Chapter 2: Witches and Half-Witches

"Sister, are you ready yet?"

Outside the door, Alice's voice interrupted Dorothy's memories.

"Coming, coming! A girl always needs to prepare before going out, what's the rush?"

She didn't actually have much to prepare; she just casually picked up a scarf hanging on the coat rack and wrapped it around herself, completely covering her chin and lips, which were the only parts still exposed. Fully armed, she walked out of the room.

"Sister, what kind of outfit is that?"

Outside the door, Alice looked at her sister, who was wrapped up tightly, and couldn't help but be speechless.

But she wasn't surprised; her sister had always been like this. Despite being beautiful enough to make others jealous, she always hid it away, looking like she couldn't bear to be seen.

"Hmph, this peerless beauty of mine belongs only to me. If others see it, I'll be at a loss."

Dorothy looked triumphant in the face of her sister's helplessness.

This body was the girlfriend the god had bestowed upon her; how could she let outsiders see her girlfriend so casually?

"Let's go, let's go. Where are we going to buy things? The supermarket in town?"

Seeing her sister looking like she wanted to say something but hesitated, as if she wanted to persuade her again, Dorothy quickly interrupted.

She walked quickly to the front door, reached out to take her flying broom from the broom rack, and looked at Alice.

Alice didn't say anything more and walked up to get her own broom.

"Of course we're going to the city. What's there to see at the town supermarket? The goods aren't complete, and the quality isn't good enough. Sister, you can't skimp on school supplies. We need to buy high-quality ones. We're going to the Witch Specialty Store today."

She rolled her eyes at her sister, who was already pulling a long face, feeling even more helpless toward this homebody sister who had never liked going out since she was little.

"Fine."

Thinking of the long distance from home to the city, Dorothy really didn't want to move, but her sister's sharp gaze made her choose to shut up. She could only nod, not daring to say more.

Moreover, the quality of items at the magic shops in town was indeed average; they rarely sold high-end goods. Those average magic items often couldn't bear the load generated by the massive mana flow of witches and were prone to problems. Therefore, it was best to buy witch supplies at a witch specialty store.

However, because the number of witches wasn't actually that large, there weren't many specialty stores serving them. They were common in big cities, but for this small, backwater city where the sisters lived, they were only found in the city center.

"Then you lead the way; I'm not very familiar with that area."

Dorothy said to her sister.

She wasn't very familiar with the location of the witch specialty store, which wasn't entirely because she was a homebody who didn't like going out; it was more because she hadn't needed to go there before.

After all, strictly speaking, she was only a half-witch. She was the child of her human mage father and witch mother, and she only had half the witch bloodline in her body.

This brought up the origin of the witch race. The original witches were actually mutated from human female mages. Therefore, strictly speaking, witches were a branch of human evolution and did not have reproductive isolation from humans.

It was just that witches who evolved from humans like this were now very rare. Such witches were also called "Original Witches" and were a rare existence even among witches.

Most witches today were children born from the union of a witch and another witch. Although same-sex procreation sounded outrageous, it wasn't a difficult task for a race as powerful as witches. Their race itself was quite outrageous.

However, witches had always been open and free, so there was no such thing as a requirement for witches to pair with witches. Although some witches who pursued power above all else had this tendency, most witches were freer in their choice of partners.

Dorothy's mother was such a witch who chose a human mage as her partner. Her witch mother had fallen for her father's looks at first sight, and after they fell in love, Dorothy was born. Then, her overly free-spirited witch mother quickly grew tired of the boring emotion of love, realizing that love wasn't as fun as magic. Thus, after their relationship broke down, she chose to devote herself to endless magical research.

Then came the story of her father meeting her current stepmother and forming a new family.

Dorothy, with only half the witch bloodline, was naturally a genius girl among human mages, but by witch standards, she was considered "low-ability." Otherwise, she wouldn't have just barely reached the admission standard for the Witch Academy at sixteen.

You have to know that Alice, as a pure-blooded witch, had enrolled at three years old. Now thirteen, she had already finished half of the twenty-year compulsory witch education, while Dorothy was just preparing to enter the first grade this year.

Hmm, starting tomorrow, she would probably have to call Alice "Senior" when she met her at school.

"Alright, then Sister, follow me closely."

Alice nodded. She understood that her sister wasn't very familiar with the city and added a worried reminder.

At this moment, the roles of the sisters seemed to have reversed; the younger sister was far more mature than the older one.

"Yes, yes, just fly slower. If you're too fast, I won't be able to keep up. You have to be considerate of your weak, pitiful, low-ability sister."

Dorothy nodded and said.

"What are you saying? Sister, you're not low-ability, don't talk nonsense. Many peak witches now are also from half-witch backgrounds. Pure-blooded witches just have a faster start; everyone is the same in the later stages. Sister, you will definitely be very powerful in the future."

Dorothy was just teasing, but Alice retorted stubbornly. The blonde beauty looked at her earnestly, her emerald-like eyes filled with confidence in her sister.

This made Dorothy pause, and she felt a bit embarrassed. She just reached out and ruffled her sister's hair like she did when they were little, making it all messy.

*Hehe, I haven't wasted my love on this little girl all these years. She still knows how to care for her sister. Not bad, not bad. *

"Alright, alright, I'll work hard. Let's set off quickly. It's really quite far to the city; let's go early and return early."

Saying this, she reached out and pushed open the front door.

And so, the world outside was revealed, with a vast sea of clouds in sight.

"Good morning, Dorothy, and little Alice. Heading out?"

The old woman next door flew past their door on her steampunk-modified broom, greeted the sisters briefly, and then roared away again, leaving behind rolling black exhaust fumes and a single sentence.

"The supermarket next door is half-price today, I'm off!"

Dorothy: "..."

*Tsk, even after more than a decade, I'm still not quite used to this magical style. *

She thought to herself while mounting her broom. ===== CHAPTER 3 =====