The next day, Wolf and the gang went to choose their missions. Having a Marquess’s daughter with them meant they could cut the line and take two five star missions, which made Wolf smile.

This whole thing with betters and lessers was really useful when you were the better. You just waltzed in there, finished whatever business you had and left, completely ignoring the crowd.

Wayde and the girls picked a bandit killing mission, which Wolf helped them pick as an easy one. They were allowed four months to complete their mission, which was more than enough time even if they left after the semestral exam, which was in three weeks.

Unlike his friends, Wolf took a short two-week mission, which he wanted to complete before the end of semester. It was easy, paid a pittance, and confused everyone, Mandy included, but the important thing was Wolf could exterminate those bandits in four to five days, then spend the rest of his time in the Merchant District’s bordellos.

“I thought you were going to tutor us before the exam,” Barbara grumbled resentfully.

Wolf’s rejection hurt her pride. As an aristocrat, a commoner rejected her. As a woman, a year younger shorty rejected her. Both were enough to irk an even-tempered lady, let alone explosive Barbara.

“I’ll leave next Monday,” Wolf said, pretending not to notice Barbara’s tone. “Until then, I plan on tutoring you guys.”

***

A week went by quickly. Seven days of Wolf’s lectures were worth more than two months with the Mage Academy professor, which was only natural. The woman was only a Sixth Order Mage.

The political current opposing Wolf had given up and didn’t seem likely to pull anything within the academy. Those who were neutral never cared in the first place, but now there was a small minority of people on Wolf’s side.

The Didots had little influence at the academy. Besides, Margaret’s cousins despised Edwin and would rather harm than help him. As for the Charters, they had a modest presence and mostly positive feelings about Wolf. However, after Barbara’s birthday, things grew more awkward.

Count Charter wasn’t worried though. Even if Wolf didn’t become his son-in-law, he and Barbara were friends, and the youth would likely be his ally in the future.

Wolf was unaware of the turbulent currents under the calm surface of the academy. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t have cared. Right now he was heading out of the city, along the way stopping by and booking Merchant District’s brothels for himself.

When he entered the first bordello, Wolf blushed and stuttered as he explained his needs..

“Um, errr, Madam, ummm, I would, um, like to book this entire,” he stuttered, then continued with no confidence. “Place? For the fifth of next month…”

By the time he entered the fifth one, he grew used to it and no longer stuttered. By the time he entered the tenth establishment, Wolf didn’t even blush. He was just going through the lines he’d memorized, his stumbling babble evolved into a concise spiel.

“Good day, Madam,” Wolf said. “I want to book your place for the eleventh. I’ll need twenty-four girls and I’m paying double your usual rate.”

Oddly enough, the first few hostesses thought Wolf was pranking them. They wanted to chase him away, but they had to be polite on account of his robes. Even when he’d made the down payment they thought this was some rich kid’s joke they couldn’t understand.

As Wolf’s confidence grew, the proprietresses treated him seriously from the get-go and quickly concluded their business.

Then, with everything set, Wolf left Silver City, only to return three days later with the heads of thugs who dared attack caravans so close to the duchy capital.

Wolf was so giddy, eager to see the results from his upcoming harvest, that he straight up marched into the bandit camp without even sleeping.

He slaughtered the gang much more easily than the Band of the Fox by just plowing through them and hunting down the fleeing survivors.

Now that he was back at Silver City, Wolf had a whole day before his first reservation. It was a Friday, not yet time to hang out with his big brother, so he went to his old lair instead.

The Haunted Bridge’s Spell Formations were still operational and people avoided it. They only crossed it when in a rush, or on dares. A group of kids cheered their friend as the boy gingerly walked above Wolf’s former abode.

Maybe I should disable the Spell Formation? Wolf wondered as he stealthily slipped under the bridge.

He spent the day and night in meditation, carving to make up for the time he’d lost while on his short and brutal expedition. He regretted that the magical effect which enhanced the speed at which he gathered Soul Force and carved only lasted for five days.

