I spend ten minutes going through the cabinets and the box powered by a mana stone that freezes the food inside it. Then there is another one that only keeps it cool, similar to a fridge.

All the food, all the ingredients, all the drinks, everything is perfect and fresh.

While throwing some meat at Biscuit, I examine the fridge and the mana stone imbued in it, along with the mana circuits going through the entire box.

When I'm done, I start eating all the food I collected and put on the table.

Dried meat that is aromatic, slightly dry, yet soft, and with spices that taste amazing.

Fruits that remind me of strawberries and are just much bigger and sweeter.

A drink that could be juice from god knows what kind of fruit.

And the sweets... I eat chocolate-looking stuff. I eat another chocolate-looking bar, this time with some nuts. I eat a small orb-like dish filled with something fruity.

Once in a while, I take a minute-long break and just enjoy the feeling of the food in my mouth with my eyes closed.

(Food!)

Yes, Biscuit, damn good food. Delicious food!

“Food!” I shout back at the dog.

(Food!)

“Food Food!”

(Food! Food!)

We continue to shout at each other, and obviously, that's when Lily decides to enter the kitchen.

For a moment, she stares at me and Biscuit as we keep shouting loudly, and there is a clear look of shock on her face. I decide to ignore it and just stuff my mouth with more sweets, chewing while looking at her and challenging her to say anything.

Instead, she just squeaks and quickly rushes closer. It takes her only a few moments to find and pick the sweet I already identified as the best one and put it away to save for later. Without asking, she grabs it and starts eating it.

“Oh… my god,” she sighs, smiling at me, “This is so good,” Lily then continues with her mouth full. Then, being as nice as she is, she leaves the room, and I can hear her calling others as she rushes upstairs.

I use the opportunity to grab things I enjoy the most to eat them later, just in time before others rush in. Even little Isabella is awake now.

Soon the kitchen becomes full of laughter and the smell of food. After just a while, Hadwin starts using some stove-looking thing and prepares a steak. He looks so happy as he carefully tastes the spices and puts them on the meat.

The boys are laughing and joking, poking each other and fighting over the best sweets.

Isabella is offering some chocolate to Sophie, which the girl eats with delight, making Isabella laugh.

Even Tess is smiling and talking to Maya and Lily, who look up to her while enjoying some treats.

The kitchen is so different from before. It's full of laughter and warmth that makes it feel smaller and cozier. So, I just sit there and observe the others while occasionally answering Kim or teasing Lily.

It's not something I would like to do daily, but it's not that bad, and I find myself enjoying it a little bit. Just a tiny little bit.

“Yesterday, you seemed in a good mood,” Tess teases me while both of us stretch a bit, currently in one of the gardens on a clearing covered with grass.

I just straight up refuse to answer and continue to stretch and circulate mana through my body as well as perceive the entire area of the manor. This time I pay more attention. It was kind of annoying that I was unable to feel Sparkledouche the day before.

When we are done, I create a spear in my hands out of my mana, and Tess grabs her rare javelin, holding it similarly.

With just a short glance, we dash at each other, both of us somewhat limiting ourselves and focusing more on movements than pure strength or speed.

I dodge her stab; she dodges mine and jumps back, to which I quickly follow her, stabbing at her and then changing the direction of my stab.

Tess, instead of trying to move further back, steps toward me and flings my spear to the side using her javelin. She then kicks at me, which I dodge, and I stab at her again.

The spar continues for more minutes, and gradually we increase our speed more and more, the weapons in our hands turning into a blur as our bodies move swiftly across the garden.

Stab, dodge, kick, dodge, stab, stab.

Soon, we start adding skills to the mix.

Lightning starts cracking around Tess, and I strengthen my body with Symbiotic Transference. The attacks become deadlier, but it all feels fine, almost like a game and not a spar where a single mistake could mean a mortal wound.

After a brief series of quick exchanges, I finally get Tess to fall into my trap and stab at her, knowing that she won't be able to dodge but this time, I feel resistance, and her [Psychokinesis] pushes against me.

I take it as a challenge, and my [Redistribution] fires up, slowing down her movement to the point where she is forced to boost her body more. The red and white lightning crackling around her body becomes more visible and starts to feel dangerous.

