“Lord, all the work is finished.”
The little maids reported the day’s events to Elise with proper decorum.
After Luo Xiya left, Elise was, without a doubt, the most authoritative figure in the manor and even the entire territory.
During the day, after instructing the staff about the manor, she would go inspect every corner of the territory, and when she returned at night, she would listen to the reports from this group of little maids.
“Mm, you may go rest.”
Elise nodded calmly after listening to the maids’ reports.
It had to be said, at least within the manor, compared to the amiable Lady Catherine and the easy-going Lord Luo Xiya, this cold and unfeeling Head Maid Elise was the one they feared the most.
So when Elise confirmed they could rest, they all couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. After bowing respectfully, they left in small groups.
Before long, the once slightly noisy manor became silent.
Elise walked to the dining table, and with a wave of her hand, she extinguished all the lit oil lamps as if by magic. The entire first floor of the manor fell into peaceful darkness.
Dwelling in this shadowy environment was her favorite. Closing her eyes, she could sense every corner of the manor as if it was all laid out before her.
Except for the room on the second floor where Lady Catherine and Roman were together.
After a moment’s hesitation, Elise ultimately chose not to meddle.
She silently set up a Trap near the manor, then faded away into the shadows.
In the room on the second floor.
Lady Catherine and Roman’s fingers were interlaced, their faces so close that their cheeks almost touched.
However, they weren’t doing anything intimate. From the glowing Magic Circuits on their bodies and their closed eyes, it was clear they were focused on a serious task.
After a long time, Lady Catherine opened her eyes, gazing at Roman’s stunning profile with an expression full of admiration.
It had been less than a week since he awakened his Sacred Seal, yet the speed at which he accumulated Magic Power was astonishing.
Roman opened his eyes right after.
The feeling of ‘communicating’ with Lady Catherine while holding hands was like a newbie being carried through a high-level game by a master.
Just now, he had entrusted his entire body to her, and when Lady Catherine’s Magic Power receded like a tide, the previously sluggish circuits instantly became smooth and unimpeded.
“Your current Magic Power level is almost at the peak of the lower tier,” Lady Catherine commented.
“That fast?”
Roman found it hard to believe.
After some research, he learned that not only were there tiers for Sacred Seals, but Magic Power levels also had their own classifications.
“You have to understand, Sacred Seals and Magic Power aren’t calculated separately—they’re closely related.”
Lady Catherine explained patiently.
“Extraordinary of each tier can generally only reach the Magic Power level of their own tier. Even if an Extraordinary with a lower-tier Sacred Seal manages to reach the middle tier, they are among the weakest of that group.”
“Likewise, a middle-tier Extraordinary, even if they manage to reach the upper tier, will still be one of the weakest in that tier.”
“There has never been an Extraordinary on the Continent whose talent couldn’t be realized. As long as you awaken a High-tier Sacred Seal, you will inevitably become a high-tier Extraordinary when you reach adulthood, because Magic Power grows with age, and there’s not much that can be done to artificially interfere.”
“There was once a mage named Merlin who refined the units of Magic Power: one to ten thousand units is lower tier, ten thousand to one hundred thousand is middle tier.”
“As for the upper tier…”
Because of the angle, Roman’s profile allowed her to see the white flower in his right eye clearly, making her dazed for a moment before she collected herself and continued,
“One hundred thousand to one million units of Magic Power—that’s the range for high-tier Extraordinary.”
Roman couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
The lower tier was just ten thousand units, the middle tier’s peak was ten times that, and the upper tier’s peak was a hundred times higher still.
Although there seemed to be only three levels, in reality, the difference between them was vast as heaven and earth.
“So what’s my number now?” he asked curiously.
Lady Catherine stroked the back of Roman’s hand, and after a while, confirmed, “Close to ten thousand. Maybe after a good night’s sleep, you’ll become a middle-tier Extraordinary by tomorrow.”
“But don’t get too proud,” Lady Catherine reminded immediately.
Roman nodded obediently.
“An Extraordinary’s talent basically determines their future. This is a great help in the early stages, but once you hit a bottleneck…”
Lady Catherine revealed a bitter smile at this point.
“Then you might truly find it hard to make any further progress. This is the harshness beyond Goddess Fara’s mercy.”
“Elves, Dragons, those Extraordinary creatures—some are born with upper-tier Magic Power. Yet, even so, humans can still surpass them among the top-tier Extraordinary. No matter how strong your starting point is, your limit is still just that.”
“I’ve been stuck at ninety-nine hundred thousand Magic Power units for over a decade, while the Holy Throne, who’s even younger than me, reached the Sanctuary long ago.”
Lady Catherine seemed to have let go of certain attachments, her tone very calm.
Roman could more or less understand why there were fewer than ten Sanctuary-level Extraordinary on the entire Continent.
Heaven grants humanity the gift of the Extraordinary, but the path to Sanctuary is to break through heaven’s gifts with one’s own strength, to shatter the shackles in one’s own way, and reach the true meaning of ‘Extraordinary.’
This was nothing like going from a lower-tier Sacred Seal to middle-tier Magic Power, or from middle-tier Sacred Seal to upper-tier Magic Power.
Just the gap between the peaks of those three levels was enough to understand—the leap from upper-tier Magic Power to the Sanctuary level was at least ten times harder.
“But Roman, you are different.”
Lady Catherine’s voice suddenly grew passionate, her hands tightly clasping Roman’s.
“No, you’re not just different—you’re one in ten thousand. No, that’s not even right… you’re truly unprecedented.”
Lady Catherine’s burning gaze made Roman feel shy, but with his hands held tightly, he could only let her do as she pleased.
“To think, an undeniably male child, yet you awakened a top-tier Sacred Seal never before seen in history.”
Lady Catherine released one hand and reached up to touch Roman’s cheek.
The scholar’s curiosity in her made her especially obsessed at this moment—obsessed with someone like Roman who had broken all the rules.
His existence stirred up countless ripples in Lady Catherine’s heart, which had almost grown stagnant.
Vitality, passion—things she had long since forgotten—were rekindled in her because of Roman.
Lady Catherine’s hand unconsciously slid down Roman’s cheek, over his throat, and stopped at his chest.
Pressing her hand against Roman’s chest, she spoke earnestly and gently, “Child, are you prepared to face the future?”