This time, the break didn’t last long. Aurora had only slept for about an hour before she opened her eyes.
“Mm~”
She raised her head and rubbed her slightly sore arms.
“What time is it now? Oh well, no point asking, I don’t have a watch.”
Before Jiang Cheng could respond, she rolled up her sleeve, revealing her wrist beneath her spirit attire, and promptly took a big bite.
Then, she showed Jiang Cheng the round bite mark on her wrist.
“Look! A wristwatch.”
It just didn’t have any hands.
Jiang Cheng felt concerned about her mental state.
Don’t tell me she’s starting to lose it now, and it’ll end up that erasing her memory is the only cure.
If that’s the case, maybe it’s better if those memories never come back.
Fortunately, Aurora was just fooling around. She immediately propped herself up and said,
“Wanna try magic?”
Her tone was like that of a shady aunt trying to tempt a child.
“Come on~ Try being a magical girl. If you become a magical girl, I’ll tell you one of my secrets, okay.” “Alright, let’s do it.”
Jiang Cheng, knowing full well he wasn’t about to turn into a magical girl, had nothing to be afraid of. He figured his past self would have been the same—back then, he was some kind of king, so his knowledge was probably even broader than now.
“That’s quick.”
Aurora hadn’t expected him to agree so easily, and she herself seemed a little uncertain.
“I haven’t even figured out if it’ll work.”
The reason she woke up early was for this, so she felt the need to properly explain:
“It’s like this—I suspect you might actually have the talent to be a magical girl.”
“But, you see, magical girls all make contracts with fairies, then get their own magical gear and spirit attire, and only then do they count as real magical girls.”
“Thing is, the fairy isn’t here right now. It went off with my friends to do something big, and it probably won’t be back any time soon.”
“The reliable fairies and magical girls are all gone—only I got left behind, so you’ll have to make do with me.”
“Ahem.”
She cleared her throat and continued,
“So here’s the thing: magical girls need a magic core, but since the fairy isn’t here, making a new core is pretty much impossible right now.”
“So, could you maybe use my magic core instead?”
She pointed to the heart-shaped gem on her chest. “My magic doesn’t have any attributes; it’s compatible with anyone, and it can even generate other kinds of magic.” “If you really do have the aptitude, I think I can try channeling some magic into you—maybe it’ll work.”
“But, Jiang Cheng.”
“Jiang Cheng.”
Noticing the misused name, someone immediately protested loudly.
“Alright, Jiang Cheng.”
At this moment, the girl seemed to have a bit of a devil-may-care attitude—it was clear she was mispronouncing his name on purpose.
“Let me make this clear first—I’ve never done this before, so I don’t know what side effects there might be.”
“We really have no other choice right now. Are you sure you’re ready?”
“I’m sure.”
“Uh.”
Aurora sounded a bit unsure. “For real? You’re ready? You don’t want to ask anything else?”
“There’s just one small thing.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t know if this would trigger a flashback, but he really wanted to ask this of the past Aurora.
“Well, didn’t you ever consider—I’m a guy, you know? If I end up wearing a little skirt or something… Wouldn’t that be kind of hard to look at? Aren’t you worried?”
“Oh, that…”
For some reason, Aurora was oddly confident about this:
“Geez, I thought it was something serious.”
She shrugged.
“Relax, that’s not going to happen. You might even really like your transformed form, you know?”
“How do you know?”
“Hmph!”
At that question, the girl suddenly got worked up. She bared her teeth like Sun Wukong, exhaling sharply: “Why do you have so many questions? Hurry up and say it—do you want to or not!”
“I want to…”
“Very good.”
Aurora puffed out her chest. “Come on, put your hand on my gem and I’ll transfer the power to you.”
“That’s… a bit much, isn’t it?”
Seeing where the gem was located, Jiang Cheng hesitated.
“What’s there to hesitate about? I’m not asking you to touch anything else. Hmph, once you become a magical girl, who touches who is still up for debate.”