At the same time, the air around us becomes colder as I start to absorb thermal energy while keeping myself warm with it.

Tess puts some distance between us, and with a piercing noise, the javelin flies at me. I tilt my head to dodge it.

The weapon then flies back at Tess, and I dodge it again, letting her grab it.

“[Declaration] is working pretty well,” I stop there before getting too deep into it.

“Yes, I keep using it on the javelin, and I can call it back from longer and longer distances. And before you say something, don't worry, I'm thinking of more uses.”

“Good,” I cancel my skills.

“What about your mana? Any problems?” Tess asks.

“None at all. Passive is helping a lot, constructs are taking a big chunk of it, and the rest is taken care of with cycling. The annoying part is that I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.”

“I bet you will have a chance before this floor ends.”

“Absolutely… If you get to fight against Edwal, you need to be careful of his chest armor. It's enchanted, an artifact, cursed, or however you want to call it. There is some sort of connection going from the tower to the armor.”

“That's quite interesting. Any idea about the effects?” Tess fixes her clothes a bit while asking me.

“I'm not 100% sure, but I think it improves healing even more,” I show her my forearm and make a small cut with my mana-covered finger. The wound immediately heals, “If I'm not wrong, the armor boosts this effect to the point where he can regenerate his wounds nearly immediately.”

“That could be annoying, especially if there are two more warriors like him, not even mentioning the king and the Saint.” she points out.

“It will be fine. In the worst case, we will tie them down and let Lily use her skill; they most likely won't be able to heal that.” I let mana javelin dissipate in my hands as I talk to her.

“Now that you mention it, we could have Lily try to wound us with [Disintegration] and check if it heals.”

“We could if you want to risk having a wound that would never heal,” I say.

Tess isn't dumb, so she quickly understands, her eyes wide open, “Do you think…”

“I'm not sure yet, but I have a suspicion that wounds caused by her skill might be extremely hard or straight-up impossible to heal.” I still think that the petite girl's skill is much stronger than what she has shown up until now.

“Great, another thing to worry about.”

“You can ask me for help if you really need it,” I tell her, and I genuinely mean it. I'm not such a leech to just sit there. Okay, maybe a little bit. But I'll help if needed!

“There is no need to. You are doing pretty well, so just having you around deals with plenty of problems.”

Aren't I amazing?

“And, to be honest, you really suck at some stuff, so you wouldn't help much.” Tess smiles at me apologetically.

Dang it, you could've kept that to yourself.

I slowly walk toward the manor and decide to ignore Biscuit, who is climbing the outer wall right above the window. Eight purple mana arms extend from his back, and this time they are thinner than ever, more reminiscent of spider legs. The fingers on the arms are sharp and dig into the wall, and the doggo easily uses them to climb on the roof.

“Biscuit, Biscuit!” I hear from inside.

My eyes meet Biscuit's, but he doesn't send me a message, likely worried that the little girl might feel it.

I did not see anything, buddy. I continue inside the manor and enter the biggest living room, where most of the group rests or trains most of the time.

Here, I find every single piece of furniture floating in the air. Even armchairs and couches have people sitting on them. Lily, Aaron, Dennis—everyone seems to be enjoying it all as Kim practices his skill.

“Nathaniel! What do you think?” Kim throws me a smile, appearing proud and expectant.

It's too late to try to look more adult-like now, Lily. I saw you laughing and enjoying it like a little kid!

For a moment, I hesitate. Should I shout at them and tell them to take it more seriously? Or should I just let it go? After months within the tutorial, having a roof over our heads, nice beds, showers, and food feels amazing. Not even talking about this feeling of safety, however fake it is.

They all seem so happy, and relaxed, as if tension has left their bodies and they're allowed to act their age again. Act like the silly teenagers they are.

So I just hold it in and give a few pointers to Kim before leaving the room again. This time, I put more mana into my [Perception] and continue to monitor the manor more carefully while circulating mana through my body.

While doing so, I notice Sophie doing something similar in the room where she and Isabella are. Her detection, unlike mine, focuses on detecting minds. Yet, she continuously keeps watch, not even for a moment leaving her sister.

She notices my [Perception], and I send her something that feels like a nod, a short greeting.

It takes her a moment, and she replicates it and greets me back. Then, she returns to what she was doing before and both of us keep watch.