Standing victorious, Ethan wasted no time and left the scene, following Dianna's mana trail back to their ship.
"You handled that well," Elaine said, looking at him with a smile.
"Is there anything missing?" she asked.
"No, ma'am. Here's the list of all those we captured and the materials we ransacked from their vaults," Dianna presented.
"Good," Elaine said as she entered the ship. The call went out for everyone who wasn't already on the ship. Twenty percent of her personnel hadn't made it today.
"What happened here? The whole planet has been reduced to rubble," a man muttered, stepping out of a large spaceship.
Exactly a day before this, when Elaine and her personal mercenary group raided Ceres, a dwarf planet where illegal drugs were being made, a certain person noticed something was off and set out to check the anomaly. Upon arriving on Ceres, everything appeared normal, but it was an illusion. The magic didn't trick them. Upon landing, the illusion was dispelled, revealing the rubble that remained.
"Something is not..." a person in a purple three-piece suit muttered, scanning the environment magically. But he was too slow to react—the dwarf planet exploded in an instant, a bright flash illuminating the sky.
Back on Earth, Elaine smiled as she looked up. "I got you. Now you can't ignore me anymore, can you?" she muttered to herself as she stood outside a hovering vehicle. After the raid, she had packed up, ready to change bases. Everyone was busy moving equipment and furniture back and forth.
It was time to head to Sky City.
The team worked diligently to pack up their base. As they finished loading the last of the equipment, Ethan glanced around, his expression resolute. He felt somewhat sad to leave.
Elaine stood outside the hovering vehicle, observing the bustling activity around her. "Let's move out," she commanded, her voice firm.
The team boarded the vehicle, ready for the journey ahead. As they ascended into the sky, leaving the remnants of Iron City behind, there was a palpable sense of remorse among them.
Inside the vehicle, Dianna turned to Ethan. "It seems we're reaching the end huh" she muttered, looking outside the window.
Ethan paused, contemplating his response. "It seems so..."
As they approached Sky City, the futuristic metropolis came into view. Its towering skyscrapers and advanced technology were awe-inspiring, but there was also an underlying sense of danger. The city was known for its cutthroat competition and the presence of powerful entities.
Elaine addressed the team, her tone serious. "We'll remain quite for a while and let the Ceres incident sink in."
As they descended and landed in one of Sky City's hidden docks, the team disembarked, ready to establish their new base. The city buzzed with life, a stark contrast to the desolation they had left behind. "We'll be moving to the industrial zone" Hector notified everyone.
Six years had passed, and now Ethan was sixteen. Elaine had ensured he learned everything she knew, focusing intensely on his advancement as a mage. Before, he had been a Court Mage—a realm already high in the normal world. But to achieve her goals, Elaine pushed Ethan further. He possessed a rare mana physique and an extraordinarily large mana pool. This made him stronger, even compared to those of the same rank, and capable of defeating some of a higher rank. However, such methods would only get him so far. He needed to refine his mana to a higher level. At this age, he had reached the rank of Wizard—a huge leap, even among Elaine's other experiments.
Dianna, the highest-ranked experiment, was a peak Grand Mage, followed by Casper, the official rank 1 of the experiments, who was a two-star Grand Mage. This demonstrated how true talent could bolster one's abilities. Ethan had started learning magic later, but he had surpassed everyone in a blink. Now, he was able to train more effectively with Elaine, who was a peak Wizard rank.
"Don't think because we're of the same level you have the upper hand. Those who reach this level are peculiarly skilled, having shed blood and sweat to get here. Only a few hailed as talented geniuses arrive at this level," Elaine said, as she beat Ethan to a pulp. She no longer needed to hold back when they trained. Besides, his unique physique granted him extraordinary healing capabilities, unmatched even by Elaine or other Wizard rank mages. She could fight him without holding back, as long as he didn't die—that was good enough. Like her disciple, Elaine used a slim staff as her weapon. It was edged on opposite ends, but she could twist it into a normal staff. It could also stretch and become flexible, attacking a person's mana or spirit directly—a fine and rare weapon indeed.
"Stabilize your mana fluctuations. Use your mana pool to your advantage. You can cast more costly spells than any other mage at your level, or you can pour more mana into normal spells to make them more powerful," Elaine instructed. It felt like this was Ethan's first time sparring with her. He wasn't used to this kind of opponent.
"Let's end here," Elaine said, stopping their session. Ethan fell, taking a big gulp of air. Though his body was fully recovered, he felt mentally exhausted.
"Why does it feel like these sessions have gotten intense lately?" he muttered.
"Well, of course, you know why we're here, don't you? I'll make sure you're fully ready when the time arrives," Elaine said as she left. Standing outside the training room was Dianna, leaning on the door.
"It's rare to see you waiting for me," Ethan remarked.
"Don't get used to it. I just need your assistance with something," she said.
"Oh?" Ethan remarked.
"I need your mana control to help me refine some potions," Dianna explained. She had leaned more into alchemy throughout the years. Now, as she planned to make a few potions, she needed Ethan's mana control skills to maintain the mana in the lab while making a certain potion. An imbalance in mana would cause the potion to decrease in quality.
"Another life potion," Ethan remarked. Dianna's silence confirmed his question. He sighed and went along with her.
"Take a shower first. I don't want your smell to taint my lab," she said, taking a step to the side as they walked, distancing herself from him.
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