While the protest was ongoing, Kaiser was holed up in his room, obsessively studying runes.

Other than the Light Rune and the Growth Rune, he had mastered four other simple runes.

Concealment Rune, Cleaning Rune, Flame Rune, and a water rune.

Although the four runes were all simple, they were difficult to draw without a runic pen.

Therefore, Kaiser had procured a standard runic pen from the Item Store, using it to test the runes he had learned.

’This Concealment Rune is a bit fascinating. Although the size of what it can hide is small, it is still very effective.’

Placing a mug on the table, he summoned his thin red pen, activating its only function.

Holding the pen with a firm grip, he carefully drew a detailed runic formation on the mug.

The lines were smooth and perfect, like the art of a top artist.

Dismissing the pen, Kaiser lightly touched the rune, then poured his essence into the conduit.

The lines he had drawn lit up, and then, the mug was slowly erased from sight.

Kaiser straightened, staring at the empty table. No matter what angle he looked from, there was no sign of the mug.

"Hm..."

He hummed as he touched the place where the mug was supposed to be, feeling his fingers grazing something solid.

’So it doesn’t actually disappear, but hides from normal sight.’

Putting his hands in his pockets, Kaiser tilted his head and activated the Eyes of Sequence.

The white eight-spoked wheel appeared in his eyes, rotating slowly.

His vision blurred briefly, then became clearer.

The shape of the mug became visible, though it looked unnatural.

It was as if it was there, yet not. The concealment still worked, but it couldn’t fool the Eyes of Sequence.

’Hm, not bad. It’s interesting.’

Kaiser nodded to himself, deactivating the soul trait.

Raising his head, he looked at the window.

The world outside was clear with blue sky and drifting clouds. The air itself was warm and fresh, with sunlight spilling into the room through the open windows.

By the windowsill, several plants spread their leaves, basking in the sunlight.

These were the plants Kaiser had cultivated using the Growth Rune.

The blue-haired boy felt his stomach grumble, and realized it was almost noon.

Rolling his shoulders, he headed to the kitchen, deciding to make some noodles for himself. He didn’t have any plans to leave the room today, so he was pretty lax.

’I should make fast noodles. I’ll eat something heavier in the evening.’

He already had a carton of noodles in his cupboard, so he simply took two packs, preparing to cook them.

’Wait...’

As he carried the pot, an idea came to his mind, and his eyes narrowed deviously.

Summoning the runic pen again, he activated the function, then began drawing a Water Rune inside the pot.

Placing a finger on the rune, he began channeling essence into it. The rune lit up with a blue glow, and water began to condense from the air, filling the pot slowly.

Kaiser’s eyes glinted, but he didn’t stop. He continued to pour essence into the rune until the water that had condensed was enough.

The instant he removed his hand, the rune broke apart, disappearing completely.

However, the pot now had water in it.

Moving on to his gas cooker, Kaiser turned off the self-ignition function.

Instead, he drew a Flame Rune directly on the burner, pouring a tiny amount of essence into it.

Puff!

A bright red flame was ignited, the size of a matchstick. Due to the small amount of essence poured into it, the flame began to wane gradually.

Before it went off, Kaiser turned on the gas cooker, releasing gas that instantly attracted the flames.

The red flame dispersed, becoming neat blue flames that burned from the burner.

Feeling accomplished, Kaiser placed the pot onto the gas stand, then began cooking.

Cooking noodles was very easy and straightforward and took less time than most meals.

’It’s an ancient meal. An eternal friend to all youths and students.’

After all, noodles had existed before the Era of Awakening.

In a few minutes, he was back at his table, quietly eating while scrolling through his phone.

The mug had already reappeared, having lost the essence required to sustain the rune.

’Hm? Ysabella was his victim?’

Kaiser paused, his brows rising softly. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes, and a bit of expectation.

Did that encounter change anything about the blonde girl...?

He doubted it. For her to experience a qualitative change, there had to be a strong catalyst.

"Oh well, I really shouldn’t concern myself about it."

Shaking his head, he continued scrolling, coming across a video of President Anthony addressing the protesting students.

’As expected, the president is quite rigid in his beliefs.’

Although he hadn’t expected the cleaner to actually die, he was a bit pleased with the course of events.

Gaga’s actions merely sped up his plans, and he also needed to adjust.

’The chairman is absent. I wonder how much chaos would actually force him to come back?’

There was a look of innocent curiosity in his blue eyes as he held that thought.

Dropping the phone, he focused on eating his breakfast and soon finished the meal.

Taking the plate to the sink, he summoned the runic pen again.

This time, it was a different rune he drew on the plate.

It was more complex than the others, and required deeper concentration to avoid making mistakes.

After completing the rune, he poured essence into it as usual, and watched it glow faintly.

The stain on the plate began to disappear, as if being licked away by an invisible tongue.

In thirty seconds, the plate was sparkling clean, and not even the noodles’ scent lingered on it.

"This is convenient."

Nodding to himself, Kaiser merely rinsed the plate, then returned it to the plate rack.

"Well then, I should focus on cultivating for now."

Exercising his arms, he walked towards the bed where a sack of essence crystals was placed.

While he idled in his room, the world outside continued to move in unease.