Groaning at Master's amused expression, I stood up carefully, making sure not to touch the massive mana crystal accidentally; I didn't feel like passing out from instantly emptying my mana.

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Mana: 234/1,890

Condition: Mana exhaustion

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'My goodness, I barely touched that crystal for a second and already have mana exhaustion!? I'm not one to shy away from something difficult, but this seems way out of my league.' Thought Alexander as he viewed his status panel before eyeing Lavender, who seemed to be able to read his thoughts.

"Don't worry; I just wanted to mess with you." Remarked Lavender with a chuckle as she began infusing her mana into the crystal, causing it to become less translucent by the second.

While observing the mana crystal absorbing Master's mana, I was utterly shocked; I couldn't even touch the crystal for a second without nearly all of my mana emptying, yet, Master was able to infuse her mana into the crystal so casually, like it didn't even affect her.

'I've always known Master was powerful; well, at least powerful compared to me and every beast in the forest, but this is insane!' Thought Alexander with widened eyes while eyeing the now blue and brown mana crystal.

"There, done. Now with the Mana crystal nearly full of mana, you should be able to properly train with it; you don't have to worry about suddenly losing all of your mana." Said Lavender as she released her hand from the massive crystal and approached Alexander.

Although Master said that, I was still quite hesitant to touch the crystal again, so with meticulous movements, I gently placed my finger on the crystal; prepared to retract my arm as fast as possible if I started losing a ridiculous amount of mana. Thankfully, that didn't happen; while the crystal was absorbing my mana, it was at a steady pace, roughly two mana per second, something I could handle.

"So, all I have to do is stop the crystal from absorbing my mana, correct, Master?" Asked Alexander with furrowed brows while already attempting that.

"Yes, and given how long it took you to locate your mana, I don't expect it'll take you too long to overcome this challenge. Though when you do, inform me about it so that I may increase the difficulty; otherwise, you won't continue to improve yourself if you're not challenged." Replied Lavender with a nod as she eyed Alexanders' small frame before turning around and heading toward the forest, leaving him all alone.

___

___

"Alexander, you alright?" Asked Lavender softly while gently placing her hand atop his shoulder, successfully snapping him out of his train of thought.

"Hmm, yeah, Master, I'm fine; anyways, when did you arrive?" Replied Alexander as he shook his head and stood up while dusting his clothes off.

"Just now, though, when I arrived, I saw you blankly staring off into space while deeply contemplating something." Said Lavender while eyeing Alexander with slight concern, something Alexander noticed.

"There is no need for you to be so worried, Master; I'm fine. I was merely thinking back to when I first began training." Stated Alexander calmly while subconsciously avoiding eye contact.

"Alright then, just give me a few seconds to expel some of my mana from the crystal so that you may continue training; speaking of training, how is your other training coming along?" Said Lavender as she placed her hand upon the crystal and began expelling the mana from the crystal by using her body as a medium.

"The control of my spells is difficult like always, but the progress is steady; however, now that you've recently forced me to practice around those annoying and obnoxious birds, I haven't made much progress. I can't properly concentrate around those birds; they don't even know how to be quiet for two seconds!" Replied Alexander with a huff of annoyance while eyeing Lavender.

"Fufu, that's the whole purpose of the training, Alexander; if you can't even perform basic spells in an uncomfortable or loud setting, how do you expect to cast spells when in the middle of combat?" Stated Lavender with a small smile.

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"Haa, I know, Master; but that doesn't really mean I like it. If it weren't because those birds are exceptionally fast and agile, I would've beaten them to the ground; they aren't strong, so they wouldn't be able to fight back against me." Said Alexander while formulating a plan to do just that.

"While I won't stop you if you do such a thing, I would advise against it; individually, they aren't a threat, but together they will be quite a fearsome opponent, not to mention they have spectacular teamwork." Said Lavender with a smirk while shaking her head as she released her hand from the crystal.

"There, all done; now it shouldn't be easy for you anymore; also, I expelled more mana than usual so that it will be more difficult than normal." Added Lavender as she approached the quiet Alexander.

