I want to be a faded person for life

Se Lian was rarely angry and hit the girl on the head with the back of a book.

"Ah, that hurts—what's a wizard's ball?"

Xiangzi had a headache from being hit, but his body was paralyzed due to the medicine he took and he couldn't move at all.

"That is the seed of a star, the inevitable outcome for any mage of the School of Origin... but it's a little too early for you now."

Se Lian took off his plaster hood, revealing his black hair and cold face. Xiangzi tried to turn his head to look and noticed that Se Lian had the same blue-green eyes as Pyroxene.

"Teacher is so beautiful—ah, it hurts!"

Se Lian hit her on the head with the back of the thick book again, and this time it was particularly hard, making Xiangzi's eyes go black.

"Speak up."

"Take this with you first."

Seren helped the girl up and put the plaster hood on her head.

“…I can’t see anything anymore.”

Xiangzi's voice became a little muffled, and she didn't know how Se Lian could speak normally while wearing this hood, but she could feel that her swollen head had become a little relieved.

"It's better not to see it."

"Tell me everything that happened during this period first."

Xiangzi felt strangely at ease in the dark hood, and was able to put aside the things in front of him and concentrate on thinking.

"Here's the thing..."

This is a somewhat long story.

Se Lian said nothing while Xiangzi was telling the story, just nodding occasionally. She only frowned when she heard Xiangzi talking about the strange state she showed after swallowing the pyroxene.

The witch remained silent, but left her chair, blew out the candle in the basement, and covered all the surrounding pyroxene crystals with cloth.

"Then I left the Round Table Hall and came to the teacher."

Se Lian's expression was serious. She raised her staff, and the starlight on the top of the staff became the only light source in this basement.

Under the starlight, the shadow under Xiangzi's feet gradually split into two.

Se Lian narrowed her eyes, and in her eyes, the shadow of another person gradually emerged beside the girl.

Its appearance is roughly similar to the girl telling the story, except that the part above the head is blurry.

There was a noose tied around the shadow's neck, and the other end of the noose was connected to the depths of the invisible night.

The virtual image was gradually merging into Xiangzi's shadow, but the golden glow on the latter's body that represented the power of blessing and another circle of purple-black halo were resisting this fusion.

After looking for a long time, Se Lian let go of the staff and relit the candlestick.

"teacher?"

Because the other party hadn't made any sound for a long time, Xiangzi, who couldn't see anything because of his hood, called her in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm here."

Se Lian sat back in the chair somewhat tiredly, resting his chin with his slender index finger.

"I guess... I have some clues."

"I'm astonished you were able to accomplish such a feat—invading Stonewell alone, defeating Greg the Limb-Girdle, and even being guided into the legendary Great Blessing... Could it be that my perverted, naked apprentice actually possesses the potential to become a king?"

"Can you please stop using that title...teacher?"

Although she was wearing a hood, Xiangzi could feel Seren touching her head.

“It’s really not easy, right?”

"..."

Xiangzi remained silent and said nothing.

"Let me first state the conclusion."

Without further dwelling on this topic, Se Lian withdrew his hand.

"There's something wrong with that pyroxene, and I didn't even notice it... What a blunder."

"has a problem?"

"If it were just an ordinary pyroxene of extremely high purity, even if you swallowed it, it would only greatly enhance your magical power for a short period of time, perhaps allowing you to perform some spells that you couldn't use before—but it would definitely not cause the reaction you described, where you would be manipulated like a puppet by some other force."

"That thing should be a [Source Stone]."

Xiangzi was stunned and instantly had some bad associations.

"Source Stone refers to the magician's..."

"Same as you thought."

Se Lian's tone was serious.

"That's a magician from the School of Origin, a magician I don't even know."

Xiangzi's face turned pale under the hood.

"Originium... there must be other ways to make it, right?"

"There is no such possibility."

"So, what I ate was actually—"

【Humanity】

Xiangzi could no longer utter the word completely; she felt a strong nausea.

"Don't spit in my hood."

Se Lian's voice calmed Xiangzi down a lot.

"That magician's soul must have been severely damaged and is in a strange dormant state. But even so—her instinct will allow the Source Stone to gradually occupy your body until the soul of that Origin magician is resurrected within you."

"By that time you will no longer exist, and even the blessing cannot bring you back to life."

Xiangzi sat on the stone bed, his mind blank.

"But—you don't have to worry too much."

