It felt so good to be close to the witch!

Unless something major happens, it's unlikely that the five witches would gather so neatly in the council hall.

Besides the five witches, he also sensed a very unfamiliar and "weak" magical aura in the hall.

Have any guests arrived?

With that thought in mind, Roy took a step and headed towards the hall.

……

“Bea Sheffield...Bea, Bea, what a lovely name.”

After a brief silence, Lilia spoke softly.

When Shanica wasn't around, Lilia was mainly in charge. Ais was aloof and didn't like communicating with others. Although Elena and Vivian had caught up in strength, they had long been used to following their three older sisters' lead. Toni was even less talkative.

"Yes, I'm here!" Upon hearing Lilia's voice, the girl standing in the center of the hall, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her gray-white dress with many patches, shuddered and quickly responded.

The girl's voice was like the clear, melodious song of a nightingale, bringing a sense of joy to the listener.

“Don’t be nervous.” Seeing the girl’s uneasy appearance, Lilia’s tone softened: “I am Lilia Brunt, and Mr. Reid has no ill intentions in inviting you here.”

"Beya, is it okay if I call you that?"

“Of course, Sister Lilia?” Beya said cautiously.

"Hmm." Lilia responded with a smile, then said seriously, "Bea, you should know what happened to you, right?"

Upon hearing this, Beya fell silent. Her hands, gripping the hem of her skirt, tightened even more, and her frail body trembled slightly. But finally, she mustered her courage and raised her head: "I... have become the daughter of a demon, despised by everyone..."

"The devil's daughter whom everyone despises..." Upon hearing this title, Lilia's eyes glazed over for a moment. Not only her, but also Ais, Elena, Vivian and Tonine were all moved to varying degrees.

How long has it been since they last heard that name?

During their past days of wandering, this title was like a persistent, indelible mark on them.

But since arriving in Blackrock Territory, they seemed to have completely severed ties with that title. And now, hearing that title again, they suddenly realized that the world's prejudice against witches still existed. However, all the storms and turmoil were blocked by that man with his broad shoulders.

“Beya…”

Coming to her senses, Lilia shook her head slightly: "In this territory, in this sacred place, you can confidently and boldly reveal your true identity—that you are a witch."

"We are witches who possess power that knights cannot match!"

Beya stared wide-eyed at the black-haired, black-eyed woman in black before her, and after a long while, she stammered, "Us? Sister Lilia, you're a witch too?!"

"Oh, we have a distinguished guest at our residence. What a joyous occasion!" Just then, a kind and gentle voice came from the gate.

Just as Lilia was about to respond to Bea, she heard that familiar voice and her eyes lit up with intense joy: "Lord Roy!"

"Roy!"

"Lord Roy!"

The witches instinctively stood up from their chairs. Lilia darted out from the shadows at Roy's feet. Looking at the face she had been longing for, Lilia wanted to say something, but her overwhelming emotions rendered her speechless. She covered her mouth with her hands, her delicate body trembling slightly.

"I did it!" Roy raised his hand, gently removed the girl's hand from her mouth, and shook hers. "I'm sorry for making you worry."

"I... I'm alright, I'm alright." Lilia tried to compose herself and smiled, but the uncontrollable tears streaming from the corners of her eyes betrayed her true feelings: "Congratulations on successfully breaking through to the Legendary level, Lord Roy."

"Thank you." Releasing Lilia's hand, Roy turned his gaze to the other four witches, passing over Ais, Elena, Vivian, and Tonine one by one: "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"Hmph, with my lucky protection, breaking through will definitely be a piece of cake." Elena put her hands behind her back, turned her head away, not wanting anyone to see the tears in the corners of her eyes, and her two fluffy and soft fox tails swayed rapidly.

"I'm so glad you're alright," said Vivian, the little angel, softly, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

Ais didn't speak, but the coldness in her eyes vanished without a trace, like ice melting in spring, and she nodded gently to Roy.

Roy responded to each of them with a smile, and finally, his gaze fell on the girl in the center of the hall who had become nervous again because of his presence.

"Is your name Beya?"

“I am Roy Tulumber, Lord of Blackrock Territory and the current head of the Tulumber family.”

Roy strode over to the head seat in the hall and sat down, smiling at the girl.

“I…I know you, Lord Roy.” Upon hearing the name “Roy Turenbell,” the girl’s eyes brightened suddenly, and her voice became cheerful: “Because of your kindness, our lives are much better than before. This winter, everyone has received enough food and warm clothes.”

“That’s what I should do as a lord.” Roy waved his hand and looked at Lilia beside him: “Lilia, can you tell me what exactly happened?”

After a period of adjustment, Lilia's emotions had completely calmed down, and she spoke softly: "Beya is the daughter of a fisherman in Iron Mountain Territory. Half an hour ago, due to the awakening of her magical talent, she destroyed her house. The huge commotion attracted the attention of the patrolling Black Stone Knights, who rushed to the scene immediately. Subsequently, Mr. Red brought her and her family back to the lord's manor."

"That's roughly how things went. You know what happened after that."

"The fisherman's daughter of Iron Mountain Territory, a newly awakened witch?!" Roy's eyes widened slightly, his gaze filled with astonishment.

He was familiar with witches, but this was the first time he had ever seen a witch who had just awakened, not to mention that she was an awakened witch from his own territory.

"Well……"

Roy stroked his chin and began to ponder to himself.

A witch's awakening depends on two factors: her own aptitude and the influence of the concentration of magic in the external environment.

No one can say for sure about one's own aptitude, and it's difficult to test. However, the concentration of magic in the external environment is a different story... This winter, due to the existence of a large number of "artificial magic pulse points," the overall magic concentration of the entire Radiant Empire has increased by an unknown amount, giving rise to numerous ferocious animals and even magical beasts.

