When our eyes meet, my disciple immediately hides behind the tree, and I feel her mana reaching towards me, examining me. She does it carefully, extremely so.

I think, out of all of the people I’ve met up until now, she has the most covert method of sensing another person’s mana. Her probing is almost unnoticeable, just a whisper in a hurricane. I try to replicate it and examine her as well, but I can tell she has defenses in place, guarding against her own techniques, so I ease off.

Sure, I could still do it, but there is no need to freak her out.

Instead, I continue to recline on the grass, enjoying the warm rays of sunlight on my skin and the slight breeze; the weather is really nice.

Her probing stops, and she continues to observe from her hiding place, so I open my system messages.

Train and protect your disciple.

A disciple was chosen from the tutorial database, this disciple was chosen for their similarities to you. There is much to be gained. Tread carefully!

Killing your disciple is not allowed and will be punished severely.

The longer your disciple stays alive, the bigger your rewards for this Floor quest will be.

There is nothing on my disciple; there are no stats, no information about her.

Maybe it’s on purpose? The words over her head say "disciple" and nothing of her level or class. Is this meant to encourage me to bond with my disciple, in good faith or poor, and learn these things from her?

The system puts a lot of emphasis on the word "disciple," so it's probably some sort of preparation for the future, as I predicted.

The system also said that my disciple was summoned from a database. So that probably means this Floor was created as a “playground” for her and I.

I look towards the tree again, and my silly disciple is still hiding. I'm extremely curious, and I want to inquire about her race, traits, skills, and level, all that good stuff. But I know if I do so right away, I will just scare her even more. So, I just close my eyes and wait.

It takes almost thirty minutes before I hear soft steps and the sound of water; it sounds as if someone is drinking straight from the lake.

Then there is another period of silence and a few more steps, heading my way; they are extremely careful and soft. The girl stands over me now, and through sheer force of will, I do not open my eyes.

Damn, I hope she hasn’t pulled out a dagger to finish me off. There’s still blood on my clothes from my wounds, so maybe she will because of fear.

Actually, wouldn't that be a funny way for me to go?

Okay, okay, let's calm down. I'm in too good a mood from my “successful” rounds of testing.

Then I almost start when I feel a wet touch on my forehead, but I still hold myself back.

The little girl with her tiny horns and blood red eyes continues her task. Gradually, as I realize what that is. She is using a piece of cloth she’s dipped in water to wipe the blood from my face.

Unable to resist any longer, I slowly open my eyes without looking at her; instead, I stare at the sky.

She hesitates, before continuing, “Does it hurt?” she whispers in a soft voice.

Her face stays close to emotionless the entire time as I watch her with my peripheral vision. She is careful to control her expression, very much so. And it’s an act.

She’s not doing this now because she’s worried about me. No, she is doing this to look innocent in my eyes, to get on my good side, and to gain favors. It's a simple, calculated move. The actions of one who’s been hurt over and over again and can’t trust people, so she pretends. To survive and to not get hurt.

I don’t find it repulsing; no, not at all. I find it endearing.

I turn my head, and my eyes meet hers. Just for a short moment, we look into each other's eyes before she turns her gaze away.

“Please, don’t hurt me,” she whispers.

Even these words are calculated, to maximize pity. Yet they are real all the same, the bruises on her body are proof of that. Her arms are pale and thin, her clothes are made of extremely cheap material, and she has no shoes.

I don't answer. Even if I tell her I won’t, she will only pretend to trust me and expect it all the same. Things like this are best proven with action, not words.

Carefully, to not scare her, I sit up and face her, taking the opportunity to examine her a bit more.

Her horns are smaller than my pinkie; her eyes are deep red. When light shines on them, they become even more vibrant. They are pretty and contrast beautifully with her brown hair.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

She examines me as well, fixating on my contrasting eyes. For some reason, they fascinate her, but she doesn't ask about them.

“I was told that you would be my master and I your disciple. The voice told me that you would help me become stronger.”

Oh? Did she get a system message? Did the system pretend to be some godlike being and talk in her head? Or has she been programmed to think that?

“Okay, so how about this? You won't lie to me. If you don't want to answer my question, you don't have to, you just can't lie. In exchange, I won't lie to you.”

I know this conversation might be too heavy for someone this young, but if she is anything like me, this should be reasonable.

She carefully considers this, and nods.

Somehow, I find it cute. Her face trying to hide emotions, the tiny horns poking from her head, and her red eyes.

“Next, I will become your master. I will train you and help you become stronger. I will make sure no one hurts you and that you have as much food as you need.”

Her expression immediately breaks revealing her suspicions, before she puts a small fake smile on her face.

“Yes, please!” she shouts, adding emotion to her voice.

Even knowing she’s putting on a mask, while trying to hold on to some hope, I almost fall for it.

