Albedo was the only summon that replied back via the same channel of communication.

[I was just about to sleep! You have the worst timing, summoner!]

Ethan paid her no mind, knowing she would grumble and still do it anyway.

She and Arael were assigned the mundane task of taking a walk outside the manor grounds. Rue already had books stacked beside her to read, and Nina...

Well, Ishtar seemed so eager and full of energy to keep getting better at using her abilities, so Ethan had left his half-dragon summon as her training companion.

On that front, she already had something going.

Every summon of his had something to do at this time. Most of which were simple or silly, like the fact that the entire Stark manor was filled with summons who were either cleaning the halls, mowing the grass outside, or watching the gates.

Simple and mundane, but active tasks nonetheless.

Ethan himself returned his focus to the diagram, inserting the last few symbols into the sketch to complete it.

As soon as he was done...

[You have completed the self-imposed objective: Recreate Ishtar’s Carrion Seal markings from memory]

[Reward: 3,000 XP]

[10x Multiplier Applied]

[Adjusted Reward: 30,000 XP]

[XP Balance: 247,500]

There was a smile on Ethan’s face as he saw that. The diagram was something he could have completed a while back, but he had waited on purpose.

He didn’t want too much time to pass between completing the diagram and meeting Kieran, which he was certain the system would count as another self-imposed task.

He only had six hours, and he intended to squeeze every drop of experience out of that time frame. Every objective he could line up back to back, every task he could fit into those three hundred and sixty minutes, he would do it.

Despite the high cost of leveling up different aspects of his system, gaining experience points was still easy. So long as Ethan set his mind to doing something and put genuine effort into it, the system would count it as an objective.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

-

About five minutes later...

There was a knock on the door.

"I think your friend’s here!" The excited voice of Mr. Kieran called out from inside.

The door swung open, starting with a teasing, grinning voice. "Well, hellooo..."

But Kieran’s voice was cut short in that exact moment.

His eyes widened to the greatest shock of his life when he saw Ethan and Eduardo standing right in front of his door.

Ethan stared right back with equally widening eyes at his teacher, who was currently shirtless. Whip marks crisscrossed his chest and back in angry red lines, and lip gloss kisses were stamped on different parts of his skin in shades of dark purple and crimson.

Eduardo had no visible reaction at first, but even his eyes couldn’t help but widen when they caught sight of the goblin woman who came walking down the stairs behind Kieran, yelling in an excited tone, "You guys come up already! Don’t leave a girl waiting!"

This goblin woman had her hips sway with each movement. She wore the most vile corset with a bra attachment so revealing, while doing almost nothing to contain her plump chest.

Her full outfit was most befitting for a dominatrix, her panties were on full reveal and In her right hand, she held a long leather whip.

"What the fuck..." Ethan whispered under his breath.

Kieran quickly snapped out of his shocked stare and turned toward the woman approaching. "Wait, wait, don’t come! Go back up!"

Pixie stopped mid-way, as her seductive expression shifted from playful to confused. "What? What’s going on?" She looked past Kieran toward the two men at the door. "Who are they?"

"It’s nothing, Pixie, just go back upstairs!" Kieran said, his voice taking on a frantic edge as he physically turned her around and started guiding her back up the steps with his hands on her shoulders.

"But we were just getting to the good part!" Pixie protested, glancing back over her shoulder.

"Just go, please!" Kieran practically pushed her up the stairs, his face red with a mixture of embarrassment and panic.

-

In the two minutes where Kieran had gone upstairs to hide his shame, or contain it, or whatever the hell he was doing, Ethan had shared several shocked glances with Eduardo.

What he had just seen made every piece of knowledge he had about his teacher null and void.

"The man who never smiles" was the nickname the entire class had given Kieran. Not once had he ever smiled during lessons.

Not once.

He was always too stuck up and serious. And his face was a permanent mask of coldness.

But now? Not only had Ethan just seen him grinning like an idiot, he was engaged in the most extreme form of sexual activities imaginable.

Eduardo finally broke the silence, his voice calm but carrying the some hint of disbelief. "Master Ethan... that was your teacher?"

Ethan nodded slowly, still staring at the stairs. "Yeah. That was him."

"I see," Eduardo said, and then said nothing else.

-

About ten minutes later...

Outside Kieran’s door right now stood just him and Pixie, who was now more clothed. She wore a long coat over her earlier outfit, though the boots and stockings were still visible.

In her hands, she counted a stack of silver coins with a frustrated look on her face. When she was done, she lifted her gaze to Kieran’s apologetic one and said flatly, "This does not include Brianna’s share."

Kieran had a puzzled look. "But you called to tell her not to come anymore..."

Brianna was Pixie’s friend, and she was supposed to be part of the night’s activities at Kieran’s place.

"She was already on her way," Pixie said in a sharp tone. "That means she spent transport fare. Now, are you going to give me Brianna’s share, or do you want this to get more embarrassing for you?"

She gestured her head toward the house, where Ethan and Eduardo were now waiting inside.

Kieran sighed, cursing in his thoughts. ’Whores!’