Release that Witch

”This is... an awakening?” Evelyn said in surprise.

”Most likely.” Lily nodded. The pain from the first awakening was far more painful than the gash on her head due to the magic power gathered in her body and it felt like a bite. Many witches would unconsciously exert their power at that moment, which would most likely expose themselves. If it was two or three years ago, those who awakened openly would almost certainly be doomed.

Soon the lightning vanished, but it had ignited the floor and outer wall of the classroom, leaving an orange-red trail of fire along with clouds of smoke.

The short-haired girl struggled to return to her stunned friend, shouted, and grabbed her hand to drag her out of the danger area.

Lily raised her eyebrow in appreciation. It was known that the first bite had a good chance of not being fatal, but it was a feeling that a witch had never experienced before. Usually, after the bite, a witch would be weak and sweaty. It was very rare for a teenage girl to be able to control her body under such conditions, let alone, remember to come back for her companion behind her.

Since the fire triggered by the lightning was very small, the flames did not spread very fast. By the time the second half of the classroom was enveloped in flames, all the people had escaped from the teaching building.

Seeing the truth of what had happened, Summer ended the flashbacks.

”Good, we have a new sister.” Lily raised the corner of her lip. She could foresee that, regardless of her ability, the girl would be a rather good witch, at least, with respect to her bravery and her will. This girl gave Lily a feeling that not every witch would be as bad as Mystery Moon.

She deliberately turned to glance at Mystery Moon who, against her expectations, stood there shocked, without giving any visual clue that she was paying attention to what was being said.

Ugh. What’s wrong with this fool again?

”We have to tell Sister Wendy immediately!” Amy suggested. ”There’s a new witch in Neverwinter!”

”Agreed.” Evelyn nodded. ”Let’s go to the castle now.”

”Wendy probably already knew,” thought Lily and shrugged, but she did not speak her thoughts out loud. She had intended to return her bedroom to continue her observation of the tiny worms after the incident and the castle was on the way back.

”Mystery Moon?” When they were about to walk toward the castle, they noticed that Mystery Moon was still riveted to the floor.

”Ah... I’m coming.” She shook her head clear of any distractions and went to keep pace with the others.

”Are you alright?” Evelyn asked as she touched Mystery Moon’s head.

”I’m fine...” Mystery Moon replied under her breath, looking quite different from the excited version of her when she first arrived.

”Such an odd girl.” Lily could not help thinking.

Lily twitched her mouth and then took Mystery Moon’s hand through which she injected a magic parent worm into her body. ”Although the fool should not be infected with a cold, what if she was?”

They traveled back to the Witch Building via the Magic Ark and immediately reported to an angry Wendy, who, as they had expected, scolded them.

”There was no need for you girls to investigate the matter. Sylvie noticed the magic reaction in school when she was in the castle and has since learned everything after questioning the people there.” Wendy knocked every witch’s forehead with her hand. ”Sneaking through the police perimeter and entering a potentially dangerous place, you are spending too much time with Lightning. Do you want to be confined to the classroom and take three practice tests like her?”

Everyone’s faces changed as they heard Wendy’s words. They shook their heads immediately.

”Ah, I almost forgot.” Evelyn suddenly clapped her hands and said, ”I have to check the tavern’s stock before dinner.”

”I also have a problem to consult Isabella about.” Margie bowed deeply. ”I’ll leave first.”

”Me too.” Vanilla hurriedly followed her out.

”Eh?” Amy stayed for a while, still failing to come up with a reasonable excuse and ended up being dragged out of the office by Summer.

Lily sighed at the sight. ”Do you really think you could escape from punishment if Wendy really intended to penalize you? It’s not even a bad thing to spend a night finishing three practice tests to review what we have learned.”

After Lily pushed Mystery Moon’s head forward so they could apologize with a bow, they left for their bedroom.

”Now can you can tell me what happened?” After the door of their bedroom was closed, Lily rolled her eyes at her roommate who looked very sad. ”Are you acting like that to gain my sympathy?”

”Lily...” Mystery Moon sniffed. ”The new witch can let out electricity!”

”What is the issue then?”

”Electricity is magnetism and magnetism is electricity. In other words... I can be her and she can be me,” she said worriedly. ”What if her power is stronger than mine and His Majesty no longer needs me?”

”Pfft.” Lily almost choked on her saliva. ”Why would you say that? Even if both of you have the same ability, His Majesty will never deliberately kick someone to the side to be unused.”

”But he’ll always compare...”

”But you are never the same...” As Lily said that, she was suddenly stunned, ”Never... the same?” The words resounded in her mind. Then she asked, ”Wait, what did you say before?”

”Electricity is magnetism?”

”After that.”

”Uh... she can be me.”

”That’s it!” Lily felt a lightbulb turn on in her head as a new idea emerged in her mind. No longer caring about Mystery Moon, she ran to the desk, picked up a drop of water from a cup, laid it under the microscope, and started to adjust the focal length intently.

”What do you mean by that?” Mystery Moon protested. ”Hey, can’t you comfort me for a little longer?”

”Leave me alone!” Lily waved. ”If you don’t want to be overlooked, start to study more attentively from now on. By doing so, you may have some hope.”

There was always a difference when comparing things. She had drawn and compared many pictures for her target worms and created parent worms based on the pictures and compared the results. However, no matter how hard she had tried, she had still failed to create a replica of the target worm. This was because she could never draw out every detail of a target worm based on her observation. Once the microscope was adjusted or a target worm moved, she would get a very different picture. A parent worm created by her based on this kind of observation would never be exactly the same as the original.

If she wanted to turn a parent worm into a particular worm, the two should first become the same thing.

Lily soon set a goal. A transparent worm looked like a rotten grape. They were very common in water and were often chosen as her test subjects.

She gently touched the slide and summoned a magic parent worm that was invisible to the naked eye. She first restrained the parent worm’s urge to assimilate the worms around it and then slowly moved its tentacles toward the transparent worm. When the two worms stuck together, the parent worm started penetrating into the target worm until its whole body turned a light purple.

Now the parent worm was the target worm and the target worm was the parent worm.

When she let go of the restriction on the parent worm’s assimilation power, for the first time, she saw the parent worm did not return to its original state as it usually did. Instead, it swam in the form of the transparent worm. As time went on, the worms around it were all transformed into transparent worms as well and soon enough, the transformation spread throughout the entire droplet.

Seven or eight minutes later, she could no longer find any other tiny worms except the transparent worms.