The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 46: An Increasingly Rigid Impression

“Hedra, are you really sure you're okay? Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?” In the hospital, Sylutia sat on the edge of the bed as her two close friends asked with concern.

In the incident that occurred last night, many civilians were injured, and even more than a dozen people died. Even Transcendents with ranks suffered hidden injuries, with some barely being saved in time.

“At low tiers, the 'Secret Word' and 'Gold Steam' Aspects don’t provide much physical enhancement. Having a rank simply grants some resistance to spells, making one a bit stronger than ordinary people.”

Afterward, the Mage Alliance officially transferred a large number of physicians for emergency treatment. Most students with ranks survived, after all, that night the Blood Clan had targeted Sylutia specifically rather than attacking everyone indiscriminately. Otherwise, the casualties would have been far greater than they were.

“I told you, there's nothing wrong. I happened to dodge it.” Sylutia had to explain herself again and again.

“Really?” Lovier leaned in, feeling her up and down, trying to see if she was lying.

“That tickles a bit. Lovier, don’t touch my waist, okay?” Sylutia grabbed her wrist and pinned Lovier down on the bed.

“Alright, as long as Hedra is fine.” Seeing Sylutia react as usual, Lovier slowly began to relax.

Aurora, standing by, was deep in thought.

“Why did they target you? What were they after?”“Well... I think it was probably to recruit me and weaken the Mage Alliance’s strength.” Ever since the Mage Alliance grew powerful, several major neighboring alliance organizations had felt intangible pressure and crisis, gradually starting to plot their responses.

“It feels pretty crude. This kind of method doesn’t seem like something a large organization would plan; it looks more like some idiot’s impulsive move,” Aurora said, voicing her own speculation.

“But it’s good that Hedra is fine.”

The three chatted in the room. Before long, the door opened and a group of people walked in, including the physician who had examined Sylutia last night, the mage who had rescued her, and another big shot.

“Lord Gallagher, this is Apprentice Hedra.” The man who had rescued the girl last night introduced her. Standing beside him was an old man clad in battle armor, looking imposing and dignified, with an air of a general about him.

“I see.” The other party slowly nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three young girls standing by the bed, then lingering on Aurora for a few extra seconds.

“A child of the Halter family, is that right?” he asked the silver-haired girl.

“Yes, Lord Gallagher.” Aurora performed a standard curtsy, lifting her skirt.

The man gave a slight nod, then turned his gaze back to Hedra.

“I already know roughly what happened last night. You’re quite impressive to have survived an attack like that.”

“For the time being, stay at the Thunder Tower to study. Rooms will be prepared for you here, and instructors will come later.” After briefly explaining, he left again with his entourage.

Once he was gone, Lovier couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

“Aurora, do you know that old man? He seems really powerful.”

“I do know him,” Aurora nodded.

“He’s Master Gallagher from the ‘Lightning School,’ the overseer of the Thunder Tower in the Asra District. The hospital we’re in now is an affiliate of the Thunder Tower.”

“The ‘Lightning School’ is a mage school focused on studying thunder, lightning, and electric currents. They even have secret arts that allow one to transform into lightning, granting incredible speed and teleportation abilities.”

“A few years ago, the ‘Opera School’ and the ‘Lightning School’ collaborated on researching and creating the ‘Thunderous Song.’ Back then, I was at the banquet with an elder and met this Master.”

“Because of their extremely fast response times, they’re responsible for the security and defense of the Asra District, handling sudden high-tier Transcendent fights and attacks,” Aurora explained.

“I see.”

In the following days, Sylutia and her two roommates were required to stay within the bounds of the Thunder Tower. The area was actually quite large, containing office buildings, a hospital, a restaurant, training grounds, rest rooms, apartment complexes, and more. The facilities were on par with a higher education institution, much better than an ordinary school.

It wasn’t just them. Over the next few days, the young prodigies of the Asra District were gradually gathered and brought here. To facilitate teaching and prevent them from falling behind in their studies, the authorities specifically allocated a batch of experimental equipment and excellent instructors.

Those talented peers of the same age, who before were only known by name but never seen in person, finally met and got to know each other this time.

One day, after completing her lessons in the afternoon, Sylutia was taking a walk in the small plaza beside the Thunder Tower when a few senior students walked over.

“So you’re the famous ‘Hedra’ who had a narrow escape from death?” Sylutia didn’t know how many times she’d heard someone describe her like that.

She stopped walking and looked at the three youths before her. They were probably around 19 years old, having come to the Asra District a few years earlier than her.

“That’s right, it’s me,” she answered simply.

Hearing her admission, the blond youth in the lead showed some interest and then spoke.

“I want to have a spar with you. Of course, we’ll put up a little wager. If you win, this piece of Blue Vein Iron in my hand is yours.”

Blue Vein Iron could be used to make quite a few alchemical items. It was easy to shape before smelting, but once crafted and tuned, and treated with a special secret method, its texture and structure became extraordinarily hard and resistant to damage, raising its quality by one to two grades.

