Soft steam rose from the tub as María, focused, carefully untied the ribbons from Aria’s hair, which was always perfectly styled.

The long, dark strands fell gently over the small girl’s shoulders, who stayed calm, letting María work with patience.

Unable to contain her curiosity, María broke the silence.

“Hey, Aria… is the process different for creating a second ring?”

Aria glanced at her from the corner of her eye, as calm as ever.

“You need to get used to the first ring first,” Aria replied in her usual neutral tone. “Your body is adapting right now. The first ring has to strengthen your capacity before you can think about creating the next one.”

María nodded, though she was still processing all the information about the ring she had just created.

“That makes sense,” she murmured, rinsing her hands. “For some reason, I feel like I have more energy…”

“That’s normal,” Aria explained calmly. “It’s the first time mana is circulating properly in your body. Before, it flowed chaotically, which can cause imbalances. A lot of people get sick because their mana doesn’t flow correctly.”

María let out a long sigh of relief, dipping her hands a little deeper into the warm water.

“Well, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that…”

“But you need to be careful,” Aria added, cutting off María’s moment of relief. “In the future, if you create your ring wrong, it could cause serious problems.”

María tensed up instantly.

Her brief peace was quickly replaced by concern.

“Problems…? What kind of problems…?” María asked nervously.

“There could be incompatibility between the rings, or even conflicts between them,” Aria explained in her neutral tone. “You might also have issues using spells…”

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Aria stopped when she noticed the look of fear on María’s face. Her rigid expression, wide eyes, she looked frozen.

“Are you scared?” Aria asked, tilting her head.

María, startled, snapped out of her trance with a small jolt.

“How could I not be? Everything’s a problem!” María exclaimed, her voice agitated.

Aria looked at her without flinching.

“Problems are inevitable.”

“Yeah, I get that!” María replied, raising her wet hands out of the water. “But… I just wish they didn’t exist! Sometimes, I wish I could live in a world without problems…”

Aria cut her off with her usual coldness.

“Are you stupid? That world doesn’t exist.”

“I’m not stupid!” María shot back, puffing out her cheeks like a child. “I’m a dreamer!”

With a cold and serious look, Aria said:

“It doesn’t matter what path you choose, there will always be a problem. What matters is how you face those problems to overcome them.”

María nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Being lectured about life by a two-year-old made her feel ridiculous, but there was some truth in Aria’s words.

‘She’s a genius… she’s a genius…’ María thought, trying to console herself, reminding herself that Aria was unique, and, in part, she was right.

María sighed, trying to digest Aria’s advice.

“Yeah, I understand, but… I still wish… I wish there was a world like that, without problems.”

Aria shook her head almost immediately.

“No, that’s impossible.”

“Why?” María asked, surprised by how quickly Aria shot down the idea.

“Because even in a world without problems, that in itself would be a problem,” Aria replied, with her usual coldness.

María blinked, trying to process what Aria had just said.

“What…? What do you mean? How could no problems be a problem?”

Her brain couldn’t quite wrap around the concept, feeling like a cloud of confusion was enveloping her.

Aria gave her a direct look.

“The problem would be laziness.”

“And what’s wrong with laziness?” María countered, searching for a way out of Aria’s relentless logic.

“Laziness doesn’t bring progress,” Aria explained calmly. “Without progress, if another being advances beyond you, they’ll dominate you. They’ll use you, like the vampires that follow us.”

María shuddered at the mention of the vampires, finally understanding a bit of Aria’s example.

But even so, she clung to her dream.

“Well, but… imagine a world without conflict. No fights, no problems… everything would be easy, simple. Everyone would succeed on the first try.”

Aria looked at her with disbelief, as if María had just said the most absurd thing in the world.

“That’s impossible.”

“Come on, just imagine it,” María insisted, smiling a little as if asking Aria to share in her fantasy.

“No,” Aria replied, bluntly. “That’s absurd.”

María let out a nervous giggle.

Aria’s logical mind couldn’t even entertain something so idyllic.

But deep down, María knew it was a silly dream.

“Well, anyway, dreaming doesn’t hurt, right?”