Joel had begun to settle back into his quiet life, immersed in the routine of his sword practice, sculptures, classes with the children, and the occasional walk through the woods. Alicia hadn't returned or sent a single message, and although a part of him felt disappointed, he had also accepted that perhaps this was just a strange episode in a life marked by the unusual.

  But the tranquility wasn't to last. Almost a month after that visit, on a sunny autumn morning, an elegant carriage managed to arrive just feet from the front door of the house, apparently after creating a path with earth magic. Accompanied by two magical guardians—recognizable by their dark attire and ornate canes—a young man with light brown hair, well dressed, and with the haughty expression of someone who had never heard a "no" in his life, descended.

  "Is the sculptor Alexander home?" the young man asked Liam, who had poked his head out the window.

  Joel, who was carving a wooden figure in the back shed, was urgently alerted by Ariel. He immediately hid the children in the cellar and put on his long coat, quickly reprising the role of Alexander, the eccentric artist.

  He greeted the visitors at the entrance with an impassive look and a deep voice. "I'm Alexander. Welcome to my workshop."

  The young nobleman introduced himself as Carter Veilmont, the eldest son of a noble merchant family. He enthusiastically explained that he had attended a party hosted by Alicia, Baron Celdrik's daughter, who had presented some wonderful statues as centerpieces and raved about the man who had made them.

  "I've never seen anything like this," Carter commented with a confident smile, observing the exquisite details of the house's entrance. "So I had to come and witness for myself the mysterious house she described so often and request a statue of me from the artist. Something majestic, of course."

  Joel, without emotion, nodded and invited them in, precisely repeating the theatrics he had used with Alicia: a quiet house, a room set with samples of ancient sculptures, a table laid with tea and dried fruit, and an almost uncomfortable air of mysticism.

  The magical guardians—one with a restrained aura, possibly level two, and another with a sharp gaze and denser energy, who seemed to be the leader of the two and who had to be stronger—discreetly scanned the place with their gazes. But, as promised, Nana did nothing to arouse suspicion. The house remained quiet... although Joel knew that, in its silence, his creation was already absorbing what it needed.

  Hours later, as he took notes and sketched Carter in different poses, Joel felt that slight tingle in the air that indicated Nana had succeeded. Just as agreed, the statue had received its nourishment. Two magicians, unwittingly, had just boosted the house's growth.

  Joel inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, as everything had worked out as planned, except perhaps for the surprise of arriving directly at the house's doorstep in a carriage. But beyond the relief, another emotion was beginning to build, one he found increasingly difficult to ignore: anticipation.

  What followed Carter's visit was a veritable avalanche of nobles, wealthy burghers, curious clergy, and influential merchants. They first came from neighboring counties, intrigued by rumors of an eccentric sculptor living in a magical house, capable of creating figures so vivid they seemed likely to breathe at any moment. Then, like an inevitable chain, figures from important cities began to arrive: second-rank barons, viscounts, heirs of magical families... and even a count, a mature man with a martial bearing, accompanied by a level five magician whose mere walk commanded respect.

  Joel, still pretending to be Alexander, skillfully adapted to this unexpected fame. He perfected his role as a noble recluse and taciturn artist, a man who spoke little and observed a lot. At first, he felt anxious, but soon began to enjoy the routine: the recognition, the generous payments, the admiring faces regarding his art... and Nana's constant growth.

  That being, which still unnerves Joel sometimes, and which ironically was born from him, had begun to evolve at an alarming rate. With each mage who crossed the threshold, Nana absorbed a small amount of his blood undetected. The process was now so refined and delicate that not even high-level mages noticed the slightest drop in his vital energy. The initial promise was kept with precision: do not frighten, do not harm, and do not arouse suspicion.

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  Thanks to the information gathered from each visit, Nana and Joel developed a system to identify the level of visiting mages. Joel gathered information known to all, mostly official information, but sometimes even rumors. Nana, for her part, refined her inner senses, able to detect the intensity of mana, the solidity of the magic core, and even the emotional fluctuations in the visitors' bodies. Soon, she was able to accurately estimate the magic level of any guest, even before they crossed the front door.

  "That last one was a level four disguised as a three," Nana whispered in one of her conversations with Joel, using her voice through Ariel. "He protected himself with artifacts, but his veins didn't lie."

