Millennium Witch

She opened her eyes blankly, her long eyelashes, wet with rain, trembling violently, and stammered, "Wait until you kill me, teacher."

"Why would I kill you?" Yvette asked, puzzled. She thought the little girl was asking for a kiss, which made her, a lifelong virgin, a little shy. It took her a while to control her emotions and straighten out her forbidden thoughts.

"Teacher, weren't you deformed?" Rosalyn suddenly realized, her tear-streaked face instantly turning to surprise and delight. "Teacher, you're not deformed?"

"I guess... I've become mutated, but I've retained my consciousness and haven't been corrupted." Yvette felt her current state, her heart churning with emotions, and she couldn't calm down for a while.

This is truly incredible.

However, noticing that more aberrations were approaching, she used her restored magic to ride the wind and, with Rosalyn in tow, quickly escaped the area and flew towards their retreat point.

……

A summer storm, typical of island nights, raged. Lead-gray clouds churned and tore at the low sky, and amidst bursts of thunder, torrential rain pounded against the windowpanes, as if another apocalypse was knocking on the door.

Only after shutting out the wind and rain and washing away the bloodstains from their bodies in the bathroom did Yvette and Rosalyn sit down in the softly lit living room to discuss and review the day's events.

The primary focus here is, of course, Yvette's unprecedented state of distortion.

"Teacher, how are you feeling right now?" Rosalyn asked, rubbing her wet blonde hair with a towel, her gaze cautiously sweeping over Yvette. "Do you feel like you're going crazy, like you want to devour everything around you?"

Yvette shook her head, carefully sensing her body's condition. After a moment, under her conscious control, the darkness in her eyes began to slowly fade, and her scarlet eyes stopped shining, returning to their original dark red.

“It…it’s back!” Rosalyn said in surprise.

“I just tried it in the bathroom. ‘Black Eyes’ is a switchable state, and there’s no loss of magic power,” Yvette said.

"So, teacher, you're essentially in two states now? The normal state of 'white-eyed' and the distorted state of 'black-eyed'?"

"Looking at it now, that's how it is."

"So handsome... No wonder he's a teacher!"

“Next is the second ability.” Yvette said, switching to black-eyed mode. Her silver hair immediately floated, undulated, and stretched gracefully like a living serpent. “Hair, but to be precise, it should be considered a simple form of tentacle transformation. And I seem to be able to create a tentacle in every inch of my body and adjust its size…”

She opened her palm, and soon, a white tentacle emerged from the skin of her palm. It twisted and changed flexibly, its diameter shrinking to the thinnest point of a spider's thread, or expanding instantly to the thickness of a python.

Rosalyn couldn't help but reach out and touch it; it felt cold and slippery, which was somewhat frightening.

Yvette continued, "...These white tentacles currently have two known abilities: one is hardening, which can be used as a weapon, and the other is devouring, which allows them to absorb flesh and blood. If it is a mutant, it can directly plunder the mutant factor, and it can also directly devour non-mutant parts, such as the flesh and blood of ordinary organisms, and convert them into magic power."

"Then he's invincible?" Rosalind was shocked.

"But that's not the case... because each use of the tentacles consumes aberration factors. In other words, I can consume all the aberration factors in my body by constantly using my abilities, and then completely lose my Black Eye ability and become an ordinary person."

"Huh? The aberration factor... can't it be replenished?"

“That’s the strange thing. Mutant creatures can slowly increase the concentration of mutation factors in their bodies simply by eating normally, but I can’t. I can only maintain this ability by plundering from the outside.” Yvette was also very puzzled by this.

In short, it feels like a distortion, but not a complete distortion.

"Oh, that's strange..." Rosalyn muttered, but after a while, she suddenly thought of something and said with some concern, "Um... Teacher... this must be a very important secret for you, right? Can I really know it..."

Yvette glanced at her but said nothing.

Rosalyn paused for a moment, then understood, smiled slightly, and did not continue the topic. Instead, she asked about the causes and consequences of the Brood War. Her expression shifted from focused to cursing the Double-Edged Demon's despicable behavior, from marveling at her teacher's deceitful scheme to sighing with regret at the unexpected ending.

As they meticulously reviewed everything, the torrential rain outside gradually subsided. Through the French windows, a bright moon peeked out from the thick clouds, casting its tranquil silvery frost upon the two people inside.

Something was missing, so I resent it.

