Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?-Chapter 809: Five Months? Time Just Got Tight
"So, do you still need to wait for your internal structure to finish forming?"
The sphere hidden in the higher dimension appeared.
Watching it continue to grow—this time, Bell could sense that after gaining sufficient Cognition of it, its inner framework was finally taking shape.
Even the sphere itself was no longer completely unresponsive.
"It seems my grasp of Authority really does speed up your self-construction. How far along are you now?"
The sphere rotated slightly, and Bell understood its answer.
"Halfway?"
That speed was far beyond what Bell expected.
It had only been a few months, yet the progress was already this fast.
The sphere soon responded again.
"Because you’re connected to the human history of this world, you’re able to absorb despair and hope more quickly, accelerating your construction?"
"I see. Using despair and hope as materials—and even needing an enormous amount of Authority as support... There’s no way this is something just anyone can make, right?"
Bell was astonished at the materials used to build the sphere, yet he couldn’t help wondering if anyone with the right conditions could create one.
The sphere gave no reply.
Bell nodded slightly as understanding settled in.
"Since you lack self-awareness, you can only answer questions about your current state—letting me know your construction progress and condition. Everything else, I’ll have to uncover myself?"
From the beginning, every answer the sphere gave had been related only to itself. That alone made his guess plausible.
Whether the guess was accurate would only become clear with further investigation.
"Then how long until the entire structure is complete?"
Since the question directly concerned its own state, the sphere gave an estimate.
"Five months?"
That was much faster than Bell expected. Something of this scale could really be completed in just five more months?
Bell suddenly remembered—he had given Ais exactly five months for her growth. That realization made his eyes narrow.
"So that unconscious timing ended up aligning with mine."
"In that case, I should finish all my work within five months as well."
Time suddenly felt tight.
He originally thought the extra three months were his buffer, but now even his own schedule was compressed.
Bell took a deep breath and continued questioning.
"So I need to reach the required standards quickly too?"
The sphere responded immediately.
"Pfft."
"So I really do need to meet the standards as soon as possible?"
Bell clicked his tongue. The answer wasn’t surprising at all.
"Looks like I can’t let that ’Corrupted Spirit’s Fetus’ keep living comfortably. For my advancement, I’ll have to turn him into nourishment sooner rather than later."
He had planned to take things slowly, but the sphere’s answer forced him to abandon that idea.
These five months were his deadline. Before that deadline arrived, everything needed to be prepared.
As Bell was thinking, he suddenly lifted his head and looked in a certain direction.
"Your speed increased?"
"So you really are similar to me, Ais."
Bell stood up from his bed and went outside to bring Ais back.
The area outside the shelter was warded with several barriers. For Ais, finding this place on her own was nearly impossible.
At the entrance, Ais stopped and waited quietly.
"Ais."
Sensing her teacher’s presence, Ais immediately turned her head.
"Teacher."
Bell examined her condition carefully before offering a sincere note of praise.
"Hm. You’re faster than I expected. Your breathing is steady, your magic isn’t collapsing, and you’re not losing control like you did earlier."
Ais’s cheeks flushed. Remembering how her magic failed to fully resist the cold earlier was embarrassing.
It felt like someone praising an adult with, "Wow, amazing, you didn’t wet the bed." Was that supposed to be praise? More like an insult.
Bell was amused by the rare sight of Ais blushing.
"Is it that embarrassing? I was genuinely praising you."
"I know. But Teacher... I should’ve been able to do that. That’s supposed to be basic. But..."
So that’s what it was. Seeing the shame on her face, Bell understood immediately.
Smiling, he explained.
"Don’t doubt your abilities, Ais."
"You’re an excellent adventurer. You absorb combat experience quickly, and you adapt to harsh environments faster than most."
"What I mentioned earlier is the standard that should be reached, yes—but that standard isn’t yours. It’s mine."
"I’m not belittling you. It’s just that I hold myself to a higher standard."
There were some benchmarks that simply weren’t meant for others. Bell knew that better than anyone. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
His growth rate wasn’t like other people’s. Forcing his standards onto someone else would usually lead to the same result: their mind and body would exceed their limits and break.
What suited him didn’t suit everyone else. That was one major reason Bell found teaching others difficult.
He could teach someone like Ais because anomalies were closer to Bell’s standards—the more abnormal someone was, the more teachable they became for him.
But the more ordinary someone was, the less suited they were for Bell’s training. Most of his teaching methods were directly copied from his own regimen, and the standards he set for students were roughly 70% of what he demanded from himself.
"Even you have only trained under my standards for three months. I’ve been training under them ever since I arrived in Orario, and after so much time, my expectations naturally became higher."
But when she heard that, Ais tilted her head in confusion.
She clearly remembered—her teacher hadn’t even been in Orario for a full year.
And Ais herself had lived in Orario for sixteen years.
If the teacher held herself to such high standards... then what did that make Ais’s own expectations of herself?
