Wizard: My career panel has no upper limit

Chapter 600 An Inseparable Love
The light dissipated.

Ron found himself standing in the center of a circular arena.

At the edge of the arena, a gigantic snake was coiled up.

Or, to put it another way, a snake that is devouring its own tail.

Its body is as thick as a city wall, and its surface is covered with scales as smooth as a mirror.

Each scale reflects a distorted starry sky and abyss, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry, as if it exists simultaneously in countless points of time and space.

The snake's head had bitten its own tail, forming a ring.

The ouroboros is a symbol in mysticism representing "eternal cycles," "the unity of beginning and end," and "closed systems."

It appeared before him at this moment in such a real and oppressive form.

Ron could clearly feel that the arena was slowly but steadily shrinking.

With each swallow of the ouroboros, the boundary moves inward a little bit.

The rhythm of the contractions was extremely regular, like the beating of a heart.

Every sixty seconds, the diameter of the arena decreases by a full one percent.

This means that if he does nothing, in about a hundred minutes the entire arena will shrink to zero, and he will be completely swallowed by the snake.

"Closed loop..."

Ron recalled the image Chloe had prophesied—the ever-shrinking ouroboros.

But what made him even more uncomfortable was yet to come.

The air in the center of the arena began to distort and condense.

Countless wisps of gray-black mist seeped from the air, spreading slowly like ink in water.

The fog gradually solidified, beginning to form a huge outline.

First, countless tentacles emerged from the mist.

Its surface is covered with a texture as soft as a baby's skin, yet it exudes a cold and hard metallic feel.

This contradictory tactile sensation can be transmitted to the observer's nerve endings through sight alone.

Then came the eyeballs, hundreds of them opening between the tentacles, their pupils a strange gray, as if gazing upon all the "possibilities".

This is a heavily weakened version of the [Battle Projection].

It possesses the iconic appearance of the "Eye of the Abyss" Nari:

Its enormous body is composed of countless tentacles as its backbone, with hundreds of eyeballs distributed among the tentacles, resembling a hybrid of some deep-sea behemoth and a star monster.

The difference is that this projection is entirely gray-black, as monotonous as deathly ashes.

Ron could sense that this projection lacked Nari's maternal tenderness, her constant urge to hug her child, and even the most basic "affection" had vanished.

Instead, only the pure, instinctive fighting spirit of a "born apostle" remains:

Ruthless, efficient, absolutely rational, and... despair-inducingly powerful.

Even though the power of this projection may be less than one-thousandth of that of Nari's original body, it has been weakened to the extreme.

But the fear that surged from the depths of his soul still froze Ron's blood like ice.

"This is the true power of a mother..."

Ron's voice was filled with undisguised shock.

He had seen Nari make her move, seen her effortlessly annihilate the First Apostle Magus's avatar, and seen her construct palaces with a wave of her hand...

But those displays were all conducted under the premise of "protecting themselves" and "indulging" others.

Nari had never shown the true killing intent of the [Born Apostle] in front of him.

But now, this projection has lost all emotion...

At that moment, all the hundreds of projected eyeballs turned towards Ron.

At that moment, he felt as if he had been seen through from head to toe.

Each eyeball is observing his different "states":
Some of his eyes are observing his "current location";
Some eyes were observing his "possible direction of movement";
Some eyes were observing his "mental fluctuations";
Some eyes were observing his "magic flow";
There were even some eyes observing his "intentions," "determination," "fear," and "hope"...

These eyeballs form a complete "observation network," locking down all of Ron's possibilities.

Immediately afterwards, the projection started moving.

Without any warning or prelude, a thick tentacle suddenly appeared, piercing through the spatial barrier and appearing directly three meters to Ron's side!
Ron activated [Local Time Slowdown] almost instinctively!
But the next second, he was horrified to discover that his invincible time manipulation ability had failed.

To be precise, the time manipulation was never successfully released.

The "time deceleration field" he constructed reacted like snowflakes falling into flames upon contact with the gray-black mist surrounding the projection.

It dissolved and disintegrated in an instant, without producing even the slightest obstruction.

"Chaotic force field..."

Ron's heart sank.

He finally understood the most terrifying aspect of this projection: an extremely dense layer of chaotic force field existed around it.

Within this force field, all spells or innate abilities based on "rules" will be automatically "deconstructed".

