"It's time for afternoon tea, Master."
Sandrone approached Kael's side, carrying an exquisite tray. The set was classic: high-grade black tea and small, delicate cakes. In just a week, Sandrone had displayed terrifying self-learning capabilities, mastering languages and household skills with a precision that bordered on the supernatural.
In this world, the presence of magic acted as a catalyst for artificial consciousness. Sandrone was no longer just a puppet; she possessed independent thought and a burgeoning personality. Even Roxy, who had witnessed her "birth," found it hard to believe she was a daemon.
"Thank you, Sandrone," Kael said, taking a sip. The temperature was perfect—exactly 65 grades, his preferred drinking point.
"It is my honor," Sandrone replied with a faint, disciplined smile. She had recently devoured a book on "Maid's Etiquette" and had fully committed to the role. Kael didn't stop her; he was curious to see how an AI would interpret human "duty" when flavored by magic.
The Evolution of Fufu
As Kael reached for a cake, a blue, translucent blob hopped onto the table.
"Mmm~"
"Hungry again, Fufu?"
"Nn-na!" The Slime actually mimicked the shape of a mouth.
Through Kael's constant feeding of his own high-density mana, Fufu had undergone a radical adaptive evolution. It now possessed a rudimentary sense of taste and touch, moving far beyond the limits of a low-level magical beast. To a regular scholar, Fufu was a biological miracle; to Kael, it was a successful experiment in mana-plasticity.
Kael fed a piece of cake to the Slime. Inside its gelatinous body, the cake was rapidly decomposed by enzymes. However, as Fufu opened its mouth for more, it suddenly shivered and dove into Kael's arms, shrinking in size.
Sandrone was staring at it with a gaze cold enough to freeze water.
Kael chuckled and scooped a bit of cream onto a spoon, holding it up to Sandrone. "Open up, Sandrone. Ahh."
"Ahh..." She obeyed. As the cream hit her tongue, her internal core temperature spiked, sending a rosy flush to her cheeks.
"Is this 'shyness'?" Kael teased.
"Based on emotional simulation data... yes, Master," she whispered. Her core issued an overload warning when Kael wiped a stray bit of cream from her lip with his thumb and tasted it himself. She immediately logged this memory in her "innermost core," planning to replay it exactly 1,000 times tonight.
The Boreas Visit
"Kael, lunch break is over. Demon God Language starts in fifteen minutes," Roxy said, pushing open the door.
"Actually, Miss Roxy, there are fourteen minutes and fifty seconds left. Your punctuality is slipping," Sandrone noted calmly. The aggressiveness in her tone was subtle but sharp. To Sandrone, Roxy was an "outsider" who interrupted her sacred tea time.
Meanwhile, at the Boreas mansion, Philip was looking at Eris's latest arithmetic report. She had passed. It was only first-grade level, but for Eris, it was a monumental achievement.
"Can I go to Kael's house now?" Eris asked, her arms crossed in a classic tsundere pose. "Not that I miss that Bean Sprout, I just have a... math question."
Philip sighed. As a veteran of romance, he saw the signs clearly. His willful daughter was finally being tamed by a boy half her size.
The Advanced Duel
Eris burst into Kael's backyard training ground, shouting for "Bean Sprout," only to be blocked by Sandrone. The two girls locked eyes—one a fiery noble, the other a cold, flawless maid.
"Sandrone, let Little Chili through," Kael called out from his chair.
Eris stomped over, eyeing Sandrone with suspicion. "Who is she? Why is she so... shiny?"
"She's my maid," Kael said simply, pulling Eris down to sit on the half-seat beside him. The intimate gesture immediately melted Eris's anger.
In the center of the yard, Kael's father was in a desperate struggle. He was an Advanced-level Swordsman, yet he was being beaten back by a humanoid Gear Puppet.
The puppet wasn't even one of Kael's masterpieces—it was a test rig. However, its algorithms had already "parsed" his father's combat patterns. It collected data on his center of gravity, his swing speed, and his favorite footwork.
THWACK.
The Gear Puppet delivered a perfectly timed horizontal strike. Kael's father, caught mid-dodge, was sent rolling across the grass, landing right at Kael's feet.
"Kael... a cup of tea, please," his father wheezed, trying to maintain his dignity. "I'm suddenly... very thirsty."
Philip, watching from the sidelines, stared at the Gear Puppet with wide eyes. A machine that could defeat an Advanced Swordsman through pure data analysis? In the eyes of a Boreas politician, this wasn't just a toy. It was a weapon that could redefine the power balance of the Asura Kingdom.