A Guard's Little Scheme

Early morning, Kane Family Estate.

For some reason, Young Master Li Si's magical experiments had ended early last night. Without the "bang bang" sounds that had persisted for days, all the servants in the estate felt that their sleep quality had improved quite a bit.

The young maid Rosie pushed open the dining room window and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Her brown ponytail, which hung down to her waist, swished happily from side to side.

As Li Si's personal maid, Rosie felt that although the young master's experiments had been running late lately, it was still better than when he used to shut himself in the laboratory and bedroom all day long.

Compared to before, when she sometimes did not see the young master even once all day, she was a little more tired now—but over the past few days, she had been able to give Young Master Li Si massages, and he would occasionally joke with her. She felt she was becoming more and more qualified as his personal maid.

"All right, Rosie, keep it up today too!" Rosie said, patting her smooth, collagen-rich cheeks to cheer herself on.

It was time to wake the young master. He had been staying up late recently and did not seem to be in great spirits, so she had always been the one to wake him. Should she prepare some invigorating Black Tea for him later today?

Rosie was just about to go upstairs to wake the young master when she turned around and saw that Li Si was already seated at the head of the dining table, enjoying breakfast.

Li Si waved his hand, asking his adorable little maid to have the kitchen bring another serving of diced ham bread.

Tender, fresh diced ham was tucked inside soft white bread, paired with a rich cream of mushroom soup. Li Si's appetite was thoroughly whetted.

Of course, it might also have been because Li Si was in an exceptionally good mood today.

Last night, he had successfully improved his first Exclusive Arcane and successfully changed classes into an Arcanist. This was his first step toward becoming a Legendary Mage, and it was immensely significant.

The system's assessment of the Blue Ball Spell he had created was that it was a third-circle arcane, which was an unexpected delight.

Generally speaking, an arcane improved from a first-circle spell should also be a corresponding first-circle arcane. To increase its power and elevate it into a higher-circle spell required adding more complex elemental circuits and magical patterns. Yet his Blue Ball Spell was different.

If the issue was not with the elemental model, then was the reason within himself?

Perhaps it was because his soul was more compatible with fire spells. After all, fire spells had also been his main specialty in his previous life.

Li Si let his thoughts wander. There had never been a definite conclusion regarding elemental models and soul compatibility, even in the future. There was no way to determine what was happening now.

After all, the soul was the most profound and mysterious part of a living being. Even the Gods could not fully comprehend its mysteries.

While Li Si enjoyed his exquisite breakfast and let his thoughts drift, Butler Joyce walked in from outside, seeming to have something he wished to say to Li Si.

The instant he saw Li Si, he froze. Even his usual elegant demeanor seemed to stiffen for a moment.

Noticing Joyce's unnatural behavior, Li Si asked curiously, "Joyce, is something wrong?"

Only then did Joyce come back to his senses. With his impeccable etiquette, he gave a slight bow.

"Young Master Mora sent someone to find you just now, reminding you not to forget to attend his birthday party tonight."

That guy.

Li Si was a little speechless. It had not been enough for Mora to specifically accompany him to the library last time and tell him in person—he had even arranged for someone to come urge him again.

If he had not been busy preparing for the event himself, he probably would have come to drag Li Si there personally!

It was not as though he... uh.

Li Si thought back and realized that his predecessor really had stood Mora up quite a few times.

Sigh. Since he had been invited so warmly, Li Si would reluctantly attend.

"I understand. I'll be back early today."

"Very well, Young Master. I will have Rosie prepare your attire for the party in advance."

Beilei Street

Bang!

On the open ground outside the warehouse, two figures clashed and separated at once. On one side was Li Si, panting as he supported himself with his spear; on the other was the guard Di Sen, who clearly still had strength to spare.

"You put too much force into your waist when swinging the spear just now, which caused your movements to become somewhat distorted. When exerting force, you should..."

Seeing that Li Si was somewhat exhausted, Di Sen put away his weapon and began pointing out the flaws in Li Si's movements.

Li Si nodded, wiping the sweat from his forehead with one hand while looking at the panel information that had appeared in his field of vision.

[Intermediate Warrior Di Sen teaches you spear techniques. Your spear weapon proficiency (Beginner) has increased.]

[94% 95%]

After several days of training, his Single-Handed Sword and two-handed sword weapon proficiency levels had already risen to intermediate. His spear was almost there as well.

Moreover, as he trained more and learned an increasingly rich variety of martial skills and combat techniques, he seemed to be drawing inferences from one instance to another. Training with other weapons became more and more natural, and the most obvious sign was that his weapon proficiency was increasing faster and faster.

This might also have something to do with his Omnipotent talent.

He had originally estimated that raising ten weapon proficiency levels to intermediate would take a month and a half. Now, it seemed that one month might be enough.

That was good news. After all, he did not have much time. While improving his strength, he also had to study how to avoid his miserable future cannon-fodder plotline.

[98% 99% 100%]

[Your spear weapon proficiency has risen to intermediate.]

[Intermediate Spear Mastery: You have basically mastered the techniques for using a spear. When using a spear, its power increases moderately.]

Good. That made three intermediate proficiencies!

After training with Di Sen for a while longer, Li Si finally raised his spear proficiency to intermediate. He stopped, tossed the spear aside, and said to Di Sen, "I don't think spears are that interesting. They're too easy. Teach me how to use a saber instead."

Di Sen paused, unable to understand why the young master suddenly no longer wanted to practice with a spear. Li Si's spearwork had clearly been improving by the moment.

However, the usually taciturn man said nothing. He simply nodded, walked to the side, took a standard saber that had been prepared in advance from the weapon case, and began demonstrating the moves of the Royal Clan Saber Technique for Li Si.

Watching Li Si toss aside the spear and have Di Sen take out a saber to begin demonstrating, Welf could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He had seen this scene two days ago. He had been teaching Li Si the Single-Handed Sword perfectly well, when Li Si had suddenly stopped and wanted to learn something else. It seemed their Young Master Li Si had lost interest in the spear again and wanted to practice with a saber.

Seeing Welf's speechless expression, Bill, who was standing nearby, lowered his voice and said, "I really don't know what our young master is trying to do. He gets impatient after only a few days of practice. This is already the fourth weapon he's switched to, isn't it?"

Welf shook his head. "That's not something you should say. Young Master Li Si merely wants to try out different weapons. Once he finds one that suits him and he likes, he definitely won't keep doing this."

Bill quickly said, "Oh, come on, boss, I'm only saying this to you in private. I just think that you're already a Gold Warrior. Even noble lords have to show you some respect. Yet you put so much effort into teaching the young master, and he still keeps picking and choosing. It's a little..."

Welf glanced at Bill, but did not stop him from continuing.

"For the past few days, we've had to accompany Young Master Li Si here during the day while he messes around, then at night the young master makes such a huge racket that none of us can rest properly. The brothers are starting to complain."

"Complain? I'm afraid it's just you, Lance, and a few others. Why don't I see Di Sen acting that way?"

"How could it be the same? Di Sen and the others are orphans raised by the Kane Family since childhood. Us brothers, though, we all recognize you as our boss. Otherwise..."

Welf raised a hand to interrupt Bill. This fellow was becoming more outrageous with every word. Still, Young Master Li Si really had been causing too much trouble. Should he go speak to that lord about it?

Seeing that Welf had taken his words to heart, Bill said no more. He had always been fond of comfort and enjoyment—he did not want to spend every day accompanying this young master here to wave weapons around. Wouldn't it be better to spend that time at Golden Lily Lane, finding a girl to cultivate some feelings with?