Chapter 38 - Decisions

Hearing the knocks on her door, Loki said

"You can enter, the door is open"

Seeing this was the case, Ethan opened the door. Entering the room, he saw Lefiya.

"Although I'm sure she explained the situation, I would like to tell it on my own."

Nodding, Loki looked towards Ais for a second before focusing on Ethan again. He saw this but, without minding it, he added

"I was in the men's bathroom, I was having a bath to wait for girls to finish their bath. After 5 minutes, this man started to say I was protected by girls. Although I didn't react at first, he thought he could easily defeat me, so I gave him what he wanted. As the crowd of people said, he was a level 3 and his name is Nels."

Nodding, Loki remembered the man named Nels.

"Nels is known because he always caused troubles for others, but he never did something like this. At this point I should expel him from the familia"

Without actually say his opinion, Ethan was thinking again about Nels' words

'I'm not like that.'

Nodding, he said

"It's the right decision for me, I don't care about him. But you should be careful of others. The fact they can be influenced so easily doesn't seem like what the 1st ranked familia should be"

"Well, it's decided, bring him to me."

'I'll lose a level 3 but it's not even comparable to lose him.'

Doing as she says, Ethan exited the room.

"Lefiya, are you sure nobody helped him?"

With a nod, she said

"The crowd was talking about how strong he was, so I assume it's the case..."

'He fought against someone close to level 4 without help and won.. I'm waiting for answer from the first day he entered my familia.. I thought the only thing he had was his Space Magic..'

With a sigh, Loki replied

"From the look you are giving me, it seems you know why he's so strong"

"I-I was asked not tell Loki-sama about it. Ethan said he will talk about his abilities in the future..."

Sighing again, Loki looked at Ais

"It seems the only one who doesn't know his abilities is me..his own Goddess...don't you think it's sad?"

Loki knew she couldn't obtain the information she wanted but, teasing Lefiya was still funny for her.

"A-As I said--"

Entering the room while carrying Nels' body like a sack of potatoes, Ethan said

"Stop teasing Lefiya, Loki. I'll tell you when I'm strong enough to be considered a core member, how does that sound?"

She wanted to say it would take years but, understanding the speed he was growing was amazing, she sighed another time.

'This boy, he will make me die from curiosity.'

"I will wait, but at least you will answer some questions when you come and ask for a status update, How does that sound?"

Nodding without replying, He wanted to go training now.

"I brought you Nels. Speaking of others, leave them alone for the time being. If they try something like this again, I'll become their nightmare."

Throwing Nels at the wall, he looked towards Lefiya and Ais. With a smile, he added

"We should go training, Ais, Lefiya"

Hearing their names, Ais went near him. Replying with a 'yes'. Seeing them exiting the room, Lefiya ran towards them as she said

"D-Don't forget about me!"

This display brought a more natural smile on Loki's face.

'Lefiya always had problems to talk with Ais but, with Ethan the situation has changed so much. That boy is even more incredible than I thought'

'I should start with removing the familia crest'

---

Now out of the Twilight Manor, The three went towards the training spot of Ais and Ethan.

"How many times did you train here?"

Hearing her question, Ethan answered

"I want to alternate the days in the dungeon and the training days, yesterday we went in the dungeon, today we will train. how does the idea seem to you? "

Seeing the two of them nod, he smiled while adding

"I can train for two hours with Ais and, after that, Lefiya will try to fight against me?"

With this information, Lefiya asked

"Since you are more proficient as a mage, will you develop trying to defend against Ais' attacks?"

Smiling, Ethan answered

"No, I will become something like a Battle Mage. I can't count on magic all the time, otherwise, when I'm out of mana I'll be doomed."

Having even more doubts, she continued to ask

"Isn't this decision rushed? If you can increase your mana pool there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Seeing how determined she was on this matter, his smile didn't fade.

"You saw my [Boost Magic] right? If everyone thinks I'm better at magic than at close combat, they may underestimate me. This can lead me to win against even more powerful enemies. So that's why I chose both ways"

'I like both use magic and fight in close combat'

Hearing his words, she felt she understood his reasons

"In that case.. The decision is yours in the end"

With another nod, Ethan looked at Ais before taking out the [Twin's Digimon] from his inventory.

"Should we start?"

In a battle ready state, she didn't reply his words while he quickly approached her. Although he decided not to use [Boost Magic] while training on close combat, he was still fast on his own.

"You shouldn't think..about other things while fighting..."

Hitting him, she sent him away.

'Focus'

Focusing completely on her, Ethan got up before approaching her another time.

With this, the two continued to battle while Ais told him what he should and shouldn't do in a fight.

"They are really amazing..."

Watching them, Lefiya felt she couldn't compare with him.

'His magic is powerful, his will to train is better than mine, my close combat skills aren't even comparable to his. Although I have been in the familia for two years...'

Feeling saddened, she continued to watch them

'I understand a little more..why Ais chose Ethan..'

