A few weeks drifted by, and Fainyx's life settled into a new, heavily scheduled routine.
His mornings were entirely dominated by Ambrosia and her light physical training. She pushed him through squats, wall-pushes, and careful walking circuits.
Fainyx was forced to put his secret Aetherium morning workouts on hold, focusing entirely on maintaining his cover.
By the end of every session, he was genuinely panting and covered in sweat. Ambrosia, maintaining her perfectly emotionless, nonchalant facade, was deeply proud that he never complained once, even when he looked ready to pass out.
In truth, despite the exhaustion, his actual frail physical constitution hadn't changed much at all.
Following the workout came a quiet, peaceful breakfast with his family. A week ago, the Duke had finally caved to Fainyx's persistent requests to remove the elite knights guarding his bedroom door. Fainyx had argued that the constant armored presence was "too pressuring" for his recovery.
The Duke had let out a long, heavy sigh, but ultimately complied, allowing Fainyx to finally leave his room and eat in the dining hall. Sitting at the long table, watching Adam and Liam bicker over the last piece of roasted meat and laugh loudly, Fainyx felt a genuine warmth in his chest.
In the afternoons, Master Yong arrived carrying stacks of incredibly thick, heavy books. Yong played the role of the strict, knowledgeable noble to perfection, keeping up appearances for the mansion staff by boring Fainyx to tears with the territorial history of the continent.
But midnight was when the real lessons began.
The invisible latch on the window clicked shut, and the heavy soundproof barrier snapped into place around the bedroom, courtesy of Master Yong.
Ruth stood in the center of the room, looking down at his six-year-old patient with his ancient golden eyes. "You have already absorbed the knowledge of a two-hundred-year-old dragon," Ruth began, his deep voice serious.
"Your mana pathways are accustomed to the density. Tonight, we begin learning the ancient Draconic language. And your first spell using this language will be Polymorph."
Fainyx blinked, his face completely neutral, but internally.
'I am a human, though?'
Fainyx thought. 'Why do I need to learn how to transform?'
"The reason why" Ruth continued, puffing out his chest with absolute arrogance, "I am a fiercely prideful being. If you can Polymorph into a dragon, I can properly teach you the physical combat techniques of my race without holding back. I can even teach you how to fly."
Master Yong, who was leaning against the bookshelf, burst into a fit of sudden, howling laughter.
"Oh, this is priceless!" Yong mocked, wiping a tear from his eye. "What exactly are the other dragons going to think when they see a thousand-year-old, legendary ancient dragon going completely senile, trying to teach a frail human boy how to be a dragon?"
Ruth's golden eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Shut your mouth, human! At least he gets the privilege to use the supreme magic that my prideful race uses!"
Yong smirked, a wicked glint in his black eyes. "Hoh~? If your race is so supreme, then why exactly did you get completely defeated in a fight by a mere human like me in the past?"
A vein visibly popped on Ruth's forehead. "Ughh! I absolutely cannot deal with you!"
Ruth didn't even chant. He simply threw his hand forward, blasting three violently hot spheres of compressed fire magic directly at Yong's head. Yong laughed delightedly, dodging the explosions as they harmlessly impacted the magical barrier covering the walls.
The room became a chaotic, hectic battlefield of dodged spells and flying embers.
Fainyx simply sat safely on his bed, watching the two overpowered men act like squabbling children.
'This place is so hectic,' he thought. 'But Polymorph... transforming into an animal or another race completely. That is incredibly useful.'
A moment later, Ruth marched back over to the bed, forcefully dragging a laughing Yong by the back of his collar with one hand.
Ruth let out a massive, rumbling sigh and dropped Yong onto the floor. "Fine," Ruth muttered, avoiding Fainyx's gaze slightly.
"The truth is... I want to show you off to one of my dragon friends."
Yong stopped laughing and stared at Ruth in genuine, pure shock. "You actually have a friend?"
"What is it to you, huh!?" Ruth roared, violently smacking the back of Yong's head.
Yong just laughed harder, completely uninjured.
Ruth cleared his throat, regaining his majestic composure, and turned back to Fainyx. "Listen closely. Polymorph is not a simple illusion. It is the absolute restructuring of flesh, bone, and mana. Most beings cannot use it because their bodies reject the foreign genetic blueprint."
Ruth raised his hand, and a complex string of ancient, jagged runes glowed in the air.
"To successfully cast Polymorph, you must first construct a 'Conceptual Shell' using your mana," Ruth explained in deep detail.
"You isolate your own human biology, protecting your core and organs inside a pocket of dense magic. Then, using the Ancient Dragon language, you rewrite the ambient mana around that shell into physical matter.
You are literally expanding your mana to form real bones, scales, or fur over your existing body. It requires absolute control; if your concentration slips, your human body will permanently fuse with the transformation."
Fainyx watched the runes carefully, perfectly memorizing the structural flow of the magic.
Once the extensive lesson was over, the barrier dropped, and Yong and Ruth slipped out the window into the night.
Left entirely alone in the quiet, dark room, Fainyx looked toward the door. His thoughts drifted to a piece of information he had recently pieced together.
Ambrosia, his strict, emotionless physical instructor, was not just a instructor. She was an S ranked adventurer specifically, a member of his late mother's elite adventurer party.
'I almost forgot about them,'
Fainyx thought, a sudden spark of curiosity igniting in his chest. 'The rest of her party has actually been staying in the territory for the past three years.'
Maybe it's out of loyalty to their missing comrades. They disappeared in this place so that's why, the other members had lingered always in the adventures guild mostly completed some missions, taking on local commissions.
Fainyx hadn't seen them at all yet, and he wanted to know exactly what kind of people his mother used to fight alongside. Plus, he had been cooped up in the mansion for too long.
'What if i try to join the adventure guilds too?
He stood up and tapped into his magic. The complex circle appeared, and his golem materialized on the carpet.
Over the past few weeks, Fainyx had successfully upgraded it. "Fain" could now speak basic, pre-programmed sentences and could physically walk around the room. It still couldn't run, but it was a massive leap in progress.
'Get in bed' Fainyx commanded in his mind.
The golem obediently walked over, climbed into the large bed, and pulled the covers up, simulating a deep, peaceful sleep.
With his perfect decoy in place, Fainyx reached into his spatial connection with the Aetherium. He pulled out the heavy, black cloak he had worn during the Harvest Festival and draped it over his small shoulders, pulling the large hood up to completely conceal his silver hair and distinct violet eyes.
He walked over to the open window and looked down at the sheer drop to the courtyard below.
Because his mana was completely undetectable, he didn't need to worry about the estate's magical sensors or the knights below. He closed his eyes and summoned the wind.
A gentle, invisible current of air wrapped tightly around his small body, lifting his feet off the floorboards.
Silent as a ghost, Fainyx floated out the window. Borne by the wind, the cloaked young master set off into the night sky, flying past the estate walls and toward the bustling, brightly lit streets of the city. His destination is towards the Adventurer's Guild.