Soren exhaled in relief.
His pathways were clean. His Core stability was optimal. Nothing had cracked, nothing had scattered. For a breakthrough as violent as that had been, the condition of everything inside him was frankly immaculate.
Then his eyes landed on the Mana Capacity.
'...50,000.'
He stared at it for a moment.
'...That's insane.'
From what he knew, an average Second Circle Awakened had a mana capacity of around 20 thousand. Some talented individuals reached 25,000 or 30,000.
But he had 50,000, which was more than double the average.
Soren didn't know exactly how much of a genius that would make him in the eyes of others, but he understood what it meant for his future.
The larger your capacity after breaking through, the greater your potential. The stronger your foundation. The higher your ceiling.
Yes, it would take longer to fill. Yes, breaking through to the Third Circle would require far more effort than it would for someone with a smaller capacity.
But it was worth it.
A hundred times worth it.
Besides, it hasn't even been two weeks since he'd started cultivating.
And yet...
He was already in the Second Circle!
At this rate, his plans about getting stronger faster weren't just foolish dreams. They were actually achievable.
'Hehe.' Soren's gaze drifted across the dark room, landing on Ethea's silhouette in the bed. She was facing the ceiling again, her breathing quiet and even, probably asleep now.
His lips curled upward into a small, determined smile.
'I will definitely save you.'
He closed the status window and leaned back against the futon, finally letting exhaustion pull him under.
Tomorrow, everything would begin again.
_____ ___ _
The night passed without any incident.
For the first time in a while, Soren slept soundly and without interruption. It was a pure, unbroken rest that left him feeling truly refreshed when morning light finally woke him.
He lay still for a moment before sitting up, and the difference hit him immediately. His body felt light and responsive in a way it hadn't before, his breathing easier, his muscles looser, everything just slightly more efficient than it had been yesterday.
Even his Mana circulation, which he tested with a brief internal check, flowed effortlessly compared to the strain it had carried before the breakthrough.
He then rolled his shoulders and gently flexed his hands, assessing his condition. For a moment, he felt the desire to test it thoroughly, to go outside, challenge himself, and find out how much had changed overnight.
However, he let the feeling pass, aware that the anonymous enemies were still out there, watching. If he showed strength beyond what his previous self should have, they would notice.
The warning call had been one thing. He did not want to find out what came next.
Keeping a low profile was still the smartest move. Growing too fast, showing too much, attracting too much attention, that was how hunters usually got themselves killed. Or worse, how the people around them got caught in the crossfire.
He had Ethea to think about now. He could not afford to be careless.
So he made a decision.
He would spend the next two days at home. No Gates. No missions. No unnecessary risks. Just quiet cultivation to stabilize his new foundation and allow his body to fully adapt to the breakthrough.
To anyone watching from the outside, it would look like he was simply recovering from yesterday's ordeal. A sensible choice for a young hunter who had nearly died in a Gate. No one would question it.
Soren nodded to himself. That settled that.
Then his gaze drifted toward the bed.
Ethea was still asleep, her hair spread across the pillow, her breathing soft and even. The morning light from the window caught her face and made her look even younger somehow, the usual tension in her features smoothed away by sleep.
He watched her for a moment, and a different thought surfaced in his mind.
He had been so focused on getting stronger, on earning money, on figuring out how to save her, that he had let something important slip away.
That... he was not being a good husband.
Sure, he provided for her, kept her safe, made sure she had food and shelter, and someone to care for her. But those were the basics. The minimum.
That was not the same as being a real husband.
A real husband was more than just a provider.
A real husband shared his life with his wife. He spent time with her. He did not let her sit in the same apartment day after day, watching the world through a window while he chased after other things.
And...
Ethea had been confined to these four walls for as long as he had known her, and probably long before that. The same ceiling, the same garden view, the same narrow routine cycling through day after day. She hadn't felt proper sunlight on her face or breathed open air that wasn't filtered through a window in who knew how long.
He had noticed this a few days ago. Had told himself he would do something about it. And then the raids had come, and the training sessions, and the breakthrough, and it had kept getting quietly pushed to the back of his mind.
But not anymore!
Today, he was going to take her out!
He was going to let her see the world outside these walls. Let her feel the warmth of the sun. Let her breathe fresh air that didn't come through a window.
Even if she couldn't walk. Even if she couldn't speak much. Even if all she could do was sit in her wheelchair and look around.
That was still better than staying trapped in this house day after day.
Soren felt a quiet determination settle in his chest.
'Yes. Today's the day.'
But...
There was one tiny problem.
He...
He didn't know where exactly to take her.
On one hand, a park seemed like the obvious choice. Quiet, peaceful, fresh. But would she find that boring? Would she even care about trees and grass after being cooped up inside for so long?
On the other hand, an amusement park was too much. Too loud, too crowded, too many things that could go wrong. That was not restful. That was a different kind of exhausting.
Then... A restaurant, maybe? But eating out felt too simple. Too close to what they already did at home, just with different walls around them.
What about a cinema? A quiet café by the river? The botanical garden he had seen on the city map? A museum? Just a simple walk through the neighborhood?
Soren ran through every option he could think of, weighing each one in his mind.
Yet nothing felt right.
He sat in silence, staring at the bedroom door, and realized he had been looking at this all wrong.
The question was not where he should take her.
The question was...