“It won't be free obviously. You will have to tell me about your skills, class, and stats, and answer some questions for me — other than ones you won't want to.”

“I... will do so,” she nods, and this time I can tell she is a bit more serious.

Of course, good things don't come for free, so she feels more comfortable when she has to do something for them.

“What is your name?”

The little girl looks at me, eyes wide open. A hint of surprise and fear in them.

Carefully, she opens her mouth to lie, but then, looking at me, she whispers, “I don't want to tell.” Her voice is extremely weak, and I watch her squint her eyes, her body tensing, expecting a blow.

She could try to lie, but she decided to take a chance and uphold our newly formed pact. It's mostly childlike naivety and I can't see it as anything else, no matter how hard I try.

“I see, that's fine,” I answer.

Her body stiffens even more, and her eyes blink up, our eyes meeting for a second.

“I don’t know your customs, can you tell me why you can’t let me know your name?”

“It’s forbidden,” she answers.

I decide not to push any more, “Okay. Are you hungry?”

This time she perks up even more, finally letting herself eye the pile of things I left near the lake. Materials, clothes, food, mana stones, valuables, everything I looted... everything I brought from the fourth floor. There’s plenty there.

“Yes, please... master.”

I stand up, my body healed, but aching, yet I do not regret a thing. Something tells me that what I just did with the black mana was a bit, just a little bit dumb. But I'm sure 1st floor or 2nd Floor Nathaniel would try the same without hesitation. Both of them were risk-takers. Hell, 3rd floor Nathaniel and his kinetic mana heart would probably do the same, so I can't be left behind by those weirdos.

I will totally try it again as soon as possible. Well, maybe after upgrading my kinetic mana heart. I wanted to do it before my disciple came, but well… stuff happened.

Taking a few more steps, I go through the pile of stuff. Unfortunately, there are no clothes that would fit her, but I scroll through the system shop and find some, as expected, but they cost 30 shards, almost as much as uncommon gear.

It looks like the system is trying to make me a few shards lighter.

When I buy them, I pretend to grab them from the pile and set them in front of her. The clothes are simple, but the material feels nice. A white shirt, brown pants, and even some shoes. Nothing to sing about, but even that seems to greatly surprise the little horned creature.

“They are yours, according to our deal. Please wash first,” I grab one of the towels I bought with me, “I will go scan the area so you will have some privacy.”

Before she can react, I use kinetic energy to push myself into the air, higher and higher.

High up, I take a deep breath while keeping myself afloat at the spot.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - This floor quest sucks, I don’t know how to deal with kids.

Izzy (Hell, group 4) - My disciple is almost as old as me!

Oh boy, I did not think of that at all.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Are you ok?

Izzy (Hell, group 4) - Yes! It's fun! My disciple is really cute, and her hair is blue and keeps floating around like fire. I want that too!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - How did Soph handle you getting separated?

Izzy (Hell, group 4) - I think she almost cried, hehe, but Soph is dumb sometimes! I can keep myself safe, and I have Noodle with me, he will protect me too!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Still, don’t do anything stupid.

Izzy (Hell, group 4) - I’ve already heard it from everyone else （＞д＜）

Well, it looks like Lily is teaching Izzy how to use emoticons… nice.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Archdeer meat.

I say the password in the message.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Please don’t tell me you also have a disciple.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food!

What the hell.

At this point, I'm not even surprised, instead, I'm extremely curious. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to get an answer.

Seeing that no one else seems to be joining, I exchange a few more messages with the two youngest members of group 4 and turn off the Community.

Still floating high in the air, I reposition myself to lie on my back.

The air here is colder, and the wind is stronger, but the view is amazing, and I really enjoy the feeling of it. Things like this keep reminding me how much everything has changed over the past year, and I love it. All these powers and options that have opened to me and expectations of more in the future.

Lulled by the wind, I spend a few more minutes like this before deciding to land back on the ground.

The little red-eyed girl is already sitting there in her new clothes, clean, but still bruised. The towel is carefully hung on the branch nearby, and I notice that she even cleaned the branch a bit to not dirty the towel.

All the food I left for her to eat is still there, untouched. My disciple just sits there in front of the food, stomach growling, eyes flicking at it, not daring to touch it without my express permission.

“Starting now, you can take any food I have or water and eat it anytime you want, without asking me,” I say.

Her pupils expand, yet she still doesn't take it; instead, she looks at me, surprise apparent on her face.

She is still suspicious, I see.

With a sigh, I make my voice a bit haughty, “It would be annoying to have you constantly asking for food,” I say, knowing this is reasoning she would accept more.

This time it seems to work, and she nods, immediately grabbing a few pieces of fruit and slowly nibbling on them.

For a short moment, a happy smile crosses her face as she tastes the sweet fruit, and she grabs another piece.