Chapter 41 Spring has come again.

Over the next few days, Yvette began a massive cleanup of all the third-order aberrations and mother nests on the entire island of Ish, determined to devour them all and turn them into withered shells.

During the execution of this operation, Yvette gradually mastered the details of her unique ability.

For example, increasing the thickness, length, or number of tentacles will significantly increase the consumption of aberration factors. Moreover, the concentration of aberration factors in the body of a first-stage aberration variant is quite low. Sometimes, a single tentacle attack may result in the aberration factors being used up rather than the aberration factors absorbed.

For example, the hardening ability of tentacles is not only used for attack, but also for defense. So from the perspective of improving combat power, she may need to learn some close combat or fighting knowledge from Rosalyn. In any field, the expert is the teacher. Although the master-disciple relationship will be reversed as a result, she does not think she will feel ashamed.

What struck Yvette as even stranger was the discovery of a new, magical core-like entity within her body, originating from the aberrant factor.

Therefore, the aberrant factors that spread, invade, and assimilate wantonly in other aberrant organisms become obediently aggregated automatically in her body, losing their original activity and turning into a core that can be used at will?

Why is this?

Speaking of which, in the moment when her consciousness sank during the complete distortion, she remembered that in the depths of the dark ocean, she chose a black tentacle and gave up a mass of black and red liquid.

What is the connection between these two things?

Could this be an optional evolutionary path?

She couldn't understand it at all, nor could she understand it, so she quickly gave up thinking about these things and instead named the second core in her body "Aberration Core," and the power contained within it was simply called "Aberration Magic."

Well, this can be considered a dual cultivation of magic and mutation.

……

The cleanup operation lasted four days, starting from Luya City in the far north, continuing to Grey Harbor City, Ish City, and then back to the Ish Mountains and the Corruption Forest. During this long journey, a total of seven Stage 7 Aberrations perished from the pure white tentacles' feeding.

Rosalind was of no help whatsoever. The whole process was that the teacher walked up to the aberrant, bombarded it with spells to weaken it, then cast a tentacle to begin its evil feeding, and then the process could be repeated to move on to the next one.

Because the absorption process replenishes mana, the teacher, who had almost perished in the insects' bellies due to exhaustion of mana, has become a perpetual motion machine of magic, no longer needing to worry about running out of mana.

However, according to the teacher's explanation, the accident in the Corrupted Forest was not entirely due to her miscalculation. The six-armed demon in its prime was indeed a bit too powerful. After sweeping away all the third-tier aberrations on the island, she still believed that the six-armed demon's strength was far ahead and infinitely close to the legendary fourth stage. This information gap was the root cause of her near death.

Rosalyn didn't think anything of it at first. Although she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she unconditionally believed her teacher's words and never doubted them.

But later, whenever the teacher mentioned that life-or-death crisis, he would subconsciously emphasize it repeatedly, not as if he were telling the students, but as if he were convincing himself.

It was clear that the teacher was still troubled by the imperfect and near-death ending of that battle. She wanted to, but didn't know how to comfort the teacher.

The truth is, they were lucky, so they didn't mutate, and they even evolved in reverse. Otherwise, they would be queuing up to be reincarnated in the underworld by now.

So perhaps only time can heal the teacher's psychological trauma.

……

After the major cleanup was completed and the crisis was resolved, the former leisure and tranquility returned to the manor.

Unlike before, this time, Ish Island is truly safe. All the previously high-risk areas have been thoroughly cleared by Yvette. Not to mention her, even if Rosalind were to hike alone on the island, she would be absolutely safe—unless she went into the sea, which would be a different story.

But just when Rosalyn thought things were settling down again, the morning after the big cleanup ended, she got up to find Yvette sitting on the sofa in the first-floor living room, looking hesitant to speak.

"Good morning, teacher. You're up so early today!" Rosalyn greeted her and headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Then she heard the teacher call her name in a somewhat strange tone: "...Rosalyn".

"Uh-huh!"

"are you free?"

"Huh?" Rosalyn turned her head in surprise and said, "Teacher, I'll always have it if you need it."

“Then come out in a bit and teach me swordsmanship.” Yvette looked out the window.

"Huh?" Rosalyn thought she had misheard. In her eyes, the teacher was an all-knowing genius. What did she do to deserve teaching the teacher?

But she immediately cheered up and gave a loud "Mmm".

