The night had settled much deeper now.
The gentle breeze flowing through the ancient trees grew noticeably cooler and quieter.
Fainyx sat comfortably beneath his favorite tree, his trusty notebook resting lightly on his knee, and allowed his brilliant thoughts to move freely.
'It seems he genuinely did not notice...'
Fainyx concluded with deep satisfaction.
His crystal violet eyes drifted briefly toward Yong Hae Shi.
Before the two men had arrived tonight, Fainyx had spent the past few days constantly experimenting.
He had repeatedly walked in and out of the glowing portal, carefully monitoring the tracking spell on his back to see if it triggered any reaction from the distant caster.
The tracking spell had instantly paused the exact moment he stepped into Aetherium. Completely and flawlessly.
It was exactly as if the magic had never existed in the first place. And the second he stepped back out into his bedroom, it resumed its function without a single tremor, without leaving a suspicious gap, and without sending any signal to indicate that his location had ever changed.
Yong had not reacted to him tonight. Not even slightly.
'So he truly did not feel the interruptions,'
Fainyx filed that crucial victory away quietly.
'Good.'
His portal, the dimension of Aetherium, remained exactly what it was meant to be, an absolute sanctuary.
His greatest secret must be kept strictly hidden for now, and he had absolutely no intention of changing that plan.
"You are incredibly quiet," Yong observed from across the clearing, tilting his head with mild curiosity.
"Well... I suppose you are significantly quieter than usual. Which is truly saying something."
Fainyx looked calmly at the man.
He picked up his pen and wrote.
[ I am thinking. ]
"Thinking about what exactly?"
[ Nothing important. ]
Yong accepted the blatant dismissal easily, which Fainyx deeply appreciated. The man did not arrogantly push for answers.
A short, comfortable silence passed smoothly between them. Oddly enough, it did not feel tense until Yong's sharp gaze slowly drifted downward.
Fainyx noticed the shift immediately.
Yong was intensely looking at him. But he was not looking at his blank face. He was critically examining his tiny frame.
His impossibly thin arms. His fragile, pale hands. The overall, undeniable smallness of his entire existence.
Fainyx kept his delicate expression perfectly neutral.
'Here it comes...' Fainyx braced himself internally.
"Hey," Yong said carefully, his voice softening.
"Please do not take this the wrong way, but... you are really incredibly small."
Ruth closed his glowing eyes briefly and sighed. "You say that out loud as if it is not painfully obvious to everyone."
"I mean even for his specific age," Yong clarified, gesturing loosely toward the boy.
"The three year olds I have seen running around the city are... significantly bigger than this." He looked directly into Fainyx's eyes.
"Is there something physically wrong with your body?"
Fainyx held the man's searching gaze for a long moment.
Then, he calmly wrote his answer.
[ I was born with a severely weak constitution. Because of that, my physical body does not develop the exact same way a normal child's does. ]
Yong read the neat handwriting.
His casual expression shifted slightly. It was not exactly pity, but rather something vastly more careful and considered than that.
He leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes moving over Fainyx with quiet, intense focus.
He seemed to be actively taking in the fragile thinness of the boy's tiny wrists, the unhealthy pale cast of his skin, and the highly specific, rigid way he held himself upright and perfectly composed.
Fainyx moved like someone who was already long accustomed to carefully working around his own severe physical limits.
Ruth's deep voice came completely flatly from behind. "...It is incredibly impolite to stare at a child like that."
Yong blinked in surprise. Then, he quickly straightened his posture. "Right... You are correct. I am sorry."
He said the apology incredibly genuinely, which Fainyx carefully noted.
Ruth suddenly moved.
He did not step away into the shadows, but rather stepped significantly closer.
He slowly lowered himself onto the damp grass right beside Yong without any pomp or ceremony, settling into the dirt with the kind of unhurried, terrifying ease that came from knowing you were the heaviest, most lethal presence in any given room, completely regardless of what physical form you currently wore.
Yong immediately followed suit, shifting his stance until both ancient men sat properly on the ground. They were now completely level with Fainyx, rather than towering over him like looming threats.
The atmosphere instantly shifted.
It felt significantly less like an intense interrogation now.
It felt much more like a simple conversation between strange people sitting quietly together at night.
Fainyx said absolutely nothing about the gesture, but something tight and defensive in his small shoulders settled very slightly.
"Has your health always been exactly like that?" Yong asked softly. "Since the day of your birth?"
[ Yes. ]
"Does the condition cause you chronic pain?"
