"Tell me, Moro, do you think you could escape from a room guarded by the angered Blue Lotus, Andria Cobalt?" Asked the duke to his loyal butler.
After Moro thought for a while, "No… master, That's an impossible feat even with my special trait abilities. But, master, if I may presume according to Andria herself, she gets distracted during the test."
"Moro, did you know why I agree with Andria to do the test?" asked Jacob
"Didn't it teach young mast…" said Moro.
Before Moro could finish his sentence, "No, Moro. He is already mature enough to realize his behavior." Interrupt the duke himself.
"From the start, Angus is smarter and mature than ordinary kids of his age. A few years ago, I wanted to give him some kind of 'push' to change his lazy behavior, but the moment I pay attention to him, the more I marvel at my sons." said Jacob.
'At first glance, he is doing everything like a lazy person. But, during my observation, there is no waste movement at all in his every move.' thought Jacob
'Even for me, this kind of feat is hard to do. I even got some insight just by paying attention to his movement.' thought Jacob while remembering the scene from one year ago.
Remembering that, 'Come to think of it, he also notices me despite my attempt to hide my presence.' thought Jacob inwardly.
After being silent for a while, "I realized that my son is actually too genius to be comprehended by normal common sense."
"I know that his mind has already surpassed our imagination. All he needs is just a little bit of push for him to reach a greater height." said Jacob enthusiastically about his sons.
Looking at his master's speech passionately about his son, Moro could only change his judgment about Angus silently.
"Still from the Andria report, his capabilities are very low compared to other noble's standards." said Jacob.
"That's true. With the young master's current strength, his test result will be low. He may even get bullied inside the royal academy. Perhaps, I need to arrange some shadow guards to accompany him?" said Moro.
"No need, tomorrow I will accompany him myself. At that time, let's see who still dares to bully my son." said Jacob while smiling evilly.
'At least this way, I could repay him for helping me break through my shackles and advance my grade.' thought Jacob.
One year before Angus's test, Angus just did his routine, as usual, skipped his lesson, and lay down below his favorite tree in the garden.
After trying various positions to make him more comfortable, he finally couldn't help but look at the nearby corner where his father hid himself for a second before ignoring him.
Knowing that his cover's blown, Jacob immediately comes out while hiding with a surprised expression.
Jacob tries to calm down, but his urges to know more about Angus's fine control movement get his interest. "Angus, how did you do that kind of movement?"
But, Angus only looked at his father expressionlessly for a while before tilting his head.
'Great job, Jacob! Now, you look like some kind of weird man in front of your son by suddenly asking him a strange question.' lamenting Jacob inwardly.
"Father, What I see and what you see are different things." Said Angus in a serious tone.
At that time, like a burst from the tight dam, countless memories and scenes flashed in Jacob's head.
Jacob immediately shouted, "Shadow Guard!! Prepare the basement training room, and don't let everyone disturb me." Jacob walked away from his spot.
Before he went away, Angus said in a soft voice, "Good Luck, Dad." only Jacob could hear using his enhanced perception. On that day, Jacob managed to break his shackle and advance to a higher grade.
To battle against monster hordes, civilized races utilize mana to protect and fight for their life. Both sides become stronger by breaking past their limit from continuous fighting through life and death situations.
As many people continued to break through, they started to classify the threshold by measuring their power. Each threshold represents its mana core grade.
Each time someone passes their current limit and breakthrough, they will advance to a higher grade of mana core. All the grades are measured by a number, with one being the lowest.
With each grade they advance, their control and quality over mana will increase by leap bound. Some races even gain some unique ability each time they advance their grade.
However, the mana core grade is not the only one that decides the winner for battle. A race mainly consists of low-grade mana core may have higher combat capability than the other races, such as the beast-kin race.
Some races are born with high mana core grade people like the demon race and elf race. As for the human race, they have average power strength regarding their mana core grade. But, their combat capabilities are very versatile enough for them to survive countless battles.
Likewise, the higher the grade, the more difficult one to upgrade their mana core. Especially for Jacob that already arrived at the peak of grade five.
However, by getting some epiphany from Angus's 'tip', Jacob managed to breakthrough into grade six before the age of 50, which made him the youngest grade six of the human race.
Now, only a few people still could contend with him beside the emperor himself or other national leaders, who already reached the realm of legendary, grade seven mana core.
Suppose anyone tries to bully his sons during this time, especially Angus, who helps the duke breakthrough. Dying is the last chance for them to think. This is also the reason why Jacob thought highly about Angus despite his low combat strength.
As a seasoned fighter, Jacob knows that people like Angus are the one that could move the world around.
Despite all of this, Angus remains oblivious to his father's thoughts. More than unaware, he feels like ignoring him and doing what he wants to do even though he knows about it.
Both Angus and Jacob have a sort of tacit understanding to never bother with each other over the years. But, they are ready to help each other in a difficult situation.
This is also the reason Jacob agreed with Andria's test. He wants to help Angus stimulate his passion for maximizing his true hidden potential through Andria's test. But, his 'potential' is much deeper than he thought in the first place.
'Well, he will 'learn' more at the royal academy anyway.' thought Jacob while he was back doing his work with Moro support nearby.
The following day, inside Angus's bedroom, Angus immediately opens his eyes and catches the thrown clothes.
"I see… As sharp as ever. Now, hurry up and get ready." Said Jacob while looking at his son with a bright smile.
"F-Father.. Why are you here?" asked Angus confusedly
"Why?? Of course, to accompany you through your first day of school." Replied Jacob happily.
"EHHH!!!" said Angus