Chapter 221: The Overdue First Lesson of the Bud Grade

"Since everyone has now awakened their Magic Armaments, and the fastest-progressing Xiao Jin has already advanced to the Leaf Grade, the development of Magic Armaments can now enter its next phase."

After lunch, in the underground training ground of the base, Senior Cuique stood before a small blackboard that had been brought in at some unknown time, addressing the several juniors before her.

The timing coincided with the holiday, and she and the girls rarely had such complete free time, so Senior Cuique decided to hold a sufficiently weighty lecture, thereby kicking off the preparations for the assessment.

After all, the arrival of the new year also meant that for the Magical Girls' qualification certification, only about two months of preparation time remained.

Emerald had already revealed the news to Senior Cuique: March 3rd would be the specific date for this year's qualification certification.

The specific assessment location was supposed to be a confidential matter, but in Emerald's mouth, it was equally no secret: the examination ground was calmly set in Runnore—the city known as the Capital of Wisdom, where the National Research Institute is located.

Regarding this piece of information, Senior Cuique felt no surprise whatsoever; rather, she would have been surprised if the examination ground were not in Runnore.

Undoubtedly, this city is where Emerald's authority can be infinitely amplified; within this city, aside from the Queen herself, no one's words can override Emerald's voice; it can be said to be her territory.

Emerald, taking such enormous risks to come and trade with her, had no reason to place the location of the trade on someone else's territory.

However, with this, Senior Cuique was destined not to be able to wait until the end of February to travel to the Kingdom like most Magical Girls; she still had to go find Emerald in advance to heal her injuries.

Furthermore, her deal with Emerald had another part; it was not just about healing injuries, but also involved the transfer of a quarter of the rights to the Magic Affairs Institute. This process was bound to involve the entanglement of various interests; under comprehensive consideration, Senior Cuique had to go to the Kingdom even earlier.

Ultimately, the time she set to depart from Fang Ting City for the Kingdom was fixed on February 10th.

That is to say, from now, which is January 5th, the time the Fang Ting City team can continue to cultivate within the city amounts to a mere 36 days.

To be honest, with Ye Yixia's Leaf Grade Flowering progress, and the achievement of Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan jointly repelling a Half-Molted Remnant Beast, participating in last year's qualification certification and obtaining a White Card would surely be no problem.

Unfortunately, this year is the Queen's Year. The news brought by Asano Madoka, that "this year's assessment will become more difficult," made Senior Cuique always harbor concerns.

Thus came the current scene; to maximize the combat power of the juniors during the assessment, Senior Cuique decided to start from the angle of Magic Armament construction.

It is common knowledge that a Magical Girl's Magic Armament will evolve under the owner's accumulated efforts; even though the depth of potential differs between Magic Armaments, they all possess potential.

To release this potential, besides accumulated combat, one can also improve speed through some daily exercises; although the effect is not as good as direct actual combat, it wins on high safety and stable progress.

After writing several common exercise methods and tricks on the blackboard, and explaining many difficult points under the juniors' questions, about half an hour later, Senior Cuique finally had the chance to stop her mouth, put down the chalk in her hand, and say: "Alright, let's stop with the basic knowledge for now; to facilitate your understanding, let's enter the practical session first, and bring out your Magic Armaments."

Basic knowledge is just a foundation; magic armaments, being highly personalized items, must be tailored to the individual.

There was no need to delay; the several girls present then transformed one after another, subsequently extracting their own Magic Armaments.

Senior Cuique looked from left to right; the first thing she saw was Xia Liang's Yinli—a Magic Armament appearing in the shape of a dressing mirror.

This Magic Armament was also the first to awaken among the three, so its current appearance was already somewhat different from when Xia Liang first advanced to the Bud Grade: not only did the external decorative patterns become much more fancy, but the mirror surface also carried a thin layer of spiritual light.

The progress was obvious.

This was Senior Cuique's first impression in her mind.

