Going through the church path… to get divine power, and the ability to heal, was also a choice.
They were precious abilities, after all.
But him being royalty was an insurmountable barrier between him and the church, and it was too difficult… no, rather forbidden, for him to enter the church.
… But even if he was able to… Ellis doubted he would have chosen that path.
Priests and paladins were people who devoted themselves to God, after all.
… But who was this God?
Was it someone who wasn't really there, more like just a spiritual presence for its believers like back in his world? Or was it a real god… as in a truly powerful figure somewhere out there?
There were many suspicious points about the church for Ellis, and the last thing he wanted was to get entangled in something beyond his ability this early on.
He would naturally have loved to gather information about them in the meantime if it were possible, or even walk their path on his own… but that was also not possible, as they were secretive about their training methods, aside from how it's said that it requires faith.
Even his royal library, which had a considerable number of books, had just a few about the church, its history, or its exact power.
So, putting this unavailable choice aside… what remained was just knights!
Knights… aside from how they naturally trained their bodies, what were they exactly, at their core?
They were swordsmen who utilized Aura.
Like mages, they also had nine ranks, and their rank was determined by how much they had developed and were able to handle the said Aura.
Two key words here: swordsman and Aura.
For Ellis… who, actually, doesn't plan to stick to any path, be it mages or knights and just wants to be strong… just wants something that will accompany him and not be gone even if he died, these two words were important.
Like how he created the two skills, Mana Bullet and Mana Barrier, through his knowledge and research on magic, Ellis intended to do the same thing this time.
He intended to take the important parts of any power system he came across to help him create the skills he needed.
Swordsmanship was something he could gain a skill in easily.
And Aura too should be possible!
… Was that really everything that made him decide on this way of handling things?
No.
There were still other reasons… one of them being that he wouldn't be able to invite any mage to come and teach him more methodically.
Mages were too arrogant, after all, in the Valemere Kingdom.
… But, even if he could, he probably wouldn't have done that anyway. He didn't want to be marked as someone who aimed for the throne, after all.
Anyway, there were many small reasons here and there, but… Ellis decided to stop thinking about these things and instead think about tomorrow.
He would start training tomorrow, after all.
But, while feeling the soft hand of Silas ruffling his hair, as he rested… relaxing with his head and eyes closed on her thigh… Ellis couldn't help but want to go through his goals once again.
If he could find the proper way to raise his constitution through the coming knight training, as in be able to create a skill related to that, nothing would remain from his short-term goals, after all.
… He still remembers the time when he thought he would be learning magic, and the excitement he felt at that time… only to end disappointed. So, a small part of Ellis was naturally keeping the possibility that reality wouldn't be like his thoughts already in the back of his mind.
But would it really be the same?
He didn't think so. At that time, he still didn't know anything about the power system of this world, but this time was different, after all.
Aside from how he had already read some books about knight training, and while they didn't explain much, he already got to confirm the thing he wanted from Silas.
A knight technique… or a technique that utilized Aura, really did exist.
It's just that this mansion was one that belonged to someone from the royal family… and they were people who disdained knights, after all.
So, the library just had a few books that were related to knights.
Ellis couldn't help but curse whichever member of the royal family had lived in this mansion in his mind… Had there been Aura techniques here, he would have already solved his problem, after all.
While shaking off these thoughts by focusing more on the delicate hand now resting on his cheek, Ellis thought that, no matter what, he was still on the right track.
So, he decided to go through his main goals in this world.
First, was naturally to become five years old safely.
And second, was… finding a way to bring Silas with him.
While thinking of this goal… this too difficult of a goal, Ellis couldn't help but open his eyes and look at Silas, at her soft expression while she was looking at him, full of affection… and that made him resolve himself even more.
He didn't want to abandon her!
Then there was his third goal… actually, there wasn't.
Well, if he had to say it, then becoming stronger and developing his skills, but that's it.
… As for finding a way to become stronger without dying, until a point where he could go to another world, on his own, and without relying on his ability Ephemeral Soul Genesis...
That was something too difficult. He didn't think he'd be able to do it.
And most importantly, if it ever reached a point where this world wouldn't offer anything more for him, he didn't think he would be able to just stay and slowly research his way out.
There were still his mother and sister on Earth, after all… and if possible he didn't want to let them wait too much.