There wasn't much to do today after training with the Young Miss for so long. I don't know what why but it seems I've been assigned to less tasks after I'd made a bet with the Duke.

Well... That's not really that important right now. What's important is to figure out why the hell I suddenly turned stupid when talking to the Young Miss!

What in the ACTUAL hell happened to me?! I am unable to accept that the fool confessing to a young girl he just met moments ago was me! Just kill me already! I'm so damn embarrassed!!!

Calm down, calm down.... Getting emotional won't benefit me in any way.

I have to calm my mind and think about what happened more logically...

What happened...?

No, perhaps I should focus on the here and now to get better results. Do I still feel lingering affection for Sylphy despite having just met moments ago?

I closed my eyes and was unable to picture the Young Miss' personal maid as anything less than an absolutely stunning and beautiful flower, which caused me to feel suspicious...

My tastes haven't changed... yet I still find the Young Miss' personal maid to be beautiful? That isn't right, I can feel something... Not in my heart, but a strand of energy inside my brain...

My reflexes acted upon noticing the foreign magical energy inside my head and electrocuted it conjuring my mimicked Lightning Aura... Scary...!

I'm sure there's no way I would been able expel the foreign energy planted into my head if it weren't for the fact that I was extremely familiar with my own anatomy. After all, my Combat Body technique actually increased my own understanding of my physique through interacting with my Mana...

How am I supposed to keep calm now that I know that someone planted something inside my brain!? What are they after? Damn, I shouldn't have acted up and studied the foreign energy a little longer. Now there's not even a shred of evidence to prove I had been manipulated by someone previously...!

What should I do? Why would someone try to get me and the Young Miss' personal maid together? Who has so much in-depth knowledge regarding human anatomy that they were able to take advantage of the my brain through intricately pressuring certain point?

And let's not forget the most important questions: Who implanted their Mana inside my brain? How could someone do that without me noticing them?

I don't even know when the foreign energy entered my brain, let alone how... One thing is for certain and that's the fact I need to get stronger!

If I was stronger, something like this would have never happened to me...!

I looked around the room as usual and made sure no one was spying before setting up some alarms I had prepared using makeshift magical abilities.

I only used some simple tripwire traps created through a combination of different attributed magics inside and outside my room, but that was enough to help me make sure that even someone like Anna wouldn't be able to sneak into my room unnoticed.

I took a few bells from my draw before placing them in a few hard-to-see locations, then I released a sapphire-like Aura and wrapped together the fingers of both my hands slowly.

A transparent line of water was made through the combination of the electromagnetic energy I created through my Lightning Attribute and my Water Aura I manifested outwards.

The strings connected to the corridor in a very disorderly fashion, but their transparency made it so no one would be able to detect them without being on guard. I then sew the other sides of the strings through the bells I placed before connecting them to my bed.

Now that the makeshift alarms have been set, I can finally look at my 'stash'.

My hands grabbed a box I had hidden within a compartment under my bed.

A thud sound could be heard as I placed the heavy box that was as big as a treasure chest in front of me. The design of the chest looked more like a briefcase since I have made it myself.

Once I opened the box, the thick smell of gunpowder entered my nose. My expression was still the same as I already got used to this smell in my past life as a soldier of the battlefield.

Within the box were tubes and puzzle-like components of what I've been working on ever since I decided to become stronger. These were prototype firearms I created through the countless rounds of experimentation using various theories of magic usage.

My heart was in disarray after I'd found out that someone manipulated me into making a stupid action in front of Sylphy, but now I felt a lot calmer as I preformed maintenance on these weapons I hid. A strange serenity enveloped me as I loaded a cartridge.

Hah... since when had I become so energetic? I feel like a youth again...

No one could understand the safety and tranquility I felt from merely touching a Pistol. It's almost like I become a totally different person when my hands get on any kind of firearm...

I need more strength!

If I want to get even stronger than I am now, then I must try to create a Skill Root. There is no other option than that unless I want to become a puppet!

I don't know if I'll be able to create a Skill Root using a technique like Combat Body, therefore I need to take things slowly... one step at a time.

The first thing I should ask myself is one certain question: 'Why did I even create such a complicated body technique in the first place?'

The answer for that is simple: 'Because it's a technique with many uses!'

My style of using using magic is somewhat different from those around me. This is probably due to the fact that my mind has already 'matured' in a rational world like Earth, a place where science is used to explain everything and religion is used to pacify the heart.

This can be considered an advantage or disadvantage depending on how I look at it. Since although I'm able to mix and match various magics easily, I'm unable to reproduce things that others my age should be able to do, like controlling Earth Ether exquisitely.