……

And so, the course on swordsmanship, cold weapons, and various close combat techniques abruptly began that morning.

During this process, Yvette gradually realized that seeking knowledge from students with the mindset of learning from those who have achieved success was not as easy as she had imagined.

The biggest factor is that she is seen as a genius by her students, but she is not.

Her knowledge of runes and various other fields came from her more than two hundred years of imprisonment in the Abyss Base. In that place filled with a bluish-green light, there wasn't much she could do each day: daydream, read, clean, practice spells. The days passed by like that, and all her knowledge was painstakingly acquired through long periods of time there.

And what happens after you leave there?

During her decades on Ish Island, after discovering that no aberrations posed a threat to her, she became quite laid-back. She did collect books in various professional fields, but her progress was slow; she was lucky to study for two hours a day. While she did engage in activities like repairing her manor, tending her vegetable garden, and fixing cars, her core motivation was to improve her quality of life: to live in a mansion, eat gourmet food, own a long-lasting magical motorcycle for rides, have electricity at night, and be able to relight the ruined streets surrounding her manor.

Yes, in essence, she is not a genius witch who is proficient in all methods, but a lazy person with mediocre talent who relies on time to gain seniority, lacks initiative when she is in a comfortable situation, and is content to have her students serve her.

Now, with no external threats and already invincible on Ish Island, starting from scratch and following students, working nine-to-five to diligently practice cold weapon techniques, is a truly challenging task, especially since she is learning very slowly.

But she still decided to persist, even if it meant losing that divine idol-like aura in front of her students.

As for why, it's probably because the threat of impending death caused her to develop PTSD, and she doesn't want something similar to happen again.

If it were six years ago, she probably wouldn't have thought this way. Sometimes she would even think to extremes that death is no big deal. What's the point of living for hundreds or thousands of years in this monster-filled, deserted world, on a ruined island from which there's no way out? It would be better to be reincarnated at the speed of light, and maybe even travel through time again.

But now, she thought, she must at least ensure the safety of her students, until someday in the future, years or decades later, when the aurora reappears and the abyss reopens, she can safely send them home. At that time, she will have no more worries, no matter what she does.

However, she would occasionally wonder if Rosalyn would ever encounter such a rare celestial phenomenon again in her lifetime.

If we never meet, will there really come a day in the future where an elderly person outlives another elderly person?

The thought of that tragic sentiment based on the theory of lifespan made her feel uneasy, and she even began to consider whether she should go to sea in the future to search for the aurora in a wider world. However, considering the treacherous ocean conditions, a sea voyage seemed unlikely to be launched within the next ten years. Exploring the deeper underground areas near the Abyss Base, on the other hand, might be a viable option.

……

And so, time flew by, and half a year passed in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, spring has arrived once again.

Chapter 42 After the Door

It was a spring morning, with low-hanging clouds that draped the sky like a thin, gray-white veil, filtering the sunlight into soft, diffused light.

A cold wind blew as Yvette stepped through the thin ice that hadn't completely melted, passing through a dense forest of evergreen trees, and arrived at the foot of Mount Ish. The cold, damp air filled her lungs with each breath, dispelling some of the drowsiness she felt from waking up early.

Behind her, seventeen-year-old Rosalyn, dressed in a fitted trench coat, looked exceptionally tall, with an increasingly curvaceous figure that no one with a teenage girl's body could match.

In response, Yvette could only express her gratitude that Rosalyn's height growth had basically stagnated since last year, remaining at around 1.7 meters. Otherwise, she would really worry that one day she would have to look up and touch her head while talking to her students—either way, it would sound quite pathetic.

Thinking of this, Yvette couldn't help but lower her head and quickly glance at her flat shoes.

"Maybe I should get a pair of boots that make me taller..." she thought silently, but then worried she wouldn't be used to them. After all, in her previous life she was a perfect 1.82 meters tall, a real man, and had never known what height-increasing shoes were. Now she was a beautiful silver-haired, red-eyed girl, she had gained a lot, but also lost a lot. Thinking about it carefully, it was quite poignant.

"Is the mountaintop where the teacher woke up?" Rosalyn asked curiously as she walked, gazing up at the misty mountaintop.

Yvette gave a soft "hmm." At this point, aside from the matter of time travel, there was no need to hide anything else from her students. Besides, she herself didn't know her origins, and letting her students know might give her some inspiration.

