Present day.

  Eric sat speechlessly.

  Riya 'thoughtfully' commented, "So, it's that kind of story, huh? Where a prince was lost and a princess would eventually find him and wake him up to the reality of his identity with a deep, passionate kiss!"

  Eric gave Riya a nasty glare in his mind. Just what kind of bullshit story was that? Why doesn’t he remember hearing it?

  What Eric was amazed about was the fact that the 'butler intruder' could live long enough without a heart and other organs, yet still stand and even talk.

  This was really… out of this world.

  Bella Noll smiled. "I think it’s fine now for you to know all this. But I still think you shouldn’t use that name—who knows when trouble might arrive. Also, people will dig deeper into the Nightglow family if you ever make waves in the world. Many Mana Wielders use monikers for this reason. Though, at Apprentice Rank, you don’t need to worry too much. Apprentice Rank Mana Wielders are the most numerous in the world, but they’re only considered foot soldiers. You’ll understand that in time."

  Eric nodded. He had only one burning question in his heart right now, so he asked with utter sincerity, "What was the height of that intruder butler?"

  Bella Noll stared at Eric blankly.

  She’d thought he would ask something important—but height?

  "Y-you mean his physical h-height?" Bella Noll asked hesitantly, confirming she hadn’t misheard.

  Eric nodded. This was his current worry. He wondered if everyone had abnormal heights. He definitely didn’t want to become an eight-foot giant if possible.

  Bella Noll sighed and massaged her temples.

  She glanced at Eric strangely. Was he too self-conscious about his height? Did he think he was too short?

  She turned toward the window, trying to recall the man’s height.

  After a while, she answered uncertainly, "If I recall correctly, he was fairly tall. Hm… eight feet, perhaps?"

  Eric was devastated. His face paled rapidly.

  So, he had to grow 'that' tall?

  He wanted to cry, but no tears came.

  No! If he reached seven feet, he’d need serious plans to avoid becoming Bigfoot!

  Bella Noll tried to cheer Eric up, and so with a smile she explained, "Don't worry about heights. Yours is good enough. Usually in the world, average Mana Wielders are only 5 to 7 feet tall. Yours, Lyria’s, and Livy’s have perfectly normal heights."

  Eric sighed. Bella Noll misunderstood him, but he understood what she meant. Either way, it was stupid to worry about that right now. So, he nodded and stood up.

  He still needed to have breakfast, then go shopping with the vulgar gang leader and her husband.

  Just as Eric turned around, Bella Noll called out, "Wait."

  Eric turned around in confusion.

  Bella Noll pulled out a small box from her drawer and threw it at Eric.

  Eric caught it and, without hesitation, opened it—and was startled.

  There were two very artistically beautiful coins.

  'So, these are those coins!'

  Indeed, they were large and very thick, but why did he feel they weren’t really coins but more like emblems? And more importantly, why did he feel a very weird sensation from them?

  He pulled out one and felt its weight. It was really light—about 1 gram?

  Eric was speechless. Even a feather of this size and thickness might have far more weight.

  'I’ll check later.'

  He put it back inside the box and glanced back at Bella Noll, waiting for an explanation, though he could already guess it.

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  "I have no need to sell those to earn money to take care of you. That person probably wanted me to know that you come from a powerful background and I shouldn’t think of harming you, and perhaps helping you might earn me more reward or something. I don’t need any of those; in fact, I don’t need anything. I am very happy as it is."

  "There is also a chance that person wants you to have those when you grow up. Either way, take them, but don’t show them around to any random strangers. I don’t know what material they’re made of, but they’re far too sturdy compared to what their weight suggests. I don’t think they’ll break easily; you can even use them to save your life, or perhaps melt them to make something. Maybe they can also help you find your past or at least give you some clue. Okay, get going—enjoy your birthday." Bella Noll waved her hand at Eric with a smile.

  Eric sighed. After hesitating for a bit, he asked directly, "Grandma, if there is a cure or such things in the world, would you be willing to live longer?"

  Bella Noll was dumbfounded by the sudden question, which came out of nowhere.

  She waved her hand in dismissal. "Do you really think I couldn’t cure this and would allow it to grow for so long? I won’t change my mind even if my dead family comes back and requests me to continue. This is my journey; don’t think of me as a mortal housewife—I was a very hardened adventurer, though only for a short few decades." She wasn’t so soft as to change her decision for anyone, including Eric, Lyria, or Livy.

  Eric shrugged. He wasn’t really regretful about Bella Noll’s death. He had lost friends of all ages in his past life—some were even his ant friends. Sadly, later, he couldn’t even differentiate them. As long as Bella Noll went with a smile, he had no regrets.

