Kyon had developed some understanding of how important the grade of the elements was. It didn’t only remove certain restrictions (the element gets stronger), but also gave way to new opportunities. He needed to increase the grade of the elements.

Kyon continued with experiments, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. He had learned a lot.

{Hmm... I can create electrons and protons from the energy of the ether but no antiprotons, positrons, or other quarks with charges... The element is not omnipotent. Maybe the superior grade of the ether will let me create them?}

His eyes sparkled with delight. The knowledge base he accumulated in his previous world had opened for him surprising and incomprehensible for the local people ways. To begin with, he decided to recreate the ether barrier that Juno constantly used. The principle was easy. He needed to create a layer of stable charged particles above his skin surface. When a physical object appeared within their reach, the particles would instantly push it away according to one of the four fundamental interactions. The same force comes into effect when you touch something with your fingers, for example, a table, a body, or an apple... Your fingers do not pass through the matter due to a certain fundamental force. The barrier-ether mechanism works in the same way.

When Kyon understood the essence of the principle, he set to work at once, but he couldn’t put the theory into practice. There is no stable foothold in the ether to fixate the energy. No kind of surface could keep the field stable. The body as a point of leverage is not an option.

Kyon a brilliant idea to combine his pure energy with the ether. The first component could circulate inside the body without leaving it. In its turn, the second component could compensate for the properties the pure energy lacked.

After five minutes of manipulation, on his skin, there appeared film so thin that it was inconspicuous for the inexperienced eye. It took lesser mortals long months to master the ether. Kyon came up with it from scratch. It was a job that required a whole life of devotion for anyone else.

Kyon began to test his barrier for strength. The results were not long in coming. A half-smile played on his lips. He found out that the ether barrier was so unique that it had almost no weak points. Its only flaw was impact resistance. It was equally durable all the way round. However, it could shatter if damaged at a certain point because the particles it was made of moved almost at the speed of light. It didn’t matter much how to attack with a hammer or a needle. It would take the same effort to break the barrier. It was an ideal barrier, a durable shield from a sudden attack. Its disadvantage was that it was relatively weak. A hammer could shatter it like glass. A throwing needle, however, would break as if against a brick wall, even if it’s launched in the back.

If the pure energy partially absorbs the attack, the ether barrier blocks it completely.

Only three points ruined it for Kyon. First, it takes a lot of energy to maintain the barrier. It pays to create it only at the moment of taking the blow. Secondly, the barrier can’t block residual attacks such as heat / cold / darkness / light, and others that don’t have a clear physical form. Thirdly, for some reason, the barrier can’t cover the entire body, only a small part. In fact, it goes selectively.

{Perhaps when I have the advanced grade of ether, I’ll be able to seal off my entire body with the barrier? Well, the future will tell.}

Among many ideas, Kyon planned to create a laser, antimatter, plasma fire, to master telekinesis, and learn how to protect himself electricity.

First things first, he tried to create a laser. He put two fingers together, released some energy with given beam parameters, but nothing happened. The laser dissipated like a flashlight, releasing a barely visible ionic glow. He failed to keep it focused.

Kyon spent another 20 minutes until he thought it was too boring. He clearly lacked a higher grade of ether. Simply put, there was no variable that he could edit to focus the laser ray. He was disappointed. It would be fun to try out his new option and flash the light on someone’s eyes and dazzle them.

Kyon moved on to his next idea - antimatter. Just a minute later, he realized how absurd and unattainable his plan was. He smiled bitterly in the end.

A little earlier, he had found out that he couldn’t create antiprotons and positrons, and like it or not, it was a waste of time at the moment.

While working on his next idea - plasma fire - he had a little success. This kind of fire is much hotter than usual. There’s a lot of thermal energy concentrated inside because it never leaves its borders. In nature, only the rarest ball lightning has the properties of plasma fire.