"Thanks, Master; if it isn't too much trouble, could I ask you something?" Asked Alexander quietly.

"Yes, of course; you can ask me anything, Alexander." Replied Lavender softly while nodding her head.

"M-Master, are you disappointed with me?" Said Alexander while eyeing Lavender, who seemed taken aback by his question.

"Disappointed? I'm not disappointed in you one bit, and what makes you think I would be disappointed in you? You've done nothing that should warrant my disappointment; you've lived up to my expectations and have even surpassed them on several occasions, so if anything, I'm beyond satisfied." Declared Lavender with a frown of curiosity while looking at Alexander.

"It's just; I can't help but feel disappointed in myself when I failed to level up on that day a few years ago. I figured if I was disappointed in myself, you must've also been disappointed in me as well." Said Alexander while sighing to himself.

"You're telling me you're disappointed in yourself over something so minor, like increasing your level?" Asked Lavender in confusion.

"It may seem minor to you, Master, but besides my Brother from my last life, you're the only other person I've ever cared for, and I don't want to let you down, even if it is something you deem minor." Stated Alexander passionately while eying Lavender.

Only after I said that did I release how embarrassing it sounded, and while looking at Master, I could vividly feel my cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"I don't know exactly how to respond to that, Alexander; as your Master, I want nothing more than for you to surpass my expectations, yet at the same time, I don't want you to feel burned with my expectations." Replied Lavender as she rested her hand atop Alexander's shoulder.

"Listen, Alexander, I don't care how long it takes or how many times you fail, but as long as you never give up, I won't ever be disappointed in you, alright." Added Lavender softly as she attempted to alter his mentality.

I could tell Master truly meant those words as I didn't sense any falsehood, but just because she said that doesn't mean I will suddenly think the same; I don't want to fail to meet Master's expectations even once.

"I understand, Master." Said Alexander with a nod, though he didn't sound very convinced.

"Haa, alright, Alexander, since you're going to act like that, follow me; you can train later." Stated Lavender with a sigh as she stood up and headed back into the forest.

Confused by Master's sudden request, I quickly followed behind her as we traversed deeper into the forest, leaving the safe area and heading into the dangerous parts of the forest, but of course, by Master's side, no beast dared to approach us.

"Master, where are we going?" Asked Alexander while glancing at all the large beasts while refraining from gazing upon them with [Heroes Gaze].

"Since you're so caught up on what happened all those years ago, I'll allow you to amend your past failure and finally level up. I intended to show you this place a little later, but it should be fine; it's not like you can access this area without me escorting you anyways; too many powerful beasts roam around here." Stated Lavender while eyeing the various beasts who lowered their heads while quickly retreating in fear.

When Master said that, I assumed she was bringing me to an area intensely populated with wildlife so I may kill to level up, and while I was against the idea, after everything I stated before, I couldn't back away now; that would be many times more shameful that what happened the first time. So with an uneasy heart, I quietly followed behind Master as we traveled through the forest before eventually arriving at what looked to be a mountain, the same mountain I could see from our house, though it looked much larger up close.

Looking around, I couldn't discern anything unique about this area, and out of curiosity, I activated [Heroes Gaze] before again observing the vicinity; when I did, I noticed a hole in the side of the mountain, reminding me of a cave. However, before I could inform Master, she approached the mountain until she was standing right in front of the Cave, and without any prior warning, she phased right through the mountain and entered the cave.

'Hmm, it must be some kind of illusion or something similar.' Thought Alexander as he also approached the cave entrance and copied Lavender's actions.

Other than feeling like I had just walked through a thin layer of water, there was nothing interesting to speak of.

"Was that an illusion, Master?" Asked Alexander while observing the dimly lit cave.

"Yes, it was; I'm also the one who placed that illusion there. I had used an intermediate-level illusion, but it seems like it didn't have much effect on deceiving your eyes." Remarked Lavender lightly while eyeing Alexander glowing purple eyes, signifying his use of the skill [Heroes Gaze].

"Well, so far, I haven't encountered anything capable of tricking my eyes." Said Alexander with a slight chuckle while rubbing the back of his head.