If confusion could be visualized, then Xu Xi’s head would undoubtedly be covered in a dense forest of question marks right now. To ensure Cressa’s successful meditation, Xu Xi had prepared multiple plans long before today and was ready for a prolonged battle. He never expected the girl to succeed on her very first attempt.
“Cressa, tell me how you felt during meditation,” Xu Xi asked cautiously.
“Yes, I saw…” Cressa replied obediently, her speech slightly halting but much improved compared to when they first met.
Elements. Magic. Spiritual Energy. Through Cressa’s description, Xu Xi could confirm that she had indeed succeeded in her meditation. But why?
In the dimly lit meditation room, the scent of the burning Spirit-Clearing Herb lingered, pungent and spicy. The demi-human girl, clad in a black apprentice robe, quietly awaited Xu Xi’s next command. Xu Xi stared at her, lost in thought.
“I succeeded in meditation, going from an ordinary person to a magic apprentice, because I have the highest-level red trait and two purple traits assisting me. With three traits, it’s only natural I succeeded on my first try. But this child…”
Xu Xi pondered, trying to determine the key factors behind her success. Beyond basic talent and comprehension, there must be something unique, something neither demons nor humans possess.
“…I see, is that it?” Xu Xi fell silent as he gazed at the small figure before him. He understood.
The witch before him was no genius. She lacked the powerful physique of a pure-blooded demon and didn’t possess superior spiritual energy compared to humans. Her body was frail, having endured abuse and beatings. Her spirit was like stagnant water, closed off from long-term despair, devoid of emotions, unaware of joy or sorrow.
Yet, this was precisely why Cressa succeeded in her first meditation. Meditation, at its core, is about the caster’s spiritual energy connecting with the elements of the world, requiring a highly stable mindset. Ordinary people fail due to emotional fluctuations or overthinking. But Cressa didn’t. Without emotions, there were no fluctuations; without thoughts, there was no hesitation. Only in moments of extreme pain and suffering would this half-demon girl briefly show fear.
“This truth is truly cruel,” Xu Xi silently tightened his grip on his magic staff.
Cressa’s talent for magic was a great thing, but the price behind it was so severe it left one speechless. Xu Xi sighed inwardly. To verify his theory, he had the girl undergo several more tests. Everything went smoothly, just like her meditation. In the subsequent steps of sensing elements, establishing connections, and absorbing magic, Cressa displayed the performance of a super genius.
“You did well, Cressa,” Xu Xi crouched down and praised the quiet demi-human girl. “Do you feel any discomfort?”
“No, Mentor,” Cressa Christina shook her head. Her small face was expressionless, devoid of any childlike innocence, only a darkness that seemed to devour her pale golden eyes. It was an indescribable void, one that silenced those who saw it.
In a way, the girl was a complete failure, not only physically flawed but also severely lacking in emotions, unable to provide the responses others desired. Yet, it was precisely this lack that unexpectedly gave her the aptitude to become an Elemental Mage.
Xu Xi paused her training.
“Mentor?” Cressa tilted her head, seemingly confused.
“Sit down, Cressa,” Xu Xi sat cross-legged and patted the spot beside him, signaling her to sit. Xu Xi realized that there was something more important than making the girl stronger: understanding her past and experiences. Only by understanding could he better help her move toward the future. Without knowing anything, well-intentioned actions could easily cause her further harm.
“…” Cressa obediently sat down. The apprentice robe was slightly too large for her frail body, covering her legs completely as she sat. Her long silver-gray hair touched the ground, spreading softly across the meditation room’s tiles.
A breeze brushed Cressa’s cheek—Xu Xi’s warm breath from being so close. A strange feeling welled up in her heart, bringing her an inexplicable sense of comfort.
Then, Xu Xi asked, “Cressa, can you tell me about your past?”
“You mean…”
“Anything. I want to understand you.”
“I understand, Mentor.”
The girl didn’t really understand what there was to know about her, but she knew she just had to listen to Xu Xi. As a personal belonging, obeying her master was the most basic rule.
And so, under Xu Xi’s gaze, the 11 or 12-year-old demi-human girl began to recount a story from long ago, one that happened before Xu Xi even arrived in this world.
The year she was born, Cressa met her biological mother.
She was a female demon known to humans as a “Succubus,” with curved, massive horns, a human-like voluptuous figure, and a large iron collar locked around her neck. She gazed at baby Cressa with eyes so tender they seemed to overflow with love.
Cressa never met her father. From the day she was born, her mother hid her away. For about three or four years, Cressa remained hidden until she finally saw her father for the first and last time.
Her “father” viciously dragged her out of the room and threw her out the window, into the wilderness, into a desolate, remote place. Her mother tried to resist but was met with her “father’s” disgusted gaze.
“Scum… bastard… no right… die…”
At the time, Cressa didn’t hear everything her “father” said, only that along with her, her mother’s head was also discarded. To this day, Cressa still vividly remembers how cruelly her mother’s head had been burned, the rough, charred surface, the massive horns mercilessly severed.
“Run…”
Demons are tenacious. Even after being beheaded and burned, her mother’s head managed to speak one last word to the young Cressa. And so, obedient Cressa ran away, far from that “home.”
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