Whether it's time, space, or even the most basic elements, everything depends on the operation of certain "rules":

Flames need to burn, frost needs to freeze, lightning needs to be conducted...

But chaos is precisely the opposite of "rules".

It represents "disorder", "unpredictability" and "the collapse of logic".

Casting a spell in a chaotic field is like lighting a flame in a vacuum—it's simply impossible.

The opponent's tentative tentacles have already reached right in front of us!

"Acelia!"

Ron called out in his mind.

"I'm here."

A silver dragon shadow appeared, hovering behind Ron:
"Use [Dragon's Intimidation] to amplify it!"

"boom!"

An invisible pressure erupted like a tsunami.

The tentacles' offensive finally faltered for a moment!
Although it lasted less than half a second, and although the chaotic force field was still frantically eroding the oppressive effect, it was enough.

After all, it's just a constructed clone, not the main body, and therefore cannot be completely exempt from the extremely high priority of the dragon's language pressure.

Ron seized the opportunity and narrowly dodged to the side.

The tentacles grazed his shoulder, leaving a deep crack in the ground.

"I think I still need to remind you..."

Acelia's voice echoed in his mind:
"What you are facing now is essentially a manifestation of a 'concept' extracted from the 'Clown King'."

"Don't try to fight against concepts with 'force,' it's futile."

"What you need to do is understand the core logic of this concept, and then... find its 'paradox,' which is what the other party deliberately left for you."

Ron seemed to understand something, but before he could think about it deeply, a second, a third, a fourth tentacle... countless tentacles rained down from all directions!

He could only desperately dodge, his [Time-Knowing Eye] working frantically, trying to predict the trajectory of each tentacle.

But he soon discovered that predictions... were meaningless.

Because these tentacle attacks do not follow the conventional law of causality.

Sometimes, he could clearly see the tentacles "preparing to swing" dozens of meters away, but the "result of the attack" would already be on him first.

It felt like the "result" happened before the "cause," and the whole timeline was reversed.

Sometimes, he would successfully dodge the tentacles' sweeping attacks.

But the next second, the tentacle "never moved," it remained "still" in the air.

His body inexplicably appeared in the path of the tentacles' attack, as if he had "voluntarily" run into them.

This is the terrifying aspect of [innate chaos]:
It doesn't need to "follow" any rules; even the most basic laws like "time" and "causality" can be "redefined" in the face of chaos.

"Damn..."

Ron dodged more than a dozen attacks in succession, and several deep, bone-revealing wounds were already visible on his body.

The edges of those wounds were an eerie gray-black, as if something was eroding his flesh and preventing the wounds from healing.

He tried to use magic to forcibly remove these erosions.

However, as soon as the magic touched the gray-black area, it was "deconstructed" into the most primitive energy fragments. Instead of having a healing effect, it accelerated the spread of the erosion.

To make matters worse, the arena is shrinking.

With each swallow, the ouroboros shrinks its space, leaving it less and less room to dodge.

Just as he was about to be completely sealed off by the tentacles, he made a decisive decision:

"Carlos! Laira! Fenrir!"

Three beams of light tore through the air, transforming into three elite hounds that stood to Ron's left, right, and behind, forming a defensive triangle.

[Carlos] is composed entirely of silver-white light, and his eyes burn with the blue flames of reason.

It is the "commander" of the three-headed dogs, responsible for coordination and command.

【Laila】has a relatively slender build, and its fur is like flowing mercury.

Each breath releases a hallucinogenic mist that can distort the enemy's senses and create false illusions.

Fenrir is the largest of the three, standing five meters tall, and covered in fiery red scales.

It represents "time standstill," where everything around is forcibly dragged into a "slow" state.

As soon as the three-headed hound appeared, it immediately attacked Nari's projection.

Carlos let out a low growl, and the flow of time around him began to fluctuate violently, forming countless "time vortexes" in an attempt to interfere with the projection's actions.

Laila opened her mouth and spewed out a large cloud of psychedelic mist, which constructed dozens of illusions of "Ron" in the air, while simultaneously diverting some of the projected perceptions in the wrong direction.

Fenrir pounced directly at the projection, its claws imbued with the power of "time slowing," leaving eerie traces in the air with each swing.

The hundreds of eyes projected by Nari also sensed the strength of the attackers and turned to the three-headed hound.

A seemingly evenly matched battle is about to break out!
The "time vortex" constructed by Carlos did indeed begin to disintegrate after coming into contact with the projected chaotic force field.

