There was unmistakable contempt in her voice when she spoke of the Academy. Her gaze drifted to the android, noticing how Anastasia was actively shielding it with her power — otherwise, the construct would have disintegrated within seconds in this environment.
The disdain in her eyes deepened.
But Anastasia waved a finger dismissively.
"What do you know?" she countered with a huff.
"This is completely different from those brittle puppets made by the old geezers in the Academy. It's not one of their other failed prototypes too — it was developed entirely by my disciple!"
She crossed her arms.
"And for your information, my disciple is from a small world that hasn't even undergone its first evolution. Do you really think the Academy dogs would bother going there?"
Rhea fell silent for a moment, considering those words.
Then she gave a quiet nod.
"…Well. That does make sense."
A small pause followed — then she glanced back at Anastasia, her tone softening slightly.
"Anyway," she said, "tell me more specifically. How did you meet him?"
Anastasia didn't even hesitate.
And from the way Anastasia's voice lit up, one would think she wasn't recounting how she met her disciple… but describing a love story.
That's how passionately she spoke.
And the more Rhea listened, the more her brows began to draw together. Something felt… off.
"Are you sure you're not being taken advantage of?" she suddenly interrupted, her voice dry.
Anastasia's eyes narrowed. "Who do you think I am?"
"A pushover half-dwarf?" Rhea replied bluntly, arms crossed beneath her breasts, that defied gravity, the twin curves proudly rising and falling with each breath, like they were mocking physics itself.
Anastasia glared at her, biting her lip in frustration. Her eyes, despite her will, couldn't help but flick downward for a brief moment… drawn to those maddeningly perfect meat bags. But in the end, she forced herself to settle on Rhea's face — that smug, self-satisfied face.
She swore — one day, when she had the strength, she was going to spank that woman's smug face straight into the floor. But for now, she held her tongue.
And with a sharp breath, she changed the topic.
"Anyway, my disciple seems to have some fondness for the shadow attribute. So give me a few strong shadow techniques."
Rhea tilted her head slightly, a flicker of curiosity passing through her dark, depthless eyes.
"You're not going to have him specialize in Fire or Time?"
Anastasia smiled softly. "He's someone who likes to dabble in many things. So I'll just give him everything."
Rhea gave her a flat look. "You know you shouldn't spoil your disciple like that, right? What's the point of strength if he always depends on his master?"
"And about his attribute preference… that's not the right mindset either. He'll need to choose a main attribute eventually. Dabbling can only go so far."
But Anastasia was unfazed.
"I train in two attributes, don't I? No, actually, if you count the other one, it might even be three."
Rhea chuckled dryly. "Come on now. From how you've described him, he doesn't even have a fraction of your talent. You do know he can't follow your path, right?"
Anastasia only smiled, clearly not taking her words seriously.
Seeing that, Rhea tried again, this time with a bit more practicality in her tone.
"I mean, he's still a mortal — first stage, at that. And for someone at that level, you should already have plenty of techniques that suit him. So why exactly do you need essence techniques from me?"
But again, Anastasia waved off her friend's logic.
"Even if he can't use them now, he can use them later," she said confidently.
"And he's someone who loves collecting techniques of all kinds. So as his master, I should help him gather even more!"
Rhea sighed, finally giving up on trying to inject reason into the woman in front of her.
With a flick of her wrist, a handful of black crystal slips materialized — dense, oppressive things, each wrapped in space-bending darkness. They floated gently toward Anastasia.
Anastasia laughed as she caught them eagerly — but she didn't stop there.
She extended her hand again toward Rhea and shamelessly said, "Now give me a gift for my disciple — as his master's dear friend."
Rhea blinked. "The essence techniques aren't enough?"
"Nope," Anastasia said cheerfully. "Those don't count."
The darkness-filled domain fell into momentary silence at her words.
For a second, the tension in the air sharpened, and it looked like she might just fling Anastasia out of her domain on the spot.
But… she sighed instead, then lazily flicked her finger.
Two items appeared midair:
One was a sleek black dagger, its surface etched with barely visible runes, sharp enough to make the space around it tremble.
The other — a delicate vial, holding an ink-dark liquid that shimmered strangely under the lack of light. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel·fıre·net
Anastasia's eyes immediately lit up.
She snatched both treasures with a grin and laughed. "Thank you for your generosity!"
Rhea only nodded, though her gaze lingered. It grew a little more solemn… a little more pointed.
And then, her voice came low and direct.
"When are you going to take the last step?"
Anastasia froze. She coughed, scratching at her hair, before answering awkwardly, "Well… even for a genius like me, that last step is still too hard."
"I haven't decided which path I should take it with either. So, it's… taking time."
They spoke a while longer after that — most of it Rhea calmly asking questions about Anastasia's progress, occasionally raising a brow at her lack of planning.
Until finally, Anastasia stretched and said, "Alright. I've got other business. I'll be going now."
Rhea was about to wave her off casually, but suddenly paused, narrowing her eyes as something occurred to her.
"…Don't tell me — you're planning to go and ask the others for techniques and gifts too?"
Anastasia, clearly unashamed, puffed out her chest — modest as it was compared to Rhea's — and smiled proudly.
"I mean, as his master, shouldn't I indulge my disciple properly?"
Rhea stared flatly at her.
'Are you really sure you're not being taken advantage of?' she thought again, resisting the urge to say it out loud.
In the end, she just let out a small sigh and made a mental note to visit this so-called "treasured disciple" someday soon.
She silently watched Anastasia go, her dark domain growing quieter once more.
And for a moment, Rhea's expression eased—like a weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders… even though the small twitch at her lips betrayed a different story.
That moment of peace didn't last long though.
Anastasia suddenly popped her head back in, voice as bright as ever.
"Oh, I almost forgot — can you bless the android with your power too?"
A vein nearly popped on Rhea's forehead. Her smile evaporated completely, replaced with pure exasperation.
But in the end… she still did it.
Despite everything, she bestowed a blessing far too precious on the scrap-metal contraption — just as Anastasia wanted — before finally waving her off in a shooing motion that could've knocked someone unconscious.