It was nighttime, and Eric calmly lay on his bed. He was extremely tired, but he still needed to do some Mana Channeling before sleeping.

  After seeing the capabilities of a Mana Wielder, Eric couldn’t wait to fly across forests while leaping from branch to branch, tree to tree. It was a forgotten and given-up dream of almost every man from Earth.

  He would fulfill everyone's childhood dream in this world!

  'Everyone, give me your power!'

  "I am on it!" Riya’s determined voice was heard. "I have already raised my arms! Take my power! Take me!"

  Eric rolled his eyes; Riya’s power was basically taken from him!

  Riya snorted. "Even if it’s yours, can you do what I can do? Didn’t you used to ask this question in your past life—if the body is really you, then why can’t you change the shape or color of your finger, and so on?"

  "Can you?" Eric asked calmly. He had already settled all these questions in his past life.

  "I can’t, but I can do things that you can’t!" Riya spoke with confidence.

  "Oh, like what?" Eric asked with a bored tone. Riya couldn’t do anything other than consuming his energy to speed up his thought process and photocopying everything. But other than that... Eric didn’t want to outright think it, but he was actually very happy for Riya’s existence, even if she couldn’t do a single thing.

  Eric did his best not to think the latter part, to not make Riya arrogant. But she still heard it!

  "Oh my, what do I do if you like me so much?" Riya spoke with embarrassment while grabbing her reddish cheek and shaking it.

  Riya’s current body followed the same principle as a human body, even though she wasn’t technically a human, as she didn’t even have a real physical body.

  'Damn it!' Eric groaned silently in his mind.

  Riya coughed. "About your previous question, I actually do have a few ideas and plans. For now, I’m not sure how it will go. I need to think and observe further before I inform you of it. Anyway, you should just focus on becoming a Mana Wielder—leave the rest to me!"

  Eric had complete faith in Riya. It wasn’t about her; he just wasn’t a paranoid person who would fear everyone or everything. He wasn’t even afraid of the hot lady—Death—much less a tumor in his soul.

  "Hey!"

  Eric ignored Riya’s protest and thought about the previous events of the day.

  Leaving aside Mana Wielder, which he still didn’t understand, what he found most interesting was his own ability. Even now, he doubted if it was an ability but rather just a strange coincidence, and all those people were just too cowardly and feared his strong biceps.

  Perhaps if Riya hadn’t been around, Eric truly would have thought so.

  "Riya, have you checked my soul? If something really had happened, why didn’t I feel anything?" Eric asked with confusion.

  Riya answered with a self-frustrated tone. "Although I am truly very good with soul business—that I would like to claim—I still don’t have that high clearance. It’s hard to explain; in short, your soul was ‘burnt out’ and perhaps also spent a little. It was like if you fire a gun, the muzzle, chamber, and so on heat up temporarily—it’s like that. I still can’t see if your ability has something to do with your soul or something else, and if my guess isn’t wrong, then it just took your soul as a catalyst or as an energy source and isn’t really directly connected to it. If your senses grow further, then perhaps you can feel this much better in the future. For the time being, we should just ignore your ability and try not to activate it if it’s possible."

  Eric agreed. He also didn’t plan to use his ability, as if by mistake he imposed it upon Hannah, Wilburn, Lyria, Livy, or anyone within the orphanage, then even he would find it hard to forgive himself, as it was very similar to mistakenly slashing someone terribly with a sharp weapon. He also didn’t know how long the effect lasted, how long it took to heal, or anything related to it.

  Eric stared at his dark room and sighed. He decided that no matter what, from now on, he wouldn’t leave the orphanage till the next half year.

  He sat up on his bed and decided to do Mana Channeling.

  Since it no longer required that much concentration, Eric decided to do it while sitting on his bed.

  ---

  KNOCK, KNOCK.

  "Eric, are you awake yet? Wake up! It's your beautiful big sister, Hannah!"

  "I am coming in."

  Hannah didn't bother waiting for a response and barged in.

  Perhaps Eric had learned this way of entering people's rooms from Hannah. After all, innocent children like Eric tend to easily get influenced by their surroundings, especially by notorious adults nearby.

  After entering, Hannah saw a tall, masculine figure sitting on the bed with a drowsy expression, his pair of bright blue eyes still shining like celestial stars.

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  But other than his eyes, which never changed in quality, the other changes were massive! Eric was no longer the "cute little Eric." Just within a few years, he had grown extremely tall and robust, surpassing almost everyone in height and reaching beyond six feet tall!

  Hannah sighed with melancholy. Time really flies. She suddenly felt old.

  Hearing Hannah’s sigh, Eric was frustrated. He had grown up! At least wait for him to answer the door before entering! What if you saw some ugly visual of a rod sticking out from the bed? Ahem, ahem—though it probably wouldn’t be so until a few more years, hopefully... Though he had long since hit puberty.

  Physically, he had grown far more than anyone in this town. Even Bella Noll, who was 6 feet tall, was surpassed by him!

  Eric wanted to celebrate, but then Riya reminded him in a bored tone, "Don’t forget my sisters, Ly and Liv. If you slack off, they might beat you in height!"

  Eric immediately trembled.

  He could not understand how little girls could grow so tall in this world! It wasn’t that there weren’t 6-foot-tall women back on Earth, but both Lyria and Livy’s growth stages still hadn’t ended. His initial goal was to reach 6 feet, like in his past life, but now he felt he must reach 7 feet to avoid being trampled by two inhuman sisters!

  Hannah laughed at Eric’s annoyed face. "Happy Birthday, Eric! On turning 11!"

  Eric had turned 11.