However, this disintegration process is not completed instantly.

As elite hounds of the Dark Sun class, their constructed "time perturbations," while unable to completely suppress chaos, can maintain a certain degree of stability for a short period of time.

It's like using solid ice to fight fire—the ice will eventually melt, but before it melts, it can still lower the surrounding temperature.

"Om..."

The chaotic force field and the time force field collided violently.

At the boundary between the two, fine cracks began to appear in the space, and countless energy fragments burst forth like fireworks!

The projected tentacles were temporarily "fixed" during this confrontation, preventing them from freely traversing time and space as before.

Laira's psychedelic fog is also at work.

Although Nari's hundreds of eyes can "see through" most of the illusions.

However, when the number of illusions reaches dozens or hundreds, even Nari projections require additional "observation resources" to filter them.

Fenrir, as the berserker in the trio, poses the most direct threat with his attacks.

"boom!"

Fenrir's sharp claws slammed into the projected tentacles. Although the layer of gray-black chaotic aura was frantically eroding the hound, Fenrir's power was also "slowing down" the spread of chaos.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The projection emitted a sharp whistle that sounded like a baby crying.

Although the three hounds could not actually harm it, they were able to continuously disrupt its actions and delay its progress in "devouring" the target.

More tentacles burst forth from the projection, sweeping towards the three-headed hound like angry waves!

Seeing this, Carlos exchanged a glance with his master, who was not far away, and immediately understood.

It immediately began to adjust its tactics, no longer trying to "destroy" the projection, but focusing only on "delaying"...

Whenever a tentacle is about to touch Ron, Carlos will precisely construct a "time vortex" at that location.

Although it only delays the tentacle's attack for 0.1 seconds, that 0.1 seconds is enough for Ron to dodge.

Laila also changed tactics, and began to create the illusion of "projecting" the opponent's tentacles:

Countless tentacled phantoms of Nari projections appeared on the battlefield.

Although these phantoms crumble at the slightest touch, they can interfere with the "positioning" of the projection, forcing it to expend extra energy to distinguish "which one is its own tentacle" when attacking.

Fenrir transformed into a fiery red lightning bolt, moving at high speed across the battlefield, slowing down each time it passed the projected tentacles.

The three hounds worked together flawlessly; their aim was not to defeat the projection, but simply to buy as much time as possible!
Time passes minute by minute.

Three minutes... five minutes... ten minutes...

Although the projection attack remained fierce, it was unable to inflict a fatal wound on Ron due to the combined restraint of the three-headed hounds.

However, the consumption of the three-headed hound is also enormous.

The silvery-white light on Carlos's body began to dim.

Each time a "time vortex" is constructed, it consumes the source energy, and this energy cannot be recovered after being eroded by chaos; it can only be permanently lost.

The psychedelic mist exhaled by Laila grew thinner and thinner, and its body began to show signs of translucency.

Fenrir was covered in gray-black cracks, each crack radiating an aura of "disintegration".

"They won't last much longer..."

Acelia's voice echoed in his mind:
"At most five minutes later, the three-headed hound will be forcibly recalled due to excessive consumption of its essence."

"You must hurry and find a way to break this deadlock!"

Ron gritted his teeth, his brain racing.

Conventional attacks were ineffective, and the Time Hounds could only stall for time; the arena continued to shrink...

If he cannot find a way to break the deadlock, he will be completely trapped here for the next few tens of minutes.

Just then, he suddenly felt a warm sensation in his chest.

That's... the resonance of bloodlines?

At this moment, the bloodline of the Chaotic Ram Head was trembling, as if conveying some kind of information.

"It seems Nari is calling you. Go and see her."

Acelia's voice rang out:
“I will help the hounds continue to stall, you focus on establishing blood ties.”

"Remember what I said—what you need to look for is the 'paradox' of this concept!"

Ron took a deep breath and sank his consciousness into the depths of his bloodline.

The fifth level of the abyss, Nari's palace.

"Mom" was anxiously pacing around the hall, hundreds of eyes fixed on a crystal mirror.

The mirror vaguely reflected Ron's battle scene in the arena.

"my darling……"

Nari's voice was trembling with tears:
"Those bad people! They actually used your mother's image to hurt you..."

She could sense that her child was suffering immense pain, but she was unable to directly intervene in the assessment space.

