Chapter 223: Strange Competition

As the only Ye-rank member in the team, Xia Liang's main tasks for the coming period, besides continuing to refine her magic armor, were to undergo more systematic study of spell formulas.

The magic armor "Diversion" had excellent compatibility with spell formulas; besides explosive types, combining it with many other formulas would produce a 1+1>2 chemical reaction. However, Senior Cuique's own research into spell formulas was truly limited; the combinations she could think of were confined to explosive types, and more intricate combinations were beyond her comprehension. Offering guidance to Xia Liang truly exceeded her capabilities.

Adhering to the principle that the capable should go first, Senior Cuique assigned this task to someone else. Thus, the teacher who ultimately came to be responsible for this special training content was Hong Siyu.

As the saying goes, one hears the Dao at different times, and each has their own specialty. Among the magical girls currently staying in Fang Ting City, aside from the outlier Emerald who was outside the scope of discussion, Hong Siyu likely possessed the deepest attainment in spell formulas. Even if the scope of comparison were expanded to the entire Magic Kingdom, the number of spell formulas Hong Siyu had studied placed her in the upper tier. Therefore, having her responsible for this part of the teaching could be said to be the most secure choice.

"Well then, starting today, I will be Little Xia Liang's teacher."

Bringing a huge pile of notebooks and draft paper, and having somehow dug out a pair of black-rimmed glasses, Hong Siyu sat before Xia Liang with a quite confident posture and said with great enthusiasm: "I will start from the most basic spell formulas and try my best to teach you clearly every spell formula you should know. If there is anything you don't understand, you can interrupt me at any time."

"Great! Thank you for your trouble, I will do my best!"

Xia Liang responded with equal enthusiasm, but upon seeing those notebooks on the table, she asked: "By the way, Sister Hong, these notebooks are..."

"Ah, these? Some are key knowledge points I recorded when I was learning spell formulas, and others are my notes from university."

Hearing this question, Hong Siyu's eyes lit up. She immediately reached out, spread the notebooks before her, and said as if counting her treasures: "This is the introductory notes for Evocation-type spell formulas, this is the introduction for Transmutation-type spell formulas, this is a collection of common mistakes for Balance-type, this is the theoretical foundation for Wave-type, and over here is Complex Analysis, this is Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics..."

Xia Liang could guess a little about the first few subjects she mentioned, but the further she went, the more things seemed off. Seeing that Hong Siyu was still introducing them one by one, with an attitude that she wouldn't stop until she had introduced everything before her, Xia Liang had to interrupt: "Um, Sister Hong... are all these related to spell formula study?"

"Hmm? Yes, that's right." Hong Siyu looked a bit puzzled but answered nonetheless.

"Then, those that sound completely unrelated to spell formulas, which should be mathematics and physics content, are..." Xia Liang spoke slowly, watching Hong Siyu's expression.

"They are also things needed for teaching you spell formulas next." Hong Siyu nodded: "Although mana almost does not follow the physical laws of the material world, the impact mana has on the external world can still be predicted, and mathematics is also a universal tool for us when doing research work..."

"No, that's not what I meant."

Feeling cold sweat trickling down her temples, Xia Liang stammered: "M-m mainly, it seems I haven't encountered the knowledge you mentioned yet?"

"Hmm, after all, much of it is high school or even university knowledge, and some parts are only studied by students in specific majors. Generally in the Kingdom, only magical girls in the Research Institute need to learn these things."

Hong Siyu raised a finger and said as if showing off: "However, your Sister Hong, although I didn't join the Research Institute and my university major wasn't in the sciences, I am at least a spell-formula-specializing magical girl, so I still managed to self-study and finish everything in university."

"I-I see."

Xia Liang nodded, swallowing hard: "Then, these notes here..."

"Are all introductory content I carefully selected. If you finish learning all of this in the next month, I guarantee you will lay a solid foundation for spell formulas."

Seeing Xia Liang's eyes widen, Hong Siyu immediately nodded in approval: "Already excited? Shaking with excitement all over? No problem, a spell-formula-specializing magical girl must have this kind of spirit. Then, without further delay, let's start quickly."

"Um, ah..."

Xia Liang opened her mouth but didn't know what else to say; she only felt that the cold sweat lingering at her temples had somehow slid down to her cheeks. She looked down at the notebooks that almost covered the entire table, then stiffly raised her head and forced a smile:

"Okay, I will do my best."

