Ex-Machina in Dimensional Travel

"Affirmation: Her talent is exceptional, and her learning efficiency is high."

"Yes, Teacher, you've been teaching her different Magic almost every day lately."

"Speculation: Her learning speed is very fast. Learning a single spell does not take much time."

"Conclusion: Therefore, I chose to teach her more Magic."

Takuson poked at the chunks of meat on his plate with his fork, glancing at Xiu Er's face from time to time.

"But wouldn't that mean most of your time has been spent on that, Teacher?"

"Wouldn't it interfere with your other work?"

"Negation: Even during instruction, my monitoring of the city's condition has not been hindered. The possibility of error is 0%."

"Lately, I feel like I've become stronger again."

"..."

Xiu Er's eyes shifted from the window to Takuson, brightening his mood somewhat.

"Inquiry: Do you wish to unlock permission to challenge the 'Virtual Combat Arena'?"

Takuson had yet to successfully challenge the Virtual Combat Arena's highest difficulty, according to Xiu Er.

The Battle Arena was divided into easy, normal, difficult, extremely difficult, and hell difficulty levels.

The monsters' stats within were, respectively, 25%, 50%, 100%, 200%, and 500% of the original versions.

And Takuson had still never successfully defeated the Final BOSS on hell difficulty.

It should be noted that hell difficulty had actually been added later, after Takuson grew stronger and successfully cleared Extremely hard difficulty. Xiu Er had updated it then.

"Ah, there's no rush for that right now."

The moment he heard that, Takuson's face instantly twisted into an expression of constipation-like misery, and he hurriedly denied it.

"Is that so?"

Xiu Er looked out the window again, returning to her previous state.

But after she turned away, she suddenly noticed that Takuson's expression had visibly fallen.

What's wrong with this child?

With that question in mind, Xiu Er chose to ask directly.

"Inquiry: Your mood suddenly declined. What happened?"

"Uh, no, Teacher, you don't need to mind it."

Startled by Xiu Er's question, Takuson's fork slipped from his hand and stabbed straight into the table beside him. His face clearly showed "panic."

Hmm?

Seeing this, Xiu Er immediately began analyzing Takuson's earlier words.

Could he have been injured during training?

No. Under my monitoring, I would definitely know if he had been injured. Besides, this child was not someone who would become upset over something like that.

Then what else could it be?

The instant she traced things back to the beginning of the conversation, an answer appeared in her mind.

"Inquiry: Are you jealous of Volumen?"

Seeing the even more flustered expression on his face, Xiu Er finally confirmed the answer.

So that was it. He was jealous of Volumen's talent?

Having analyzed that far, Xiu Er instantly understood everything.

That made sense. After all, this child had also been quite interested in Magic over the years.

Unfortunately, having chosen to become a warrior, he had deviated from the path of a Magic User from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, after Xiu Er spoke those words, Takuson's face became drenched in cold sweat.

At that moment, his mind went blank.

But since Teacher understood his situation, she would probably do something next, right?

After all, over these past years, Takuson had always believed that his teacher, Xiu Er, would never truly abandon him, her disciple.

"Reminder: Individual differences result in different strengths. Takuson, you do not need to envy her."

"Conclusion: With the physical capabilities of a warrior and monk combined, your probability of defeating Volumen within one hundred meters is as high as 98%. No matter how she grows, that cannot be changed."

Xiu Er did not know how to comfort people, but she knew what to say.

In a situation like this, she only needed to directly explain the other person's strengths and differences from Volumen. After all, he had felt the gap between himself and her in this field. Xiu Er could understand that mindset.

Yet strangely enough, after hearing her comfort, Takuson's expression froze in an instant?!

Huh?!

What was wrong now?

Could my analysis have been wrong?

At that moment, Xiu Er doubted herself for the first time.

The Impending Attack

Looking at Takuson, whose expression had become even worse, Xiu Er was at a loss for a moment.

What was going on?

Could my analysis have been wrong?

No, impossible. I must have overlooked some factor.

Ah.

"Inquiry: Are you lonely?"

She hit the nail on the head.

This question from Xiu Er immediately made the disciple across from her blush bright red.

"Mm... well, uh..."

