By the time Lyra and Evan returned home, the sun had already begun its slow descent across the sky.
The busy noise of the market faded behind them as they stepped inside the quiet house.
Lyra closed the door gently.
Finally, some peace.
She set the bag of items they had bought onto the table and stretched her shoulders slightly.
Carrying a certain energetic child through a crowded market had not been the easiest task even though see is the strongest cultivator in this world.
Evan, meanwhile, had completely different priorities.
The moment Lyra placed him down on the floor—
He immediately pointed toward the ring.
"Ba!"
Lyra glanced down at him.
"Yes?"
Evan pointed harder.
"Ba!"
Lyra followed his gaze.
The the ring that contains his books.
She blinked.
"…You want the books?"
Evan nodded rapidly.
"Ba!"
Lyra tilted her head.
"My prince… you do realize you cannot read yet."
Evan simply kept pointing.
"Ba."
Lyra crossed her arms.
"You insisted on buying them."
"Yes."
"You cried in the middle of the market."
"Yes.
"And now you want them immediately?"
Evan nodded proudly.
"Ba!"
Lyra stared at him for a moment.
Her expression slowly turned suspicious.
"…Why?"
Evan blinked.
Then he performed the most innocent baby face he could manage.
"Ba?"
Lyra narrowed her eyes.
She had long noticed that the prince behaved… differently from other children.
Too observant.
Too curious.
Sometimes even too aware.
Still, she eventually sighed and reached into the ring.
"…Fine."
She pulled out the first book.
It was exactly what Evan had been looking for.
A basic language learning book.
The cultivation world had a commonly used language that spread across many realms.
It was known as Akasha.
Most worlds and star clusters used it as their shared language.
The book contained the foundation of that language.
Simple words.
Basic sentence structures.
Elementary grammar.
Lyra handed the book to him.
"My prince, please do not tear it."
Evan grabbed the book immediately.
His eyes shone with excitement.
Finally.
He sat down on the floor and opened the book carefully.
Inside his mind, Evan was far more focused than any normal child.
Alright.
Step one: language.
Thanks to his reincarnation, he already understood how people in this world spoke.
Listening to Lyra and the others for the past year had helped him become familiar with spoken Akasha.
But understanding spoken language and reading written language were two different things.
What he needed now—
Was grammar.
Sentence structure.
The system behind the language.
Evan looked down at the first page.
Strange characters filled the paper.
But surprisingly—
They did not feel completely foreign.
Thanks to the system inside his mind, he had already recognized some of the words before.
Still, reading them properly would take time.
He leaned forward slightly.
Then he started reading.
Slowly at first.
Carefully examining each symbol.
And then—
Suddenly—
A faint voice echoed inside his mind.
!~Ding~!
Evan froze.
His eyes widened slightly.
The voice continued.
[New Function Unlocked]
[Reading Assistant Activated]
Evan blinked.
Inside his mind, a translucent window appeared.
[ Reading Assistant
Function: Assists the host in reading, comprehension, and efficient memory storage.
Effect:• Improves reading speed• Enhances memory retention• Accelerates comprehension
Description:Allows the host to store knowledge in the brain more efficiently. ]
Evan stared at the floating message.
His mind went completely silent.
Then—
HOLY—
He barely stopped himself from reacting out loud.
Of course.
The system again.
Ever since discovering it after his reincarnation, it had occasionally appeared to assist him in strange ways. Most of the time it stayed silent, only activating when something relevant appeared.
Still, every time it showed up, it made things a lot easier.
Reading Assistant?
Evan looked back at the book.
Then he tried reading again.
Immediately—
Something incredible happened.
The characters seemed to organize themselves in his mind.
Meanings formed almost instantly.
Connections between words appeared naturally.
Grammar structures made sense without effort.
It felt like someone had suddenly upgraded his brain.
Evan flipped the page.
And another.
And another.
He was reading far faster than before.
Inside his mind, the information settled into his memory perfectly.
Like placing books neatly onto shelves inside a library.
This is ridiculous.
If he had possessed this ability in his previous life, exams would have been effortless.
Across the room, Lyra watched him quietly.
Her brows slowly furrowed.
"My prince…"
Evan continued reading.
Page after page.
Lyra tilted her head slightly.
"…You look very serious."
Evan flipped another page.
Lyra slowly walked toward him.
From the doorway, she leaned slightly to peek at what he was doing.
And then—
She froze.
The book in Evan's hands.
The way his eyes moved across the pages.
The way he flipped them with purpose.
It almost looked like…
He was reading.
Lyra narrowed her eyes.
Impossible.
He was only one year old.
There was no way he could actually read.
Still, something about the scene felt strange.
She quietly watched him for another moment.
Evan suddenly felt something.
A presence.
His enhanced senses immediately noticed it.
Someone watching him.
His eyes flicked toward the doorway.
Lyra.
Oh crap.
His brain reacted instantly.
Without hesitation—
He flipped the book upside down.
Then he leaned forward and began "reading" again.
Very seriously.
Lyra blinked.
She stared at the upside-down book.
Silence filled the room.
Then she sighed.
"…You are pretending again."
Evan turned a page.
Upside down.
Lyra shook her head.
"My prince, books do not work that way."
Evan looked up at her.
"Ba!"
Lyra chuckled softly.
"You are just imitating how I read."
She gently ruffled his hair.
"That is adorable."
Then she stood up and walked away.
Evan waited.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The moment her footsteps disappeared—
He slowly flipped the book back the correct way.
Inside his mind, he sighed in relief.
That was close.
Then he looked back down at the book.
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
The Reading Assistant was still active.
Every page he read filled his mind with new knowledge.
Language.
Words.
Grammar.
The entire structure of Akasha was slowly unfolding before him.
Evan turned another page.
And another.
A small grin appeared on his face.
For the first time since reincarnating in this world—
He truly felt like things were starting to move.
Slowly.
Carefully.
But surely.
He would understand this world.
And when the time came—
He would be ready.