The Golden Ring Trial is a closed trial set up by the School Alliance, and any external interference will be automatically rejected.

Kona, being "born chaotic," still managed to find an extremely tiny "loophole":
Through bloodline resonance, she can transmit "feelings" to Ron.

The sensation was extremely faint, like gently knocking through a thick wall; the other person could only hear a muffled "thump-thump" sound and couldn't understand its specific meaning at all.

But at least it can give him a "direction".

Nari concentrated all his mental energy and began to transmit a message to Ron through their bloodline.

She couldn't just "tell" him the answer—that would be detected as cheating by the assessment system.

But she could "hint" at him to "listen" to the projection.

Yes, listen.

Although the projection is cold and unfeeling, it is ultimately constructed using Nari as a "template".

This means that its core operating logic still follows some of Nari's "essential characteristics".

What is the most essential characteristic of Nari?
[Love that will never be separated].

Even if this projection is stripped of all emotion, the "concept" still exists.

It was just distorted, distorted into... [devouring].

“Honey, listen… listen to what it’s ‘saying’!”

Nari murmured softly, her tentacles gently pressing against the crystal mirror, transmitting this "feeling" through her blood vessels.

In the arena, Ron suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had suddenly realized something.

"listen……"

He stood still and initiated the deep listening function of "Understanding All Things".

This expert-level feature was originally intended to "listen" to the "heart" of the materials and understand their "stories".

But at this moment, Ron tried to use this ability on the Nari projection in front of him.

He cleared his mind of all distractions, allowing his spiritual energy to flow like water, and carefully touched the projection...

Then, he did indeed "hear" it.

It's not sound, nor words; it's a more abstract, more primitive "concept".

It keeps repeating, echoing, and expanding...

Love = Never to be separated = Must be together = If we can't be together, then become one = Embrace = Devour = Closed = Cycle...

This concept is like an infinitely looping Möbius strip, with no beginning and no end, only a morbidly distorted "repetition".

Ron finally understood.

At the heart of this projection is the King of Absurdity's distorted interpretation of Nari's concept of "motherly love":
A mother loves her child, so she wants to be with her child forever.

But what if the child wants to leave?
Then... swallow the child into your own body, so you can be "together forever".

This logic is pathological, yet it becomes "reasonable" from the perspective of "absurdity".

This concept forms the core of the "Ouroboros":

The snake devours its own tail, forming an "eternal embrace," which is the essence of a "closed loop."

"So, this isn't a test of strength at all..."

Ron muttered to himself:
"The real test is whether I can understand and then break down this 'concept'."

"correct!"

Asaria's somewhat relieved voice echoed in his mind:
"You've finally grasped the key."

Don't use 'force' to fight 'concepts'; use 'concepts' to deconstruct 'concepts'!

“Remember what I taught you during training: when a system tries to prove itself with itself, it falls into a self-consistent dilemma.”

"This ouroboros is biting itself, trying to create an 'eternal cycle'."

“You don’t need to ‘interrupt’ it, that’s impossible.”

"You just need to make it... unable to 'bite' itself!"

Once you understand this key point, everything will fall into place at this moment!
Ron immediately sprang into action.

He raised his right hand, and magic began to gather at his fingertips.

Compress all your mental energy into an extremely tiny "point".

"Carlos, Laira, Fenrir—buy me those last thirty seconds!"

Ron gave a low shout.

The three-headed hounds immediately understood, and they no longer held back any power, beginning to burn their very essence!

Carlos's silvery-white light suddenly surged, shining as brightly as a small star.

The number of "time vortexes" it created instantly doubled, trapping most of the projected tentacles in the distorted spacetime!
Laila sacrificed one-third of her own essence to create an "illusionary domain" that covered the entire battlefield.

Countless pieces of false information flooded the projected observation network, almost overloading the hundreds of eyes!

Fenrir recklessly lunged at the projection, using his own body as a "wall of flesh" to forcefully block the projection's attack on Ron!

"Boom boom boom!"

The battlefield descended into its most intense clash!

Chaos and order are clashing violently, and time and space are beginning to be distorted on a large scale!
Ron, on the other hand, focused all his attention on the enormous ouroboros coiled around the edge of the arena.

He could clearly see the "snake head" slowly swallowing the "snake tail," and with each swallow, the cycle was completed, and the arena shrank by one point.

In this process, there exists an extremely brief "moment":
Just as the "snake's head" teeth are about to completely bite down on the "snake's tail," there will be a "contact point" of less than one-thousandth of a second.

