William looked at his hand, questioning himself, "How do I view my hand?"
'It is a part of me; I don't view it as a separate person... Then 'heat' too is a part of nature, like my hand is a part of me.'
BOOM
When William reached the conclusion, a small explosion occurred in his mind. Immediately, his worldview changed. The color red gradually engulfed the entire world; it made a sizzling sound as it swallowed the sky, the earth, and the animals. Everything was now painted red.
William's eyes widened as he looked at the scene. His mouth went agape when he turned to his mother. Aquila was shining, shining like a bright sun. William shut his eyes, as he couldn't look at his mother for too long.
He then turned to the side and opened his eyes. The fire mana in the air now swirled around him, dancing along the wind.
William hesitantly stretched out his hand, expecting the fire mana to avoid him. But much to his surprise, the fire mana in the air rushed towards him like the ducklings who had found their mother duck.
They surrounded his hand and slowly revolved around it. "Hehehe!" William giggled while observing them. "Mother, I can see them! They are not avoiding me!" William exclaimed in joy.
Aquila smiled proudly as she stared at her son. 'I am proud of you, son.' She let out a chuckle and walked over to William. She ruffled his hair and congratulated him: "Yes, congratulations, William."
William giggled in response, feeling giddy for his mother's praise. "From now on, you have to interact with them and learn more about them," she advised.
William nodded seriously at his mother's advice. They both stayed on the top of the mountain until the sun stared down at them.
"That's enough for today, little William." Aquila said, ending their training for the day. "Remember, while 'heat' is powerful, you should also learn other attributes with the same enthusiasm as you did with 'heat'." She instructed.
William clenched his fist, determined to learn as much as he could. He walked into the mansion, greeting the servants as he passed.
"Good afternoon, uncle Sebastian." William greeted. Sebastian, who was overlooking some things in the mansion, turned around to see William walking towards him.
"Good afternoon, young master." Sebastian replied with a slight bow.
But, his eyes widened as he noticed the aura coming from William. 'Young master has already turned his core slightly violet.'
William didn't chat with Sebastian and continued to walk past him towards Carina's chambers. He reached the chambers after a few minutes of walking and entered her chambers.
Carina looked at William as he entered the room; she was wearing round glasses and reading a book at the side of the window.
Carina's eyes widened a little, noticing William's core turning slightly violet. 'Looks like Big Sister's training paid off.' She muttered inwardly.
William, noticing his mother, dashed towards her and hugged her while giggling. "Mother, I can now see the fiery red lights in the air," he explained while laughing.
Carina nodded in understanding as to how William advanced, albeit a little. 'It must be because 'heat' is an essential part of nature.' She theorized about the ways that would help William advance further.
"Congratulations William."
William giggled in response and went on to explain what happened: 'Looking from the perspective of nature, huh!'
"Maybe…." Carina muttered, concluding about a way for him to advance.
"Mother?" William called out.
Carina woke up from her thoughts and looked at William. She ruffled his hair and muttered, "From now on, you must work harder, William."
William nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with Carina.
"Now then, let's begin."
William sat opposite her; there was a desk in the middle, and a book was in front of him.
He stared at the book with a frown on his face, fiddling with his fingers as he continued to stare at it with frightening intensity.
"Staring at it will not solve the problem, you know?" Carina remarked, amused by his difficulty in solving the questions.
That's right, William was training his mental strength with Carina and his physical strength with Aquila.
"Ugh!" William grunted at his mother's remark and said, "This is too hard, mother."
Carina, however, shook her head and replied, "You have to solve it yourself. Until you solve it, you are not going anywhere."
William slumped looking at his mother's stern look. He knew he had no way out until he solved the problem.
He looked at the book and grunted again, "Ugh!"
'There are three people standing in a line. Each person is either a truth-teller, who always tells the truth, or a liar, who always lies. Here are the statements made by each person, numbered 1 through 3. William muttered inwardly as he read the question once again.
