Victor slowly nodded his head while observing the updated system information before him. The changes were immediately obvious to him. From this moment onward, all of his fire elemental spells would carry a combat prowess equivalent to seven hundred and fifty stars. Even his physique had increased by fifty points during the breakthrough process, which was considered a normal enhancement for mages advancing into the Novice Rank.

A faint smile appeared across his face afterward.

"Good," Victor muttered quietly. "I only need one hour to comprehend a spell. That is not bad at all."

Although the process sounded simple, Victor clearly understood how terrifying his comprehension speed truly was. Ordinary awakeners often spent months, even yers mastering a single intermediate spell. Yet for him, the process barely required an hour.

After calming himself, Victor took out his phone and called Arthur directly. The call connected almost immediately.

"President," Victor said calmly, "I am willing to become a commander under the Federation Army, but I have conditions."

Arthur sounded unsurprised by that statement.

"Go ahead," Arthur replied.

"I want complete freedom regarding dungeon hunting," Victor continued. "I will hunt dungeons alone whenever I wish. I will only participate in army operations when my team can no longer handle the situation themselves."

Arthur remained silent briefly before answering.

"Alright," Arthur replied calmly. "I will personally come with the papers in three days. Until then, focus on recovering properly. We can discuss the details later. Also, you can expect an enormous amount of money from the beasts you killed recently."

Victor nodded slightly after hearing that.

"Thank you," he replied before ending the call.

Without wasting any more time, Victor returned his focus toward the grimoire floating beside him. Since his body had already adapted to the first intermediate fire spell, he immediately started comprehending another one.

The entire night passed quietly.

The next day, the familiar mechanical voice echoed inside his mind once more.

[Ding! You have comprehended Intermediate Fire Manipulation.]

He had comprehended all the 10 spells. Then tired to do the same with water element as well.

[Ding! The your physical body cannot currently handle a second intermediate element.]

Victor sighed helplessly after hearing the notification. The situation was exactly the same as before during his Apprentice Rank. His comprehension speed vastly exceeded his body’s ability to adapt.

Without complaining further, Victor closed his eyes and activated the Eight Elemental Body Strengthening Spell. He had already prepared himself mentally for the intense pain that usually accompanied the process.

However, the result completely surprised him.

The elemental mana flowed through his body with astonishing smoothness. Instead of the agonizing pain he expected, he only felt a mild warming sensation throughout his muscles and bones.

Victor immediately became serious.

"So the mana circuit is on the workd" he thought inwardly.

Without hesitation, he quickly completed one full circulation cycle of the strengthening spell.

Soon afterward, the system displayed the updated results.

[Physique: 170.4]

Victor stared at the number silently before sighing again.

"Damn," he muttered. "The effect became half."

Still, he was not overly frustrated by the result. The strengthening spell relied on the basic elemental mana after all.

Fortunately, Victor still possessed another resource.

He immediately took out the Physique Core he had obtained previously. Without hesitation, he absorbed it directly into his body.

Instantly, a warm current spread throughout his physique. Unlike the strengthening spell, there was no pain or exhaustion involved at all. The enhancement happened naturally and smoothly.

A few moments later, the system updated again.

[Physique: 180.4]

Victor clenched his fists lightly and could immediately feel the difference. His muscles had become denser and stronger than before. Even the mana circulation inside his body became noticeably smoother.

"These cores are really convenient," Victor thought inwardly. "Unfortunately, only five can be used effectively. For me, that is basically equivalent to one elemental breakthrough."

Since he no longer possessed additional physique resources, Victor could only continue practicing the Eight Elemental Body Strengthening Spell repeatedly.

Time passed quickly.

Two days disappeared almost entirely within nonstop training.

Victor had practiced for nearly forty hours in total while only sleeping around eight hours during the entire period. His body continuously absorbed elemental mana while slowly adapting to the pressure created by the intermediate spells.

Eventually, he checked his status again.

[Physique: 196]

Victor frowned slightly after seeing the result.

"Only 16 points after forty hours," he muttered.

The progress was painfully slow compared to before.

He needed to reach at least two hundred physique points before his body could safely handle another intermediate elemental spell.

Just as Victor was preparing to continue training again, loud knocking suddenly echoed from outside his room.

"Victor, we have visitors," Rudi’s trembling voice sounded from the other side of the door.

