Chapter 39 - Gossip

Resuming his earlier test, Ethan understood he could easily destroy the wall if he continued with the experiments.

'It's better not to test this.. Should I try adjusting my speed?'

Although he could easily use his maximum speed with the [Boost Magic] the only movements he could afford to do at that speed were only linear.

Deciding it was better to try the [Instantaneous Speed Movements], he took the book out of his inventory.

'Instantaneous speed is the speed that I can master at some point in time... I see. So I can basically speed up to a certain degree of speed so high that it will look like a teleportation'

Understanding the theory behind the first step, Ethan understood why using weights was necessary.

'If I can't control my weight better, I would risk not slowing down the speed the moment I need it.'

Following the book's instructions, Ethan activated his [Boost Magic] on his legs

'Although I did it once before, I will need real training for it. if I walk and then I increase the speed so fast that it cannot be detected, I could surprise my enemy more easily'

Trying it, Ethan increased his speed in a very short period of time. Doing 40 m in 0.3 seconds, he immediately slowed down.

Arrived 3 m away from his previous objective, he felt lucky that without even knowing how to do it, he could use it in the Twilight Manor.

Seeing the point where he stood 43 m away, he tried to do the same thing again. Although he didn't make progress on his 2nd attempt, after the 4th the error distance shortened.

'In all my attempts the margin of error was from 3 to 5 meters, now...'

[Distance from the established point(Error) → 2.92 - 4.99 meters.]

'I see, If I can do it again and again the error will go down.'

[It's not entirely correct. Surely you'll reduce this numbers but trying with the same speed again and again isn't the best option. You should try with lower speed because If you only boost your speed as you leave the other parameters aside, you will create weaknesses while you're moving]

Understanding she was right, Ethan sighed while thinking about it.

'I will boost my whole body while trying this so that I can use my mana and the boost efficiently'

Boosting his whole body, Ethan felt more balanced than before. Trying to use his maximum speed, he arrived at the established points in 5.5 seconds.

'The difference is like Heaven and Earth..'

Trying doing the exercise 4 times like before, He understood why Light gave him this advice.

'I need to think about things on my own instead of being always helped by her..'

with even greater determination, he saw the words he had at the top right of his view change

[Distance from the established point(Error) → 0.14 - 0.23 meters.]

'The error was minimal this time, although my speed decreased. So I can deduce that my speed is directly proportional to the margin of error. Reducing my error with lower speeds can lower the error at higher speeds..'

Feeling the goal wasn't that far away, he began to perform this 'training' intensively.

After the 2hrs, Ethan was happy because, although the margin of error remained almost stable over time, he was aware of the fact that training now could save time for when he needs it to train other aspects.

[Distance from the established point(Error) → 0.09 - 0.19 meters.]

'I should try with the boost only on my legs.'

Knowing Ais and Lefiya had finished their training, he wanted to do the last test before going to them. Activating the boost, Ethan felt he still needed to train to balance himself better but, the results were still pretty good.

[Distance from the established point(Error) → 1.78 - 3.18 meters.]

Nodding satisfied, he realized that he was quite tired.

'Maybe the euphoria made me forget that I used my mana non-stop for 2 whole hours..'

Seeing Lefiya and Ais looking at him, he smiled

"I am a little tired because I have almost used up all my mana, but I am fine"

Sighing, Lefiya replied

"You have so much mana, what did you do to finish it all?"

Hearing her question, he answered

"I was training for a new technique, something similar to what I did earlier in the Twilight Manor"

She thought about his words but, remembering she wasn't there to witness the fight, she asked

"Do you have enough mana to show me? I'd like to see it"

Without hesitation, Ethan immediately used the boost in his legs to do the 1st step of the [Instantaneous Speed Movements].

Seeing him disappear, only to reappear 40 m away, she was shocked

"Are you training for teleportation..."

"No, it's similar to the speed of a First Class Adventurer but...it's different.,"

Nodding, Ethan smiled while adding

"Normally, you gradually increase the speed until you reach the maximum, instead I start from my maximum speed in an instant. This creates an illusion of teleportation when in fact I haven't yet learned a technique related to the topic"

Thinking on his words, Lefiya understood what he was referring to

'The delay of the acceleration...without it, it actually seems that he teleported.. He really is a genius.'

Without adding anything more about it, Ethan said

"Now, we should go have lunch and after that we can have some fun in the city"

Although she felt uncomfortable thinking that they were basically going out on a date, Lefiya remembered that Ais was here, so she shouldn't have had any problems.