"Your turn."

In the underground training ground of the base, while saying this, Senior Cuique reached out and handed a thread of mana, tangled into a complex pattern, to Lin Xiaolu.

The silk thread transformed into a symmetrical and orderly magnificent figure between her hands, quietly presenting itself between the two of them.

"Hmm..."

Looking at this figure before her, Lin Xiaolu hesitantly raised her hand, but stopped just before her hands were about to touch the thread.

She wore a thoughtful expression, frowned as she carefully examined the structure of the thread, thought for a long time, and finally inserted her fingers between the threads. After some pulling, she took the thread from Senior Cuique's hands.

Then, the previously incredibly regular pattern instantly collapsed into several monotonous lines.

Looking at the thread in her hands, Lin Xiaolu felt slightly disappointed:

"... Ah, I failed."

"Hmm, it's over."

Both of them sighed at the same time.

As it appeared on the surface, Senior Cuique and Lin Xiaolu had actually been playing Cat's Cradle just now.

As a traditional game of the Donghua Continent, in earlier times, Cat's Cradle could be said to be the childhood memory of the vast majority of children on the Donghua Continent.

Generally, Cat's Cradle has two ways to play: one where a single person weaves various patterns with a string, and one involving interaction between two people. What Senior Cuique and Lin Xiaolu had just done was naturally the two-person game.

A loop of thin string is pulled by one person into a basic shape with both hands, then the other person flips and transforms the shape. This repeats until one side cannot adjust the string into a regular shape, or the string gets knotted or falls apart in their hands.

What Lin Xiaolu and Senior Cuique had just done was even an advanced version of the childhood game, completely disregarding some fixed string shapes and patterns, and not considering how to let the partner take over. It only needed to follow the two principles of "pattern symmetry" and "not a dead knot." The changes in the pattern were truly unpredictable, with absolutely no regularity.

Therefore, even after long contemplation, Lin Xiaolu still ended up losing.

Lin Xiaolu still remembered that when she was very young, her mother had played this game with her. Only back then, she didn't understand any tricks or game techniques; most of the time she just messed around, taking pleasure in messing up the lines in her mother's hands. Her mother let her do whatever she wanted, never forcing her to play properly, so in the end, she didn't know much about the game herself.

At that time, she never expected that one day she would face this situation: cultivation centered on Cat's Cradle.

If given another chance, she would definitely practice Cat's Cradle seriously from a young age—Lin Xiaolu even had this thought, but unfortunately, there were no "ifs."

The matter started when she proposed learning from Senior Cuique, wanting to use threads for combat.

At first, Senior Cuique actually just instructed her on combat techniques step by step, including deliberately slowing down her movements to spar with Lin Xiaolu, using decomposed movements to explain how to handle various situations, and demonstrating the usable variations of threads in actual combat.

However, after teaching like this for two days, just as Senior Cuique had finally managed to explain some of the simplest ideas clearly and let Lin Xiaolu try using the threads in practice, things went wrong.

Or rather, nothing went wrong, because Lin Xiaolu, as expected, made a complete fool of herself.

Either she tripped over the threads she had laid while walking; or she tied herself up while tightening the threads; or she laid the threads and couldn't remember where the ends were; or she couldn't control the thickness and displacement of the threads well, frequently cutting both parties' clothes and skin during movement. The most extreme incident almost cut off Senior Cuique's finger.

After that incident, Senior Cuique voluntarily called off the combat training and proposed this method of Cat's Cradle.

"Start from the basics. You need to master the spatial changes of the threads; at least have some sensitivity to displacement within the space after pulling the threads."

This was how Senior Cuique explained the function of this Cat's Cradle training: "When you face real combat, no enemy will give you time to think about stringing strategies, and you won't have the mind to distract yourself to recall the positions of your threads. Without this sensitivity, you won't even need the enemy to attack; you will injure yourself all over."

Lin Xiaolu had no objection to this, after all, she felt her own behavior in previous training was too embarrassing. After that, the combat segment in the special training was replaced by the game of Cat's Cradle.

Every day, besides continuing to learn combat techniques, refine her magic armor, and cultivate her mana, Lin Xiaolu studied how to play Cat's Cradle.

In the first few days, she could only follow the steps to make some fixed patterns. But as time slowly passed, she finally grasped some tricks and could barely keep up with Senior Cuique's rhythm, handling some extremely complex patterns.

