To paint upon a girl's naked back

With the canvas prepared, Theo could finally move on to the second step of the process, the part where he actively built the foundation for Tia's enlightenment.

Or, in layman terms, a part of the process where he created a physical manifestation of the concepts that would be tackled in the next step.

For now, though, Theo picked up a sharp-headed brush of soft spot before dipping it into the other vial - the one with just the ordinary ink.

"Now, I'm going to start painting over your back, so be prepared for the cold touch," he muttered in the same, monotone voice as before.

Yet, as soon as Theo raised his brush, even before he could properly press its soft, ink-wet tip against Tia's skin…

She twitched.

Maybe out of the anticipation, maybe out of the fear or maybe out of the anxiety of whether she would twitch or not.

Either way, if Theo was even half a second faster, the whole process would end up in shambles, forcing him to start over.