Then, accompanied by a gentle breeze, Rosalyn walked briskly ahead, humming an unknown otherworldly tune, looking very happy.

As if infected by her, Yvette's eyes softened slightly. She would occasionally hum a song when she was happy, but as her memory became increasingly hazy, she had forgotten most of the good songs from her past life.

Sometimes she wonders if she could enter the dream world again and record all the songs she can remember, then become a plagiarist of the Origin Civilization in the dream, dominating the entertainment industry with Earth's cultural and entertainment resources. She should be able to earn a lot of credits and buy a lot of high-end goods.

Well, of course, that was just a casual remark. As a powerful mage, it would be embarrassing to imagine him singing and dancing.

More than an hour later, they reached the end of the mountain road and there was nowhere else to go. The two took out their magic skateboards and flew directly to the edge of the crater lake to look down.

Now, just as Yvette had when she first escaped her cage decades ago, the dark lake before her eyes remained deep blue and still, silent as an abyss. In the center of the lake, the small metal platform still stood, like a forgotten old country house, waiting for someone's return.

Three minutes later, after casually draining the life out of a few suicidal mutants, Yvette stepped back onto the metal platform, opened the small door beside her, cast a light spell, and led the students, who were full of curiosity and looking around, down the road.

"The first floor is the quarantine floor, containing a lot of elite military-grade weaponry and equipment. I initially thought this was the only place with sunlight, so I moved most of what I collected, including usable books, to this floor..." Yvette said as she walked, her calm voice echoing in the empty corridor.

Rosalyn adopted a solemn and reverent expression, as if on a pilgrimage, and began to search around this floor. She saw many draft papers written with the sap of magic vines as ink, which she had left behind when she was learning about runes, as well as many remains of magical equipment that had been disassembled into parts.

Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, she seemed to see countless years ago, when her teacher was here, diligently studying, dissecting, researching, meditating, and practicing.

Those scenes repeat themselves monotonously day after day, like a malfunctioning movie projector, recording the entire process of a witch's birth.

Continuing on, Yvette meticulously described the function and location of each level, recording the details of her initial exploration. Rosalind followed, reconstructing the past landscape of this vast underground ruin through her teacher's narration.

Finally, after walking through ten underground floors, what appeared before the two of them was a closed alloy door.

Unlike their previous helplessness, this time the two could try using the alloy battle blades with extremely strong cutting power. If that didn't work, Yvette could also consider prying open the elevator shaft or restoring power to this floor to look for other possibilities.

Activating the Alloy Blade, and with the amplification from Muscle Limits Unlocked, Rosalyn slashed fiercely without the teacher lifting a finger, and the effect was remarkable—a deep dent was cleaved into the alloy door.

Seeing the remarkable results, Yvette also took out her own blade to help. Soon, with the combined efforts of the master and apprentice, a gap was finally cut in the door leading to the next level, large enough for one person to pass through. The smell that came out was not unpleasant—which was normal, because the redundant design of the ventilation system was based on wind pressure. As long as the wind in the crater lake continued to blow, the air could continue to circulate and eventually be discharged from an outlet in the mountainside.

Even this layer showed traces of the all-pervasive magic light vines, but the brightness was limited, so the two still used magic for illumination.

"Teacher, what floor is this?" Rosalyn looked at the sign next to her. She had learned a little bit of Black Tide language in her dream, but she had been communicating with her teacher in the common language of Radiant Continent, and had almost forgotten it.

“It should be the management's living area,” Yvette guessed after carefully examining the blurry handwriting.

Compared to the floors above, this floor is much more spacious and offers a wider variety of living and entertainment rooms. The two didn't rush to explore further, but instead opened each door to inspect the rooms.

"It seems that the people here have also been unable to escape the fate of mutation..." Rosalyn guessed with mixed feelings as she looked at the many strangely shaped skeletons in the rooms, and even a relatively complete mutated mummy.

Clearly, she now feels conflicted, wanting to sympathize with those who died tragically in the apocalypse, yet also believing that these people must have locked everyone else out to save their own lives.

“Perhaps.” Yvette nodded slightly and began rummaging through the clutter. The paper materials here were mostly rotten, but as expected of the executive living area, there were quite a few well-preserved hardcover books, all in the field of runic medicine, which were still very valuable.

"Teacher, look at this!" After a while, Rosalyn suddenly noticed something and shouted.