First advancement

Theo knew full well what kind of training regime he would put his disciples through ever since the day after he left the library. It was one of the many things that he planned in the few spare moments he had between running around to deal with his matters and running around to avoid those who would love to bully him a bit more.

That's why, when it came to gathering supplies for his disciples, Theo didn't skimp on getting a few sets of plain clothes for them.

Even though his situation was a lot different than the position his disciples would be, he was perfectly aware of just how prized of a possession their sect robe was. As such, making them train in those fancy yet not really comfortable clothes was a big no.

For this reason, rather than wearing thick and soft robes, all of his disciples switched over to simple, knee-long pants and thin shirts. It was the type of clothes that one would be comfortable sweating in as it wouldn't be that much of a loss if they were to break apart.

Yet, what Theo didn't anticipate, was how Tiana would wear those clothes. Or rather, while there was nothing wrong with her pants, she proved to be quite shameless for the world's standards when it came to her shirt.

In theory, she didn't do all that much. She simply rolled her shirt up all the way to the middle of her ribs, making it easier to alleviate the heat accumulated between the hot weather and all the warmth produced by her own body.

A simple yet genius solution to ignore the constant heat… yet quite the torture when it came to Theo observing her training.

The girl herself didn't voice even a single note of complaint when given the new orders. She simply put away the heavier weights she was using while doing squats and used the lighter ones while sitting down to repeat all of the exercises Theo taught her.

Sitting only two to three meters away from the girl, Theo could see every last detail of her body. He could see how her biceps and triceps moved whenever she would carefully lift the weight. He could see how her abdominal muscles would tense up when she moved on to the next set of exercises… And he could only pretend not to see how her sweat-soaked clothes revealed nearly every last detail about the parts of her body that Tiana actually wanted to hide.

'I know she's yet to reach her maturity, but damn…' Theo thought as he struggled to focus on his actual task rather than enjoying the view. And with the girl stretching herself in every way possible right before his eyes, it took the entirety of Theo's willpower to keep his thoughts clear and focused.

The girl herself didn't seem to be bothered by Theo's intense, near-creepy stare. Save for the few moments when she grew self-aware of the situation that appeared as a blush coming out to her cheeks, she managed to keep herself focused on the exercise.

"Just as I thought…" Theo muttered once the girl finally completed all the sets that he wanted, allowing him to silently breathe a sigh of relief.

"Master?" Tiana muttered softly, tracing Theo's every move as he stood up and turned around.

"Don't mind me, you will understand it in a moment," Theo said as he moved towards the Inn's counter and whipped out one of the few empty scrolls that he had purchased in advance.

'How the hell did she advance so quickly?' Theo did his best to hide his shock behind an emotionless face as he prepared his writing utensils and started to put down instructions on the empty paper of the scroll. 'Is she some sort of genius?'

Despite how distracting it was to observe the girl, Theo's system helped him to see the situation quite damn clearly. Whenever the girl forced her body into stress, rather than relying just on its physical factor… her flesh would actually absorb the tiny amount of spiritual energy from the air around her, helping her muscles to complete the tiring tasks of the exercise!

Theo continued to write down the instructions on the paper for a while. Once finished, he put his goose's feather aside, paying no mind to how its tip dirtied the counter with the leftover ink. Instead, Theo threw a handful of fine sand on the fresh ink to help it dry out before raising the scroll and taking a quick look at it.

'With this chant…' Theo turned his eyes away from the scroll and back to Tiana's body.

Tiana blushed when she felt the intense, almost creepy stare of her master crawling over her entire body… yet rather than allowing her embarrassment to win, she clenched her jaws and stood steady, letting Theo eat her up with his eyes.

"Yeah, I think…" Theo spoke up only to move his eyes to the scroll and read his own writing for a moment before taking yet another look at the girl. He then breathed out before moving from behind the counter and approaching the girl properly before passing the scroll over.

"I believe this chant will be the best for you," he stated, allowing the girl some time to take a look at the gift.

"This is…?" the girl took a quick look at the scroll's content before raising her eyes back to her master.

"It's something that only a few people in the entire sect use," Theo announced. "A chant that's tailored to help you induce the reaction of the spiritual energy in your body, making it easier for you to learn how to sense it."

The entire room turned silent.

The rest of the disciples stopped their exercises, freezing on the spot as they all looked toward the duo.

Tiana's eyes turned wide as she alternated them between Theo's face and the scroll in her hands.

Theo kept the tension in the room high for a moment before finally dissolving it with a small smile.

"Congratulations," he said as he reached out and patted the girl on her shoulder. "It might only be a beginning, but you've officially become a cultivator!"