Nodding, Lefiya said

"S-Should we go..?"

Seeing the two of them approving the idea, the group returned to the city's streets. The fact was, although the members of the Loki familia were bound to a vow that stated not to share anything about the familia, gossip was still allowed.

Some members spread Ethan's actions and his short speech that was fully in favour of the female community. It started with 'news' very similar to what really happened, but things quickly escalated to a point of no return.

Seeing him with two members of his familia, people started to whisper

"It's the Loki Familia! Look, the rumours are true!"

Hearing these words, the woman next to her asked

"What rumours? Is it something important?"

"Yes! From what they say, Ethan was attacked by a member of his own familia who accused him of being a 'womanizer'. He replied that from the moment he tried to talk about her in such a way he was dead for him. He defeated him before shouting that the Sword Princess was his woman... How cool!"

Thinking about her words, another woman replied

"I heard that he was being called a womanizer but after defeating the member he shouted that the way the man in question saw women was so stupid that he didn't even need to talk to him to understand what kind of man he was... I felt impressed by this action"

He was about to defend himself but, before he could, a girl showed him an empty sheet of paper with a 'pen'.

Lowering her head and avoiding contact, the girl said

"P-P-Please c-can you make an autograph for m-m-me!!!"

feeling a headache, Ethan felt lost

["W-What should I do in this situation!?"]

[I have no idea]

Quickly accepting the idea, he tried to smile while taking the 'pen' in his hand. Writing his name on the sheet, he saw the girl bring the sheet on her face, hiding a smile. She added

"I'm your b-biggest fan!"

After this, she retreated while the crowd observed the scene.

Inhaling, Ethan said

"Ais, Lefiya, we should return to Loki"

Nodding, Lefiya felt saddened that she couldn't spend time with them. Seeing the two in front of her head towards the Twilight Manor, she thought about her own feelings.

'The more I see them together the more I think they are made for each other'

Seeing Lefiya stops to look at them, Ethan took her by the wrist, saying

"Hurry!"

Blushing, she said

"W-Won't the problem get worse if they s-see us this way!?"

Understanding, he released her wrist, saying

"Don't worry about it, I want to return because they would never leave us alone and it annoys me."

Nodding with her blush still on her face, Lefiya was still mulling over the situation but, deciding to think about it later, she went near Ais.

With this, the group made their way to the Twilight Manor. The guard, seeing they were in such a hurry, asked

"Are there any problems I can help with?"

Hearing this, Ethan said

"We need to directly talk to Loki, otherwise the situation will get worse and worse.

Seeing he was serious, the guard let them run towards the hall of the Manor without saying anything. Smiling, he thought

'Young people ... always at the centre of problems..'

Entering the Twilight Manor, the group headed directly to Loki's room. Knocking, he waited until Loki asked

"Who is it?"

Opening the door, She saw the three looking at her. Understanding that something had happened, she let them enter the room.

"Someone spread rumours about me. Is there something you can do to help us?"

Thinking about it for a moment, She smiled mischievously

"There is a way...but are you brave enough to let this happen..?"

Without hesitation, Ethan replied

"I want to stop people from creating rumours about me and causing me problems. If the plan you have can help me, I'll do everything I can to make it work"

Seeing his determination, Loki laughed, saying

"It's not that easy but, If you can find a way to expose the situation as you want it to be exposed, people might believe you instead of the various voices. You need to talk for yourself. The second option is to make me clear the misunderstanding in the Denatus, this would stop most of the rumours. What do you choose?"

Looking towards the ground, Ethan thought about it for a moment.

'I need to do it for myself or else people will surely believe I'm making Loki defend me.'

Finding even more determination, he said

"I'll do it myself, otherwise people won't believe in me"

Nodding, Loki replied

"It's the best thing you can do"

Seeing him exit the door, Loki looked at the two other people in the room.

"You should go and help him. Although he needs to speak for himself, you can still provide support"

Hearing this, they thought about it for a moment before leaving the room.

Shaking her head, Loki knew such a situation would happen, the fact was that the news spread too fast.

'There are still people against you in my familia, Ethan. I will see how you will go against them'

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)

(Alternate Titles: "Plot Twist: what if the real event was just a gossip from the author?","Ethan: Call me speedy boi from now on","Lefiya when she sees Ethan's magic: SUGOI!!")