Takuson scratched the back of his head, something he did whenever he was nervous, embarrassed, or shy. Xiu Er had recorded all of those habits.

"Inquiry: When you trained before, I did not accompany you either, correct?"

"Supplement: Even after I began teaching beside Volumen during this period, the amount of time I spent in contact with you remained the same as before."

Originally, Xiu Er had considered Takuson a reassuring child. So whenever he went out to train or do anything else, she never followed him.

Moreover, the tracker placed on him allowed her to monitor her disciple's location and physical condition in real time.

Generally speaking, Xiu Er would at most send a Doppelganger to follow him during examinations.

So on the surface, she did not actually spend much time with Takuson.

And all of that had begun because Xiu Er had trusted him.

Yet now, it seemed this child was not as reassuring as she had imagined.

"But that's not... what I meant."

Although Takuson looked like an almost mature fifteen-year-old boy, his heart was actually as fragile as that of an ungrown child.

The strength he had shown in the past had all been forced out of him by various circumstances.

Especially after spending several years with Xiu Er, his heart had been liberated once again. He had removed his outward disguise and regarded Xiu Er as his emotional pillar, someone he could rely on.

That also made him act more like a child in front of Xiu Er.

To borrow the classic words of a famous figure:

"Teacher Xiu Er is someone who could become my mother!"

But now, because of Volumen's arrival, Takuson had suddenly become worried.

He feared that Xiu Er would abandon him and give more of her attention to Volumen.

That thought was actually quite unreasonable. First of all, he himself understood that his teacher would never say she was abandoning him. That was a promise she had personally made years ago.

But that did not stop him from feeling a sense of crisis.

Because of that, he had trained even harder lately, yet he had not received any more attention.

And now, while Volumen was absent during mealtime, he had been seized by a moment of foolishness and wanted to quietly hint at it to Xiu Er.

Teacher, please pay a little more attention to me. I'm your first disciple.

That was probably what he meant.

In front of Xiu Er, Takuson would always become a child lacking security. It was not as though Xiu Er had never noticed, but she had once believed that things would improve once he grew older.

Unfortunately, she had been wrong. By overlooking the child's feelings, she had caused Takuson to become overly fixated on this matter.

Xiu Er would not avoid it.

Since that was what he was worried about, she could simply explain the reason plainly and eliminate his concerns in the most direct and efficient way possible...

When Xiu Er and Takuson walked out of the restaurant, the anxiety on his face had already vanished completely.

It seemed Xiu Er's counseling had worked.

Under Xiu Er's straightforward explanation, without any roundabout phrasing, Takuson finally realized that he had been overthinking things.

And knowing that he could not cause trouble for his teacher, Takuson quickly sorted out his emotions.

He had only been worried that his place in Teacher's heart was unstable. It was not some major issue.

Besides, there were more important matters ahead.

"Notification: Takuson, the target group has appeared on the outskirts."

This was the fourth day after the misunderstanding had been resolved. Early that morning, Xiu Er pried open Takuson's room door.

While he was startled awake and hurriedly putting on clothes, Xiu Er spoke those words.

In that instant, Takuson's eyes sharpened. Not even caring that he had not put on his pants yet, he hurriedly sought more information.

"How many are there?"

"Answer: According to the intelligence, there are twenty-three in total: fifteen Magic Users and eight Warriors."

Takuson pinched his chin and began considering a response.

"Are only the two of us engaging them?"

Though he knew the city guards would surely learn of the situation soon enough, it might not be possible to wait for reinforcements.

And when facing Demons, those guards might not be of much use anyway.

However, just as Takuson was considering a battle plan, the next sentence extinguished his enthusiasm.

"Rebuttal: Not 'we,' but I."

"Huh?"

"Reminder: I know your concerns, but I have already gathered all information on those Demons. There is no need to worry."

Seeing his teacher about to leave, Takuson disregarded his still-unworn pants and hurriedly ran to the doorway.

"Teacher, are you serious? Do you really not need my help?"

That made Xiu Er, who had already walked halfway away, stop and turn around.

"Inquiry: What can you help me with? In a one-on-one situation, you may possess the means to fight a Demon, but once their numbers increase, your probability of victory becomes exceedingly slim."