That point is the "singularity" of the entire cycle.

If even the slightest "time difference" could be created at that point... In Ron's eyes, the [Time-Knowing Eye] began to operate frantically, capturing that impending "moment".

three seconds...

Two seconds...

one second...

It's now!

"Timing disturbance!"

Ron concentrated all his mental energy at his fingertips and precisely pierced the "singularity" where the "snake's head" and "snake's tail" met!
He is now using the advanced timing technique taught by Erica – [Timing Perturbation].

It's not about changing time, but about creating "time asynchrony".

He forcibly accelerated the flow of time for the "snakehead" by 0.01 seconds.

He forcibly slowed down the flow of time in the "snake tail" by 0.01 seconds.

On a macro level, nothing happened.

The ouroboros is still there, still swallowing, still cycling.

At the "conceptual" level:

There was a 0.02-second discrepancy between the "moment" when the "snake's head" engaged and the "moment" when the "snake's tail" was present.

This deviation is extremely small and can be almost ignored in the physical world.

In the concept of "cycle," even a deviation of 0.00001 seconds means:

The "snake's head" can never catch up with the "snake's tail".

The loop has been broken.

"Click..."

A sound like glass cracking rang out.

The enormous ouroboros began to crumble before Ron's eyes.

It's like a sophisticated clock suddenly losing a key gear, causing the entire mechanism to fall into chaos.

The snake's head released its tail, and the "eternal embrace" came to an end.

On the other hand, the logical foundation of the Nari projection, which is built on the basis of "cycles," also completely collapsed at this moment.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The projection emitted a mournful cry, its sound conveying an intense obsession:
Why...why did we have to break up? We could have been together forever...why!

Hundreds of eyeballs simultaneously became unfocused.

The three-headed Timehound completed the mission at the last moment.

Their bodies were covered in cracks, and their light had dimmed to the point of almost going out. They turned into specks of light and returned to his mark. It would take them a long time to recover.

The entire projected body began to decompose into the purest gray-black mist.

The mist swirled, struggled, and wailed in the air... eventually turning into countless tiny specks of light and dissipating into the air.

The arena stopped shrinking.

The illusion of the ouroboros slowly faded, leaving only a portal of light leading to the outside world.

Ron was panting heavily as he knelt on one knee.

His magic power had been exhausted to the extreme, and his mental energy was almost depleted.

His wounds were still bleeding, and he looked utterly disheveled.

"I...won..."

He struggled to his feet and looked at the door of light.

Just as he was about to take a step, two voices simultaneously rang in his mind:
"My baby, Mommy is so proud..."

Those were words from the fifth level of the abyss, passed down through bloodlines by Nari.

"Nice job, kid."

That was Acelia's voice, filled with relief:
"You have learned the most important lesson—true power lies not in destruction, but in understanding."

Ron nodded in response and walked wearily toward the portal.

As the light faded, he found himself back on the platform of the assessment area.

The grey-robed assistant examiner stood there quietly, waiting.

"Congratulations, you've passed the third level."

Her voice was filled with respect:
Time taken: 67 minutes.

"Rating..."

She paused for a moment before slowly speaking:
"excellence."

This rating shocked the other two candidates on the platform who had already passed the assessment—Christina and Urit.

excellence.

In the history of the Golden Ring assessment, less than five percent of candidates have achieved this rating.

And Ron did it.

The grey-robed deputy examiner waved his hand, and three badges radiating golden light slowly appeared in front of the three.

That's proof of the Golden Ring Explorer.

The badge features a circular design at the center, with three gemstones embedded inside, representing the three stages of the assessment.

"Congratulations."

The assistant examiner said calmly:
"From today onwards, you are the Golden Ring Explorers."

"At the same time, you have automatically obtained the [Otherworld Exploration Qualification] certified by the School Alliance."

"You can leave now."

After she finished speaking, her figure slowly disappeared.

Only three people remained standing on the platform, each in silence.

After a long silence, Christina spoke first, looking at Ron:
"What...is your assessment?"

Ron was silent for a moment, then answered calmly:
"An unbreakable cycle."

"And... a hug that requires learning to let go."

Christina nodded thoughtfully and did not ask any further questions.

The third hurdle for each person is to address their deepest fears or obsessions.

Those experiences are often not something that outsiders can easily talk about.