Fainyx paused, his pen hovering over the paper.
He wrote.
[ Not much I am used to it. ]
Yong stared down at that specific, heartbreaking answer for a moment significantly longer than necessary. Then, he deliberately moved on.
"Alright," Yong sighed, resting his forearms loosely over his bent knees.
"Let us move to a completely different topic. That advanced mana theory book you were just reading."
Fainyx waited patiently.
"You are actively reading high tier magical theories at three years old." Yong's tone was perfectly even, but deeply curious.
"That naturally means you have already moved far past understanding the basic fundamentals."
He looked at Fainyx very carefully. "Can you actually use what you have learned?"
A brief pause hung in the air.
Then, Fainyx wrote.
[ A little. ]
Ruth's glowing golden eyes shifted sharply toward the boy. "...How exactly did you learn?" It was absolutely not a question.
It was a firm prompt for an explanation.
Fainyx met the dragon's intense gaze without flinching.
[ Books, the private library inside the estate has many of them. I simply read them. ]
"You are entirely self taught?" Yong asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
[ Mostly. ]
"You have absolutely no formal instructor? No outside guidance whatsoever?"
[ No... My family didn't know about this yet.]
Yong hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
Ruth said absolutely nothing, but his sharp, aristocratic expression carried something remarkably close to mild disbelief.
Yong leaned forward just slightly, his dark eyes intense.
"And what about the practical side of magic? How exactly did you figure out how to actually move the mana safely through your core? Dusty books can explain the written theory perfectly, but the physical application is an entirely different beast."
Fainyx kept his face completely, flawlessly calm.
'Careful...' Fainyx warned himself.
He wrote his response very slowly and deliberately.
[ I read the detailed descriptions of exactly how the mana circulation should physically feel. Then, I simply tried to replicate that feeling until it finally worked. ]
Which was technically true.
Well, partially true.
He had certainly read the detailed descriptions and complex theories. But he had also actively followed a highly optimized training method he vividly remembered from the game, the exact same foundation the main protagonists utilized to grow rapidly.
However, he had also brilliantly refined and adapted that specific method quietly over years of solitary, agonizing practice hidden away in his bedroom and deep inside Aetherium.
But he wisely kept that massive revelation entirely to himself.
Yong studied the tiny boy intently. Fainyx held the searching gaze flawlessly, absolutely refusing to flinch or look away.
After a long moment, Yong finally leaned back on his hands.
"...Hm."
He did not look entirely convinced by the simple explanation. But he graciously did not push the issue any further.
Ruth spoke up quietly. "For someone who claims to be entirely self taught, struggling with a severely weak body, and possessing absolutely no formal guidance..."
The dragon's golden eyes were completely unreadable in the moonlight. "You successfully sense magical things that a child of your standing absolutely should not be able to sense."
Fainyx calmly wrote his defense.
[ The books I read were very detailed. ]
Ruth looked down at him. "...Hm."
It was the exact same noncommittal sound he had made earlier. Fainyx had already brilliantly learned exactly what it meant. It meant they had acknowledged his words, but they absolutely did not entirely believe them.
Fainyx was perfectly fine with that outcome.
The bizarre conversation continued flowing exactly like that. It was easy, unhurried, and surprisingly pleasant as they drifted smoothly from one probing question to another.
They asked exactly what kind of books he preferred to read, what specific subjects interested his brilliant mind, and whether he had ever actually left the stifling estate walls before the recent trip to the capital city.
Fainyx answered each and every question carefully. He answered honestly wherever he safely could, and masterfully redirected the conversation wherever he could not.
He made absolutely sure never to lie outright. He simply, deliberately chose exactly which specific truths he was willing to share.
And then...
"..."
Yong suddenly went completely quiet for a long moment.
Fainyx noticed the subtle shift in the air immediately. Something incredibly heavy and highly deliberate had just settled deeply behind the man's casual expression.
'He is about to say something he actually means,' Fainyx braced himself.
Yong looked directly into Fainyx's violet eyes. "I have a very serious question for you," Yong began, his voice completely losing its playful edge.
"And I want you to actually think about it very carefully before you give me an answer."
Fainyx waited in silence.
"Would you like me to formally teach you?"
The sprawling garden went absolutely, terrifyingly still.
Fainyx stared at the man in pure shock.
Yong continued, his tone entirely straightforward and uncompromising.
"Not formally, of course nor any publicly. But I want to actively teach you exactly what I know. There is absolutely no hidden price, and absolutely no dark conditions attached to this offer."
