“Sure.” Valentina agreed.

Ember kneeled on the bed and approached her. She slowly touched her slender arms.

*Tap*

“So soft! What kind of magic is this?” Ember asked in amazement.

She then squeezed Valentina’s soft flesh and confirmed that she was really made out of flesh.

“I have mana in my soul. It gave it magical properties like this,” Valentina answered.

“Interesting. Does that mean you could also cast magic?”

After Ember asked that, a small sapling grew on Valentina’s palm. She neared it to her.

“Woah! I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” Ember said.

She opened her eyes today. She had never thought that souls could use magic. It was even crazier than seeing a real ghost in person.

“It’s all thanks to Master. He helped me do it,” Valentina said and smiled at Lawrend.

Lawrend nodded at Ember to support Valentina’s words. Ember’s mouth opened to form an ‘O’.

She felt stupid acting haughty and arrogant before him before. Her respect for him grew even more compared to before.

“I sense something different from your bloodline, Master,” Valentina said.

“Yeah. I could feel a phoenix affinity in my blood. It seems like this affinity had been hiding inside me for a long time.”

Lawrend looked at his hands as he spoke. The power of the phoenix bloodline coursed through his veins.

“It must be why you were successful in increasing Sister Aezel’s bloodline level,” Valentina said.

“I think so too. Anyway, let’s go eat breakfast. I will ponder about these formations while I eat,” Lawrend said and stood up.

Valentina nodded her head and disappeared back into the crystal ball. Lawrend put it back in his storage ring and waited for Ember to wear her maid uniform.

They then left together after she finished. Ember maintained a step behind him as his maid.

They left the inn and found a restaurant. It was quite fancy with all kinds of beautiful waitresses moving about. This place was called ‘Blooming Restaurant’.

This place was where Lawrend had been eating for the past few days. They passed by it at first, and the delicious smell attracted him.

A waitress immediately recognized them and guided them to their seat.

Lawrend sat on his chair and Ember sat in front of him. The customers in the restaurant were nobles in this city. Many of them hadn’t seen Lawrend before.

“A maid sitting with him?”

“What a weirdo.”

The nobles chatted amongst themselves. Maids were seen as lowly servants. No one among them would allow their maid to sit with them because it signified equal status.

“Pure, give me the usual,” Lawrend said to the waitress.

“Yes, Young Master,” the waitress replied and turned to leave.

Lawrend and Ember silently waited.

“Did you hear?”

“What is it?”

“An envoy from the Blumin Empire arrived in the city.”

“Shh! Don’t talk about that here!”

Two well-dressed men talked with each other. His counterpart immediately covered his mouth when he heard him talk about the envoy of the Blumin Empire.

After that, the two of them turned silent. They came to a mutual understanding to not speak about it ever again.

Lawrend heard their words even though they were far away. His hearing was very exceptional. It was another benefit of his stronger soul.

“An envoy, huh…”

Lawrend tapped on the table and mused. He was interested as to what plan the Blumin Empire had. With the communication devices that allow them to send messages far away, they should have already gotten news about their gathering of an army.

“Master, is there something wrong?” Ember asked.

“Nothing. Feed me again today,” Lawrend said.

“Y-Yes…”

Ember nodded her head shyly.

Soon, the dishes arrived. A perfectly roasted chicken and a mashed potato side dish topped with gravy. It whetted Lawrend’s appetite.

Ember took a small chunk of the roasted chicken and covered it with the mashed potato. She then fed Lawrend.

He calmly accepted her feeding him as if it was the most natural thing. The nobles that looked down at him earlier were immediately impressed.

“What a pompous lad.”

“I’ve seen him do this the other day. He’s pompous indeed.”

The nobles suddenly felt inferior to him. He wore a high-quality mage uniform and now, he overshadowed these nobles that had high positions in the city.

Lawrend had his fill and left the restaurant. They headed to the south of the city again where the mage army was already in formation when he arrived.

“Good. I will start a lesson again today,” Lawrend said.

He sat on his throne in the center again and started his lecture. This time it was about targeting of long-ranged spells. He gave them everything he knew.

He wasn’t stingy because this army would be the backbone of the Undrasil Empire. For his kids to prosper, they need a powerful pillar to support them when he left.

When he finished, no new Arch Mages appeared. This lesson wasn’t focused on increasing levels. It was more about combat power.

Similar to yesterday, the three envoys gave their own lecture about formations. The ten lightning Arch Mages took serious notes in preparation for the battlefield.

When they finished, it was already dark. Lawrend returned to the inn with Ember.

She sat down cross-legged again and pondered about his lecture today. She had a lot of long-ranged spells where she could apply his teaching into.

Lawrend sat on the floor and drew on a big sheet of paper. He started with one shape and then overlaid another one on top of it. He kept doing that until a very complex magical formation appeared on the paper.

It was just a blueprint without any power, but with it complete, Lawrend could simulate its effects.

“This formation can channel all of the elements and create a powerful ball that can explode with chaotic energy. Hmmm… I can still simplify this,” Lawrend muttered in thought.

This magical formation was too complex. Making it would require a massive amount of resources. It was powerful, but if it was impossible to use, it was useless.