them?

Even if he could, how dare he use them. He could not find any practical explanation for why he knew about them.

It seemed that he really needed to seek help from his teacher again.

...

Theodore knocked on the door of Nathan's room.

Nathan shortly opened the door for Theodore and sent him a questioning gaze.

"Teacher, I need your help," Theodore embarrassedly said. He then led Nathan to his bathroom and explained his complication, "I don't know how to use them."

The moment Nathan saw the furniture inside, he understood. It was understandable that Theodore could not use them.

Nathan explained the usage of these utensils to Theodore.

He touched a bathtub to demonstrate and noticed an issue; he could still operate them without using mana!

Nathan concentrated his mana on his eye; one magical power he comprehended was helpful for investigation.

'A formation connects all the essential furniture and circulates mana to them.' He soon found out why the utensils did not require human mana.

Nathan continued his investigation and discovered a more critical fact: 'This house can operate with only one formation.'

The more function a formation could do, the more complicated it was. Only a few people in history could create a formation with such complexity.

'It also required a high mana reserve.' Nathan considered while guessing what was used as the core of the formation; it must be something extraordinary.

Theodore watched silently as his teacher's eyes turned bright; he did not intend to cause any disturbance.

After Nathan was engrossed in his search for some time, he remembered Theodore. He coughed and described his thought.

The more Theodore listened, the more frightened he was. Due to his lack of knowledge, he never knew how amazing this house was.

In his previous life, he left the house when he was a 2nd-rank mana user; when he returned as a 4th-rank mana user, someone had already destroyed the house.

'The Hale family was really not simple; their enemy must not be ordinary.' Theodore felt apprehensive while thinking.

He also comprehended why the future Nathan let him leave the Sorrel kingdom rather than continue fighting his uncle, Dante.

'It was not that the teacher did not want to help, but the Hale family situation was complicated' Theodore also solved a doubt he had in his heart as to why the future Nathan would not help the future him when he was so powerful.

Nathan watched the change in Theodore's expression and thought his disciple was upset, so he asked, "Do you want to continue exploring with me?"

Theodore nodded firmly to answer. He thought understanding the house's mysteries sooner was better than later.

Since he needed to know it one day anyway, he would not reject this opportunity.