"That was amazing! What was that just now? Teleportation?" Yuria Niguredou asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Eriri.
"You're absolutely right. That was teleportation."
Eriri's confirmation made Yuria even more exhilarated. She started fantasizing about how wonderful it would be if she could also teleport—no more waiting for buses, and she'd surely earn the admiration of everyone around her.
Miko and Hana, too, stared at Eriri with starry eyes. They couldn't deny that they also longed for such an incredible power.
Several minutes had passed since Eriri had teleported them into Hana's bedroom.
During that time, Eriri had made sure all three of them witnessed the spirits lurking in the room.
That's right—even Hana, who desperately did not want to see them, had been granted the "sight." Eriri had given her the ability to perceive them, regardless of her wishes.
The moment Hana saw the spirits infesting her room, she broke down in tears.
Just the thought of having unknowingly lived alongside them for so long made her shudder uncontrollably.
Hana's terrified reaction naturally attracted the spirits' attention, causing them to go into a frenzy and rush toward her.
These weren't weak spirits. Had it not been for the usual rule that prevented spirits from attacking those who couldn't see them, Hana's life force alone wouldn't have been enough to keep them at bay.
The sudden outbreak of aggression from the spirits didn't just terrify Hana—it also made Miko and Yuria visibly uneasy.
Fortunately, they knew that as long as Eriri was present, they had nothing to fear. Hana's extreme reaction was simply due to her naturally timid nature.
Eriri, of course, wasn't about to let the spirits harm Hana. In an instant, she wiped out every single one of them.
...
"Master, can you teach me teleportation? That skill is simply too cool!"
Returning to the present, Yuria, having finished daydreaming about her teleportation-powered future, eagerly pleaded with Eriri.
"You're really latching onto me, huh?" Eriri chuckled, patting Yuria's small head with amusement.
If Eriri had no intention of humoring Yuria, she could have simply shut down her spiritual vision and erased the memories of today's events, solving the issue entirely.
But the fact that she had brought Yuria along using teleportation to Hana's bedroom meant that she was already considering giving her a push in the right direction.
After all, it was just a matter of planting an energy seed—not that she was doing this just because Yuria was cute, of course.
The same applied to Hana. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for Eriri to awaken her spiritual sight in the first place.
Perhaps, if the three of them gained enough strength, they could become full-fledged spirit hunters in the future.
Of course, this was just a passing thought. While Yuria might have the potential to become a dedicated spirit hunter, Hana was another story. If she didn't toughen up, even possessing power wouldn't make her life any easier.
"Alright, since you're so eager, I suppose I can reluctantly accept you as my disciple."
"Yay!" Yuria cheered, jumping up in excitement. "Thank you, Master! You're the best!"
Just then, Hana eagerly raised her hand and called out to Eriri.
"Eriri, can I become your disciple too? I want to have superpowers just like Yuria!"
It had to be said that Hana Yurikawa's emotional shift was incredibly fast. Just minutes ago, she had been crying from fear of the evil spirits. But as soon as they were eliminated by Eriri, she quickly returned to her lively and energetic self, as if her earlier fear had never existed.
"Sure, you can join in too."
"Yay!"
Like Yuria, Hana Yurikawa also jumped in excitement upon hearing Eriri's approval.
Miko Yotsuya watched them with a hint of envy, but despite that, she didn't ask Eriri to accept her as a disciple like Hana did.
It wasn't that she looked down on Eriri—on the contrary, she valued her more than anyone.
Deep down, Miko had some special feelings for Eriri, so she didn't want her to become a superior figure with a difference in seniority.
However, while Miko had no intention of becoming Eriri's disciple, Hana Yurikawa was already pushing the idea for her.
"Eriri-sensei, why don't you accept Miko as your disciple too?!"
Hana's suggestion made Miko panic—she really didn't want a hierarchical gap between her and Eriri.
She quickly tried to interject, but before she could speak, Eriri had already responded.
"No need. Miko doesn't have to be my disciple."
"Huh? Why?!" Hana exclaimed in shock.
In her mind, it was a sure thing. After all, Eriri had spent several days accompanying Miko, which meant she must hold Miko in high regard.
Now that both Hana and Yuria had been accepted as disciples, but Miko alone was rejected, she felt incredibly confused.
"Stop it, Hana. Honestly, I never planned on becoming Eriri's disciple in the first place. I was about to stop you from suggesting it, but Eriri beat me to it. Still, this actually works out just fine for me." Miko chuckled lightly.
But her smile was forced, and tears threatened to well up in her eyes, though she held them back with all her strength.
Not becoming Eriri's disciple was a relief, yet Eriri's swift and unwavering rejection stung her deeply. It made her feel as if she wasn't important to Eriri at all.
"Well… if that's how you feel, then okay." Hana sighed and let go of the idea.
Meanwhile, Yuria, who had been silent, was quick to pick up on the subtle shift in Miko's emotions. After all, years of being ostracized had sharpened her ability to read people.
She also guessed that Eriri had her own reasons for rejecting Miko, so she decided not to comment on it.
Miko's change in mood didn't escape Eriri's notice either. She understood that Miko had misunderstood her intent.
