Dean Xiao pondered for a moment, slowly extended four fingers, thought better of it, and added his thumb as well. "It's roughly a 1.2 to 1.3 times amplification," he said. "Quite respectable among talents of this kind. We can measure it more precisely once you've fully mastered magic."
Fang Zhou suddenly understood. No wonder he hadn't noticed it at first; it was only afterward that he realized how exceptionally bright his Lightning Element Stardust was. It was a pure power amplification without any fancy bells and whistles—ideal for a violently destructive magic branch like the Lightning Element!
While the bonus wasn't massive, having something was infinitely better than nothing!
Overcome by a sudden surge of excitement, Fang Zhou felt his head spin, as if his body had been completely hollowed out. His legs went weak, and he slumped backward.
"Ah?!"
Seeing this, Ding Yumian hurriedly caught him, her own Spiritual Universe experiencing a brief wave of instability.
"Don't worry, he's just overdrawn his mental energy," Dean Xiao said calmly, pretending not to notice the slit of an eye through which Fang Zhou was peeking. "It's the price of unlocking magic ahead of schedule. A good night's sleep, and he'll be fine by tomorrow."
Ding Yumian let out a soft breath, watching somewhat nervously as Dean Xiao carried Fang Zhou into the house and dumped him unceremoniously onto the sofa.
"I have matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving. Old Fu will be back later." Dean Xiao pushed up his glasses, put away the Awakening Stone, and departed.
"Mm-hm."
Ding Yumian nodded obediently, only to immediately realize a major problem: Fang Zhou was still on the sofa. How was she supposed to get him to a bedroom?
*He can't sleep on the sofa; his back will be terribly sore,* Ding Yumian thought, biting her lip. *My bedroom is on the first floor. I'll just let him sleep downstairs tonight, and that will solve it!*
She reached out and lifted Fang Zhou. Fortunately, the young man had a well-proportioned build with not an ounce of fat—if anything, he was a bit on the thin side. For a girl like Ding Yumian, carrying him didn't feel overly strenuous, and with a few huffs and puffs, she managed to haul him into her own bedroom.
The environment on the second floor was superior to that of the first, and when Fang Zhou had previously passed out, he had been settled on the second floor while Ding Yumian had chosen to stay on the first.
With his eyes closed, Fang Zhou caught the warm, delicate scent of the young girl. A victorious smile tugged at the corner of his lips before he finally succumbed to the overwhelming dizziness in his brain and passed out completely.
Just before losing consciousness, however, he fancied he felt something within his spiritual world: among the purple Stardust, a thunder drum loomed faintly, while on the other side, specks of starlight flickered as well...
*Could I be a Natural Dual Element mage too?!*
Fang Zhou felt as though he had been knocked dizzy by sheer happiness.
Then he truly passed out.
After midnight, Fang Zhou slowly blinked awake. A faint, lingering fragrance drifted past his nose, instantly refreshing his spirits.
"Heh heh, Yumian, my Yumian..."
Cough, cough. Fang Zhou clutched the blanket Ding Yumian had slept in and rolled around the bed several times before he managed to suppress the lovesick grin on his face.
Pulling on his shoes, Fang Zhou intended to get up and grab a glass of water, but as he passed the hallway, he caught sight of a squirming figure curled up on the sofa, and his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
"Idiot, why are you sleeping here?!"
Fang Zhou silently cursed himself. Who else could that figure on the sofa be if not Ding Yumian?
There were only two prepared rooms in the entire small villa. Ding Yumian had originally slept in the downstairs suite, and Fang Zhou had taken the upstairs master bedroom. He never expected that after he took her room, the girl hadn't gone upstairs, choosing instead to wrap herself in a small blanket on the sofa and rough it for the night.
"This won't do!" Fang Zhou softened his footsteps and walked over. In the hazy moonlight, the young girl's delicate and refined face looked exceptionally tranquil.She was a gentle girl, both in the original story and in Fang Zhou's direct experience now, so he would never allow such a gentle girl to suffer the oppression she had faced in the original timeline.
Lifting the young girl gently into his arms bridal-style, Fang Zhou carried her back inside—up to his own room on the second floor.
After tucking her in under the quilt, Fang Zhou still couldn't resist gently stroking the girl's delicate cheek. Her skin was as smooth and springy as water, simply irresistible to the touch.
"Good night, my princess."
The night passed quietly. Fang Zhou didn't have the mental energy to dwell on the anomaly within his Spiritual Universe; a wave of exhaustion washed over him again, and clutching his quilt, he fell fast asleep.
The next day, the sun was high in the sky. Feeling the blinding sunlight falling upon his face, Fang Zhou rubbed his drowsy eyes and got out of bed, feeling refreshed all over.
He was about to wash up when he suddenly remembered this wasn't his own room. Pushing open the bedroom door, just as he was about to head upstairs, he saw Ding Yumian sitting quietly on the living room sofa, staring at him expressionlessly.
"Yumian, good morning." For some reason, Fang Zhou's heart skipped a beat.
*I'm done for, I'm totally done for. Is this young lass mad at me?*
Yet there were no abnormal mental fluctuations coming from her. Could it be that her condition was already acting up?!
With great difficulty, Fang Zhou shuffled over to the living room and sat down obediently beside Ding Yumian.
He desperately wanted to say, *Don't make that face, you're being really scary, you know?*
But after thinking it over and over again, he abandoned the idea. It wouldn't do to piss this girl off.
"Thank you," the girl suddenly said, lowering her head slightly, her cheeks flushed, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzzing.
Had Fang Zhou not been sitting so close, he truly wouldn't have heard it.
He turned his head to look at the girl's charming face—she was simply too adorable!
The young man reached out, gently wrapping his arm around the girl's shoulder, and said, "Between the two of us, is there any need to say thank you?"
Ding Yumian hesitated slightly. Wasn't that remark a bit too ambiguous?
She thought about how they had always been neighbors, growing up together. Even after Fang Zhou recovered from his dazed condition, he had remained as caring toward her as ever—he even helped her whenever she struggled to keep her emotions in check.
Both of them possessed special traits, destined not to have many intersections with ordinary people, and as childhood sweethearts who knew each other inside and out, it was very likely they would spend a very, very long time together in the future.
A faint realization dawned in Ding Yumian's heart. Blushing slightly, she ultimately didn't pull away from the young man's embrace.
"Will we always be together?"
"Of course, I'll protect you well!"
"Really?"
"Definitely!"
Having received Fang Zhou's repeated affirmations, a tightly strung chord deep within Ding Yumian's heart seemed to finally loosen, and she visibly relaxed a great deal.
Having lost her last remaining family member and left the most familiar environment carrying a sense of guilt, the only thing the young girl had left to lean on was the boy by her side.
"It's almost midday. You must be hungry, I'll go boil some dumplings!" Ding Yumian tied on an oversized apron and set about preparing something for Fang Zhou to eat.
Since the two of them couldn't leave just yet, Dean Fu had prepared plenty of ingredients and frozen foods in the refrigerator, ensuring that even if things got delayed, the two youngsters wouldn't starve here.
Given their special situation, it was impossible to hire anyone to take care of them.
"So afterwards, we're swapping rooms. You'll move upstairs; the entire second floor will be yours, and I'll stay down here," Fang Zhou said in a tone that allowed for no argument.
The living conditions on the second floor were much better than those on the first. Of course he had to pamper his childhood sweetheart!