Limitless Summoner: Rise of the Soul God

Seeing Ethan's mind wheels turning, the old woman's face twisted into an ugly scowl before she let out a low chuckle. "Relax brat. I am not turning you in or anything. You smelled suspicious and now I know why. That's all. What can I say? Old age has made me quite nosy and as your mentor, I will be better prepared to guide you with more details."

Mentor? Ethan stared at her. He would be foolish to trust someone else just like that but at the same time, he needed more power and clearly she had a lot to offer.

"So do you have any other secrets, you little brat? Anything I should know about?"

Ethan met her gaze and forced a smile. "Well, since you asked so nicely… no, no other secrets. Just a regular, suspicious, dust-moving brat."

Agnes's eyes narrowed, but a smirk played at the corner of her lips. "Just don't be stupid enough to get caught. If you get dragged off to the stake, it'll be a waste of all the time I spent training you."

Ethan's smile widened. "Didn't know you cared so much."

"I don't," she snapped, her scowl returning. "I care about not wasting my time. Now get out of my sight. And get some sleep, you look like death warmed over." She turned on her heel, her cane thumping against the floor as she shuffled toward the door.

Ethan watched her go, his mind spinning. She knew more than she was letting on, but she wasn't spilling the beans. Not yet, anyway. She wanted to train him, why? How could someone be willing to help him without any ulterior motive?

She probably wanted to use him for something. But if she were going to use him, then he'd just use her right back.

He had to be careful. She was dangerous, no question about it. But she was also his best chance at getting stronger. If he played his cards right, he could learn from her and get out of this city before it was too late.

"Mentor, huh?" He let out a sigh. "Guess I'm moving up in the world." He went back to the attic and pretty much collapsed immediately. When he woke up again, he found two pairs of eyes staring at him with concern.

"Master.. Is something wrong? Are you not feeling well? Should we take a trip to the local healer?"

"Big brother? Do you have a boo boo?"

Ethan blinked, his vision blurry as two faces came into focus—Lia and the little girl, both of them staring down at him with worry etched across their faces. He groaned, his body aching from exhaustion.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Just… practicing a little too hard, that's all."

Lia did not believe him. "Practicing? You look like you got hit by a big old boar. Are you sure you're not sick?"

Ethan forced a grin. "Yeah, yeah. Just tired. Nothing a little food and sleep won't fix." His stomach growled loudly, backing up his words.

The little girl's eyes went wide, her hands flying to her mouth. "Big brother is hungry!" She turned to Lia, panic in her voice. "We need to feed him or he'll die!"

Lia sighed, shaking her head. "Nobody's dying, stupid." But she gave Ethan a small smile. "Master, I made some stew. You should eat before you collapse again."

Ethan chuckled. "You cooked? When did you learn to do that?"

"Miss Agnes taught me," Lia said, her eyes shining with pride. "Said I needed to be useful if I was going to stay here."

Of course, the old hag would make her work for her keep. Nothing came for free around here. He staggered to his feet, his head spinning."On second thought, I'll just eat here," he mumbled, flopping back onto the mattress. His body felt like it was made of lead.

"You're working too hard, Master. You're going to burn yourself out," Lia said, her eyes full of worry.

Ethan forced a grin. "I've been through worse." He waved her off. "I'll be fine. Just need some food and sleep."

Lia frowned. "Miss Agnes isn't pushing you too hard, is she? If she's overworking you, I'll—"

Ethan let out a weak laugh. "I'm the one pushing myself. That old hag just yells a lot." He closed his eyes, exhaustion pulling at him. "I need to get stronger, Lia. I can't afford to be weak."

Lia let out a soft sigh and then hurried downstairs to bring the food. Ethan closed his eyes for a couple of seconds when he felt a pair of tiny hands on his legs. Huh? He opened his eyes to see the little girl massaging his legs.

Ethan blinked in surprise. "What… what are you doing?"

The little girl looked up at him, her face serious. "Helping big brother feel better. Miss Agnes said when people are tired, you rub their legs to make the pain go away."

Ethan couldn't help but laugh. "She told you that, huh?"

The girl nodded, her tiny hands pressing and kneading his legs with all her strength—which wasn't much, but her effort was earnest. Her little face was scrunched up in concentration, her tongue sticking out slightly as she worked. Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire

"And did Miss Agnes ask you to massage her legs?"

The girl nodded, her silver curls bouncing. "Yep! She said if I worked hard and made my hands strong, my hair would shine like moonlight and I'd be the prettiest girl in the village!" Her eyes sparkled with pure, innocent excitement.

Ethan slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. That old hag. Manipulating a little kid just to get free massages. He could almost picture Agnes, sitting back like some evil queen, getting her legs rubbed by a hopeful little kid who wanted shiny hair.

"That old—" Ethan caught himself, his shoulders shaking as he held back a laugh. "She really said that, huh?"

The little girl beamed. "Yes! So I have to practice a lot. Then I'll be so pretty!" She went back to massaging his legs with renewed determination.