Victor immediately opened his eyes before standing up calmly. Since Rudi rarely sounded nervous, the visitors were clearly not ordinary people.

Victor walked toward the door and opened it.

At the moment, he was only wearing black trousers. His upper body remained uncovered after training for hours continuously.

The instant the door opened, Victor saw Elyndros, Arthur, and Diana standing outside.

Diana’s heartbeat unconsciously skipped for a moment after seeing him in that state. Victor’s physique had become far more refined after reaching the Novice Rank. His muscles were not excessively bulky, yet every line across his body appeared perfectly balanced and powerful.

A faint crimson color immediately spread across Diana’s cheeks.

She quickly turned her face away almost instinctively.

Victor himself became slightly awkward as well. He had not expected Diana to appear alongside the others.

Without wasting time, he hurriedly grabbed a black shirt nearby and wore it properly.

"Please come inside," Victor said calmly.

Then he glanced toward Rudi.

"Send some snacks and drinks," Victor instructed.

"Sure," Rudi replied immediately before leaving as quickly as possible.

Soon afterward, the four of them sat down within the living room. Arthur did not waste time with unnecessary conversation.

"Victor, here are the official papers," Arthur said while taking out several documents. "If you are ready, sign them."

Victor nodded calmly before reading through the contents carefully. After confirming the terms, he signed the documents without hesitation.

The moment he finished, Elyndros suddenly looked at him carefully.

"Did you already break through to the Novice Rank?" the old sage asked.

Victor scratched his head lightly before nodding.

"Yeah," he replied casually. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

For several seconds, silence filled the room.

Then both Arthur and Elyndros spoke almost simultaneously.

"Damn monster," they muttered.

Only Diana smiled brightly after hearing the confirmation. Her eyes carried obvious happiness while staring at Victor. In her mind, a single thought unconsciously surfaced.

At this rate, Victor might truly become a Sage within five years.

And after reaching that level, he would finally come to the Morningstar Clan openly. He would stand beside her proudly without caring about anyone else’s opinion.

Diana’s face suddenly became red again after imagining those thoughts.

She immediately shook her head internally while trying to suppress the embarrassing ideas forming inside her mind. Fortunately, the three men completely failed to notice her strange reaction.

Arthur’s expression soon became serious again.

"Now that you have signed the agreement," Arthur said slowly, "let us discuss the important matter."

He immediately took out a large world map and placed it on the table before everyone.

"This is the world map of Ethereum," Arthur began calmly. "Approximately forty percent of this world consists of land. The remaining sixty percent is covered entirely by ocean."

Victor listened quietly while observing the massive map carefully.

Arthur then pointed toward the enormous oceans surrounding the continents.

"And there exists one empire that rules nearly all of these oceans."

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"An empire controls sixty percent of Ethereum?" he asked with visible confusion. "Which empire is that? I studied all ten empires carefully before, but I never heard about this."

Arthur’s expression became solemn.

"The Atlantian Empire," he answered quietly. "They are not ordinary humans. More accurately, they are descendants of ancient humans. They rarely associate with modern civilization and generally remain within the oceans. However, their power greatly surpasses ours."

Victor remained surprisingly calm after hearing that revelation.

Ethereum was unimaginably vast after all. The existence of ancient races or hidden civilizations did not sound impossible to him.

"More powerful in what way?" Victor asked calmly. "And what does this have to do with my mother and sister?"

Arthur slowly exhaled before finally answering.

"Your mother is an Atlantian," Arthur revealed. "Your sister inherited both human and Atlantian bloodlines. However, you inherited purely human blood."

Victor silently listened without interrupting.

"That is why they took your mother and sister away that day," Arthur continued. "We only learned the truth after thoroughly investigating the Walker family history."

Victor slowly took a deep breath afterward.

"So that is the situation," he muttered quietly.

After several seconds of silence, he looked directly toward Arthur again.

"I assume they dislike modern humans?" Victor asked.

Arthur nodded slowly.

"Yes," he replied grimly. "Very much."

Victor leaned back against the sofa while quietly processing everything. Although the revelation sounded shocking, his expression gradually became colder instead of emotional.

Finally, he spoke again.

"Fine," Victor said calmly. "If I ever get the opportunity, I will ask my mother and sister personally whether they wish to return."

A terrifying pressure suddenly leaked faintly from his body afterward.

"And if they do," Victor continued coldly, "then even if gods themselves try to stop me, they will tremble."