Wolf hoped it would kick in again after tomorrow evening.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

“What is this?” Wolf’s Mental Aspect scowled. “Last time, after going through only six of them, the effect lasted nearly a week. Now, I’ve harvested thirty and still nothing.”

Wolf loudly complained even though he’d collected more than forty days' worth of Soul Force in ten hours of vigorous activity.

“The night is nearly over, and I have to go fix lunch for Big brother,” Mental Aspect said, then Wolf woke up.

The young man settled his tab with the shocked hostess. After the young Mage had left, she went to the room. It looked like a battlefield, and her girls had lost. All of them were breathing softly, with light, satisfied smiles on their faces.

Usually it was the other way around. The girls were frustrated, angry or filled with other negative emotions, while the customers left with smiling faces. But now...

“Dora, wake up,” she said, lightly slapping the nearest woman. However, Dora just continued snoring softly.

***

“Hey, Big Brother,” Wolf said while walking into the alley.

South tried the same silent trick, but this time it didn’t work.

“Don’t look at me that way, and get chopping,” Wolf said with a smile, not letting the old pervert affect him.

“So, how are you doing?” South asked, catching the bag Wolf tossed at him.

“Fine, I guess,” Wolf said, taking out the cooking utensils and his portable stove with rushed motions.

Saying those words, Wolf felt a prick from his soul.

Damn it, he thought.

“I’m not fine. I’m frustrated. You know what I’ve been doing, right?” Wolf asked.

For some insane reason, South knowing everything that’s going on was reassuring. In fact the times when Wolf caught him off guard was when the young man believed the world had gone mad.

*Tok! Tok! Tok!*

South nodded, steadily turning squash into one centimeter light-green cubes.

“It’s a chore,” Wolf grumbled. “In my visions, it was like a wonderful magical feeling. In reality, it’s me moving my hips with my eyes closed while circulating Soul Force, trying to form a resonance with a random woman. Once it happens, I steal a bit of her I drew out and that’s it.”

“Wanna drink?” the bum asked, still chopping.

Wolf always found it odd how the drunkard chopped vegetables without letting go of the wineskin. He shook his head while buttering the frying pan. “Later. And only two cups. I don’t want to get drunk like last time.”

If he got too drunk, Wolf wouldn’t be able to harvest Soul Force tonight.

“You’re developing a problem, Little Brother,” South said gravely as he passed the processed vegetables.

“What do you mean?” Wolf asked as the pan started sizzling.

“I mean you’ve become an addict,” South said seriously, then took a long swig out of his wineskin. “Whores are great. But you need some moderation.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Wolf said defensively. “I’m just fine. If anyone here has a problem, it’s you.”

Hearing that, South chuckled. “Well, everyone has problems. Mine are very serious, but of a completely different nature.”

“I think that having a drinking problem is much more serious,” Wolf said, some aggression leaking into his voice.

South chuckled again, and gave Wolf a look. It was the gaze of someone who’d seen the world and had all the wisdom one could have.

“Look, Little Brother, my problem is really much more serious than the little thing you’re facing. In fact, you can’t even compare them. I’m not saying you should stop doing whores. I’m just saying that you should exercise some constraint.”

“Constraint?” Wolf asked. “Don’t you mean restraint?”

“I mean constraint. You need to limit yourself and focus. Set up boundaries. As for Restraint, those with power don’t need it, it makes them weaker,” South said slowly. “The trickle of Soul Force you scam out of those women may seem huge to you now. But what happens when you unlock four Mind Halls? What about eight? Then if you spend time like this out of habit it will be a waste, unless you find women whose souls are adequate. Once you’re standing at that height, even if you devour those whores’ whole souls, you won’t notice a difference.”

Wolf was shocked speechless, but South kept dropping bombs. “What you’re really addicted to is becoming stronger. I’ve never suffered from that illness, but I can understand it to an extent. Your potential is infinite, but your resources are not. In fact, the most precious resource in the entire universe is time. Heh, what wouldn’t I give for the ability to manipulate time? You’re thinking that too, right, you little peeping tom?”

