“Is it about magic?”
Jiang Yao was still reeling from the words “I have to leave,” frantically trying to figure out what could possibly make Aurora make such a decision.
Even after hearing Jiang Lingwei speak, she could only absentmindedly repeat her question.
“Yes.”
Jiang Lingwei nodded.
“There are some things I’m not sure would be useful for you, so today I’ll only teach you what I’m certain will work.”
“Today?”
Jiang Yao, whose mind was still muddled just moments before, caught onto a key word and quickly asked,
“Does that mean you’re going to teach me for several days?”
“Of course.”
Standing at the podium, Jiang Lingwei smiled. “Not to mention that dawn’s almost here and you still have to get back to your family, but there’s no way I could teach you everything at once.”
“Then I want to learn. Thank you, Teacher Aurora.”
“No need to call me ‘Teacher’~”
“Hehe.”
Jiang Yao responded cheerfully, but in her heart, she wasn’t really thinking about studying. Instead, she thought,
(It looks like there’s still time… I need to hurry.)
(Aurora… or rather, Mom… has she even noticed she never explained why she followed me to Canghai City? She probably still thinks we’re in Mudong City.)
(Sometimes her slip-ups are just too obvious.) (Helpless)
Unaware of her daughter’s inner thoughts, Jiang Lingwei was quite pleased to see Jiang Yao sitting there so quietly and attentively.
Look at her, such a great kid—diligent at school, top-tier as a Magical Girl, and now, so quickly recognizing the importance of what I said and starting to really think it through.
No need to worry about kids slacking off in their studies or anything like that.
She rummaged through the drawers of the podium, took out a few boxes of chalk, and, after pondering how to start, picked up a piece of chalk and began drawing on the blackboard.
Jiang Lingwei hadn’t come entirely unprepared; she had thought carefully about what she should teach before coming here.
Should she try teaching Jiang Yao the magic she already knew? Not only might those things be too difficult for a beginner to grasp quickly, but it also seemed like modern Magical Girls couldn’t learn much that was new anyway.
And then there was the matter of demons, magical beasts, and even Dark Fairies.
Jiang Lingwei found herself hesitating more and more as she sorted through her knowledge.
Modern Magical Girls were different from those of the past, and the scum on the dark side were different, too.
Take that Dark Fairy, for instance.
As far as Jiang Lingwei knew, the only information she had about fairies was what Xiaobai had said—“Fairies can’t use magic freely on Earth.”
So, that Dark Fairy must have some kind of restriction—hence the whole opening up a Demon Domain and piloting a Gundam.
Otherwise, it definitely would have acted personally.
That’s what the fairies were like before: unless their main goal was to destroy cities, every other Dark Fairy was wicked to the core, and it wasn’t unusual for them to come alone to assassinate someone.
That way, both stealth and flexibility far surpassed the cumbersome effort and mana cost of creating a huge Demon Domain and sending a big, clumsy brute straight ahead.
In the past, the fairies’ magic would also be weakened.
But that “weakening” was really just an environmental issue.
Grandpa always said, the fundamental power of magic never changed.
For example, let’s say a fireball could destroy a stone.
In the magic dimension, it would get a boost from omnipresent mana, letting it smash several stones or even a wall.
But on Earth, without that boost, it only did what it was meant to do—destroy one stone.
It returned to its original form—how could that count as being weakened?
So, Grandpa said, back then, those Dark Fairies tried to corrupt humans and other beings only because they had no soldiers—they couldn’t get reinforcements, and if a fairy got killed by a Magical Girl, that was it, truly dead. They needed more troops.
It was pretty much the same logic as when they discovered compatible humans and made contracts, turning them into Magical Girls.
Modern Dark Fairies, though, they probably go around corrupting things just out of helpless necessity.
(Hmph, whatever their reason, these pests will only keep doing these dirty tricks for another few hundred years.)
Now that she understood this, some of the experience in dealing with past breeds of magical beasts and demons had become less relevant.
Take those magical beasts that needed to be conjured and controlled directly by Dark Fairies—these days, Dark Fairies probably couldn’t even summon them. There was no point in teaching that.
After considering it over and over, Jiang Lingwei decided to leave the uncertain tricks for later and focus on teaching reliable, practical skills for now.
For example…
“Swoosh swoosh swoosh.”
After writing and drawing for a while, Jiang Lingwei finally drew a sphere on the blackboard, marking a few arrows pointing inward around it.
“First, I want to teach you—[Mana Compression Technique].”
As she spoke, she released a glowing orb and used her mana to levitate a desk.
“See, this light orb I just made uses only a tiny bit of Light Mana. Don’t be fooled by how bright it is—the power’s negligible. It’s not even as explosive as a lightbulb blowing out over our heads.”
“So if I use this kind of light orb to attack the desk, what’ll happen…?”
To demonstrate for Jiang Yao, the light orb shot toward the desk under her control.
“Pop.”
With a faint sound, the light orb shattered into a few motes and faded from sight.
The desk, of course, was totally unscathed; it felt like setting off a little firecracker would be stronger than this magic—both in destructive power and effect.
“Now, let’s see what happens if we compress the mana first.”
Jiang Lingwei’s fingertip began to glow faintly.
That little spark was barely visible under the light orb glowing above them like a lamp.