  Eric went back to his room to put those strange juicy coins in the same hidden place of his wardrobe as the pocket watch.

  After dressing up properly and having a light breakfast, he met up with the three girls and two boys—yeah, Wilhan could be considered one boy—who was currently busy bullying his father.

  After meeting, they promptly set off toward the store.

  The weather was gorgeous, with a cool breeze blowing and the sky partially dark and gloomy.

  It was Eric’s favorite weather—then again, he loved all seasons.

  Livy was in a great mood. She commented with a smile, "It’s been such a long time since we all went outside the orphanage together. The weather’s great, but it might rain within a few hours. On Brother Eric’s birthday, it always rains."

  Hannah nodded at the 'giant' girl’s words as she walked beside her.

  "I think the gods are crying for creating such giants in this world. While imagining the feelings of shorter people, they shed tears at this time of the year."

  Lyria, Livy, and Wilburn laughed; Eric just rolled his eyes, while Wilhan cried out joyfully in Wilburn’s hand.

  Wilburn asked a question with utmost sincerity to the three titans, "Tell me, lit—uh, Brother Eric, Sister Lyria, and Livy—what do you guys eat to grow so tall? Tell us the secrets so Wilhan can also grow taller."

  Lyria smiled. "Sister Hannah knows everything, and we train every day—so maybe that will help?"

  Hannah sighed with exasperation and shook her head. "Give up, Wily. Wilhany cannot become tall like them. Their training is simply one trip down to hell!"

  Wilburn was shocked and asked while staring at the three demonic entities, "Why do you all train so hard? To beat up your spouse like mine?"

  Hannah gave Wilburn a dead stare that said—wait till it’s night, then I’ll show you what ‘beating up’ truly means!

  Watching the passionate, volatile pair, Eric, Lyria, Livy, and Wilhan laughed—while Wilburn cried alone.

  While they were strolling, they got all the stares from the town’s folks—specifically toward the three oversized giant children.

  All the males’ eyes were on Lyria and Livy. Eric couldn’t blame them—both girls were getting more and more beautiful and developing feminine figures.

  Of course, those tiny men didn’t know, but Eric had seen it—how packed up both girls were under their clothes!

  Both Lyria and Livy already had eight-packs and shapely muscles, and although he hadn’t touched them, he knew their bodies were quite tough for females.

  Eric personally wasn’t any fan of iron-bodied, muscular women. Then again, it wasn’t like Lyria, Livy, or anyone needed to live according to his interest or wish.

  As a friend, Eric was happy as long as Lyria and Livy were happy.

  Both Lyria and Livy were now already used to stares, gawking, leering, and all that—so they no longer felt embarrassed. They completely ignored those tiny humans and continued idle chatting with the married couple.

  "Yeah, but my sisters still lack in the chest department compared to me!" Riya suddenly remarked proudly.

  Eric rolled his eyes. "What do you expect from mere eleven-year-old girls? Like yours? Humph!"

  Yesterday afternoon, Eric had gone inside his Mind Space to play some chess with Riya, and the moment he entered, he turned and escaped.

  Riya had indeed become similar in height and age to him and looked more and more beautiful.

  Eric hated to admit it, but she looked like some fantasy fairy-tale princess. But what made him run away was that Riya had intentionally made her figure into a very disturbing hourglass—with a massive chest and below. By massive, it meant abnormally massive! While her waist was literally as thin as a 'pencil'.

  Even people who had such interests would run away! Not only that, Riya still wore just the men’s innerwear with no woman’s undergarments!

  Riya laughed. "Come on, I only wanted to spice things up and impress you—maybe seduce you a bit."

  Eric snorted and no longer bothered replying.

  Even if he were a vile demon, he refused to acknowledge such a disturbing demoness’s existence!

  Riya had advanced in her power—or rather, since Eric’s energy capacity had become more stable, she could now create some extra items, such as a chessboard and other card games. She could also change her figure. Her clothes were also her manifestation, using Eric’s stamina.

  Eric preferred Riya just the way she was—not her mutated form.

  Along the way, Eric heard some conversation among a few townsfolk about something that seemed to be happening in the northern region of the town, but since he couldn’t hear anything clearly, he didn’t bother with it.

  They soon arrived at the best shoe store in town.

  The shop owner nearly had a heart attack, gawking at the three people’s height. And, as expected, they didn’t have any ready-made shoe size for any of the three giants.

  So, Hannah and Wilburn ordered some with slightly larger sizes, in case the three trees grew even more. Later, the shop would deliver those to the orphanage when they were done making them.

  After that, all six of them gossiped, laughed, and returned back to the orphanage.