South paused, hurting the sagely air with the pointless name-calling.

“Unfortunately, for now, I can only run away from my problems and enjoy the minor victories I’ve achieved so far. Mostly by stalling, which is all I can do given our circumstances.” South had a bitter expression on his face as he chugged from his wineskin and looked resentfully towards the sky.

“So, Big Brother, what are you trying to say? I’m wasting time with brothels?” Wolf calmed down and wanted to hear the advice from his big brother. Wolf knew South was an unrivaled expert.

In response, South kept drinking for a while.

He looked at Wolf and put down the wineskin. “I’m not saying you should stop. It’s beneficial for you right now. But there are other things which require your attention. Your body, you should gather Internal Energy and temper your mind and willpower. Those minor setbacks you’ve experienced so far are nothing compared to the real despair you’re bound to face if you climb high enough. Wielding great authority doesn’t mean much, if you don’t have the perseverance and a calm state of mind.”

Wolf wanted to protest. He’d experienced plenty of trauma growing up. South had no idea what he‘d gone through, but still he trusted his big brother and believed he was saying these words out of care and not out of malice. “Do you have any suggestions, Big brother?”

“Plenty. For starters, live in the moment. Don’t maniacally fry squash on butter in front of me while thinking about whoring. The food you prepare will taste slutty. Either cook here with me or go screw whores. Whatever you decide to do, focus on it. You looked like a madman just now. If you’re really in need, go screw a couple of them and come back tomorrow, once you’ve calmed down.”

South was back to his usual drunken self, spewing nonsense. Wolf wasn’t sure whether the vagrant was joking or talking seriously.

“What I meant to say is, do you have any advice on how I could become stronger?” Wolf tried to make himself clear, just in case.

“You’re already plenty strong. Not as I was when I was your age, but then again, you’re considerably more mature. If I had to find a flaw... Your what-you-call Sword-Sage Order is nowhere nearly as impressive as your accomplishments in what you refer to as Mage Order.” South said, obviously holding back from using the word “thingy” as a technical term.

“But that’s not really your fault. If we were in Highseat, you would’ve been slightly more balanced, but even then it wouldn’t be good enough,” he explained. “You already know that you can consume the energy from Monster Cores. This kind of scavenging is probably the approach you’ll use until you reach a certain level. Remember that until you fill your vessel and reach the absolute peak every little bit counts. It’s just a question of whether it’s worth your time. Just like those women.”

He paused then continued handing out questionable advice. “Other than that, you need to learn to calm down. Even though you have a passionate nature, you can’t be impulsive. It took me nearly a lifetime to figure that one out. By the time I understood this, I was already alone. Everyone I knew had already passed away. Ah, what a prick I was back then. To make matters worse, I still sometimes do stupid shit every now and then. But I’m getting off topic.”

South, who never seemed to be on topic, steered back towards what he wished to say. “You, unfortunately, have to practice that Star Body crap. For now, you can’t do anything about your physical body, but it’s not important. You’ll get there. As for Internal Energy, you need Monster Cores. Hunting near Beast-lands or exploring forbidden areas is the best way to do this. Monster Beasts are walking deposits of World Energy to those strong enough.

“As for your soul, I’m already helping as much as I can, not that you need that much help in that regard. Finally, your state of mind. I’m also trying to help, but you’re as dumb as a doornail. You can practice it any time, any place, but apparently you’ll be on your own there.” South poured Wolf a cup and handed it over.

“Now, let’s prepare lunch together. Or do you feel like going whoring?” South completed his unexpectedly decent speech in a manner very characteristic to him.

Wolf smiled, then looked down with shame. A moment later, he lifted his head and met South’s gaze with determination.

“I think I’ll go to the brothel,” he said.

South choked on his drink, and Wolf laughed loudly. “Joking, I’m joking! Got you there, didn’t I, Big Brother? Now, let’s enjoy our meal. I can go to the brothel after we’re done. The reservation is for this evening anyway.”

“You little son of a bitch!” South laughed heartily, then messed up Wolf's hair, evoking a sleazy, slimy feeling.