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A middle-aged man dressed in a black suit and long coat walked to his apartment complex. Once he reached his house, he placed his hand in front of the small pad of the door numbered 236.
Then, a mechanical voice said:
"Fingerprints identified…Soul Fluctuation Identified…Aura Frequency Identified…Welcome home, Mr. Chris Tiu."
Chris was used to this sound and greeting by now and it has long since lost its wonder. He walked inside his three-bedroom and one-bathroom apartment. He placed his shoes on a rack and put on slippers, and hung his work bag as well.
"Angela, open the TV."
Then, in the living room, a large screen appeared that seemed to be made of light appeared. A news channel was on.
"My name is Akana Mikasa, and today on Arcane News: Is power detrimental to a person's mind?
"Over the past 3 years, there have been a great number of Tier 5 Arcanists recently advanced in the Empire. However, the majority of them seemed to have been greatly influenced by the rapid increase in strength, thinking that they are "gods".
"Luckily, the Empire has laws that anyone who advanced to Tier 5 must spend few a weeks to months undergoing Psychological Treatment to ensure that their minds are not affected.
"However, not everyone seems to follow that rule."
Then, the channel changed to a video. It was a man dressed in a blue magical robe. He had blond hair and blue eyes that matched his robe. Holding a staff, the man screamed:
"I am a god, how dare you people try to restrain me? Even the Emperor cannot fathom my power."
Then, countless magic circles appeared around him as the man prepared to launch a large-scale spell. As a Tier 5 Arcanist, this kind of spell is capable of sinking a continent, even if it is the smallest one.
Fortunately, before the man's spell functioned, the Earth's Enchantments activated, creating an Anti-Magic Zone around the blond man. Then, Aurors who were also Tier 5 apparated and arrested the man.
They placed cuffs on his hand that essentially sealed his mana and repressed his soul. Despite being arrested, the man kept screaming that he was a god and should not have to follow mortal laws and regulations.
Chris looked at the blond man and Aurors with envy:
'Magic. One day…'
He shook his head to remove these distracting thoughts before changing the channel. He soon realized that many of them were about Singing Shows and Talents.
He noticed that recently, the Empire seemed to place some focus on training people with singing abilities. But he did not care. He turned off the television and prepared to take a shower.
"Sir, what do you want for dinner?" asked Angela.
"Sinigang and Lechon."
While Chris headed to the bathroom, a cabinet in the kitchen suddenly opened up and a robot rolled out. She was dressed in a maid outfit, however, her face was metallic and her legs had wheels.
Chris was not too fond of robots or golems that looked like humans, so he specifically design his robot caretaker to be such. After entering the shower, Chris used another holographic pad to determine the temperature of the water, the pH level, the type of soap, and so on.
In the current Interstellar Era, showering is very important as it is another form of disinfectant. The Empire is coming into contact will all kinds of foreign races and unknown places.
Although all the citizens of the Empire are genetically enhanced and free from most diseases, new ones are being discovered every day. So, showers and soaps are specially made as preventive measures for new and undetected viruses.
They are designed to create an invisible barrier on the citizen's skin. Additionally, all houses have artificial intelligence that can do blood tests to detect diseases in advance. Although healthcare was free, no one wanted to be sick as even in this era of magic, it was not guaranteed that your life could be saved on time.
While showering, Chris was thinking how great it would be if he had a house with a Cleaning Enchantment. Just by activating it, not only would he be instantly cleaned, but also be cleaned of foreign viruses and would not have to go through all that trouble.
Once he was done thoroughly cleaning his body, Chris pressed the button to dry his body and chose an outfit to wear. A drawer came out from one of the walls with the clothes he chose.
He left the bathroom with tight-fitting clothes that looked like armor, heading straight to the kitchen where a full course meal was already prepared. After thanking Angela, he began to eat.
The food was delicious. From Chris' memories, in terms of ingredients and the skill of the chef, the food on his table was once only available to the rich and powerful in the Old Era. But now, anyone could eat this level of the food as it was no longer considered fine cuisine.
He had once tasted fine cuisine at a gathering for the company he worked for. That food was not only delicious, but also have many benefits to the body including strengthening it, increasing mana, and even increasing the power of the soul.
It was unfortunate that every employee was only allocated a certain portion.
While eating his food, Chris could not help but wonder how Arcanist ate. He once read on Skynet that some powerful Arcanists can use their mana to break Gump's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and create food out of nowhere.
And recently, there was news that the Empire discovered a Food Dimension. The rich and powerful can pay to summon food from there. According to rumors, the food inside has many wonderful effects beneficial to both non-magic and magic users.
At the same time, there are rumors that some of the food is simply poisonous just because of how bad they were.
Chris wanted to try doing this. Unfortunately, with his salary, although he could barely afford the price after saving for a few months, it was not worth it. Plus, the Empire has already released news that they would try to make this new technology available to the general population as soon as possible.
He could wait.
Once the meal ended, Chris did not waste time as he headed to his gym. The room was large as he paid extra to have an Extension Curse placed inside.
Countless pieces of equipment were inside, and he did not waste time beginning his workout. When it comes to exercise, Chris liked things to be old school, otherwise, he could have bought one of those dumbbells that were enchanted to allow the user to change the weight at will.
After stacking up all the necessary weight, Chris began to lift them. He easily bench-pressed more than 1000kg. In the process, he accessed the Gate of Truth inside his soul to feel the energy inside his body.
The food he previously ate was designed to preserve both the life force and mana of the animal. Then, Chris began to use the official training method of Aura Master that was free to all the citizens of the Empire.
He mixed the mana with life force to create Aura. And with intense training, he could strengthen his body and increase the amount of Aura inside his body.
Chris knew that his talent was very poor. If it was not for the Gate of Truth, he might not even be able to sense any form of energy. So, only through hard work and effort could he barely control any of them.
Once the workout finished, he checked the increase in [Aura] inside his body before shaking his head. His talent was truly mediocre. Fortunately, he still had hope.
He took another shower in the gym before heading to the second room. This room was divided into two: one side was a large bookshelf full of books, while the other had a somewhat spacious and empty area.
Without pause, Chris took a piece of chalk before drawing something on the floor: a Transmutation Circle. Chris then placed his hand on the circle as he mobilized the tectonic energy to activate the circle.
Sweat began to fall on his forehead, then, a minute later, the ground changed shape into that of a bird.
"Angela, how long did it take this time?"
"1 minute and 15 seconds."
"An increase by 3 seconds. My talent is truly poor," muttered Chris. One of his friends also did not have magical talent. However, after acquiring his Gate of Truth, his ability to sense and control energy was activated.
Now, his friend can even control the mana in nature to cast spells, officially becoming an Arcane Sorcerer as the Empire labeled this new class.
"Master, there is no need to be discouraged," said Angela.
"You're right. As long as I can save enough to buy that Dragon Potion, then everything will be fine."
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