Chapter 222: Special Training Begins

Gazing at the pristine scepter placed before her, Senior Cuique narrowed her eyes slightly.

This was not the first time she had seen Lin Xiaolu's magic gear; in fact, on New Year's Eve, she had already witnessed Lin Xiaolu holding this very artifact.

However, compared to that fleeting glimpse back then, observing it this closely felt far more tangible.

Undoubtedly, judging solely by its appearance, this was undoubtedly the most ostentatious magic gear among all magical girls.

Taking a scepter as its base form, it was not merely unique but exceedingly rare. Coupled with the huge, conspicuous gem at the center of the staff, if Lin Xiaolu were to walk through the Magical Kingdom holding this gear, the rate of passersby turning their heads would surely reach one hundred percent.

After all, no matter who saw Lin Xiaolu's magic gear, the first thought that would spring to mind would be the words "Gem Scepter." And as a term serving as the designation for the highest-level magical girls, "Gem Scepter" was known to everyone in the Kingdom, with no one unaware of it.

Of course, considering that the appearances of magical girls' gear were already bizarre and varied, the occasional appearance of two scepter-shaped pieces of gear was understandable; after the initial surprise, most people would choose to accept this coincidence. Compared to the many oddly shaped pieces of gear, Lin Xiaolu's scepter-shaped gear was not particularly difficult to accept.

Yet in reality, this was the very issue that troubled Senior Cuique the most.

For she had a vague suspicion that this was no coincidence at all.

She did not voice this suspicion simply because it remained a guess; even if spoken, it would serve no purpose other than to cause the children unnecessary worry.

After pondering for a moment, she could only silently note the matter, waiting to verify it at a later date.

Temporarily setting aside this issue, Senior Cuique's gaze continued downward, following the shaft of the scepter to the central position, where it then rested upon the four conspicuous grooves.

Four grooves, each inlaid with a crystal; apart from the topmost one, which shimmered with a blazing white light, the others were currently dim and lifeless.

"You mentioned earlier that your magic gear can change form?"

She did not let her thoughts wander but instead looked at Lin Xiaolu: "Could you demonstrate it here?"

She had never heard of a magic gear capable of drastically altering its original form before full bloom; in fact, even now, she retained certain doubts. It was not that she thought Lin Xiaolu was boasting or lying, but rather that she simply felt this might be some mechanism of the gear itself.

Just like the enemy they had encountered previously—Yi—their magic gear "Hundred Weapons" could also transform into various weapons of differing forms. However, "transforming into weapons" was itself the mechanism and ability of Hundred Weapons; the original form of Hundred Weapons had always been that mass of black liquid metal, a fact that never changed.

In her view, Lin Xiaolu's magic gear might be similar; the so-called form change might merely be the external manifestation after using an ability, the visual effect of the scepter deforming.

Although this still could not explain why Lin Xiaolu's magic gear could generate new abilities after changing form, it was at least far easier to accept than the claim that "the magic gear itself can change form."

Therefore, she needed to confirm first what exactly Lin Xiaolu's magic gear was.

"Of course!"

After Senior Cuique spoke, Lin Xiaolu, sitting opposite, hurriedly nodded.

In fact, she had been waiting for this moment; these past few days, she had hinted to Senior Cuique, openly or subtly, whether she wanted to see her magic gear. Now that this opportunity had finally arrived, she naturally wanted to perform well.

In her view, her magic gear currently possessed two forms; while the appearance of the base form was certainly beautiful and imposing, what she wanted Senior Cuique to see most right now was the magic gear in its Guardian Form.

Thus, she immediately reached out, grasped her magic gear, and began to recall the sensation she had felt when changing the gear's form before...

Then, no change occurred whatsoever.

She released her grip, lowered her head to examine her magic gear, and found the scepter was still that same scepter; at most, the second crystal on the shaft glowed slightly, but there was absolutely no sign of transforming into another form.

"Eh?"

Unable to control her emotions, a voice of confusion unconsciously escaped Lin Xiaolu's mouth.

"That shouldn't be right?"

She picked up her magic gear and tried again, but the gear remained completely motionless; no matter how she shook or spun it afterward, it remained exactly as it was.

Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan, standing nearby, both wore expressions of "seen it all before," and even Senior Cuique showed no hint of surprise. After all, such on-the-spot failures were not the first time they had happened to Lin Xiaolu; everyone had some psychological expectation of it.

The reason Senior Cuique did not speak first to analyze the situation but instead let Lin Xiaolu demonstrate her ability to change the gear's form was due to this very consideration.