Although Jack lost to me in a formal duel, I know clearly that even if I was to have the same Magical Talent as him, I wouldn't have been able to reproduce his abilities. My mind would have only been able to think of grabbing the Earth under me and throwing it.

Now that I think about it, I should make sure my Skill Root is able to create a Support Type ability since that is the probably the biggest reason the House Master is pressuring me...

I'm sure of this assumption because of the fact that the Duke even bothered to advise me to create a Skill Root even though I could've focused on creating my own personal techniques instead.

If he wanted me to become stronger, he could have told me to focus on the Aura Sharpening technique that the Sword God once used. There wasn't a need for him to advise me to form a Skill Root!

My mind return to reality as I looked at the Pistol I created through the manipulation of both Fire Ether and Earth Ether. A look of reluctance appeared on my face as I thought about how I'd lose the ability to use Magic Circles once I created a Skill Root.

A person who formed a Skill Root would always permanently lose one grade of their Magical Talent without exception. This is due to how the magical energy used to create Skill Roots comes from their Mana Flame.

Now that I think about it... I have a unique Mana Flame, don't I? My heart trembled as I closed my eyes to focus on the Colourless Attribute within my Mana. The duality of light and shadow that has been engraved into my soul!

I once again saw a white flame enveloping a concentrated black flame of Mana within my body, but this time there seemed to be something else within the area of my Mana Flame. A five-coloured jewel that seemed like it was an amalgamation of five attributes.

That jewel must represent my Combat Body technique! It the only technique I've been thinking of trying to merge with my Mana Flame for some time now, I furrowed my brows in contemplation as I reached my hand out to grab the five-coloured jewel.

Now that I get a good look at it, the new body technique I made IS a bit messy. The foundation used to activate it is all over the place considering how the technique was made hastily...

To increase the quality of it would need me to change the technique's foundation into the purest form of Light Mana instead of multiple forms of Attribute Transformations. This is what the Young Miss advised after giving her own opinion on it before I left in shock towards my own actions.

I agreed with her opinion, but saying it was a lot easier than doing it since changing the foundation would mean that I'd have to create the technique from scratch. The mimicked Attributes couldn't be replaced by the true Light Attribute after all... Although Light Mana had its own special quality of being able to take any form the user could imagine, it wasn't without flaws.

After all, there wouldn't be a need for even the likes of ancient Druids of the past to mimic other attributes if it was as flawless the Royal Family portrayed.

I squeezed the jewel in my hand and manipulated the energy within to change the foundation of my body technique anyway since I had no other choice, but the result was failure. The jewel just wasn't able to reform at all!

If this goes on, I might never be able to create a Skill Root. My eyes couldn't help but shift to my Mana Flame as I once again contemplated on how to change my Combat Body technique.

After seeing how the white flame and black flame were harmoniously existing even though they were contrasting, a spark of inspiration hit me! I moved my fingers around the jewel once again and tried to 'harmonise' the mimicked attributes just like my Mana Flame.

A sudden phenomenon was triggered by my reckless actions as I was able to feel my Mana going out of control. I didn't know what would happen if I created a foundation of both Light Mana and Dark Mana but risks are always accompanied by rewards.

The jewel in my hand shined with chaotic colours before breaking apart.

I opened my eyes as intense waves of shock shook my heart. My body felt as if it was going through an earthshaking transformation that would change its very core! The cycle I created inside me that connected different Attributes within my physique hastened its circulation until it evolved into a form that was entirely different than before.

The Ether, Light Mana, Dark Mana and Kinetic Energy all merged together and transformed into two separate existences that were unlike the Mana Flame I once had burning in my chest.

[Skill Root- Atomic Light Ether Halo]

[Skill Root- Cellular Dark Mana Horn]

Over my right hand hovered a halo of solid Light Ether whilst my left hand mutated and grew a horn of the purest Dark Mana. I even found that the core of my Combat Body technique had transformed into five thumb-sized spheres hovering over the halo...

I willed the mutation on my left hand to return back to its original form and allowed the 'horn' growing from beside my index finger to gradually disappear.

Then I threw the gun in right hand to my left before putting it back into the box I made to store it. I studied the 'halo' and the five different colour 'marbles' that were created out of the Light Mana from my Mana Flame.

[Skill Variant- Clockwork Radiance]

The halo hovering over my right hand moved before my fingers. It's shape changed into a sphere of psionic Light Mana that was the size of a hand.

Once that happened, the hilt of a resplendent sword formed through the centre of the fist-sized sphere psionic energy and rested itself in my palm.

[Variant Extension- Molecular Sword]

I pulled on the hilt and unsheathed a sword made of solid Light Mana!