Actually, the basic knowledge she mentioned earlier, she had already taught Xia Liang once when she advanced to the Bud Grade a few months ago; only at that time, as Xia Liang had just entered the Bud Grade, she did not explain it too deeply, merely giving a superficial hint.

The changes in Xia Liang's Magic Armament were something she watched step by step; the increase in the dressing mirror's external decorations was a slow and steady process, which, in terms of the Magic Armament's functionality, seemed to correspond to the growth of toughness—not only able to absorb more magic power, but also able to withstand stronger attacks.

As for the spiritual light on the mirror surface, it seemed not to exist yet half a month ago before Senior Cuique taught Xia Liang the spell formula; in other words, this thin glow was the result of Xia Liang's efforts over the past half month.

The changes it represented, Senior Cuique also understood the gist under Xia Liang's explanation: it meant that currently, the efficiency of the mirror surface transmitting magic power was higher, and the loss during the transmission process was less. Looking at it this way, the two major functions possessed by Xia Liang's Magic Armament—Magic Reflection and Magic Transmission—undoubtedly had improved to different degrees.

For a Magical Girl's Magic Armament to continue growing, relying solely on effort is certainly not enough, but without effort, growth is absolutely impossible. The fact that Xia Liang's Magic Armament could undergo such a huge change in just a few months absolutely concealed several times the sweat of ordinary people behind it.

Senior Cuique couldn't help but nod silently.

The talent Xia Liang showed externally was undoubtedly the most excellent among the Three Magicians; whether it was the speed of ability flowering or the speed of skill learning, she was far ahead of Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan. In such a situation, still maintaining such a degree of effort, one could see her self-disciplined character.

"An astonishing, even delightful change."

After organizing her words, Senior Cuique summarized thus: "I feel as if I am witnessing the birth of a Flower Card."

Such a high evaluation naturally caused the two people beside her to turn their heads, and also made Xia Liang's originally somewhat nervous expression relax instantly.

"Eh? Really? It can't be just to comfort me, right?"

She covered her mouth as if she couldn't believe it: "If you, Little Senior, say it with your own mouth, I might just believe it."

"I have no intention of being soft-hearted on such an important matter."

Senior Cuique raised her hand and flicked her forehead: "If I praise you, just accept it properly; don't act up here."

"Then I'll just believe it for now."

Xia Liang rubbed her forehead resentfully: "And then? What should I do next?"

Senior Cuique couldn't help but fall into thought.

Xia Liang's question was simply like that of an excellent student who had finished all the exercise sets issued by the teacher in advance, and then eagerly asked, "What should I write next?"

What to write? The classmates are still writing multiple-choice questions, and you come asking what to do when the questions are finished?

With Xia Liang's talent, since she has already mastered a method to stably improve her Magic Armament's capabilities, everything after this is merely the work of grinding, emphasizing accumulation over time. There will come a day when Xia Liang has the opportunity to step through the threshold of the Flower Grade; her Magic Armament will be nothing short of an invincible shield and spear; Magic Reflection will be enough to render all non-regularity-based offensive means ineffective, and Magic Transmission can be paired with explosion-type and other spell formulas to hit wherever pointed, truly integrating offense and defense, quite complete.

Having already found such a direction for effort, is it really still necessary to keep adding fuel to the fire?

Fortunately, her thoughts as a teacher were still sufficient; regarding Xia Liang's next direction of effort, she actually had some ideas too.

For example... controlling the shape of the mirror surface.

As a mirror-shaped Magic Armament, Yinli's effect on magic power is like that of a general mirror encountering light; there are many similarities between the two.

And if one could control the shape of the mirror surface, could one not use convex lenses or concave lenses, thereby performing more diverse operations on magic power, focusing or scattering the magic power?

And when she told this idea to Xia Liang, what she received was only a slightly confused expression: "... Scattering?"

Senior Cuique then remembered that the two children's school had only started teaching physics last year; these most basic optical knowledge points hadn't even been taught in school yet.

