"By the way, Orpheus, can I take you in as my contracted spirit?"

She glanced at him with a chuckle and pinched his nose playfully "You awakened just a few days ago, and you are already greedy for me?"

"Well, I am also a spirit. So you can definitely have a contract with me if I agree."

She released his nose and leaned back slightly "But for that, you will have to pass my trial."

Klein already knows how powerful spirits work.

They place trials for the contractor to overcome so they can prove themselves worthy of being their master.

The stronger the spirit, the more difficult and personal the trial becomes.

To have a contract with a powerful entity such as the Mother of Spirits herself...

It would be no small feat.

"What is the trial?"

"I don’t know."

Eh? He stared at her in confusion.

She rested her head on his shoulder "I have never thought anyone would dare to ask me as their contracted spirit, so I never thought about a trial."

She glanced out of the window with a distant look in her eyes "Even if you made a contract with me... I won’t be of much use in battles or fighting. My abilities are more focused on healing and guiding the flow of life energy."

"I can heal wounds, restore mana, and strengthen the vitality of plants and living beings. But direct combat... that is not my domain."

She lifted her head slightly to look at him "With your current mana reserves, you wouldn’t even be able to manifest me in the physical world for more than a few seconds."

"I am one of the oldest and most powerful spirits. My existence requires an enormous amount of energy to sustain outside the Spirit Realm."

"You would need to reach a much higher level, perhaps S-rank or beyond, before you could call upon me properly in battle."

Klein listened quietly and nodded his head "I see."

Orpheus smiled softly "But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. Even without a full contract, I can guide you and support you from within the Spirit Realm. And when you are ready... I will gladly become your contracted spirit."

She leaned in closer, brushing her lips against his ear as she whispered,

"Until then... you can come visit me whenever you want. We can talk, cultivate, or... simply spend time together."

Klein felt a strange warmth in his chest and turned his head slightly to look at her.

"I’ll remember that, Orpheus."

---

Next day-

The morning sun cast a golden hue over the private training ground reserved for Elite Class Spirit Division students.

Klein stood in the center of the spacious field, holding the spear that Erica had gifted him.

He spun the spear once, feeling its weight and flow, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

’This is much better than the training spears.’

He began his practice slowly at first, running through basic forms to get used to the weapon’s balance.

Each thrust, sweep, and spin felt natural as he channeled mana through it.

As he increased his speed, his movements became more fluid and aggressive.

He executed a series of rapid thrusts, then transitioned into wide, sweeping strikes that cut through the air with a low whistle.

He pushed himself harder, incorporating the Calamity Serpent Style he had developed in his past life.

The spear became a blur of coiling strikes, feints that turned into real attacks, low sweeps that rose into piercing thrusts, and sudden explosive lunges that mimicked a striking viper.

Swoosh-! Swoosh-!

The training ground echoed with the sound of his spear cutting through the air.

Sweat began to form on his brow, but he didn’t stop.

This was the kind of training he needed, pushing his current F-rank body to its limits while familiarizing himself with his new weapon.

After nearly an hour of continuous training, he finally stopped, breathing steadily as he rested the spear on his shoulder.

At that moment, Julia walked in and was surprised to see Klein there.

"Klein."

He turned and saw Julia standing there. Her expression was composed, but there was a subtle tension in her posture.

Klein gave her a small nod "Julia. Good morning."

She walked closer, "I heard you became Master Erica’s personal disciple."

The news that Erica chose Klein over her had clearly affected her, but she was trying to maintain her composure.

"...Congratulations."

Klein nodded, sensing the undercurrent in her words "Thank you."

She unsheathed her sword and pointed at him, her eyes narrowing slightly "Shall we have a duel?"

"You have credits?"

"Like 1000. If you want more, I can get it from my sister."

Spinning his spear, he replied "Your sister already owes me credits. Just bet what you have."

"Alright then."

*swoosh* 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Julia dashed forward without warning, using mana to enhance her speed.

Her sword flashed like silver lightning as she executed a sharp, precise thrust aimed at his shoulder, testing his reaction.

Klein’s eyes sharpened and he stepped sideways, deflecting the thrust with the shaft of his spear.

The clash produced a sharp *clack* that echoed through the training ground.