However, she didn't rush to explain—she planned to do that once they returned to the Yotsuya household.
Besides, Eriri had already decided that it was time to reveal the existence of the chat group to Miko.
Still, she didn't want Miko to dwell in sadness for too long. So, she intended to quickly arrange things for Hana and Yuria before taking Miko home as soon as possible.
"Yuria-chan, Hana, even though you've become my disciples, I won't be teaching you any techniques."
Eriri's words made both Yuria and Hana freeze. But before they could say anything, she continued speaking.
"But you don't have to worry about gaining power. I will leave an energy seed inside you. All you need to do is train your body, and that will gradually activate the energy seed's power, making you stronger."
"The speed at which your strength grows depends on how diligently you train. The harder you work, the faster you'll improve."
"As for combat techniques, that will be up to you to figure out."
"What about teleportation? I can figure out the other things myself, but, Master, can you at least teach me teleportation?" Yuria looked at Eriri with pleading eyes.
"You'll need an extremely high spatial aptitude and a significant level of power before you can even think about learning teleportation," Eriri said flatly, completely shattering Yuria's dream.
Having a high spatial aptitude is not something everyone possesses. In fact, within the chat group, only Sakura has reached the level where she can perform teleportation.
Of course, with their current Level 7 strength, even those who lack strong spatial talent can start to grasp the basics of teleportation.
As for Maple's ability to use the Flying Thunder God technique, that was something she learned with the help of the chat group. However, compared to true teleportation, Flying Thunder God was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Even someone with the potential to learn Flying Thunder God would not be able to learn true teleportation unless they had immense power.
"Ah, this…" Yuria pouted, looking thoroughly dejected.
She had been dreaming about mastering teleportation soon, planning to use it to travel the world freely. But now, it turned out that learning teleportation had such high requirements.
Still, Yuria wasn't one to give up easily. She immediately raised her hand and asked, "Master, just hypothetically, if I had extremely strong spatial aptitude, how powerful would I need to be before I could learn teleportation?"
"Not too powerful, just strong enough to destroy an entire city with one attack," Eriri replied casually. "Of course, that would only allow you to begin learning teleportation. To master it, you'd need even greater strength."
"Destroy an entire city???" Yuria was utterly dumbfounded, and both Hana Yurikawa and Miko Yotsuya were equally astonished.
While they already knew Eriri was strong—being able to instantly annihilate hordes of evil spirits—they had never imagined she was on a level where wiping out a city was considered "not too powerful."
"M-Master, you're joking, right?" Yuria stammered.
It was clear that ordinary people had no real grasp of such power. For members of the chat group, being at the Level 2, Stage 9 was merely the entry-level of transcendence. But to ordinary people, someone capable of destroying a city was practically a god.
"Of course, I'm not joking. You really think destroying a city is impressive?"
"Of course, it's impressive! That's an entire city we're talking about! Even the world's most powerful nuclear bomb couldn't do much more than that!" Yuria exclaimed excitedly.
"You clearly don't understand," Eriri said, ruffling Yuria's head with a smile.
"Understand what?" Yuria was completely puzzled.
"Since you're so curious, I'll take the opportunity to educate you all on the classification of power levels," Eriri said, glancing at the three of them.
Then, under their expectant gazes, she slowly opened her mouth and said, "Power is divided into nine levels in total, with Level 1 being the lowest and Level 9 being the highest. Each level is further divided into nine sub-stages."
Yuria excitedly nodded her little head, her eyes glowing as if urging Eiri to continue speaking.
"Level 1 is also known as the Mortal Level. As the name suggests, those at this level are ordinary people without supernatural power. For example, the three of you are currently at Level 1, Stage 2. Most teenagers are at this level, while only those with stronger physiques may rank slightly higher."
"I see, so Level 1, Stage 1 refers to those weak and frail teenagers, right?"
"Exactly. Those at Level 1, Stage 1 are the elderly, weak, sick, and young. Once someone steps into the second level of power classification, also known as the Extraordinary Level, it means they have acquired supernatural abilities. And what you consider powerful—the ability to destroy an entire city with a full-power strike—is merely the peak of Level 2."
"What??? How is that possible..." Yuria and Hana exclaimed in unison, even the usually reserved Miko Yotsuya's expression shifted slightly.
"Do you still think city-destroying power is impressive now?"
"..."
"Although having the power to destroy a city being only at the peak of Level 2 does sound unbelievable, I have to admit that for me right now, it's completely out of reach. I can hardly imagine what kind of existence could reach the highest levels of power."
Yuria's face was full of amazement, but she remained practical, not setting unrealistic goals for herself by fantasizing about higher levels.
"Next is Level 3, also known as the National Level. As the name suggests..."
Over the next few minutes, Eiri explained all the higher levels in detail, completely shocking Yuria Niguredou, Hana Yurikawa, and Miko Yotsuya.
If they could still comprehend up to Level 7, the later levels had entirely surpassed their understanding.
Their knowledge of the universe came only from books, television, or the internet, and they had no real concept of its vastness.
A single strike capable of destroying the universe—such a scenario was completely beyond their imagination.
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