Aurora puffed out her chest again, the once petite and immature figure far from the fullness of the future.
“Hurry up, we still have a lot of people to save.”
“Alright.”
Since she was so forward, Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything more. He just reached out, pressing his index finger to the gem.
It felt like a warm current flowed into his body. Even as he lost control of his body and entered a CG-like state, Jiang Cheng could still clearly feel that comforting warmth.
It was as if his body was made to receive magic. Even though it was light magic flowing in, he didn’t feel the slightest discomfort.
Standing still, Jiang Cheng let the warm “water” course through his whole body.
Seeing that he really wasn’t having any bad reactions, Aurora let out a sigh of relief and increased the flow of magic.
Starting from his finger, then his arm, torso, legs, and finally, his brain.
At last, the magic flowed into his heart.
Thump, thump.
Only then did Jiang Cheng’s heart begin to beat.
Up until now, he hadn’t realized that the organs in his body weren’t actually functioning—they were just fakes.
Then, his body began to radiate a white light.
“Here it comes!”
There was an odd excitement in Aurora’s eyes, and she even let out a laugh that didn’t belong to a magical girl:
“Kekekeke… Let me see your new—wait, what? You didn’t transform?!”
Looking at the man before her, clad in silver armor adorned with a blue cape and exquisite engravings, silver hair like a holy knight straight out of another world, all Aurora could see was collapse and disillusionment.
“Transform into what?”
Jiang Cheng knew what she was thinking, and said smugly, “Don’t tell me you thought I’d turn into a girl? No way that’s happening.”
“No, why?!”
It was as if his body was made to receive magic. Even though it was light magic flowing in, he didn’t feel the slightest discomfort.
Standing still, Jiang Cheng let the warm “water” course through his whole body.
Seeing that he really wasn’t having any bad reactions, Aurora let out a sigh of relief and increased the flow of magic.
Starting from his finger, then his arm, torso, legs, and finally, his brain.
At last, the magic flowed into his heart.
Thump, thump.
Only then did Jiang Cheng’s heart begin to beat.
Up until now, he hadn’t realized that the organs in his body weren’t actually functioning—they were just fakes.
Then, his body began to radiate a white light.
“Here it comes!”
There was an odd excitement in Aurora’s eyes, and she even let out a laugh that didn’t belong to a magical girl:
“Kekekeke… Let me see your new—wait, what? You didn’t transform?!”
Looking at the man before her, clad in silver armor adorned with a blue cape and exquisite engravings, silver hair like a holy knight straight out of another world, all Aurora could see was collapse and disillusionment.
“Transform into what?”
Jiang Cheng knew what she was thinking, and said smugly, “Don’t tell me you thought I’d turn into a girl? No way that’s happening.”
“No, why?!” The starry-eyed girl pounced, staring intently at his handsome armor. Then, as she thought of something, she began pounding angrily on his breastplate.
“How can you be so cool-looking! Ugh, I’m so jealous!”
“What am I supposed to do about it?”
Jiang Cheng raised his arm, blocking her flurry of punches and kicks.
Just then, he suddenly remembered what Aurora said earlier.
“By the way, you mentioned you’d tell me a secret. What is it?”
“Not telling you!”
The girl stamped her foot in a huff, sending a stone on the roadside flying.
“Alright, alright.”
If she didn’t want to say, there was nothing Jiang Cheng could do.
Besides, this was just a world constructed from memories using magic—most likely, even the Aurora of that time hadn’t said what that secret was.
“By the way, how are you feeling now? Can you use any magic? What about magic gear?”
“I’ll give it a try…”
Jiang Cheng could feel that, theoretically, he should have a weapon, but right now he couldn’t pull it out.
Maybe it was because his past self never drew it.
Still, there was an unexpected surprise.
He now knew the name of this set of armor.
“[Echoes of the Void].”