"Want anything to drink, Mei?"
"No, I'm okay."
"No need to be shy. You're staring daggers at this hot chocolate."
"N-No, I'm not."
Shaking my head playfully, I gave her the mug of hot chocolate in my hands. I didn't really want it anyway. It was only made because I figured she would be too shy to ask for anything. Very similar to yesterday, but it wasn't like I could expect her to change so quickly.
"T-Thank you." She timidly grabbed the mug. A thin smile formed on her face, making me feel like I did a good job.
Sitting down next to her on the couch, I asked her about the knowledge she received after we separated.
"What kinds of things did you learn?"
Her eyes lit up, "I made friends with all kinds of butterflies! There was Sparky, Windy, Rocky... Rocky didn't like moving too much. And there was Firey and Watery! Sparky made my hair go poof! Windy liked playing pranks... Watery was very calming and Firey liked running into Sparky!"
'Pfft~, she's so adorable!'
Patting her head, I listened more as she continued without any ounce of shyness. She clearly loved magic more than I originally thought.
"We played together but then they all tackled me! Then my body felt really weird... it was super cold then it was super hot and it kept going. Now, I feel really weird right here." She pointed at her sternum. This was where the mana core was stored within the body; it acted as a second heart which would definitely feel weird if you didn't plan on the feeling.
"That's your mana core, Mei! It lets you use magic."
"Really?! I tried calling my little friends after but they never came out..." Her little head sank, remembering her failure.
"That's probably normal. Did anything else happen?"
"Hmmm? Oh yeah! There's these two books in my head but I didn't understand them."
"Really?"
"Yeah! One of the pages says 'move and adapt like water' but how can I do that? Water isn't alive, so how can it move?"
"Bahahaha~ it doesn't mean that, Mei. It's just saying to not force things. Can you move any weird energy?"
"Yeah!"
"Good! Now let it flow naturally and imagine water filling up your bath or something similar."
"Okay?" She closed her eyes and lifted her right hand outward. Soon, a faint bluish aura surrounded her body and within that same instance—
Drip~Drip~
Water hit the floor, soon turning into a tiny puddle.
"Good job! You did it on your first try!"
I pinched her little face, making her open her eyes. The water stopped coming but proof of her abilities still existed.
"The little waterflies came out!"
"That's great! Let's try the others!"
"Hm!"
The two of us spent the next 30 minutes going through the other elements. Little Mei was easily able to produce results with only a few words from me.
'She's super talented.'
That thought settled in the moment I watched her switch elements without hesitation.I leaned back slightly, letting the reassurance sink in.
'With talent like this, I have no doubt that her future is going to be limitless.'
The thing I had to worry about most now was making sure no one took advantage of her!
"Big brother, how can I do the cool stuff on TV?"
Seeing her so excited warmed my heart. This was exactly what I wanted her to be like all the time.
"All it takes is practice. Every morning, do what we just did and I'm sure you'll be able to." I took out the C-grade Water Barrier Art — a blue scroll— then added, "Here, take this and see if you feel anything."
Her little hands took the blue scroll and the instant she gripped it, the scroll vanished.
'What the hell?!'
[No need to worry.]
'What happened?'
[Something you might've overlooked when digesting the knowledge from yesterday is that the people in this plane receive skill stones. I operate on a higher dimensional fabric so the way I give you things is different compared to here.]
'If that's the case then did she get it as a skill stone or a scroll?'
[A skill stone.]
'Nice to know.'
I watched as the familiar blue light of water mana surrounded Meiomi's body. The faint illusion of a semi-circular water barrier forming around her. The barrier soon expanded out, covering the couch, then it turned into real water!
[As expected.]
'Hm?'
[Her talents far exceed even the greatest genius in the plane. She's even comparable to those from ***** world.]
'I mean duh. How else would she be easily accepted as a disciple otherwise. You were the one who said I got lucky!' I replied, ignoring the strange static from the latter half of the system's words. If I couldn't hear it, then it was likely omitted because I was too weak.
[Touche.]
The water barrier dispersed after a few more seconds. Meiomi's breathing became disordered with sweat falling down her face.
"T-Ha~-That was proper magic! Hehe~" She kicked her feet and jumped into my chest, hugging me as tight as she could.
"Yep!" I hugged her back gently and listened to the system's notification.
[You've invested a C-grade Water Barrier Art.]
[Would you like to calculate return?]
'Do it.'
[You've scored a 10x return!]
[You've received the B-grade Tortoise Dispersion Art.]
'Figures it would be another water art.'
I pulled out a deeper blue scroll this time. Its design was simple yet artistic, but it was unfortunate that I was the only one who could appreciate such things. The people of this plane dealt with boring skill stones instead.
"Mei, take this one as well."
Her hands jumped at the scroll and like before, it vanished the moment the two made contact. Unlike before though, no water aura surrounded her, but instead it was simply calm.
[You've learned the B-grade Tortoise Dispersion Art.]
[Would you like to calculate return?]
'Let's do it again!'
[You've scored a 25x return!]
[You've received the middle A-grade: Black Tortoise Dispersion Art.]
[Also, please note that giving your disciple too many things out of her current league will be more detrimental than a benefit.]
'You mean to say that she wouldn't be able to use the skill?'
[Correct.]
'Alright then. I'll just give it to her when she's ready.'
[That's the smartest thing to do, or you can sell it.]
'Pfft~, you must be kidding. Anything related to the five elements, my little sis was going to get.'
[Don't even act like your motives are completely selfless. You're just trying to see if you can get stuff for your four supreme elements, aren't you?]
'So what. I help Mei in the process, so it's being selfish in a good way.'
[True, but it does seem a little ridiculous when you try to phrase it like you're so selfless.]
I shrugged and continued waiting for Mei to finish. The system actually gave me an idea on how I can speed up Meiomi's growth!