Kyon knew the theory and principle of ball lightning pretty well. A beam of ionized gas holds a spherical glowing shape due to the powerful magnetic field created by the processes inside it. Only, he needed no gas inside because the ether is capable of creating its own magnetic field. And he should never forget that a drop of pure energy always came in handy. Gas could give the field more than a ball shape. Plasma fire would swirl like clouds.

His attempts had been successful so far. An hour passed and Kyon was holding a warm glowing plasma ball in his hands. It resembled a little fairy-tale light. However, Kyon couldn’t rejoice at his success because the magnetic field was too weak. He failed to keep a large amount of energy inside the plasma fire. It dissipated in the air or even burst.

Kyon clenched his teeth and continued with the experiments. Another hour later, he sighed sadly and decided to toy with this idea some other time when he had the advanced grade of the element.

He practiced telekinesis a bit but gave up in a minute. Again, the magnetic field was so weak that he failed to move a small piece of iron, let alone the matter. The magnetic fields interacted with it millions of times worse. He ruthlessly killed a bad idea to ​​find a combat component in telekinesis.

What was he left with? Protection against electricity. He knew the theory, he had formulas in his head, the principle was also clear. It was time to act. That should do it.

It goes like this. He places in his skin an intangible barrier that blocks all the charged particles. Kyon already knew that the barrier couldn’t cover his entire body, only a certain part. But it was enough for starters. He couldn’t wait to see Juno’s reaction when she found out her charge of electricity didn’t work on him.

Kyon quickly understood that he would succeed in creating protection against electricity, but it would take him more than five minutes, more than an hour. He wanted to get away from all that for a while, maybe visit Marina, make himself at home in his new little room on the ground floor. He hadn’t had a soft pillow under his head for a long time.

Kyon left the training ground.

It was getting dark. He entered the mansion as a servant tenant. He left his past of a slave swindler far behind. Three girls were inside at the moment. The other servants had gone home, the working day was over. With a sure step, Kyon went upstairs and knocked on the door to Marina’s room. The plain, mousy but slender and charming fair-haired girl opened the door, saw who came to visit her and exclaimed with joy:

«Kyon, you're alive! How did you do that?! What happened?!»

«It’s a long story…» - He answered. Then he strolled into the room and closed the door behind him.

Kyon told her sincerely everything from beginning to end embellishing his story here and there. He had long realized that she was the girl he could trust. Marina was the kindest person he’d ever known, one in a million. Kyon did not see the point of hiding from her what he had done with Juno. She was his accomplice and deserved to know the truth.

«That’s impossible… Y-you have enslaved my friend! It’s is m... Mm-m…»

Kyon quickly covered her mouth with his hand:

«Hush, silly! They will hear us!»

The girl only nodded in response.

The boy could not hold back his excitement and hugged her tight:

«My god! Marina, you have no idea how grateful I am to you! If it were not for you, I would have already gone to the next world, even more than once. I owe you a lot… Real big... You are the kindest girl in the whole world! I hope you know that, do you?»

The blonde felt embarrassed, her cheeks flushed:

«Come on, it’s nothing… I am sure anyone in my place would do that. You’ve been through so much…»

Kyon smiled and hugged her even tighter. At some point, it was getting awkward and he let her go.

«So… My friend is… Your slave?» – She asked with concern.

Kyon nodded.

«But… You… You kept your promise, didn’t you?» – Her voice trembled with emotion.

«I promised that I would not kill or cripple her.»

Marina let out a sigh of relief but then tightened up again. «Alright... wait... Your promise doesn't mean you didn't hurt her? So... You didn’t, did you?»

Kyon gently laid his hand on her shoulder.

«Marina, I hate Juno but deflowering her was never the plan. As for the pain... I must confess, I made her suffer a bit. But you saw yourself what she did to me! The arrogant beast was lucky I could hold back. I didn’t maim her, after all.»

