Missunderstanding

Theo released a heavy sigh before pushing his arms forward and then striking with his shoulder blades against the wall. Thrown forward by his own attack against the innocent wall, Theo used the momentum to walk away towards a small stash that he left before calling out to the girl.

It was one of the many small bags that he busied himself with in his own room over the last few days.

"First thing first, there is absolutely nothing special or wrong about you. There is no hidden meaning behind your breakthrough taking place before anyone else," Theo spoke as he pushed his hand into the pouch and molested its insides for a bit in search of a certain jar. "Your body just happened to be more inclined towards taking this first step."

Theo finally fished out what he was looking for and raised his eyes back at the girl.

By now, Tiana was once again looking over her shoulder. In the short window of time that Theo's attention was away, she opted to raise her arms, after all, and press them tightly against her chest. Yet, the only thing she achieved by doing so was how her breasts now spilled over to the sides, allowing Theo a delicious sight even while he stood behind her.

"The first step of cultivation is all about the ability to sense the presence of spiritual energy. The second step, however, is all about absorbing this energy into one's blood," Theo said, his face taking on a thoughtful, absent look.

The young man remained silent for a few moments before shaking his head and lowering his eyes back to the girl's face.

"Because of how easy it was for you to take the first step, it's only logical that taking a second one would be more challenging," Theo explained, seemingly changing the topic.

Then, he raised a small jar that he brought up and dangled it in the air, forcing the girl's eyes to follow the movements of the container.

"Thankfully, your master is a kind person who doesn't like to see his disciples eaten away by stress and pressured by a self-inflicted responsibility," Theo grinned, properly naming the two things that ate away at Tiana's soul.

Am I worthy? Wasn't my success just a fluke? Did I unknowingly take some sort of a shortcut? Am I nothing more but a cheat not even aware of my fraud?

This kind of thought poisoned Tiana's thoughts. On one end, they forced her to train even harder than her peers. But on the other hand, they only made it harder for her to focus on sensing the spiritual energy!

"The second step of cultivation is about infusing spiritual energy into your blood. But as you still struggle to properly sense it, it's not a feat you are capable of."

"I…" Tiana opened her mouth. She then kept them open for a moment, hesitating whether to speak up or not. "Am I a burden to you, teacher?" she then asked.

Her arms relaxed a bit, her eyes once again locked on the floor. The overwhelming sense of insecurity and worthlessness overwhelmed her soul.

"Oh, come on!" Theo called out, rolling his entire head instead of just his eyes. "Do you really think I conducted this entire lecture just to put you down?!"

Theo's slightly raised voice caused the girl to twitch. She then warily looked in the direction of the rooms where her fellow disciples slept, as if worried they would wake up and thus bear witness to her sorry state.

Aware of the girl's anxiety, Theo closed his mouth and then waited for some time.

Tiana visibly breathed out a sigh of relief when all the doors remained shut even after some time passed. Then, she suddenly realized that her teacher was still in the middle of his lecture!

Startled by her own inattentiveness, she rocked her head over her shoulder again… only to see Theo patiently waiting for her to pay attention again.

"I said everything that I did not to put you down, but because I can help you a bit."

This time, Theo opted to use simple words. He wanted his message to be as clear as possible, because he found another way to forcefully make the girl tense up… only to then make her relax at the expense of a momentary awkwardness.

"T-teacher…" Tiana uttered, her eyes filling with strange sparks. Her voice also changed and so did her wording.

Theo's disciples called him master for the most part, but there were times when they would replace this title with the teacher.

This time, however, there was a sense of burning passion and devotion in the way Tiana uttered this single, simple word.

"There is one problem, though," Theo suddenly added, raising his free hand to scratch his ear with a complicated expression surfacing on his face.

"Teacher… No, master!" Tiana swung around on her stool, ignoring the state of her clothes and staring right at Theo's face. Her entire body was trembling, and judging by the specific muscles that danced under her skin, she tried her best to fall down to her knees… Only to fail to move an inch due to how tired she was. "Anything…" Tiana whispered, a look of desperation and determination mixing in her eyes.

'It's lovely to have her trust me like that,' Theo thought, flattered by the devotion written all over the girl's face.

"Theoretically, I'm a second-stage cultivator myself. As such, while I cannot forcefully make you one, I can induce the flow of spiritual energy in your blood," Theo explained the idea. He then raised the jar in his hand to bring it to the girl's attention. "For that, I first need to apply this paste to your skin, as close to your heart as possible."

Tiana's face tensed up a little. Once again she threw a glance down at her own chest, only for her blush to return to her cheeks with double the intensity.

"Then, I need to actually rest my palm on that spot," Theo added in a meek, soft voice while desperately avoiding the girl's eyes with his own.

Tiana gulped her saliva down. She then took a deep breath and gritted her teeth.

She closed her eyes and breathed in and out once again. Then, as she pried her eyes open, she pulled her arms away, giving Theo free access to her chest.

"H-here…" she whispered in a shaky voice, a single tear forming in the corner of her determination-filled eyes.

Theo turned his sight to the girl before giving a glance at the area she was now openly exposing.

His face darkened a little as he slowly raised his eyes to the girl's face.

Theo even allowed a distant echo of disappointment to flash in his eyes.

"A place as near your heart as possible," he then slowly repeated what he said just a moment ago.

Theo took a deep breath before looking at the girl with a complicated look on his own face.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I actually meant your back."