The first person said that the second one was a liar. The second one said that the third one is a truth-teller. The third one says that the first one is a liar.
"Ugh!" William gruntled again as he read the last part of the question, 'Who is the liar and who is telling the truth?'
William continued trying to solve the question; however, no matter what he tried, he didn't get the answer right. Frustrated, he began pulling out his hair. 'Ahhh! I don't want to do it; I want to play.' he grumbled as he flailed his arms and legs.
He pushed the book towards Carina and yelled, "I don't want to do it; this is too hard!"
He then stood up from his chair and began walking out of the chambers when a cold voice reverberated throughout the room: "Young man, Where do you think you are going?" It sent shivers down his spine.
William stopped where he stood; he creakily turned his head around, only to see Carina's shining eyes staring at him. The light in the room had faded into darkness, and the only source of light was her glaring golden eyes.
William gulped in fear as he looked at his mother. 'Brother was right. Mother Carina is really a devil.'
"Come back." She muttered, leaving no room for negotiations.
William slowly walked to his chair. He glanced at Carina before gulping in fear once again and took his seat.
The light in the room returned once William took his seat. Carina, too, returned to normal as the intense light coming out of her eyes faded.
"Now, solve the problem."
William let out a fake cry before he looked at the book once again. A few minutes had passed, but William couldn't solve it no matter what he tried.
He slowly looked at Carina and mumbled, "Mother, I can't solve it; it's too hard." tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
Carina's eyes softened as she looked at her son. 'Looks like I went too hard on him.'
She walked over to him, grabbing her chair, and sat beside him. She then took the book from William and started explaining.
"See William, If we assume that the first person is telling the truth, then the second and third guys are lying. But if the first guy is lying, then the second and third guys are telling the truth."
She then continued, "Since the third guy is saying that the first guy is lying, it directly conflicts with the idea of the first guy being truthful; it eliminates the second option. Therefore, the first guy is telling the truth while the rest are lying." She concluded.
William didn't understand what her mother was saying, but he still nodded his head. 'I don't want to stay and solve these problems anymore.'
Carina, who understood that William didn't understand anything, sighed.
SIGH
'I thought he would be able to do some advanced logic reasoning; I guess I pushed the pedal too fast.'
She sighed once again before saying, "That's enough for today, William. I will explain the problem once again tomorrow."
William's face brightened as he listened to his mother; he immediately hugged her and kissed her cheeks before saying, "Thank you, mother." And ran away.
Carina shook her head before chuckling in response to his antics.
...…..
William ran through the mansion while looking out the window to see that the sun had already set. He ran until he reached his destination and pushed the door open to see a few maids cleaning a room.
"Clara, can we play?" William asked enthusiastically. Energy was oozing out of his eyes as he clenched his fists, excited to play with his maids.
"Oh! Young master, have you finished your studies?" The maid Clara asked.
"Yes! Mother Carina said that I could leave." William answered while nodding his head vigorously.
But before the maids could answer, Sebastian interrupted them: "I apologize for interrupting your play time, young master. But the master is waiting for you in the dining hall."
William's mood turned a little sour from being interrupted during his play time. The maids, too, were sad that they couldn't play with him.
William glanced at them one last time before walking with Sebastian to the dining hall.
Sebastian opened the door to the dining hall. William walked in and gazed at the people sitting at the dining table. Ophiscus was sitting at the head of the table, along with his wives to his side. Orion and Lyra were talking to each other, and Vela was talking to Achlys. She was frowning a little while glancing at the newcomer once in a while.
William turned to the person Achlys was glancing at while frowning.
Ophiscus, who noticed his son arriving, called out, "William." He gestured for William to come to him.
William walked towards him while glancing at the new girl once in a while. She looked like a woman in her 20s, had golden hair just like Carina, and had a pair of wings behind her back.
Ophiscus then stood up and introduced, "William, meet Seriphina Orli Svetlanna; she is the daughter of Lucien; she will be staying with us from now on."