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nHis Short Warp scroll allowed him to move anywhere within 25 kilometers. Darius pondered a bit and looked at his ruined attire that Portia gave him. It was dirtied and spoiled beyond measure after his scuffle.

nAs such, he unhesitatingly activated the House Portal scroll and felt a golden light envelop him. The moment it covered his form, he was whisked away from the glade and right in the room Portia had allocated him.

nTo Darius, it was as if he was in the forest one second and then in his room in the other. To onlookers, it was like a golden flash of light had disappeared from the clearing and appeared in one of the farmhouse's rooms.

nDarius sighed and scratched his head. 'I should probably clean myself up again.'

nAs such, he called for Portia, who rushed to his room with a look of shock on her face.

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"Master Darius, you're… you're back again? B-But I just saw you leave the homestead a few hours ago…

"

nDarius smiled gently.

"I have a way to teleport between two locations. I was interrupted during my experiment by a Blue Troll, but I was able to fell it expeditiously. Tell your brother that I apologize for ruining his clothes. I'll naturally compensate for the damages, but for now, I'd like to get a change of clothes and freshen up before heading out again.

"

nPortia was astounded and secretly moved when she heard Darius could teleport. According to her book, only an Adept Mage could even perform a Short Blink, much less a long distance teleport.

nDarius was so young but so powerful… and he had even killed a Blue Troll! That was a monster even her papa did not engage without assistance from some of the other combat capable men of the homestead.

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"I'll have a bath and a new set of clothes prepared right away!

" Portia promised excitedly, for reasons she herself did not understand.

nDarius watched the young lady practically skip away with a benevolent smile on his face… which he quickly wiped off with a smack. He smiled bitterly when he realized that around this young lass, his elderly characteristic tended to show easily.

nDarius truthfully saw her more as a cute niece or a sweet granddaughter, rather than what she hoped he would see which was quite sad actually.

nHowever, he didn't want to create unnecessary resentment between any parties in the homestead, so he'd have to remain silent about his disinterest, lest it brew such feelings.

nAs of now, he had only 0.1 Conversion Points remaining for the day. He had spent 4 of them on his Spearmanship skillbook and 5.9 on another empty spell manual. He was pondering whether to turn the empty manual into a blink spell or a healing spell the next day.

nBoth of them had their uses. Blink would make him harder to hit in combat. For example in the previous battle, he could have easily dealt with the Troll's skills by blinking away and lancing it with Sparks.

nA healing spell would be great if he took on a tank-like person under his System Brand. While they took the damage and Darius cast his Sparks from the backline, he could also heal them whenever their HP went low.

nSo basically, it came down to what his choice was for phase 2.5 which was the interlude before the truly difficult task. Should he go ahead and find a member of this community that fit his requirements and brand them?

nThe problem with this was that whoever he chose would have to drop everything and follow him out of here for the rest of their lives. This posed many problems for Darius specifically.

nThe first was attachments. If he took someone from here, they would have other attachments and loyalties except himself, since they had family, friends, and an origin here. While on their journey, they would eventually reach the point when they would like to come back and visit, or might be hindered by their feelings for their family if they were threatened.

nThe second was morality. These people had grown up in a nice area full of love, warmth, and honesty. To ask any of them to kill their fellow man, even with a justifiable reason, would waste Darius' precious time and energy. What he needed were servants who obeyed his will, not children who whined about good and bad.

nThe third was wisdom. While these people might be natives of this world, they were farmers and villagers. They were not exactly adept at assassination, subterfuge, deception, or reading deeper social cues.

nDarius could list many more reasons against this choice. That was why despite Derek and Portia appearing like viable candidates for his System Brand, he had hesitated so far and continued to do so.

nRight now, Darius was more inclined to head to the nearest town, purchase a slave or two, and brand them. That would be the easiest method to achieve his goals while avoiding many of the problems he had mentally listed and find out if there were any limitations he was unaware of.

nHowever, he certainly couldn't head to the town before phase 3 as his lack of an identity would bite him in the ass.

nDarius' thoughts were interrupted by Portia informing him that his bath was ready. He then spent an hour or two cleaning himself and his weapons up, before he donned a newer and fresher attire that was more comfortable for battle and trekking.

nIt was less noble and more countryside. It was very practical and Darius liked it more for the purposes he had in mind.

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"Portia, I recall you mentioned that you were a Scholar? I should have guessed as much earlier, since I can see the intelligence and astuteness in your eyes and your actions.

" Darius suddenly mentioned, making the young maiden blush about such a compliment.

nDespite her reddened cheeks, she did not break eye contact as she smiled and nodded.

"I am. Papa has quite a huge library filled with books from all over the Kingdom. As his only daughter, I am to be the manager of this estate, so it's imperative that I am educated and good with numbers.

"

nDarius' eyes brightened.

"Can you take me there? I would love to browse through the wealth of knowledge your esteemed father has compiled.

"

nPortia nodded rapidly and pulled Darius by the hand, chattering on about the library and her favorite books while Darius followed along with a benevolent smile.

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