“Are you all going to fight together?” Sylutia sized up the opponents. They were all Second Tier, with no Third Tier Official Mages among them.

“Oh? That arrogant, huh? Your words.” The youth raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not arrogance. It’s just that I’m already tired of explaining myself every single time,” the girl replied helplessly.

During this period, almost every day someone would come over curiously, hoping to exchange some combat techniques with her. It wasn’t their fault, though—the few times she’d made a name for herself were all related to battle. So in people’s minds, she was this genius girl good at fighting. And every time Sylutia won, the titles and stereotypes that had been circulating before deepened once more, to the point where now no one even cared about her academic performance anymore.

Since explanations weren’t very useful anyway, she might as well finish the fight quickly and get back to her walk or rest.

With that thought in mind, Sylutia followed the three to a training ground on one side of the plaza. There were quite a few official members of the Thunder Tower training here. Unlike the students who were just fooling around, the official members here were all Third Tier or above, and were also members of the ‘Lightning School.’

Seeing Sylutia come over, everyone was already used to it.

“Battlefield 2 is still empty. You guys can use that spot,” one member directly told them the location.

“Thanks.”

After that, the four of them walked in. The space was wide, with protective barriers around the perimeter and duty personnel on standby. If an accident happened, they could respond quickly.

Once inside, Sylutia thought for a moment, then took out a small pouch of fine Magnetite Sand from her pocket. As she manipulated it, the sand levitated, then formed a floating flying sword beside her.

“What kind of spell is that? Doesn’t Hedra use threads and Birds?” The three opponents were puzzled, but they began preparing as well.

In the air, an invisible Magic Array was quickly sketched out. The three cast together, and a blazing current of fire gathered, forming a burning orange Fire Sphere. Then the orange Fire Sphere shot out, carrying a spreading Wave of Fire that surged toward Sylutia.

Although there was a bit of trickery involved, these three weren’t simple. They could actually cast a Third Tier ‘Fire Sphere’ spell while still at Second Tier.

Against the ‘Puppet Shadow School’s thread techniques, fire-type spells and abilities provided excellent counters in the early stages. Even within the ‘Puppet Shadow School’s internal competitions, this tactic was frequently used to defeat opponents.

The surging Wave of Fire rushed toward her, lifting a few strands of Sylutia’s hair. If it had been an ordinary student, they probably would have panicked and run away by now. After all, this was the famous Third Tier spell ‘Fire Sphere.’ When a Fire Sphere came crashing down, it brought not only searing burns but also a violent explosive blast—truly the epitome of unadorned power among Third Tier spells.

Not good. My condensed ‘Phantom Flying Sword’ can’t withstand prolonged burning. I have to finish this quickly. Sylutia thought this as the flying sword beside her shot out with a sharp *whoosh*, charging straight at the three at a speed barely visible to the naked eye.

A few seconds later, the Fire Sphere hurtling through the air collapsed midway, its shattered high-temperature flames spilling onto the sandy ground of the arena. The three opponents stood frozen in place, cold sweat on their backs. The hair behind their ears had been cut off, and sharp spikes were pressed against their throats, forcing them to divert their mental focus from the Fire Sphere back to their own survival.

“Hedra wins.” The staff member outside the arena announced flatly. Then the few of them walked out of the battle arena, tossing the small piece of Blue Vein Iron to Sylutia.

“Won again, Hedra.” A staff member in white greeted Sylutia.

“Lucky, lucky. After all, apprentices below Third Tier rarely have any protective spells,” Sylutia replied modestly.

“That’s true. Protective spells often have poor cost-effectiveness, and during the apprentice stage, everyone has limited energy. Not many people bother to specifically study them. But...” his tone shifted.

“Aren’t you afraid? What if the three of them didn’t stop in time, or couldn’t stop in time, and that Fire Sphere ended up hitting you?”

“Well...” Sylutia gently ran her fingers through her hair.

“I would have run away before it hit me.” At this point, continuing to hide her abilities wasn’t a good idea. Otherwise, too many things would become increasingly hard to explain.

“Actually, I’ve learned a Breathing Technique, you see.” Sylutia decided to reveal a small trump card first.

As she spoke, she lightly tapped her foot and leaped directly onto a three-meter-high viewing platform beside her, then gracefully jumped back down. After that, she simply turned on her heel, her figure flickering several meters away in an instant.

“If it weren’t for this, I probably wouldn’t have survived the Blood Clan’s attack,” she said, providing a plausible explanation for how she managed to escape unscathed that day.

“No wonder, no wonder. That explains it.” The other party’s face lit up with sudden realization.

“So you really are the ‘Black Griffin’—with the agility of a Bird and the strength of a lion...” The other party muttered something incomprehensible, leaving Sylutia with a dark look on her face.

*Sigh. I should have given myself a nickname in advance. Now it’s too late, and I can’t even change it.*