Urit patted Ron on the shoulder:
"It's already a miracle that we came out alive."

"Let's go, it's time to go back."

The three of them put on their gold ring badges and walked toward the teleportation array.

As the teleportation light enveloped them, Ron took one last look back at the testing grounds.

That enormous, eerie base station, constructed from the body of the "King of Geometry";

The abyssal creatures hovering around the base station;

And that sky, forever shrouded in chaos...

All of this will become indelible images in his memory.

The Golden Ring assessment is over.

………………

In a hostel in the Central Lands, two students are also waiting for their mentor's assessment results.

"Try it, this is my newly blended 'calming tea'."

Lilia pushed the porcelain cup towards Eve:

"With the addition of three drops of 'Moonlight Dew' and a small amount of ground 'Tranquil Herb' powder, it can effectively relieve mental fatigue."

Eve picked up her teacup and took a small sip.

The tea soup has a slightly bitter taste when you first taste it, which then turns into a cool sweetness, like mountain spring water that soothes the soul.

Even more miraculously, she could feel a gentle breeze flowing through her, soothing the anxiety that had accumulated over the past few days of waiting.

"Fantastic!" she exclaimed sincerely.

"The recipe for this 'calming tea' is probably something that even professional tea shops on the market can't replicate."

Lilia shook her head:

"I am still far behind my mentor in terms of expertise."

"He is able to extract the most essential 'frequency' from the most basic materials, and then recombine them using an almost artistic approach."

Her voice gradually became distant:

“Every time I watch him concoct potions, I feel like he’s not working at all, but rather having a silent conversation with the materials.”

Eve noticed that when Lilia mentioned Ron, a gentle look would unconsciously appear in her eyes.

With reverence and longing, yet maintaining a certain rational distance.

"You admire him very much."

The black-haired princess spoke softly, her tone devoid of any probing or teasing, simply stating an obvious fact.

"of course."

Lilia readily admitted:

"My mentor not only inspired me immensely academically, but he also taught me to listen to the voice of the materials, to understand the essence of conflict, and to find beauty in harmony."

Her fingers gently traced the rim of the teacup:
"These are wisdoms that no book can teach."

Eve was silent for a moment, then smiled knowingly.

"Yes, he is indeed a very special mentor."

The black-haired princess's tone also carried a certain indescribable emotion.

The two of them quietly sipped their tea, each lost in their memories of that person.

After a long while, Lilia suddenly remembered something and looked at Eve:

"By the way, Your Highness, after you were promoted to a formal wizard, did you feel any changes in your body?"

This question surprised Eve slightly.

"Variety?"

"Ah."

Lilia nodded, a rare blush appearing on her face:
"It's about physiological aspects."

"I recently discovered that the problems that used to bother me every month have completely disappeared now."

Her voice was very low, as if she were talking about some unspeakable secret:

"My periods have stopped, my skin doesn't get worse due to cycle fluctuations like before, and even my weight has become extremely stable."

Eve blushed slightly upon hearing this.

However, as the heir to the Crown Clan, her upbringing allowed her to approach these topics with greater composure.
"Me too."

She responded softly:
“My mother once told me that when one’s life level leaps to that of a formal wizard, the body undergoes a profound ‘optimization’.”

“Those physiological phenomena that are unavoidable for ordinary women have lost their meaning for beings at our level.”

Lilia nodded thoughtfully:

"In other words, our bodies have transformed from 'biological' to 'energetic'?"

"It can be understood this way."

Eve set down her teacup, and a purple-black magic danced lightly at her fingertips:
"The body of a formal wizard is essentially an 'energy circulation system'."

"Although they look no different from ordinary people, their internal operating mechanisms are completely different."

"Fertility, aging, disease. These problems that plague mortals can all be regulated by magic."

"Of course, this also means a clear distinction between us and ordinary life, including the impact of the radiation field..."

Lilia fell into a brief silence.

This silence wasn't heavy; it was more like two young women who had both experienced life's transformations sharing their insights.

After a while, Eve spoke again, her tone slightly playful:

"Speaking of which, Lilia, do you really only have reverence for your mentor?"

This question caused Lilia to pause slightly in her teacup.

She raised her head, looked directly into Eve's eyes, and then gave a calm smile:

"Are you asking if I've fallen in love with my mentor?"

Eve was a little embarrassed by the directness, but she still nodded.

