After making sure everything was settled and everyone was taken care of, Ethan quietly stepped away.

The atmosphere in the chamber was still warm and filled with soft voices and the presence of his family, but he knew he could not stay there for long. There were things he needed to check and they could not wait.

Without disturbing anyone he left and walked toward a secluded area deep within the estate. The noise behind him faded slowly and was replaced by silence with each step he took further in.

Soon he reached a private cultivation chamber. The doors closed behind him.

The room was calm and dimly lit and completely isolated from the outside world. Ethan walked to the center and slowly sat down, crossing his legs. He exhaled deeply.

"Let’s see."

The moment his mind focused, the system interface appeared.

[You have gained the following rewards SSS Level Technique – Solar Tyrant War Art]

[You have X Level Technique – Void Abyss Prison]

[You have SS Level Technique – Phantom Mirage Step]

[You have gained SSS Warrior Aptitude Potion x1]

[You have gained 2000 Years of Martial Insight]

[You have gained 1000 Years of Magic Insight]

For a moment Ethan did not move. His eyes slowly scanned each line from top to bottom and then went back up again.

"SSS level and X level," he said quietly, his voice low and carrying a disbelief he was not fully trying to hide.

The first one. Solar Tyrant War Art. Just the name alone carried weight and the moment he focused on it, fragments of information began to surface in his mind in steady waves.

It was a pure combat technique built entirely around overwhelming force, precision, and dominance in battle. Every movement and every strike within it was designed with a single purpose, to suppress the opponent completely and crush them without leaving room for recovery. It was a great fighting technique and while it would not be as directly effective for someone like him, for others it would be nothing short of a world-changing gift.

"This is insane," Ethan muttered and let out a slow breath.

Then his gaze shifted to the second one.

Void Abyss Prison.

The moment he focused on it his expression changed slightly. This was not a direct attack technique at all. It was a sealing and suppression technique capable of isolating space itself and forming a prison around a target, cutting them off completely from external energy and any possible escape route. A domain built within a domain, collapsing inward rather than expanding outward.

"A prison made of void," Ethan muttered quietly to himself and then after a moment added, "This is dangerous."

His eyes moved to the next one.

Phantom Mirage Step.

Compared to the others this one felt lighter in nature but it was still powerful in its own way. It enhanced movement speed while generating afterimages and layered illusions as the user moved, making it genuinely difficult for any opponent to track where the real body actually was during a fight.

"Useful," he said simply.

Then came the potion. SSS rank aptitude. Ethan looked at it for a moment and could already tell from the weight of the description alone that it was high grade in a way that most people never got close to in a lifetime.

"Good for emergencies," he said.

Finally the last two. 2000 years of Martial Insight and 1000 years of Magic Insight. Ethan’s expression shifted and genuine happiness broke through the controlled calm he usually kept on his face.

"This is awesome," he said.

After going through everything he made his way toward Mareti’s lab without wasting time.

He stepped inside and Mareti, who had been bent over one of his workbenches with full concentration, startled visibly and spun around with a hand pressed to his chest.

"My Lord, can you appear normally? You are giving me deja vu," he said, his voice carrying the strained patience of someone who had been surprised one too many times.

Ethan paused and took a proper look around the room. It was filled with corpses in various states of being experimented on, laid out across tables and suspended in containers along the walls. He turned a slow look toward Mareti.

"It’s giving me deja vu," he said flatly, the words carrying everything he had decided not to say out loud.

Before Mareti could respond Ethan reached into his coat and pulled out a vial. The moment it came into view Mareti’s eyes locked onto it and widened considerably.

"This? What high level potion is this?" he asked, stepping closer instinctively.

"SSS rank aptitude," Ethan said.

Mareti’s eyes dilated and the color shifted in his expression as shock and something close to horror settled in. "From where did you find it?"

The reason for that reaction was straightforward enough.

The higher the level of a potion the more difficult it was to produce because the required materials became increasingly scarce and combining the effectiveness of high level ingredients without losing potency was a problem that defeated most alchemists entirely.

It was not that Mareti had never seen something of this grade before but he had not thought Ethan was operating at a level where this kind of thing simply appeared in his hands.

"This might have cost a few billion gold coins," Mareti said quietly, more to himself than to Ethan.

Ethan just smiled and said nothing.

"Can you replicate it?" he asked.

"I can but the ingredients," Mareti began, his voice carrying a clear hesitation as he turned the question over carefully.

"Just make up the list," Ethan said.

Mareti looked at him for a moment and then added, "Also it might be wasted."

That made Ethan pause. He looked at the vial in his hand and then at Mareti and held the thought there for a moment, feeling the weight of potentially wasting something of that grade. Then he shook his head.

"Just do it," he said.

.....

After handing over the tasks Ethan went into seclusion. He settled into position, closed his eyes and did not hesitate.

"Integrate."

The moment he accepted it everything exploded inward.

A massive flood of information rushed into his mind all at once and his body tensed against it with his breathing turning heavy and labored almost immediately.

"Ugh!" Countless battle scenes tore through his consciousness in rapid succession, different fighting styles and techniques and counters and movements and raw battle instincts accumulated across what felt like thousands of separate fights compressed into a single continuous moment.

At the same time layers of magical knowledge unfolded through him one after another, spell structures and energy flow and casting patterns and a deep and comprehensive understanding of elemental forces all merging into his consciousness whether he was ready for them or not.

Time lost all meaning and seconds felt like years.