  Eric yawned and nodded, "Thank you, Hannah. So, where’s my gift? Don’t you dare give me another boxer like on my last birthday!"

  Hannah blushed. She had thought that was what Eric needed most, as he was growing at tremendous speed.

  She coughed and replied awkwardly, "Um... I wasn’t sure what you were missing at this moment, so I thought hard, and finally Wilburn and I decided to buy you a new pair of shoes! We’ll go after breakfast and take Lyria and Livy with us, too. They’ll also get their belated birthday gifts today." She clapped her hands, fully excited to empty her husband’s wallet.

  Hannah and Wilburn had already married and already had a son after a year.

  Eric suddenly recalled that Hannah and Wilburn's anniversary date was also coming closer.

  He sighed internally. He had nothing he could give the couple at this moment, so he kept putting everything onto the pending gifts category.

  Eric didn't want to return to Ringwood Town after he left it in the future, but now he had to make a few trips back to bring the couple proper gifts, and also if he managed to grab any cure for Bella Noll, though he doubted she would accept it. But it was still his responsibility to at least try. After that, he would leave Silvia Kingdom entirely to fulfill his honorable mission as the Ultimate Boss: to spread chaos and destruction everywhere.

  All these things needed to wait for another four to five years... Eric hoped it would be sooner, but his Mana Veins still hadn't healed.

  He left his large-size bed, which had been changed twice in the last three years.

  He stood up straight, and Hannah suddenly became minuscule, though she was only a foot shorter.

  Hannah was visibly annoyed and punched Eric's stomach. "Damn it! What are you brats made of? How can all three of you grow so tall! At this rate, by the time you all become adults, you all might not even find a place to live within this Ringwood Town!"

  Eric laughed and gently patted Hannah's head like a little girl, which further annoyed her.

  Hannah increased her punching power, and Eric, who initially hadn't been feeling anything, started to feel some pain.

  "Slow down! How can you hit a child so strongly in the stomach? Are you planning on killing me on my birthday?" Eric eventually held his stomach to guard against Hannah's assaults.

  Although Eric was very strong and tough, his abdomen still wasn't the sturdiest part. Also, Hannah was not entirely weak either—that much one should expect from a village girl who was always physically active. She also sometimes picked up and played with their heavy weapons on the training ground. Although it was just playing for a short moment, Hannah's body still registered that as training, and thus she had developed quite a good amount of strength over time.

  Hannah snorted, still annoyed with Eric's height. "With your 7-foot height, you look way taller than me! It’s too difficult to talk, and it's annoying! Return to your normal height, you demon!"

  Eric laughed. "What 7 feet? It's only 6 feet 1 inch."

  Hannah snorted. She was still in a foul mood for losing her cute little brother and instead gaining a giant brother. She had lost her pride as a big sister, how could she swallow this insult?!

  She grumbled, "You are one thing, but what’s with both Lyria and Livy?! They’re at your height now! At this rate, what height do their husbands need to be? 8 feet?!"

  Eric always broke out in sweat at the mention of Lyria and Livy's height. He was truly worried for their future husbands.

  Riya snorted. "What if they marry you? They’re my sisters, for this reason!"

  Eric rolled his eyes. 'What sisters?' It wasn’t like he was even married to Riya!

  "Also, I won’t marry!" he declared with conviction.

  He’d never married in his past life and wouldn’t do so this time either. Marriage was bullshit; it was for little children, not for an Evil Boss such as himself.

  Riya also rolled her eyes and didn’t speak further. One didn’t need to 'marry' to stay together, either.

  Eric changed the topic. "How’s Wilhan?"

  Eric honestly wanted to puke when he heard how Hannah and Wilburn had named their son.

  What the hell was this? The first few letters of both their names?

  "He’s with his father downstairs. We’ll be waiting downstairs for you three, then we can all go shopping. Right, I almost forgot: your grandma was calling for you. Livy and Lyria are also there. She’s planning to marry you three together as a gift to you all!" Hannah laughed and walked out of the room.

  Eric snorted. That joke wasn’t pleasant! He would not marry anyone. Single and childless—that was the true key to happiness!

  He also walked out of his room to take a quick shower.

  Riya was still not satisfied with Eric's attitude of staying single. She wanted at least a few sisters, at least! So she berated, "Eric! Don't you ever think of being completely alone in this life! Plus, your worries are not that valid in this world, as you have already seen how badass women are!"

  Indeed, but Eric had only seen Bella Noll. Other than her, the rest of the town’s Mana Wielders were all men, but none as amazing as Bella Noll, and when it came to Mortals, both Lyria and Livy continued to horrify him with their capabilities and strength.

  Eric waved his hand dismissively at Riya's request. "If there is a girl who can follow my steps as well as my interests, doesn’t plan to become a housewife, doesn’t aim to be a child-making machine, and most importantly, doesn’t live by accidental feelings… then maybe I’ll consider a close relationship—but still no marriage. If they wish to stay, they will. If not, they’re free to go wherever they want."

  Riya snorted and promptly corrected Eric, "More than one! I want more than one!"

  Eric nearly slipped and fell. Just what did it have to do with her? Even if Riya was a lesbian, he was still a man!

  He waved his hands in exasperation. He doubted he’d even find one, let alone two or more.

  Eric saw love relationships in a completely different way than most horny men or women would ever understand.

  Riya snorted, still pissed at Eric's attitude.

  Eric didn’t dwell on that conversation and went to clean himself up.

  He wondered what Bella Noll planned to give him. He didn’t need any physical gifts; it would be great if she started teaching him Mana-related things or intensified their current physical training.