“Of course, I have.” Lilia’s answer was unexpectedly honest:

"When I first became his student, I did have feelings for my mentor that went beyond the teacher-student relationship."

"He is so outstanding, so gentle, and so talented."

Her voice softened:

"It would be hard for any girl not to be attracted to someone like that."

"And then what happened?" Eve pressed.

"later."

Lilia's eyes cleared:
"Later I realized that my feelings for my mentor were closer to the respect for a guide and the gratitude for a mentor."

"That kind of feeling is precious and pure, but it has nothing to do with romantic love."

She picked up her teacup and took a small sip:
"Or rather, I've just come to understand one thing—some people are destined to only look up to, but never possess."

"To truly possess him means to enter his world, to shoulder his burdens, and to share his secrets."

Lilia shook her head:

"I'm not qualified, at least not now."

These words made Eve think deeply.

She could tell that Lilia was telling the truth.

The other party has already completed the transformation from "a girl's longing" to "a student's following".

She did love Ron, but it was more like she loved an eternal goal, a peak that was always worth climbing.

"how about you?"

Lilia suddenly countered with a sly smile:
"Your Highness Eve, what are your feelings for our mentor?"

This question deepened the blush on Eve's cheeks.

She picked up her teacup, trying to use drinking tea to mask her panic.

But the slight trembling of his hands still betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

"I"

She opened her mouth, but found she didn't know how to answer.

To say you admire someone? That's too hypocritical.

To say I admire you would seem too direct.

Seeing her reaction, Lilia's smile softened:
"Your Highness, you don't need to be so nervous."

“I can see that your feelings for your mentor are completely different from mine.”

Her words carried a certain guidance:

"You want to be more than just his student; you want to be his follower."

"What you want is to be a partner who can spend time with him, right?"

These words were like a needle, precisely piercing through the thin layer of pretense in the black-haired princess's heart.

Eve put down her teacup, took a deep breath, and then slowly nodded:
"Yes."

"I want to be his partner."

Her voice was soft, yet incredibly firm:

"I want to enter his world, I want to understand his secrets, I want to share his burdens."

"I still want to be with him."

At this point, her eyes became somewhat lost again:

"But I don't know what to do."

“He was very good to me, very gentle, and very caring. But his care was more like that of an elder to a junior, or a mentor to a student.”

"I tried to hint at it, I tried to get closer, but he always kept a distance from me."

Eve rubbed her forehead in frustration:

"Sometimes I even wonder if he really didn't realize how I felt, or if he was deliberately avoiding me."

Lilia listened to her story, a knowing smile appearing on her face.

"My mentor is indeed a very 'slow-witted' person."

"His insight is terrifying in some ways, but not in matters of the heart."

She shook her head:

"He may not actually realize how you feel."

"But that possibility is very small; the more likely scenario is..."

Lilia cautiously suggested:
"He realized it, but chose to pretend he didn't."

"Why?" Eve pressed.

“Because he’s too rational,” Lilia sighed softly.
"My mentor is the kind of person who can clearly calculate the priorities of all events."

He knows what's most important to him; as for relationships, they're just...

This analysis left Eve speechless.

She knew Lilia was right.

Ron was indeed an extremely rational and restrained person.

She might be somewhat important to him, but not that important.

"so what should I do?"

Eve asked, somewhat helplessly.

Lilia thought for a moment and then offered a vague suggestion:
"Keep being yourself."

"Continue to become stronger, continue to grow, and continue to make yourself even better."

"When you are truly qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, when you are truly able to shoulder his burdens."

Her eyes turned serious:

"At that time, you won't need to 'get close' to him anymore."

"Because he will naturally see your value, your existence, and your intentions."

Upon hearing these words, Eve's eyes rekindled with hope.

"you're right."

She clenched her fist, and dark purple magic danced at her fingertips:
"I shouldn't dwell on these petty thoughts."

"I should focus on improving myself so that I can truly be worthy of him."

The two young women exchanged a smile, reaching a silent understanding.

Just then, the bedroom door was gently pushed open.

A figure slowly walked out.

She was a woman who looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

She had long, smooth hair like moonlight, and skin so fair it was almost translucent.

When Eve saw someone come out, she stopped smiling and looked at the person's face with some curiosity.

But what she saw shocked her so much that she almost dropped her teacup.

Her face turned extremely pale, and she froze on the spot as if struck by lightning.

"You, no, you are..."

(End of this chapter)