Ruth turned his head to look at Yong incredibly slowly. "...Are you being completely serious right now?"
"Yes."
"You are actively offering to magically train a three year old human child that you have literally met twice?"
"I am actively asking someone with immense potential who clearly has absolutely no proper guidance." Yong's voice remained calm and easy, but there was a foundation of unbreakable steel underneath the words.
He was absolutely certain of his decision. "That is an entirely different matter."
Ruth stared intensely at his companion for a very long, highly judgmental moment. Then, the ancient dragon exhaled. It was a long, incredibly slow breath of pure exasperation.
" Haa...You are completely insane."
"I probably am."
Fainyx looked quickly between the two powerful men, and then back directly at Yong. His delicate facial expression stayed perfectly still, but his brilliant thoughts were moving at lightning speed.
'A private tutor...' Fainyx analyzed rapidly. 'A tutor who is vastly stronger than an ancient dragon, offering his services completely for free, without any dangerous hidden conditions attached.'
Fainyx knew with absolute certainty that he was going to need expert guidance eventually.
That much he had already reluctantly accepted. His brilliant self teaching had managed to take him incredibly far, but since he was forced to hide his true abilities from his powerful father and his older siblings, he absolutely could not ask them for the specific guidance required for his unique abilities to truly bloom.
Furthermore, he painfully knew that he had recently hit a massive, insurmountable wall just last week.
He had made absolutely zero progress in strengthening his fragile physical body, and there were highly complex magical concepts that even the dusty library books simply could not answer.
And right here, sitting cross legged in the dirt, completely unexpectedly, was a man offering exactly what he desperately needed right now.
'It would be incredibly foolish to refuse this opportunity,' Fainyx concluded.
He remained completely quiet for a few tense minutes, carefully weighing the risks.
Yong patiently did not rush him for an answer. Ruth simply sat with his massive arms crossed tightly over his chest, his expression deeply resigned, looking exactly like a tired man who had fully accepted a disaster he simply could not stop.
Finally, Fainyx made his choice.
He nodded. Once, but it was entirely clear and decisive.
Yong's serious expression immediately shifted. A real, genuine smile broke across his face this time.
It was incredibly warm and unhurried, looking exactly like something had just gone quietly, wonderfully right in his world.
"That is a very good choice," Yong praised softly.
Ruth sighed heavily into the night air. It was the distinct, defeated sound of someone releasing all their remaining logical objections at once.
"...Do not come crying to me when this situation inevitably becomes incredibly complicated," the dragon muttered darkly.
"Noted," Yong replied pleasantly.
Fainyx looked directly at Yong and quickly wrote a practical concern.
[ You absolutely cannot teach me openly. Someone in the household will definitely notice your presence. ]
"I have already thought of that exact problem," Yong assured him, his dark eyes casually glancing around the shadowy garden.
He took in the dark, winding dirt paths, the wild, overgrown sections of thorny hedges, and the massive, thick trees that perfectly hid this particular spot entirely from the view of the main estate windows.
"Does anyone else actually come out here at night?"
Fainyx wrote swiftly.
[ Not really. The terrified servants actively avoid the deeper, darker parts of the garden. The groundskeeper only ever stops to tend the main flower beds near the house. ]
Yong nodded his head slowly in approval.
"Then this specific place works perfectly for us." He looked around the hidden sanctuary once more with something resembling quiet, deep satisfaction.
"Same time. Same exact spot." He glanced back at Fainyx with a conspiratorial smirk.
"We will meet only when the massive mansion is completely quiet and absolutely no one is watching."
Fainyx looked around at the peaceful space surrounding them. This was his deeply hidden corner of the sprawling garden. This was the specific, isolated place he had proudly claimed as his absolute own long before any of this chaotic madness had ever started.
And now, it was apparently going to be their secret meeting place.
He firmly wrote his agreement.
[ Understood. ]
Yong smiled warmly once again.
Ruth looked heavily up at the starry sky.
"...It is getting incredibly late," the dragon announced for the second time that night.
This time, absolutely nobody argued with him.
The silver moonlight continued its quiet, beautiful work high above them.
And somewhere hidden safely between the gentle rustling of the leaves and the distant, muffled sounds of a sleeping estate, something profound had just shifted.
It happened quietly. Without any grand ceremony. Without anyone making a massive, dramatic deal out of it.
Which was exactly the way the most important things in life usually happened.