’Hmm, she is not bad.’ he thought, parrying her follow-up slash with a smooth twist of his spear.

Julia’s eyes flashed with irritation, and she increased her speed, using mana to enhance her strikes.

’Langford Sword Second Step: Flowing Scales!’

Her blade moved in a smooth, wave-like pattern and the strikes came from multiple angles at once, creating a beautiful yet deadly illusion of overlapping slashes.

’I already saw this...’ Klein smiled slightly and stepped forward to meet her and his spear flowed like a snake, striking and redirecting her attacks effortlessly.

Clack-! Clack-! Clack-!

The sounds of their weapons clashing filled the training ground.

Julia fought with everything she had, but Klein’s technique was on another level.

He deflected, redirected, and countered with pinpoint accuracy, slowly pushing her back.

*sleesh*

Gathering her mana in her sword, Julia slashed at him with a powerful overhead strike.

A blue arc of condensed mana energy hurled toward him like a crescent wave, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle.

Seeing this, Klein was amazed ’She awakened mana just a week ago, and she is already this proficient?’

He blocked the arc with his spear, and it absorbed the impact as the blue energy dissipated into harmless sparks.

’Seems like she really is a genius.’

Julia pressed the attack, using the momentum of her mana slash to close the distance and slash at him.

A blue glint passed through Klein’s eyes ’Dark Moon: Crescent Slash’

His spear spun in an elegant crescent wave, meeting her blade with perfect timing.

*clang*

The force behind Klein’s parry was overwhelming. Julia’s sword was torn from her grip, spinning through the air before clattering loudly onto the ground several meters away.

She staggered back a step as she stared at her empty hand, and a thin layer of sweat glistened on her forehead.

’Klein, from today onwards, I consider you my rival.’

’I’ve trained for years to earn Master’s recognition. If you can do it in a single day... then I have no excuse to slack off.’

She glanced at him ’I will surely surpass you one day.’

Klein took his ID card and extended it to her without a word.

Julia took a deep breath, pulled out her mobile, scanned his ID, and transferred all her credits to him.

Klein smiled faintly "Pleasure doing business with you."

Julia glanced at him for a moment and turned to leave the training hall.

"I will see you later."

She left the place with a determined look on her face.

After a while, when she turned back to look at the training ground one last time, she saw Evelyne entering the area.

’Huh? Big Sis? What is she doing here?’

Klein, who was looking at his spear, was surprised to see Evelyne walking in.

"Senior Evelyne."

She walked straight to him, took his hand without hesitation, and kissed the back of his palm with a soft press of her lips.

"Good morning, my dear fiancé."

Klein: -_-’

"Ehh..."

’It feels strange when you say it with that stoic expression.’

Meanwhile, Julia, who was standing a short distance away, looked inside the training ground in terror.

Her whole body stiffened in shock as she saw her older sister, Evelyne, take Klein’s hand and kiss the back of his palm with such calm intimacy.

’E-Even Big Sis...?’

She bit her lip in frustration, hard enough to draw a small bead of blood.

’Why him? Why does everyone choose him?’

The thoughts swirled chaotically in her mind.

She trained for years, pushing herself to the limit to earn Master Erica’s recognition.

She awakened a Legendary-class, mastered both spirit arts and swordsmanship, and tried to live up to the expectations of the von Langford name.

And yet, in just one day, Klein took everything she had worked so hard for.

Master Erica chose him as her personal disciple.

And now... even her own sister was proposing to him.

A bitter taste filled her mouth as jealousy and a burning sense of inadequacy surged through her.

Her eyes trembled, but she refused to let the tears fall.

’I will definitely surpass you, Klein Faress.’

---

Klein stared at Evelyne for a moment, then let out a soft sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You really don’t waste time, do you?"

Evelyne’s lips curved into a small, elegant smile "I see no reason to. I have already made my position clear. The proposal stands. Think about it at your own pace."

She released his hand and stepped back gracefully, "But for now... I came here to ask if you want to go on a date with me this weekend."

’Date?’

With a shake of his head, he replied "Sorry, but I am returning home this weekend."

Upon hearing this, she squinted slightly "I see, then maybe we can go next week."

"...Sure."