Confirming once again in her heart the importance of basic education, considering that these things should be the exam content for the next semester, Senior Cuique slowed her tone and simply explained the relevant knowledge; before she even finished speaking, Lin Xiaolu beside her had slowly raised her hand:

"Can the direction of Magic Armament growth be controlled artificially?"

"This is what I want to say next."

Senior Cuique did not have any emotion because her previous words were interrupted; instead, she nodded appreciatively, walked back to the blackboard, and started writing and drawing: "If you hope for your Magic Armament to undergo some relatively simple changes, you can actually actively intervene during the exercise process."

"For example, thoughts like 'wanting the Magic Armament to become bigger' or 'wanting the Magic Armament to become rounder'; if you can constantly strengthen this wish during combat and daily exercises, making it strong enough, then the Magic Armament will also respond to your wish."

"This point, in fact, many Magical Girls have already unconsciously applied. After all, not everyone is satisfied with their Magic Armament; there will always be mixed thoughts like 'if only my Magic Armament could become such and such,' and this kind of thought hoping for one's Magic Armament to become a certain shape will also influence the direction of the Magic Armament's growth to a certain extent."

Speaking to this point, Senior Cuique couldn't help but look towards Bai Jingxuan's Magic Armament beside her.

A music box, entirely golden, with an overall rectangular shape.

Tianyin is the name of Bai Jingxuan's Demon Armor; its awakening occurred roughly three months ago.

Its ability is to play different melodies through the resonance and manipulation of magical power; depending on differences in rhythm, melody, and timbre, it exerts varying effects on surrounding things.

After three months of ability development, Bai Jingxuan has now mastered four distinct types of melodies.

Besides the "Limb Activation" and "Magic Activation" she mastered from the start, she now also possesses two rhythms: "Morale Incitement" and "Selflessness."

The former makes those affected by the melody feel a surge of battle will and high spirits; no matter how listless they were before, they can charge forward once more.

The latter allows those affected to forget themselves, neither rejoicing in external things nor grieving over oneself. Their actions will no longer be influenced by emotion; they will harbor no thoughts of anger or fear, even ignoring their own existence, thus entering a state of unparalleled focus.

Senior Cuique has already tested both rhythms for her; both are double-edged swords. While the former can boost morale, if the influence is too deep, it leads to reckless behavior in battle and increases the consumption of magical power and stamina; while the latter can make one focused, similarly, if the influence is too deep, it causes one to ignore the dangers in battle while forgetting oneself, becoming blind to enemy attacks and often getting hurt without realizing it.

In other words, these rhythms can serve as support tools to strengthen allies, or as demonic weapons that lead enemies to self-destruction.

However, these are not what Senior Cuique is focusing on now.

What she is focusing on is the base that appeared under Bai Jingxuan's Music Box Demon Armor at some unknown time.

The initial form of the Tianyin Demon Armor was merely a music box, with no external ornaments, yet now it has a base roughly ten centimeters long, about the same thickness as a wand shaft, connected to the bottom of the box.

It is this base that is now standing upright without deviation in mid-air, propping up the music box.

Senior Cuique felt her eyelid twitch.

As she said earlier, a Magical Girl's thoughts about her own Demon Armor can, to some extent, interfere with the armor's growth path. The extra base on Bai Jingxuan's Demon Armor undoubtedly has nothing to do with the armor's inherent growth path; it is purely an expression of her personal will.

—Holding a rectangular box with both hands to smash Remnant Beasts is inconvenient; I want to add a handle to this box.

Senior Cuique felt as though she had heard Bai Jingxuan's inner thoughts during battle.

Yes, Tianyin now, rather than looking like a music box, looks more like a hammer.

The edges of the box, at some unknown time, took on an eerie dark green hue, shifting from smooth to sharp and jagged, radiating a dangerous aura. This eerie dark green also stained the originally golden box body in patches here and there; if the color were different, one might mistake it for bloodstains.

