Mage Adam

Knight Wright wanted to answer, but Dennis interrupted, "Ophelia, sit down and listen. I too, am curious. I heard that he is as strong as you."

Ophelia didn't answer. She knew that Marshall was like a mad dog, and Dennis a sly fox. Dennis must have something planned.

However, Dennis helped her. So, she sat down, but only because Adam was special.

Knight Wright began to explain and Ophelia remained silent. She instructed the entourage behind Knight Wright to send Adam back to his room and left.

Dennis smiled, but his fists were clenched.

"This is too unfair."

Ophelia walked on the road of the manor. Wherever she went people bowed and stood aside, waiting for her to leave before they dared to lift their bodies up. Everyone admired and respected her strength.

She grabbed her maid gently and whispered, "Go to my room and get some medicine."

The maid scurried away, filled with envy. Ophelia's medicine was incredibly precious since it was made by the Grand Mage. The maid knew that she was about to use that medicine on Adam.

After obtaining the medicine, Ophelia let her knights apply the medication on Adam's body. She sent her maid and her knights away, and sat alone in the room with Adam.

Night fell.

The medicine was crafted using unknown materials, and was incredibly powerful. The scars on Adam's body started to disappear almost immediately and benign mild energy was beginning to form within his body. Cells were dividing rapidly and cultivated to improve Adam's weak physique. His coma came to an end abruptly.

[High-quality nutrients have entered the body. Cells are dividing rapidly -- organs and muscles grow stronger. Blood activity and bone calcium are increasing rapidly.]

Adam took the medicine into his system, and his body absorbed the effects fully.

"You're awake. Show me your breathing method and restrain your mental power. I want to see it with my own eyes." Ophelia spoke.

Adam began the breathing exercise, and he could feel the medicine within him being absorbed at a faster rate. He felt renewed, a thin layer of dead skin flaked off of him.

"It isn't enough," Adam said. He needed more energy.

"Oh," Ophelia responded.

Adam sat up in the dark, wiping off the residue of the medicine with his clothes. He took them off, and put on a set of clean clothes neatly folded by the pillow. He sat wordlessly on the edge of his bed.

Ophelia didn't move, but said, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Ophelia's voice was light, as if she was talking to herself. Adam could feel that she was uneasy, like she was about to burst into a lot of emotions.

Ophelia's feelings were complicated.

She may be the Earl's biological daughter, however she wasn't happy. Her mother was a commoner and her premature death had made her feel unloved. The Earl used Ophelia like she was some kind of comic relief.

In the manor, she was doomed to an unhappy childhood. She felt no different from a servant, but because of her status, nobody dared to be her friend, other than the fool.

He was the only warmth present in Ophelia's eternal winter.

When she turned ten, Ophelia's powers erupted from within her. She couldn't get close to the fool anymore, for fear that she may accidentally kill him. She made Adam her personal coachman so that he wouldn't have to suffer.

"Adam tell me. How does a fool like you do nothing for 16 years, only to master this breathing exercise without being taught, and possess such powerful mental power? Should I be happy that you're this strong? Or should I be sad that you have been deceiving everyone?"

And deceiving me too. Ophelia thought to herself.

Adam could tell she was sad.

"I..." He wasn't used to speaking, "...from another world..."

Ophelia was excited. She didn't seem to be surprised, "This is a world where wizards and mages exists -- the Great Archmage Prometheus changed the world's coordinates and sacrificed himself to ensure that no other creature can enter this world, and now you're telling me that you're from another world?"

Adam's eyes widened. The information that Ophelia revealed let him know that this world wasn't that simple. Powerful people can change the world.

Adam's mental power shook the room, even shattering a glass within the room. Ophelia didn't flinch, "Did I not make myself clear?"

Adam didn't really have an impression of her though. When he first came to this world it was difficult. The vast amounts of memories flooded his brain, and he would have had to cut off external contact to process these memories. The situation did not ease when he had to process the memories of the previous Adam when he was ten, and he discovered that that was when Ophelia distanced herself from him.**

**[t/n: not sure what this line means, since I'm 99% sure he got isekai-ed into this world unless something got lost in translation; I interpreted it as Adam had to process the previous Adam's memories as well, so Ophelia leaving Adam alone scarred him, which in turn caused the previous Adam severe trauma.]

Adam didn't really care whether or not Ophelia believed him. It wasn't really that important. Besides, he had now learnt that otherworldly creatures existed in this world.

He didn't predict that Ophelia would lose interest. She got up and left, "Forget it. You are strong, so don't interfere with my two brothers. The Grand Mage will be arriving in a few days, and I will ensure that you will be chosen."

This is for me,separating myself from you. Ophelia thought to herself.

"Also! Don't sign any contracts!" Ophelia left, leaving this final warning.

Adam sat alone in the room, trying to process all this information. The medicine allowed his body to take in the surge of energy, and his physique was clearly stronger. He now also understood some fundamental principles of this world -- and most importantly that this world wasn't as boring as he had thought.

He had his doubts though. Magic seems to be a norm in this world, and strange energies exist as well. He went through his database and looked into the energies he recorded as Special Energy No.2 and Special Energy No.3 and analyzed the data from it. He came to the conclusion that there should be a medium that transfers this energy to the body, and he assumed that it used mental power as a bridge.

[Existing conditions and technology are insufficient to observe this medium in order to analyze the true source of this energy.]

He sighed but continued to practice his breathing exercise, and took in Special Energy No.3 to strengthen his body.

This breathing exercise essentially draws out the potential of the human body, but if there isn't a balance and one consumes too much energy, it would lead to death.

Adam concluded from Ophelia that mages are incredibly powerful in this world, and have the ability to rewrite the rules of the world.

"Magic..." Adam said to himself.

Adam stopped training. In under an hour, his body was overflowing with energy. He sighed and looked out the window. He was looking forward to the Grand Mage's arrival.