Chapter 38: The Magic Power Cultivation of a Magical Girl

"As I have said before, although Magical Girls use magic power almost instinctively due to the existence of a magic power source, that does not mean we cannot control it with precision. The reason you experience such rapid magic power consumption, aside from your own insufficient magic power, is essentially the result of using your magic power without any restraint."

It was two days after the parent-teacher meeting, at night, in Lin Xiaolu's home.

Cuique was sitting on her sofa, lecturing the two newcomers.

Because of some special arrangements today, she had specifically informed her daughter two days in advance, in the guise of Lin Yun, that she had to go on a business trip to a neighboring city for a day and would not be home at night.

Afterward, she used her Cuique identity to notify the two newcomers that the next lesson might need to move indoors, saying she would go to the Extraordinary Strategy Bureau to request a venue and asking if they had any opinions.

She had not considered what kind of chemical reaction these two pieces of information would produce when combined, but the result was that Lin Xiaolu volunteered to host the first indoor lesson at her own home.

After thinking it over and finding nothing wrong with it, Cuique went with the flow and agreed.

The content of today's lesson was the precise control of basic abilities and how to plan the use of one's own magic power.

The four basic abilities of a Seed-rank Magical Girl are flight, enhancement, magic power release, and magic power perception. After all, it is only the initial stage of ability blooming, so the means available are very limited.

As they enter the Bud-rank and gain magic power construction, and enter the Leaf-rank to learn how to use spell formulas, a Magical Girl's combat methods will gradually become more diverse, and the differences in style will become increasingly apparent.

But no matter the stage, the basic abilities possessed since the Seed-rank are the most frequently used, so many further techniques have been derived from this foundation.

For example, the ability of flight has spawned many techniques such as "hovering," "magic power breakfall," "cannonball launch," "perpetual flight," and "super-speed flash." Using these techniques can change the effect of the flight ability and also allow for more precise control over magic power consumption.

Lin Xiaolu's technique in magic power control is nothing short of terrible. For instance, she is always squandering magic power when she flies; not only is her consumption too fast, but her flight speed is not even fast. Furthermore, because she wastes so much magic power, it creates an effect like setting off fireworks—great in scale but lacking in practicality.

Cuique's lesson today was an attempt to correct this shortcoming of hers, or at least to clarify the goals for her future efforts.

Having sat there and spoken continuously for two hours, even with a Magical Girl's constitution, she felt thirsty. She picked up the teacup in front of her, took a light sip to lubricate her throat, and then spoke again:

"In short, that is all for the techniques, but to forge iron, one must be strong oneself. Aside from consciously controlling magic power consumption during battle, one's own magic power reserves are also very important."

Setting down the cup, she extended her right hand flat: "I didn't ask before because you said you had final exams at school, but today I must check the progress of your magic power growth."

Several Favo runes scattered from her palm, forming a halo around her arm. The patterns within flickered, looking like a magic circle from a fictional story.

Clearly, this was some kind of special spell formula.

Cuique looked calm and signaled to the two newcomers: "Transform now, then release your magic power toward my rune array. This is the periodic examination for your magic power cultivation."

As early as the first time she taught the two, she had already emphasized the importance of daily cultivation to Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, and had taught them the means for a Magical Girl to improve herself.

A Magical Girl's core power is magic power and soul. How talented a Magical Girl is in cultivation depends on her soul's sensitivity to magic power and her innate total magic power.

However, the power of the soul and will only manifests in the later stages of ability blooming, so in the early stages, magic power is a more important indicator.

A Magical Girl's total magic power is not absolute, because magic power can be increased through effort. The total magic power of a genius who is content with the status quo and lacks ambition will be surpassed by a mediocre person who constantly works hard to train.

These means of self-effort to achieve growth are mainly divided into two types, which Magical Girls call "Power Forging" and "Soul Thinking."

The focus of Power Forging is on rapidly increasing magic power.

This method is just as its name suggests: by constantly using magic power, one allows it to increase. This is not just in battle; even in daily life, one can actively release and practice it.

Although Power Forging has a quite obvious effect on improving magic power, it has basically no effect on the soul. Besides this, using this method to improve magic power is more exhausting, and sticking to it long-term requires very strong willpower and perseverance.

Soul Thinking can improve both magic power and the soul simultaneously; it is a more balanced method.

Its specific principle is to use the magic power source within the Heart Seed to stir one's own soul, letting the soul drive the magic power, fusing and refining them with each other, thereby achieving the joint growth of both powers.

Of course, in terms of the efficiency of increasing magic power, Soul Thinking is actually much weaker than Power Forging, but it excels in steady, long-term progress.

Neither method is superior or inferior, nor are they mutually exclusive; they just have different uses. Power Forging is more suitable for occasions where a Magical Girl wants to rapidly increase magic power in the short term, while Soul Thinking is used for daily cultivation.

Only by accumulating Soul Thinking day after day, allowing both magic power and soul to reach the requirements for promotion, and having a degree of fusion between them sufficient to form a True Aspect, can a Seed-rank Magical Girl further bloom her abilities to reach the Bud-rank.

Under Cuique's gaze, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang each transformed, then released their magic power with hesitant expressions.

Pale blue and mallow purple magic power turned into two paths of light, connecting to the rune array created by Cuique. Amidst the flickering light and shadow, a wealth of information became known to Cuique.

To be honest, it was better than she had imagined.

If one had to give a specific number, using the minimum consumption of a single magic power release as a unit, then Lin Xiaolu could probably release it 50 times, and Xia Liang 90 times; by comparison, when they previously faced the Dissolving-Cavity type Remnant Beast, these numbers were around 40 and 75, respectively.

To have such obvious progress while balancing daily life and magic power cultivation in less than a month was enough to surprise her.

"Hmm, pass."

Putting away the spell array in front of her, Cuique crossed her arms, a look of slight satisfaction appearing on her face: "Both of your performances were quite good."

As soon as these words were spoken, the two nervous newcomers both let out a long sigh of relief.

In fact, for children like them who do not like to study, Cuique's assessment made them more nervous than the final exams at school.

Lin Xiaolu was even more aware that being able to satisfy the always-strict Cuique was already something to be proud of.

But for her, this was not enough. Merely satisfying Cuique was not her true wish.

So after passing this assessment, she hesitated several times before choosing to speak: "Cuique."

"What is it?" Cuique responded, looking at her.

Meeting those calm, clear eyes that were like blue gemstones, Lin Xiaolu felt an indescribable pressure, and the words she originally wanted to say became stuck in her throat.

Would her next words seem like she was overestimating her own abilities? Would it make her think she was someone with high aspirations but no talent?

Many distracting thoughts arose in her heart, making her regret her impulse and uncontrollably wanting to retreat.

But just as this feeling of retreat arose, she remembered the man standing in the rain several days ago. And the feeling that had appeared in her heart when she saw him:

Adults are not actually as composed as they appear on the surface.

Is Cuique, who has always acted as a senior and an adult, really as relaxed as she appears?

So Lin Xiaolu clenched her fists, made up her mind again, met Cuique's gaze, and said firmly:

"How strong do I need to become to be able to fight alongside you when a crisis occurs?"