Senior Cuique couldn't help but press her lips together, momentarily unsure how to evaluate the Demon Armor before her. She raised her eyes and met Bai Jingxuan's gaze, seeing Bai Jingxuan looking at her with eyes full of expectation and pride, like a puppy that believed it had done a good deed and was waiting for praise.

To be fair, the current state of this Demon Armor does indeed warrant Senior Cuique's approval.

After all, what she just said, "Magical Girls can use their own will to interfere with the growth direction of their Demon Armor," has been concretely embodied in this Demon Armor.

Even if this interfered growth direction is quite unreliable.

The problem is, if she affirms Bai Jingxuan's approach now, what if this child continues down this path to the very end? When she sees this Demon Armor next time, will it truly be a hammer?

But if she negates the other's efforts here, especially criticizing her in front of the other teammates, will it hurt the child's self-esteem...

No one knew Senior Cuique's inner wavering.

Instead, Lin Xiaolu glanced at Bai Jingxuan's Demon Armor, then squatted down and moved two steps closer, scrutinized the "dark green bloodstains" on the armor for a while, and suddenly looked up, saying:

"By the way, Bai Jingxuan, what was that claw-mark-like transformation form you had a few days ago?"

The training ground instantly fell into a silence as dead as death.

Leaving aside the person being questioned, Bai Jingxuan, the other two, whether Senior Cuique who had just looked conflicted or Xia Liang who had originally been watching the fun, now looked at Lin Xiaolu with somewhat inexplicable expressions.

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Lin Xiaolu blinked, asking belatedly.

"... You, ah."

Finally, Xia Liang spoke with some helplessness: "I won't even mention your way of picking topics; bringing up the wrong thing at the wrong time is one thing, but don't you think you're asking this question too late?"

"Sister Xiaolu."

Bai Jingxuan's expression also looked aggrieved: "You clearly told me before that you'd ask me when you got back; I've been waiting for you for several days."

"Ah, haha..."

Overwhelming guilt made Lin Xiaolu avert her gaze.

Actually, it wasn't that Lin Xiaolu was so forgetful; it was just that so many things happened that night, with such high information density, that the issues with Bai Jingxuan became trivial by comparison.

Lin Xiaolu, at the moment she first returned to the base, actually still remembered this matter in her heart; however, after the commotion with Senior Cuique later, she immediately tossed everything else aside.

After that, waking up from a sleep, the events of the previous night were all a jumbled mess in Lin Xiaolu's mind; the thing she remembered most clearly was "she had acquired the 'right to act spoiled' with Senior Cuique," so she followed Senior Cuique behind like a shadow every day, occasionally competing with Bai Jingxuan for position. It was already good enough that she could give Bai Jingxuan a decent look; how could she possibly go and ask after her "enemy's" well-being?

Back and forth, the conversation originally agreed upon on the battlefield was stubbornly dragged out until several days later.

What Lin Xiaolu didn't anticipate even more was that Bai Jingxuan herself hadn't forgotten this matter.

Bai Jingxuan had already prepared herself, with Senior Cuique's help, the corresponding explanations, rehearsing them privately several times, just waiting for Lin Xiaolu to come and ask. The result was that the lines were memorized, but the person didn't come.

She waited like this for one day, two days; even Xia Liang had secretly confirmed with her privately, yet Lin Xiaolu still showed no intention of asking about this topic.

Besides that, Lin Xiaolu had been sticking by Senior Cuique's side these past few days, occasionally giving her cold looks, making Bai Jingxuan wonder if she held some grudge against her.

Who would have thought the matter would end up like this.

However, awkward as the situation was, an explanation was still necessary; Bai Jingxuan ultimately revealed part of what was happening with her.

She confessed that she was a Sacrifice of the Black Ember Dawn, the battle at Lakeside Spring with the Black Ember Dawn, and the fact that she possessed Remnant Beast magical power, but under Senior Cuique's instruction, she concealed her parents' identities.