Of course, their lack of reaction did not mean Lin Xiaolu had no emotions; there she stood, flustered and grasping her scepter, so embarrassed her face was nearly turning the color of a pig's liver.

"No, I clearly used it smoothly during the actual combat before..." she argued somewhat futilely.

"Ahaha..."

Xia Liang laughed twice, awkward yet polite: "It's alright. I've seen your magic gear before; I know you truly have this ability. It might just be that your current state isn't good, right?"

"Mm-mm! Sister Xiaolu is fine." Bai Jingxuan also chimed in to comfort her.

The timely encouragement from her teammates made Lin Xiaolu's complexion improve slightly, but she still shook the magic gear in her hand somewhat unwillingly: "But I feel it shouldn't have anything to do with my state either. What exactly is going on?"

— "When you changed your magic gear's form before, was there any difference in your state compared to now?"

Senior Cuique, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "Were there any conditions met back then that are not met now?"

Unlike the panicked Lin Xiaolu and the girls whose confusion was mixed with concern, Senior Cuique gained more information from this phenomenon.

Although Lin Xiaolu had not demonstrated the so-called "form change" ability in front of her at the very first moment, it was enough for Senior Cuique to overturn some of her previous hypotheses and anchor on a fact: that Lin Xiaolu's magic gear was likely not the type with "transformation" as its mechanism, like "Hundred Weapons," but rather a true magic gear possessing multiple forms and different abilities.

The reason was simple: she knew Lin Xiaolu well enough. She knew that if the ability was merely of the level of "changing appearance," there was absolutely no reason Lin Xiaolu would be unable to use it.

Just like Lin Xiaolu's white magic, which remained unnamed to this day, the reason Lin Xiaolu could not stably use that white magic back then was not because she was not smart enough or did not work hard enough, but simply because she had not mastered the corresponding technique.

"Difference in state?"

Senior Cuique's reminder shifted Lin Xiaolu's attention, causing her to begin recalling her state from the night a few days ago: "Different environment? More agitated emotions? Injured? Magic consumed? Or perhaps it's daytime now..."

She listed almost exhaustively every condition that differed between then and now, but as the list grew longer, her expression became increasingly grim: "There seem to be quite a few differences?"

"You don't need to consider those external factors."

Senior Cuique shook her head: "I have told you many times: the magic gear is a manifestation of one's true self. Therefore, changes in the magic gear are related only to yourself. The surrounding environment might have an influence, but unless it is an extreme environment, the degree of influence will absolutely not be this great."

"Consider only myself?"

Lin Xiaolu then lowered her head again to think, beginning to re-examine the conditions she had listed earlier, pondering one by one the most likely factors within them.

After a while, she raised her head, somewhat uncertainly: "Corruption?"

Putting words into action, she immediately picked up the magic gear by her side and, at the same time, began to corrupt her magic. A blazing white Jin Guangyan instantly enveloped the entire gear, and the white crystal within the grooves shone even brighter.

Feeling this magic within her body, completely different from before, Lin Xiaolu immediately felt much more reassured in her heart, as if she had truly found the right direction, and spoke again:

"Key of Kings, Form Unfolding, Guardian Form."

This time, the magic gear finally responded to her.

The magic gear, wrapped in blazing white magic, transformed into a stream of light; the form enveloped within the stream of light gradually elongated, and after a moment, a pale blue spear appeared before everyone.

The spear was approximately 2.3 meters long; the spearhead took a simple lance shape, and the shaft was somewhat slender but did not lack toughness. Apart from this, the most striking feature was the silk threads winding around the spear shaft.

At first glance, these threads appeared like patterns carved into the spear, but upon closer inspection, one would discover they were merely fitted onto the shaft in a spiral pattern; in reality, they were entirely separate, distinct individuals.

Having successfully triggered the form change in her Demon Armor, Lin Xiaolu finally let out a breath of relief. Once relaxed, the first thing that came to her mind was nothing else but looking at Senior Cuique with full expectation.

In Lin Xiaolu's view, since the Demon Armor is a manifestation of one's true form, and her own Demon Armor possesses the ability to use threads, it must mean she shares certain similarities with Senior Cuique. In Senior Cuique's eyes, this would surely be a huge plus.

Furthermore, as long as she shows a desire to learn how to wield the threads, Senior Cuique would surely not hesitate to teach her. Thus, she would gain a massive advantage that Bai Jingxuan and Xia Liang do not have—she could completely master the entire combat style Senior Cuique excels in.

On this basis, the attention she receives in the future would inevitably be the greatest, and the things Senior Cuique could teach her would certainly be the most. Undoubtedly, she would soon have the right to private instruction, and it would be one-on-one teaching with only the two of them!