  For Joel, what had initially been a dangerous game began to become a systematic operation. He knew he couldn't let his guard down, but he also understood that with each visit, the house grew more powerful, and so did he. The small doses of blood Nana shared with him had begun to show increasingly better results: a progressive improvement in physical strength, sharper reflexes, and even improved vision and hearing. Progress that led to significant improvements in his swordsmanship and other combat skills.

  The clear liquid, aside from being a more powerful version of the blood potions, proved to be much easier to digest, taking only weeks to complete what had previously taken months. This fact proved to be quite significant in explaining Joel's rapid progress in such a short time. He could feel the Level 3 barrier rapidly approaching.

  Moreover, as the weeks passed, the original tranquility that Joel valued so much began to crumble. The constant visits, although lucrative, became a silent burden for Ariel and Liam, who had to remain in a constant state of alert. As soon as a wagon or carriage was spotted in the distance, the children would run to the basement, where they would silently wait for the visitors to leave. At first, they treated it as a game... but over time, the accumulated tension became unbearable.

  The improvised path from the village to the house didn't help either. That old path of mud and loose stones had been cleared and widened by the visitors themselves, and soon became a constant route of traffic. Joel quickly understood: if he wanted to maintain the balance between his secret life and the character of Alexander, he needed to take more permanent measures.

  The first thing he did was build a fenced perimeter around the house grounds. Using the abundant wood available and some materials from the village, he erected a sturdy two-meter-high fence. This clearly marked the controlled-access area and restored a certain sense of security to the interior.

  Then he hired two helpers from the village, personally recommended by the owner of the general store. One of them, Darik, was a sturdy and friendly young man who took on the role of gatekeeper and watchman, in charge of welcoming visitors, organizing carriages, and maintaining order at the entrance. The other was Mira, a bright girl with a good way with words, who was in charge of serving the younger guests, offering them drinks, and keeping the more curious from wandering around the property. Both seemed like honest, hard-working people, and most importantly, they didn't ask too many questions.

  Finally, Joel decided to expand the basement, which was originally intended as a workshop and storage space but ended up becoming a place with too many purposes. With Nana's help, who molded the stone and earth as if it were wet clay, the underground refuge became a series of comfortable, independent rooms, with soft magical lighting, courtesy of Nana's new ability, perfect ventilation, and soundproofing. Ariel and Liam could now rest, study, and train without worrying about noise from the upper floor.

  "Thanks, Nana," Joel said on one of those silent nights, as he looked at the new corridors under the house. "This is increasingly no longer looking like an ordinary house."

  "It's growing," Nana replied through Ariel. "Just like you."

  As the months passed, between sculptures, noble visits, and increasingly elaborate plans, Joel's body began to show more significant changes. At first, he didn't give it much thought: a greater resistance to fatigue, an unusual mental clarity when sculpting, sharper reflexes when helping Liam with his impromptu workouts. Small details that might have passed as mere coincidences... if not for Ariel's insistent gaze and Nana's always accurate words.

  "Your blood has transformed," the statue told him one day, speaking through Ariel. "You have crossed the threshold. You are on the third level."

  Joel remained silent, looking at his hands, his arms, his bare torso. He was faster, stronger, more resilient than ever. But it wasn't just that; there was something profound, almost spiritual about him, as if every cell in his body was vibrating with a new purpose. He knew somehow that something new had awakened within him, perhaps a special ability, but he couldn't define or really know what it was... something he was going to have to discover at some point in the future.

  As far as Joel knew—and according to the complex sensory measurements Nana could take throughout the house—his body already surpassed the physical capabilities of any Level 5 mage who had ever passed through there. Speed, strength, perception, even recovery... everything had been enhanced to an astonishing degree. And even more importantly, that's not even considering Joel's ability to overload his body with energy... something that should perhaps put him at the level of a Level 6 mage, at least in terms of physicality and speed.

  The news made Joel happy, but it never made him complacent, as he knew full well that having such physical ability doesn't mean he can easily confront a Level 5 or 6 mage. Perhaps it gives him the ability to surprise or ambush them with his sword, but he will never be able to match the magic of one of those mages in a head-on fight.

  He needs to continue training with his sword and fully master all the techniques Hoshinobu taught him. He also needs to make the most of the elixirs (as he decided to call them) that Nana gives him to level up quickly. But most importantly, something Joel doesn't like to admit, he needs to dream of more lives, because that's what has truly proven to be his path to power.