Meanwhile, Ethan was trying to find openings in Ais while attacking.

'She hasn't any openings and, even if she has, I can't react fast enough without [Boost Magic]'

Thinking about it, Ethan had a revelation.

'Wait, It isn't expressed how the boost works, so I can't assume the way it boosts things... If my standard power increase, my boosted power will increase, but if it's something like a multiplier..? That would mean if I had a supposed value 1 of force, I can multiply it to 2, but if the supposed value is 50 than I can multiply it to 100...all of this supposing the multiplier is x2. If the multiplier was x4 or x1.2 things would be completely different...'

While thinking this, Ais looked at him. Understanding that he was thinking about something important, she waited for him to resume training.

After some seconds, Ethan saw the situation he was in. Deciding to take a mental note about this, he said

"Sorry, I thought about something really important"

Nodding, Ais replied

"Don't worry..."

Resuming their training, Lefiya had a smile

'He had the same expression as Riveria while talking about magic'

After the 2hrs ended, Ethan felt so tired to nearly fell to the ground

'We had only 2 hours, so she trained me even more than usual...'

Without falling to the ground, he smiled at Ais

"Thanks for always training me. I should train with Lefiya now..."

Replying with a 'smile' he went towards Lefiya. Seeing him approaching, Lefiya said

"What can I help you with, Ethan..your magic is better than mine"

Hearing these words, he replied

"Are you joking? I have [Space Magic], [Boost Magic], and [Sagitta Magica] while you can chant every single magic of the Elves. I have a lot to learn about how my magic works, you have years of experience while I have none of that."

Seeing she wasn't convinced by his words, Ethan added

"Have confidence in yourself. You are powerful enough to be part of the 1st Familia of Orario, have you forgotten?"

Thinking about his words, Lefiya knew he was right but...

"You are here for a week and half, yet you managed to level up on your own and you can beat someone near level 4... Although I'm not someone that compares herself with others, I feel like I am wasting time while you train so hard to achieve power.."

Sighing, He replied

"Then, train with me, become stronger with me, so that these feelings will no longer be present"

Seeing his hand stretched out to her, she blushed before grabbing it.

Releasing her hand, Ethan added

"You should train with Ais while I will test my magic. I'm not strong enough to get you in difficulty without my [Boost Magic]"

She understood what he meant but, she still said

"Are you sure...?"

With a nod, he went towards Ais

"Ais, we changed our plan, can you train Lefiya?"

Answering with a yes, he saw her go towards Lefiya with the same expression she showed him

'It's gonna be hard, good luck, Lefiya'

Shifting his attention to his magic, Ethan tried something he could easily do without damaging his surrounding.

Hitting the wall without his boost magic, Ethan felt the pressure against his fist

'each action corresponds to a reaction..'

Applying more pressure from his own, he understood that the more force he applied, the more force he will feel back at him.

'If I boost my force, the only thing I can obtain---'

While he was thinking, he didn't notice in time Lefiya that was flying towards him. Feeling a body hit his, he instinctively took it as he was being pushed back by the force of Ais' blow.

Using [Boost Magic] to boost his leg, he brought their movement to a stop.

'I am really unlucky.'

Seeing Lefiya blush hard, he sighed internally

"a-ano..c-can you..."

Releasing her, he replied

"I was just trying to stop you from hitting the wall.."

Feeling he was still close, she added

"I... T-Thanks..."

running away to Ais, Lefiya felt the embarrassment was too difficult for her to bear.

'I was h-hugged..by a man..'

having always had contact with females, she had never been hugged by someone of the opposite s.e.x.

'I felt protected in his arms...I wonder what Ais feel while...'

leaving these thoughts for later, she still had a blush on her face but, she was determined to become stronger.

'I won't let these thoughts distract me...I will t-think about it later!!!'

Seeing her starting to chant, Ethan felt conflicted about the situation.

'I couldn't ignore her in that situation..it isn't my fault...'

While the two of them were busy thinking about the situation, Ais had a confused expression on her face before she saw Lefiya starting to chant.

'Maybe she wants to be embraced by Ethan...?'

With this, their training continued without other strange events.

'I should hurry and understand how this works. If I can, my overall power should also increase.'

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)

(A/N: As I always say, [Boost Magic] will be the core of this novel at this point. I'm studying the reactions of determinate materials to have them implemented with magic, like the ferrofluid. Do you wish to see him acting with science or magic? I feel like mixing them together.)

(A/N: I know many of you will be bored If I start to talk about science so I will have nothing explained with the appropriate terms. I'm not a scientist. Enjoy the novel and don't worry, I will make you understand because it's nothing complicated)

(Alternate Titles: "Mental Breakdown: I'm gonna end this woman's whole career. Ethan: I don't think so.","Ais, casually watching the two 'get along", "Ethan, blaming fate while he was the first to enjoy the contact.","Current situation: Group of 3 people. Author: I'm gonna change this to 20 at least.")