Just thinking of such a future made Lin Xiaolu unable to hold back a slight upturn of her lips.

Unfortunately, destined to disappoint her, when she looked at Senior Cuique, she found that Senior Cuique's expression was now blank.

In fact, compared to Senior Cuique's usual self, she appeared even calmer at this moment. Her eyebrows, eyes, and the corners of her mouth showed not the slightest change, as if the time on her face had frozen.

But only Senior Cuique knew that at this moment, rather than being calm, she was stiff.

Because she felt a huge shock, a storm of waves rose in her heart, causing her entire body to freeze there with no reaction for a moment. Only her fists, which she had subconsciously clenched tightly, could reflect the unrest in her heart at this time.

If it were only that her daughter's Demon Armor could change forms, she would not be so surprised, because Lin Xiaolu had already revealed this point to everyone; she had already built up sufficient psychological preparation.

If it were only that her daughter's Demon Armor could also manipulate threads, she would not be so surprised either, because this was after all her own biological daughter. The bloodline connection might indeed cause some similarities in the manifestation of the true form, and she had long been prepared.

But she had clearly seen that after her daughter just spoke the words "Guard Mode," the first of the four crystals on the Demon Armor went out, while the second one lit up with light.

And this Demon Armor had a full four crystals on it.

According to a very conventional mode of thinking, if these four crystals truly all had functions, then, it is feared that Lin Xiaolu's Demon Armor possessed not just the scepter and the spear forms.

She could even vaguely guess what one of the remaining two forms would be.

Because Lin Xiaolu was her and Anya's child.

Since one form could be inherited through the bloodline to obtain her threads, would there perhaps be another form that, at some future moment, inherited Anya's Demon Armor?

Senior Cuique could not confirm this speculation, but she knew that whether it was true or false, it meant one fact: Lin Xiaolu's future as a Magical Girl was destined to far exceed everyone's imagination.

That is to say, the option she had once imagined—helping her daughter survive the ten-year term of a Magical Girl and then letting her retire to a normal life—might not have existed from the very beginning.

From the moment Lin Xiaolu became a Magical Girl, her future was destined to lack the word "ordinary."

"Bai Mei."

So she spoke: "I have a few questions, questions without correct answers. I hope that when you answer me, you will follow your heart and answer according to your own thoughts."

"What?" Lin Xiaolu was somewhat confused.

"Do you regret becoming a Magical Girl?"

Senior Cuique looked at her: "Not only must you face battles that risk your life, you must learn more complex knowledge every day, and even your personal time is becoming less and less, leaving you with no qualification to play like other peers of your age... Does this kind of life make you feel regret?"

"Hmm... maybe a little at the beginning?"

After hesitating slightly, Lin Xiaolu spoke the truth: "After all, I am very afraid of death and very afraid of pain, but now I don't think that way at all."

"Is that so? Then, if ten years later you have the qualification to retire, but someone asks you to stay on as a Magical Girl, which would you prefer?"

"Continue, I suppose? After all, Senior Cuique, you have been a Magical Girl for over ten years, right?"

"But what if I retire at that time too?" Senior Cuique pressed, "For example, I too can get tired of fighting. Perhaps one day in the future, I will also feel that continuing as a Magical Girl is too tiring, and thus stay away from battle."

"Senior Cuique will retire too?"

This question made Lin Xiaolu pause for a moment.

However, after a brief thought, she still followed her heart and gave her answer: "Even in that case, I think I would continue as a Magical Girl?"

"Why?"

"Because..."

Lin Xiaolu scratched her cheek: "I became a Magical Girl because I liked it, after all."

This answer made Senior Cuique end the inquiry.

She remained silent for a while, then gently put down the chalk in her hand and clapped her hands.

"Excellent answer, I understand. However, because your Demon Armor situation is very special, I need to consult with other more professional people before I can formulate your upcoming training plan."

She picked up the blackboard eraser nearby and wiped the writing on the small blackboard behind her: "So, today's class ends here."

"Today is January 5th. Next, I will give you three more days, until January 9th. During these days, you can handle your school assignments. It doesn't matter if you can't finish them, because the March assessment will be handled by the Bureau of Unusual Strategies, which will request leave from your school on your behalf. You won't need to return to school until mid-March."

"But, in return, from January 9th to February 10th, this one-month period will be your final special training period before the assessment."

She put down the blackboard eraser in her hand and tapped the blackboard with her raised hand:

"Get ready. This will be the strictest special training you have experienced since becoming Magical Girls."

The reason she could say "the strictest special training" was because Senior Cuique knew that the training goals she set for this month were absolutely unattainable with normal intensity training.