Jiang Yao had to lean forward and look closely before she noticed that tiny speck of light at Jiang Lingwei’s fingertip, like a spark from burning charcoal.
“Still using the same amount of Light Mana to form it—watch this time.”
“Whoosh.”
The speck of light shot out, leaving a faint sound in the air.
The next moment—
“Crash!”
The wooden desk exploded instantly, splinters flying everywhere.
Jiang Yao reflexively tried to shield herself, but saw that Aurora had blocked all the flying debris.
“Magic Beam is a skill every Magical Girl knows—it’s basically our standard attack.”
As she spoke, Jiang Lingwei waved away the barrier of light she’d used as a shield. Now that she had the Yunxia-brand DLC, her mana was far more plentiful than it used to be—no more running dry after just a little use—so teaching wouldn’t consume much. Still, there was no harm in being thrifty.
All the accidents she’d gone through had made Jiang Lingwei cautious; she dreaded running out of mana just when the enemy attacked.
After all, you couldn’t just count on “friendship” or “bonds” to force more mana out every time.
Magic didn’t work that way.
(Hmph, doesn’t matter, even if a few more shark-heads show up this time, I’ll slice them down all the same.)
“If there’s anything you’ll definitely find useful, I think it’s this technique.”
“Shuijing, you can start by practicing with basic compressed light points, then move on to releasing Magic Beams. Once you get used to always using compressed mana for your beams, you’ll find your mana lasts much longer than before.”
“Whether it’s cleaning up small fry or targeting the weak points of strong enemies, this will come in handy.”
She formed another light point, this one the size of a ping-pong ball, and let it drift gently toward Jiang Yao. Pointing at the diagram on the board, Jiang Lingwei said,
“This one’s for healing. It won’t explode even if you mess up its structure. You can hold it in your palm and get a feel for it, then practice.”
“The most important skill is to control magic with your will—imagine the mana in your hand as an invisible ball, and try your best to compress it smaller and smaller.”
“Okay.”
Jiang Yao nodded, stretching out her hand, and the light orb floated automatically into her palm.
Holding it, Jiang Yao’s first impression was warmth—the orb was like a pocket warmer, giving off a gentle heat in her hand.
But that wasn’t all; she also had another sensation.
“Aurora, I feel like I could eat it.”
Good girl Jiang Yao raised her hand to speak.
“Eat it?”
“Mm.”
The girl nodded obediently. “Or you could call it absorbing. I feel like I can merge it into my own mana.”
“Ah, I see.”
Jiang Lingwei breathed a sigh of relief; that made sense.
She smiled and said,
“That’s because my mana has that property. Usually, after a Magical Girl gets used to my mana a few times, sooner or later she’ll be able to do the same.”
“Did I tell you that?”
With a hint of pride, Jiang Lingwei said,
“I’m a Magical Girl with support talent—whether it’s boosting abilities or managing health, I can do it all.”
“When it’s almost dawn, I’ll take you home and give you a buff, so you’ll stay wide awake and energetic all day long.”
This wasn’t an empty boast. In the past, her magic had been the key to everyone holding out during those last four months when the Dark Side launched its frenzied assault. She’d always taken pride in being able to help everyone like that.
“Amazing…”
Jiang Yao said sincerely.
In her heart, this Magical Girl senior seemed more and more impressive. Even if she put aside her almost-certain suspicions about her identity, just “Aurora’s” abilities alone constantly surprised her.
Not only was she powerful, her magic was versatile, and her knowledge could teach her so much.
Especially when compared to the “guide” on her magical journey—Fairy Xiaobai—Aurora’s image shone brilliantly.
Having never met another fairy, Jiang Yao could only hope that Xiaobai was truly just an outlier.
Otherwise, humanity was in a sorry state.
Seeing the admiration on Jiang Yao’s face, Jiang Lingwei quickly added,
“But I should warn you—this is just my talent. I don’t know if others have similar abilities, so don’t try absorbing other people’s mana lightly, especially if their element’s off. Getting mana from them might hurt you.”
“Mhm, mhm.”
Jiang Yao nodded vigorously. “By the way, speaking of other Magical Girls, Aurora, have you tried with anyone else?”
“Ah… That was with some partners I used to fight alongside, but I don’t know where they are now.”
Thinking of what Jiang Cheng wrote in his message, about magic suits flying off but Magical Girls nowhere to be seen, Jiang Lingwei felt a pang in her heart.
But she didn’t let her daughter see any sadness, instead smiling brightly, “Who knows, maybe I’ll see them again soon.”
Jiang Lingwei smoothly skipped over the topic of her companions and instead encouraged the girl,
“Since you can adapt to my magic so quickly, that means our mana is very compatible. Now, try the Mana Compression Technique—I believe you’ll master it in no time.”
“Okay!”
Hearing that, Jiang Yao seemed recharged, immediately perking up and starting to practice.
The sun had not yet risen, but strands of light were already brightening the eastern sky.
And in these final moments before dawn—
Within the deserted, abandoned elementary school, somewhere within a few kilometers with not another soul around, something began to stir.
“Clatter…”
The long-sealed manhole cover, still faintly stained with dried, dark blood, was pushed aside, and a tentacle emerged, pointing toward the glowing classroom.