"This process is obviously not easy. Two powerful forces are protecting you—one of which is the Great Rune you obtained after defeating Greg."

"Big Rune?"

The effect of the drug gradually dissipated, and Xiangzi raised his hand in a daze.

"It seems you didn't notice that the fragment of the ring was already in your possession when you defeated Greg."

"As for the other purple-black magic, it should belong to your friend."

Se Lian sighed.

"It seems I've been locked up here for too long. I didn't even realize there's another genius wizard from the School of Origin out there."

Xiangzi slowly hugged his shoulders.

"Light, in the end I still..."

Has it become a burden?

【I will protect you.】

——That sentence is a curse.

Chapter 44: Stone Hood

"Why did you run away?"

Se Lian found it a little difficult to understand.

"My disciple, your purpose in moving forward has always been to find your lost friend. Why, after finding her, do you choose to leave alone?"

Seeing that Xiangzi didn't say anything, the witch asked another question.

"Did something happen? Do you hate her?"

"No."

...This was answered without any hesitation.

Se Lian pinched his chin and thought.

Xiangzi was lying on the bed, hugging his knees.

"I just... don't want to be a burden."

"Ugh......"

Seren felt that he had sighed more today than in the past ten years combined.

"Young girls' minds are truly complex. This is much more difficult than studying pyroxene magic or something like that."

"Teacher Se Lian, aren't you also... young...?"

The witch hit her head with the back of the book again, but she couldn't feel the pain through the thick hood.

"Don't hesitate when you talk about my youth, you foolish apprentice!"

"And...how many years do you think I've lived?"

Without the hood, Seren looked a little more human.

"So long ago that even I can't remember."

The witch's voice softened, with the gentleness that comes from someone reminiscing about a distant past.

"However, this isn't about being a magician... but rather sharing some experience as a senior in life. If there's any misunderstanding with a friend, it's best to clarify it as soon as possible."

"Many years later, you'll gradually realize... those things you valued most back then—the so-called life creeds, obsessions, and principles...are actually insignificant."

"It's just that you were blinded by them back then, so you can't see the truly precious things. All you see are huge, illusory shadows—wait until you remove them."

Seren took off her hood and held it in her arms.

"Look—the darkness that covers the world is actually only big enough to be held in my arms."

"So... don't dwell on it too much and do something you'll regret."

After a few minutes, Xiangzi took the hood and put it on again, making muffled sounds under the human-face-shaped mask.

"Teacher Se Lian is so cunning. This kind of advice is based on experience... Even if I disagree, I can't refute it now, right?"

The witch sneered without any trace of her elder image.

"Ha, I didn't expect a brat like you to understand. It's better to leave the teachings to your friend. If you start crying too embarrassingly, don't tell anyone that you're a disciple of the witch, Seren."

"The teacher talks like an old woman... Besides, I won't lose to Deng."

The girl muttered softly and jumped down from the stone bed. Her body had indeed recovered a lot.

"Impolite little brat...I won't argue with you any further. I don't expect to keep you locked up here forever, but if you want to leave, you need to meet a few of my requirements."

Se Lian had no intention of discussing this with Xiangzi. She held the staff as if she would not let him go unless she did as she was told.

"First, for the time being, please refrain from using any more pyroxene magic—especially those that you haven't yet mastered."

Unless you're facing an enemy like Greg, a sword is enough to handle most situations.

"Secondly, although I haven't figured out the principle behind your ability to summon multiple ashes simultaneously, given your current condition, it's best not to summon more than two spirits at once—if it's that eagle, even the second one isn't allowed."

"I suggest you go to the Rhea Lukalia School of Magic. The Full Moon Queen, imprisoned deep within the academy, is a master at commanding ash spirits to fight. She should understand what's happening to you... However, be careful, as that person is mentally unstable."

"third."

The witch raised a third finger.

"I require you to come back here every night. I will fill in the gaps in your knowledge and help you digest the knowledge that is beyond your comprehension. You cannot be absent even once until you have thoroughly digested it."

"I will prepare a new pyroxene stone cover for you tomorrow. You are not allowed to take it off during the teaching process. The course starts today."

Xiangzi nodded, and the hood made the movement a little top-heavy.

"...Okay, I agree to everything."

-

After leaving the underground prison on Post Street, Xiangzi planned to go to the dilapidated house on Storm Hill to see if Little Red Riding Hood Roderica was still there.