To maximize the combat power of the three juniors as much as possible, she also customized different training courses for each of them.

Besides constantly exercising the Demon Armor to seek its growth, there were many other contents.

For example, Bai Jingxuan, as a Bud-level Magical Girl, already has combat power that can be described as excellent. Even counting her identity as a Deviator, her combat ability absolutely exceeds the requirements of the White Card assessment.

Even if this year's assessment will be harder than previous years, Senior Cuique does not doubt at all that Bai Jingxuan has the strength to pass the assessment.

It's just that Bai Jingxuan cannot use this strength freely many times.

First, it is because her control over the Beast's magic power is still immature, just like Lin Xiaolu was before. Many times, she needs emotional fluctuations to promote the deviation of magic power.

Second, it is because this is a Kingdom assessment. Bai Jingxuan should not, and absolutely cannot, expose her Beast magic power during the assessment.

After all, in this world, Deviators are extremely rare, but members of the Claw are roaming everywhere. Most Magical Girls may have never seen a Deviator, but they have absolutely seen the Claw.

Once Bai Jingxuan uses the Beast's magic power and is seen by other Magical Girls, the first thing they will think of will absolutely not be "Is this child a Deviator?" but rather "She is the Claw."

The relevant laws of the Magical Kingdom do not stipulate that the Claw cannot participate in qualification certification, but at the same time, members of the Claw are not recognized as regular Magical Girls. They are not only not allowed to enter the Magical Kingdom, but once discovered, any Kingdom Magical Girl or even Fairy has the obligation to arrest them.

In other words, as long as Bai Jingxuan exposes her Beast magic power in the Kingdom, she will face endless trouble next. Even if the location of this assessment is Runore and Emerald can provide a certain degree of protection, for an activity under the public eye like qualification certification, the assessment results of the violator will absolutely be cancelled.

In response to this, Emerald provided another plan: report Bai Jingxuan's Deviator identity to Wang Ting and the Bureau of Magical Affairs, file her identity data in Wang Ting, and submit it to the examiners when necessary. Then Bai Jingxuan could participate in the qualification certification as the "officially certified" "unique Beast magic power Deviator."

Senior Cuique rejected this plan without a second thought.

Leaving aside her distrust of the National Wang Ting, to guard against the Wang Ting, she had already secured sole custody of the three children from Golden Green Cat's Eye, so there was absolutely no reason for her to walk into a trap now; furthermore, if this plan were executed, Senior Cuique knew well that Bai Jingxuan would encounter how many strange glances during the assessment.

After much thought, to let Bai Jingxuan unleash her full strength without anyone detecting the remnant beast magic, the only safest course of action remained: let Bai Jingxuan conceal the remnant beast characteristics within her magic.

It sounded like pure fantasy, but in reality, it was entirely possible; in fact, the reason Senior Cuique could propose such an apparently impossible plan was largely thanks to Lin Xiaolu.

Precisely because of the fleeting inspiration Lin Xiaolu had while studying Turbidity, Senior Cuique also realized that after a Deviator turbidifies their own magic twice, they could obtain the turbidified base color of their shifted magic.

If that were the case, if the claw-mark-form Bai Jingxuan used Shift twice, would her magic base color revert to that of a Magical Girl?

If this could be achieved, Bai Jingxuan could maintain the magic power and combat strength of the claw-mark form while continuing to use the magic nature of a Magical Girl.

Even if two rounds of Turbidity could not be achieved, abandoning the use of remnant beast magic and relying solely on Magical Girl magic and Turbidity techniques would still be a massive boost to Bai Jingxuan's combat ability.

Thus, after a series of discussions with Asano Enka, the goal Senior Cuique finally set for Bai Jingxuan was: complete the form separation of the Magic Armor and master the Turbidity techniques within one month.

Consequently, over the next month, Bai Jingxuan's teacher changed from Senior Cuique to Asano Enka.

Although this meant she could not stay by Senior Cuique's side every day, making Bai Jingxuan feel unaccustomed, fortunately she was a very obedient child who knew these studies were important to her, so she went obediently.

The members of the Bai'an City Squad were also quite reasonable; apart from Mu Baihe showing a considerable degree of stress response toward Bai Jingxuan, the other two treated Bai Jingxuan quite friendly.

After this state persisted for a while, Bai Jingxuan, who had originally been somewhat distant from the Bai'an City Squad, gradually grew familiar with them; often one could see her cheerfully greeting Mimosa and White Thistle. Even Mu Baihe, no matter how much she resisted, Bai Jingxuan would frequently interact with her.

Regarding this, Senior Cuique could only say she was very gratified.