In the round of Cat's Cradle just now, although Lin Xiaolu lost in the end, in fact, she had lasted several rounds against Senior Cuique. Compared to the predicament at the very beginning where she couldn't even flip a single pattern, this could be called remarkable progress.

Although by Senior Cuique's standards, Lin Xiaolu's current level was still far from using threads for combat, if she continued to improve at this speed, there was quite a hope of initially learning to use threads within a month.

Because of this, she did not make any further demands.

The two practiced several more rounds until Lin Xiaolu clearly showed signs of falling behind mentally, at which point Senior Cuique ended the training.

Around this same time, Bai Jingxuan knocked on the door of the training hall.

"Teacher, Senior Lin Xiaolu, dinner's ready."

She first poked half her body through the doorway, confirmed both were present, then stepped inside.

During the New Year holiday, considering the Bai'an City Team had stayed here long enough, continuing to act as guests was no longer appropriate, so the Fang Ting City outpost finally reestablished a household chore rotation schedule.

The three seniors took turns handling heavier chores like cooking, washing dishes, and sweeping the floors, while the six juniors and one spirit handled lighter tasks like laundry, wiping tables, and taking out trash.

Today, Hong Siyu was assigned to cook, and Bai Jingxuan served as her assistant, which is why she came to notify everyone for meals.

Yet even when the task was merely repeating the same thing multiple times, her behavior differed depending on whom she addressed. When calling others for meals, Bai Jingxuan would simply announce it; but when calling Senior Cuique and Lin Xiaolu, she would quietly wait at the door until both emerged, then walk beside Senior Cuique up the stairs.

Of course, on the side opposite Lin Xiaolu.

The three walking side by side up the stairs resembled a three-person, four-legged race—each step synchronized—even though the staircase was wide enough for all three to pass freely, Senior Cuique felt utterly uncomfortable squeezed in the middle.

Whether it was more uncomfortable physically or mentally, it was probably the mental discomfort that hurt more.

In Senior Cuique's perception, the two flanked her on either side, silent yet radiating a subtle, mutually antagonistic atmosphere that made her unable to bear it.

This situation had only formed in the past few days.

At first, perhaps because Lin Xiaolu had received Senior Cuique's approval, she began spending more time clinging to her and increased her acts of affectionate teasing. As a result, Bai Jingxuan—who had always followed Senior Cuique closely—found herself losing her place.

Of course, Bai Jingxuan was a sensible child; she did not throw tantrums because Lin Xiaolu had taken her spot, and even if she felt a little upset, she could adjust herself.

After all, Lin Xiaolu couldn't follow Senior Cuique nonstop—she had her own duties—and Bai Jingxuan could naturally resume spending time with Senior Cuique during those intervals.

But soon, as the special training began, this balance shattered. Bai Jingxuan had to train with Asami Maoxiang on corruption, spending most of her time with the Bai'an City Team, while Lin Xiaolu, learning combat with silk threads, followed Senior Cuique almost daily. Naturally, Lin Xiaolu could be with Senior Cuique nearly every day, while Bai Jingxuan lost nearly all such opportunities.

This state was tolerable for one or two days, but once three or four days passed, things began to feel off.

At first, Bai Jingxuan would voluntarily seek out Senior Cuique during breaks and chore time; and if Senior Cuique was assigned chores, Bai Jingxuan would come to help even if it wasn't her turn.

This wasn't unusual—Bai Jingxuan had often volunteered to assist Senior Cuique with various tasks. Back then, even if Lin Xiaolu noticed, she never reacted.

But after the New Year, the nature of things quietly shifted—Lin Xiaolu began volunteering to help Senior Cuique too.

Back and forth, many times it became a competition over who would do the chores.

From competing over chores, it escalated to competing for position, for attention, and within just three or five days, it had become outright "rivalry for affection."

Of course, this wasn't to say all problems arose solely in those few days; rather, minor tensions between Bai Jingxuan and Lin Xiaolu had long existed.

To say their relationship was hostile would be untrue—in fact, apart from Senior Cuique, Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan got along quite well.

To Lin Xiaolu, Bai Jingxuan was a well-behaved, sensible junior, often an adorable little sister, and her indomitable spirit earned her admiration, so Lin Xiaolu had no issue yielding in many matters.