Although quite important information was thus hidden, it was still enough to explain why Bai Jingxuan is in this state now.

As for why Bai Jingxuan's parents' identities were concealed, it was simply because she hoped her daughter and Xia Liang would still perceive Bai Jingxuan as a "human," rather than some "thing" artificially created.

Firmly shaping Bai Jingxuan's cognition as a "human" was, in her view, the most important link in protecting Bai Jingxuan.

Senior Cuique still hadn't forgotten that day, that moment at Lakeside Spring, that girl standing amidst a mountain of corpses, calling out to her with an empty voice.

That was Bai Jingxuan, but undoubtedly, not entirely the Bai Jingxuan of now.

For that time, Bai Jingxuan had memories, but what she remembered was quite distorted; what she recalled was not a bloody feast of cruel slaughter against the Black Ember Dawn; but a mainstream story of awakening power in adversity, defeating the bad guys, and ultimately saving everyone.

If possible, Senior Cuique hoped Bai Jingxuan would never turn into that state again. Therefore, under her help in polishing the story, it gradually converged with the experiences in Bai Jingxuan's distorted memories.

—"Ah, so you are also a Deviator, but your deviation direction is Remnant Beast?"

Lin Xiaolu suddenly understood.

What she heard was just such a story.

After mastering the turbidification of magical power, Lin Xiaolu had naturally acquired knowledge regarding Deviators; regarding the fact that Bai Jingxuan was a Deviator, she indeed felt a bit surprised, but not that surprised.

After all, since she herself was a Deviator, why couldn't others be Deviators?

Rather, upon learning that Bai Jingxuan could also deviate magical power, her first reaction was not that Bai Jingxuan and she were so special, but...

"When are you going to deviate?"

She couldn't help but look at Xia Liang and ask.

"…If I'm not a deviant, I really am unworthy of you all, oh great Deviant Young Lady."

Even with Xia Liang's gentle temper, hearing such an infuriating remark made her eyelid twitch; it took her a long while to suppress the urge to just reach out and slap Lin Xiaolu's face: "A one-in-ten-thousand occurrence? I'm just an ordinary Ye-level, a plain Magic Girl who won't even reach Lei-level for months—how could I possibly be chosen?"

"Uh." Xia Liang's words made Lin Xiaolu's lips curl in disgust; now it was her turn to feel nauseated.

The two stared at each other, tension crackling in the air, until Senior Cuique noticed the situation turning sour and stepped directly between them, cutting off their line of sight.

"Let's get back to the magic armor."

She interrupted the lesson, which had completely gone off track: "Come, Bo Xue, let me tell you how your magic armor should continue to grow."

During that brief time, she had already figured out how to rescue Bai Jingxuan's magic armor, which had veered wildly off course.

There was no doubt—the base beneath this music box absolutely must be removed.

She had no doubt that if she left that base intact, by the time of the qualification certification exam, Bai Jingxuan would pull out a hammer right in front of everyone's eyes.

But if she simply told Bai Jingxuan to abandon close combat and remove the base, it wouldn't just crush her confidence—it would warp her fighting style.

If that's the case, the only remaining solution is to separate the music box from the base. The music box will remain as an auxiliary tool in battle, while the base can adopt another imagery and gain additional functions.

As for whether the base might, under Bai Jingxuan's whims, turn back into a hammer later—Senior Cuique didn't care.

Thus, after analyzing Bai Jingxuan's magic armor at length—from structure to mana flow to mana frequency—and crafting a customized training plan to gradually separate the music box from the base, Senior Cuique felt her mouth was so dry it smoked before finally ending her lesson to Bai Jingxuan.

After that, only one student remained who had not yet been analyzed by Senior Cuique.

Senior Cuique turned to Lin Xiaolu beside her and saw her already standing tall and proud, proudly extending the white staff in her hand.

This was Lin Xiaolu's magic armor—Wang Yue—awakened just a few days ago, still barely warm.