From this perspective, Beya's awakening is not so surprising.

After all, with so many monsters appearing, it's only natural for a witch to awaken, right?

However, if we broaden our perspective to the entire Radiant Empire, how many new witches will awaken this winter?

Thinking of this, Roy felt a little downcast.

Not everyone is like him. Most nobles are not very "friendly" to awakened witches in their territory. Those who are capable will capture them themselves, while those who are not will quickly report to the temple, and the temple's divine punishment squad will take the newly awakened witch away.

Neither the former nor the latter is a good thing for the witch.

The Cole Empire's Magic Research Institute conducted numerous experiments on witches; who can say that no one in the Radiant Empire did the same?

However, because of the "service witch" factor, it wasn't so blatant.

With a slight sigh, Roy raised his head, about to say something, when Beya, who was anxious because of Roy's silence (contemplation), spoke up: "Lord Roy, I know you are a good person. I will do whatever you want me to do, but please let my parents go. They are just ordinary people, it has nothing to do with them."

Roy was taken aback for a moment, then smiled gently and said, "Beya, don't be afraid."

"Yes, little sister Beiya." A pair of soft, fair hands pulled Beiya into an embrace from behind. Under the pale blue light, Beiya felt her tense emotions ease instantly. She wanted to turn her head, but the mountains behind her blocked her movement. So, she could only lift her eyes with difficulty and see a face full of gentleness.

"Young Master Roy is the kindest person to witches~"

“The gentlest person…” Beya, in Shanica’s arms, repeated the words unconsciously, her eyes meeting Roy’s gaze.

Their eyes met, and Xiao Beiya immediately lowered her head.

"Alright, alright, Shanika, stop teasing her." Roy shook his head helplessly.

“How could this be a joke? This is a senior sister showing care for her little sister!” Shanica said, but still let go of Bea and sat down on the chair to Roy’s left.

"Don't worry, Beya, your parents will be fine. After staying at the lord's manor for a while, if they are not comfortable, they can go back at any time."

Roy said seriously, "Now, let's talk about your matter."

"Can you tell me what your awakened talent is?"

Roy could clearly sense that the magical fluctuations emanating from the girl in front of him were extremely weak, estimated to be only around 25 strands, even lower than the 30 strands of Irina, who had the lowest total magical power among all the witches.

Of course, Roy's understanding of witch talents is no longer as superficial as it used to be.

While the amount of innate magical power has a significant impact on a witch, with the systematic inheritance of basic meditation techniques and her methods of removing pollution, the level of innate magical power is no longer so important.

Take Elena as an example. Although her innate magic power was very low, only a pitiful 30, even if she joined the Witches' Guild, her chances of eventually breaking through to the Grand rank were basically zero. However, with Roy's help, after she was completely cleansed of the corruption, she successfully advanced to the Grand rank, and the talent she displayed was unparalleled.

It's hard to say what will happen in the future, but at least for now, even Shanica, the most powerful of all the witches, will be forced into a "soul-stiffened" state after being affected by Elena's illusion, making her extremely likely to lose in battle. As for the other witches, it goes without saying.

Therefore, Roy was more concerned about the types of magical talents that were awakened.

If one's talent is exceptional enough, temporary fluctuations in magical power are not a problem for Roy.

Faced with Roy's question, Bea was somewhat confused: "Talent ability?"

“Yes, as you should know, once a witch’s talent is awakened, it becomes an instinct that she can use with ease,” Lilia explained softly from the side.

“But if we do that, everyone will get hurt…” Beya murmured.

“So that’s what you’re worried about…” Recalling Lilia’s description of how the massive shockwave destroyed his home when Bea first awakened, Roy smiled calmly: “Don’t worry, you can show it off to your heart’s content, it won’t damage anything.”

Roy lightly tapped the ground with his toes, and a circle of crimson-gold light spread out, instantly covering the entire area of ​​the hall.

"Objects enveloped by this domain are immune to any attack below the legendary level."

“I understand.” Beya nodded her little head vigorously. Although she didn’t understand what the lord meant by “domain” and “legend”, and couldn’t sense the function of the faint, light, crimson-gold halo, she still agreed to the request out of trust in the lord.

Before starting, Beya reminded everyone again, "Lord Roy, and all the sisters, please be careful. I will try my best to suppress it, but since I have just awakened, I can't guarantee that I can control it well."

"Don't worry." Roy smiled.

The other witches returned the smiles with kindness.

The power of a witch's innate ability depends on her magic power. With Bea's magic power, even with her strong talent, she wouldn't be able to unleash much of its power.

Standing in the center of the hall, Beya took a deep breath, her cherry lips slightly parted, and in the next instant, a clear singing voice came from her mouth. The sound waves that could be seen spread rapidly, and the air distorted and churned violently wherever they passed.

The sound waves swept across the objects in the hall covered by the crimson-gold field, like a drop of water falling into the ocean, without causing any ripples.

As for the witches, with their physiques comparable to those of a Gold-ranked witch, they wouldn't suffer any injuries even without any protective measures.

Roy goes without saying.

After advancing to Legendary status, he further improved. His physique, estimated to be comparable to a Legendary Star II, made Beya's sonic attacks feel like a gentle breeze to him.

However, Bea's innate abilities did catch Roy's eye.

"Sound wave control capability?"

He is different from Beya.

As the daughter of a fisherman, Beya, who awakened her sonic talent, could only think of a way to use it: amplify her voice to create sound waves.

This is what she perceives as instinct.

But Roy knew that sound was not such a simple thing.

Ultrasound, infrasound, high-intensity sound waves, noise waves, clustered sound pulses... just thinking about them excites him.

Chapter 175 I came here by contract, what do you seek?

Roy was pleasantly surprised by Bea's innate abilities.