Marina looked straight in his eyes and covered her mouth in fear. «You… You have beaten my friend…»

Kyon turned away unable to look into her pure eyes. What a strange feeling... A pang of guilt, perhaps? But he had kept his promise... Then why was his heart so heavy?

«Kyon... Look at me.» – Marina asked quietly.

Kyon looked at the blonde and felt the soft touch of her hand on his cheek.

The girl’s voice sounded amazingly tender and soft:

«I beg you, Kyon. Don’t hurt Juno for no reason. She is very close to me. I know and understand how strained your relations are. I have not seen her yet, but I am sure that she is really demoralized now... I can’t even imagine her pain…» - Marina bit her lip and decided that she was going to spend the night with her friend.

Kyon really wanted to roll his eyes after her words but didn’t out of respect for Marina. {I doubt that the little devil treats her with the same warmth... Lucky her to have a friend like this.} It was obvious that Juno kept her on a leash like a useless doll that resembled her mother... A biased but most likely right thought.

«Alright, Marina. I'll do my best not to hurt her for no reason.» - Kyon replied sincerely not without a smile.

Marina blushed like a juicy peach gleaming in the sun and removed her hand from Kyon's cheek. How embarrassing! She did not notice that she was touching him.

Kyon was sitting on the bed lost in thought. According to his principles, he owed her. Moreover, it was obvious that the plain girl didn’t care for worldly possessions. She was not like Martha from the mine who he had paid back by raising her social position. The reflections led him to a legitimate question.

«Marina, tell me what you really want to do with your life?»

The question took the girl by surprise. She did not expect to hear from him something like that. After a short pause, Marina furtively looked into his pitch-black eyes and answered timidly:

«I’ve always wanted to have children from the man I love.»

{That’s what I thought…}

Kyon sighed meaningfully and embraced the girl by her slender waist. He looked languidly into her purest innocent eyes and gently touched with his lips Marina’s mouth, tender like rose petals. She moaned softly in surprise but then tried to push him a little away from herself. Soon, all her attempts at resistance ceased. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed in sensual emotions...

Kyon adhered to a simple relationship strategy: if you want a girl to be yours, act immediately and straightforwardly. To hell with dating and other unnecessary romance. All you need is to catch a thin thread of mood and pull it to your side. Girls love them assertive and confident.

Kyon didn’t feel any tide of emotions when he kissed Marina. He didn’t feel any attraction he usually had for the fair sex. She was a good friend but no girlfriend. How could he fail to make her dream come true? Slowly, gently, he ran his hands over her back to the hips... He opened his eyes a little and froze in amazement. He had to pull away.

«Marina, why are you crying?»

Her eyes were wet with tears. «I don’t know... There’s a terrible pain burning in my soul, and I don’t understand why...»

Kyon realized what was happening in Marina’s soul at once. She couldn’t give up everything she had with Flitz. Her endless stories, anxieties and emotions, all that turned into tears. Perhaps she felt she was betraying him. Anyway, Kyon decided to put off the question of his duty until she was ready.

Kyon resolutely squeezed her gentle and warm hands. «Don’t cry, Marina. Your dream will surely come true. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday it will happen, and that day you will become the happiest woman in the world.»

When Marina heard that, she brightened like a gentle summer sun. The blonde wiped away the tears that were still running down her cheeks. She calmed down a little and whispered to him: «Thank you, Kyon…»

It was time to change the subject.

«Tell me more about Flitz.»

Their heart-to-heart talk went on until midnight. When they were saying goodbye, Marina smacked Kyon on the cheek and gave him a snow-white handkerchief in appreciation of his promise.

When Kyon was going downstairs, he saw a picture of contrasts: the beautiful fair-haired maid radiating warmth and light was heading for the shower room while charming Dinah was walking next to her spreading the chill of winter winds.

The latter gave the boy a scornful glance as if pouring icy cold water on him. Then she silently went into the shower room giving her sister a sign with her hand.