After returning to his room, Lance took a hot bath, ate a quick meal, and began his afternoon reading.
Amman had business elsewhere today, so Lance did not need to go to Moonlight Tower. That gave him a convenient opportunity to fill in gaps in his basic knowledge of the wizarding world.
Most of that information had existed in the original Lance's memories, but his inheritance of those memories was incomplete. He needed to study everything again to make sure nothing important had been lost.
Fortunately, Fox made the process far easier. Large amounts of information could be scanned, stored, and organized directly into categories.
With the master chip's help, Lance learned at remarkable speed.
He also took some time to practice entering his mindscape. By now, the process had become almost effortless.
Inside, he could control every golden point of light representing his mental power.
There were exactly two hundred twenty-three.
'Tomorrow I should ask Teacher how to use mental power to construct the rune inside the mindscape.'
Once he successfully formed the rune, he would only need to stabilize it continuously until the structure became permanent. Then he could use his mental power to activate Lesser Meditation and begin true meditation.
Through meditation, he would gather spell factors, transform them into mana, store that mana within himself, and finally become a true wizard.
The thought alone made Lance's blood stir with excitement.
...
Night fell.
Lance still did not go to the main hall for dinner.
For one thing, he had no desire to sit through Viscountess Nancy's cold looks. More importantly, he treasured his time. He had permission to borrow books from Moonlight Tower's great library, and the amount of knowledge a wizard needed to master was staggering.
He intended to use every hour he had.
When Hogg sent a servant with a well-prepared dinner, Lance ate quickly and had the dishes taken away almost at once.
'Gulun may be widespread, but there are still far too many languages I need to learn.'
The book in Lance's hands was a magical-language textbook titled *Introduction to Abyssal*.
It belonged to a full instructional series. Amman's collection also contained *Advanced Abyssal*, *Refining Abyssal*, and *Mastering Abyssal*. *Introduction* was unquestionably the simplest of the four.
Even so, without Fox, Lance would have found it extremely difficult.
'Wizardry really is a profession that devours intelligence. Abyssal is only one of nineteen languages a great wizard is supposed to master. How do those monsters keep nineteen languages straight without mixing them up?'
Lance skimmed through the introductory volume once.
Fox could force the information into storage, but memorizing content was not the same as understanding it. Lance still had to comprehend the language himself.
According to the book, the phonetic units of Abyssal were closer to the fundamental nature of spell factors than the common language and could therefore produce more powerful magical effects.
All of that was still far beyond Lance's current level.
For now, the only thing he truly understood about Abyssal was how absurdly complicated it was.
'One syllabic unit can have one hundred ninety-seven meanings? Wife, red lava, flagpole, a demon that changed sex... What kind of language is this?'
Lance sighed inwardly.
Four candles had already been lit beside his desk, filling the room with warm light.
Bonnie stood nearby, still somewhat nervous around him. Her posture remained careful and obedient.
After a long while, Lance closed the book.
"Bonnie, go to the barracks in the outer ward and tell them to send over the murloc blood I requested."
Bonnie nodded quickly.
Lance no longer refused to let her do anything for him, which was a relief to her. She hurried out of the room to carry out the task.
Lance watched her leave with a complicated expression.
It was obvious Bonnie had been placed beside him by Viscountess Nancy to watch him.
When Lance had been considered useless, Nancy could afford to ignore him. Now that he had suddenly shown the possibility of becoming a wizard, his existence must have become far more troubling to her.
'Would she actually make a move against him?'
Lance could not be certain.
Nancy was shrewd enough to know how much Viscount Lane cared about his son. She would never attack openly.
'An obvious blade is easy to avoid. It's the hidden arrow that's dangerous.'
Lance rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
'If Nancy needed an opportunity, when would be the best time to act against him?'
Obviously, while the viscount was away from the castle.
'Still, who is really in the open and who is in the shadows remains to be seen. Even if she openly turns against me, I can simply hide inside Moonlight Tower and see what she can do then.'
A cold gleam passed through Lance's eyes.
Without changing expression, he reached beneath the desk and drew out a short sword.
Before leaving, Viscount Lane had privately instructed the steward to give Lance this weapon. Lance had tested it himself. The blade was extraordinarily sharp, capable of cutting iron with ease.
Soft footsteps came from outside.
Someone was approaching quietly.
Lance rose at once and moved lightly toward the door, short sword already raised.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
To his surprise, the person outside actually knocked.
Lance hesitated, stepped half a pace back, then opened the door quickly.
Irene stood outside in a light nightgown, looking at him curiously.
"Brother Lance, what are you doing?"
Lance relaxed.
He silently criticized himself for becoming overly suspicious and lowered the short sword out of sight.
"Nothing. Reading."
Irene looked slightly embarrassed.
"Brother Lance, the washroom shared by our rooms is broken. Can I use yours to bathe?"
Lance had not heard her clearly.
"What did you say?"
Irene puffed up in annoyance.
"I said I want to use the bath in your room!"
Lance nodded somewhat stiffly.
"Oh. Right. Fine."
Irene gave him a puzzled look, then returned to her room to fetch clean clothes.
Only Lance knew that something strange had happened the moment he saw her.
A sudden wave of unnatural heat had risen through his body, accompanied by a sharp loss of self-control that immediately alarmed him.
'What the hell is wrong with me?'
The timing made the reaction even more alarming.
Something was clearly wrong.
'Had he simply been pushing himself too hard for too many days?'
No. This reaction was too abrupt and too intense.
'Fox, scan my body immediately. Find out what's happening.'
The heat continued to build. His breathing grew heavier despite his attempts to remain calm.
'Damn it. What is this?'
Lance drew a deep breath and forced himself to steady his thoughts, but waves of unnatural agitation kept battering his concentration.
His entire body felt feverishly hot, and his loss of control only worsened.
At some point, Irene returned without Lance even noticing.
"Brother Lance, I'm going in to bathe now."
"Mm."
Lance sat rigidly in his chair and deliberately kept his attention away from her.
Irene looked at him strangely, thought nothing more of it, and went into the washroom. Before long, the sound of running water came through the door.
Lance's control was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
'Fox! What's happening?'
[Master, an unknown compound has appeared in your bloodstream. Analysis indicates that it originated from the murloc blood.]
[Based on current data, this is a side effect of using murloc blood to improve your physical attributes. One component strengthens the body, but another substance was absorbed along with it and accumulated in your blood. For unknown reasons, its effect has now become active.]
[The concentration of this substance in your bloodstream is currently quite high.]
'Just tell me what it is and what I'm supposed to do about it!' Lance demanded, struggling to suppress the effects.
Fox responded immediately.
[Analysis indicates that the substance is a powerful impulse-altering compound comparable to an aphrodisiac known on Earth.]
Lance nearly groaned aloud.
'Of all the possible side effects...'
[The compound appears difficult to eliminate through ordinary metabolism. No immediate antidote is available from current data, and the effect will continue until the substance is metabolized.]
Fox added in its usual matter-of-fact tone: [Recommendation: isolate yourself from other people until the effect is under control, Master.]
Lance grabbed at his hair.
'There isn't another way? You're supposed to be a high-end chip!'
Fox had no alternative to offer.
'So I just have to wait this out?'
His thoughts were becoming increasingly muddled.
Fox replied: [Based on current data, avoiding additional stimulation and physical risk is the safest available course.]
At that exact moment, Irene's voice came from inside the washroom.
"Brother Lance, I left my towel on the table. Could you bring it to me?"