To Bai Jingxuan, Lin Xiaolu was a senior and older sister with a slight temper but a genuinely gentle heart. After a series of past misunderstandings, she now regarded Lin Xiaolu as a half-sister and naturally wished to avoid conflict with her.

Honestly, both wanted to get along—but when Senior Cuique was involved, everything became far more complicated.

Ever since Bai Jingxuan first joined the team, Lin Xiaolu had resented her for "stealing Senior Cuique's attention."

But back then, Senior Cuique was deliberately maintaining distance from team members, avoiding becoming too close to these children, so Lin Xiaolu felt she shouldn't compete with a primary school student over such a thing.

Moreover, she herself was still uncertain about her future and unsure what she truly wanted; she considered the feeling of "losing affection" childish and ultimately suppressed it.

This emotion resurfaced a month after the Moon Festival.

For reasons Lin Xiaolu didn't know, Senior Cuique and Bai Jingxuan's bond inexplicably grew closer. If earlier their private time together could be explained as Bai Jingxuan, the newer magic girl, needing extra lessons, after that point, their private moments were increasingly driven purely by "affection."

This made Lin Xiaolu seethe with jealousy, her eyes nearly red with envy.

After that came the match against Bai'an City, the New Year's Eve battle, and a series of changes that finally gave Lin Xiaolu the courage to take a decisive step—to "reclaim her rightful affection."

In her current view, Bai Jingxuan had monopolized Senior Cuique's attention for months; now that it was finally her turn, she deserved to fully enjoy this time—and thus she felt a retaliatory urge to assert herself against Bai Jingxuan.

To Bai Jingxuan, however, this was naked provocation.

Bai Jingxuan could ignore the provocation—she sensed Lin Xiaolu harbored no real malice—but she couldn't ignore it, because Lin Xiaolu had taken over Senior Cuique's side, leaving her without any intimate moments with Senior Cuique for many days.

In front of others, Senior Cuique wouldn't let her call her "Mom"—only in private could she say it, and that was how Bai Jingxuan had always sought affection. Now, because of Lin Xiaolu's interference, she could no longer do so.

In Bai Jingxuan's eyes, the world held few truly important people—she could count them on one hand: her biological parents, the magic girl Sakura who saved her, Uncle Tian from the Special Strategy Bureau who once cared for her, Senior Cuique, Uncle Lin, and her current teammates.

Of these, only two mattered most: Senior Cuique and Lin Yun.

Yet although Uncle Lin from the Special Strategy Bureau was willing to be her "father," she knew Lin Xiaolu was Lin Yun's true daughter; no matter what, she could never matter more to Lin Yun than Lin Xiaolu did.

Bai Jingxuan didn't want to compete with her "Senior Lin Xiaolu" for "Dad," because she knew it would hurt both Lin Xiaolu and "Dad," so she chose to draw closer to Senior Cuique.

She believed Senior Cuique was a senior and teacher of the Fang Ting City Team, and everyone stood equal before her. So if she worked harder and showed more care, even if she gained slightly more affection, it should be fine.

But now Lin Xiaolu didn't just compete—she claimed Senior Cuique's attention outright, leaving Bai Jingxuan not even a sliver of space.

Bai Jingxuan was a sensible child, and precisely because she was sensible, she knew exactly what she wanted.

The space beside Senior Cuique—she would not let go.

Thus, a war without smoke began.

At first, Senior Cuique's reaction was only confusion, but once she realized the strange competition between Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, she tried to mediate, hoping to prevent further conflict.

But she soon discovered this was beyond her ability to handle.

Simply put, she was the central figure—and the de facto judge of this rivalry.

Stopping it was meaningless; forcing either to abandon the competition would only drive it underground.

And if she didn't stop it, but merely urged one side to give up, whichever side she supported—even in attempting to mediate—would appear biased, which would be the greatest harm to the children.

Overwhelmed, Senior Cuique sought outside help. She consulted Hong Siyu, who replied with the strange answer: "I want the senior's affection too." She consulted Asami Maoxiang, who was kind and offered several suggestions—but sadly, on matters of education, this woman was even more inexperienced than Senior Cuique herself.

Thus, Senior Cuique's only remaining option was to pretend ignorance, and while carefully balancing both sides, make Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan each feel they were "the favored one."

Hence, the odd spectacle of three people crammed side by side on the stairs.