novelraw Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Chapter 35: Gemstones or Eyes?
They were two crystal-clear sapphires, polished to a gleaming shine, their surfaces reflecting a gentle luster under the starlight.
Lina lightly raised her finger, and a faint speck of starlight fell upon the surface of one of the gems.
She once again felt that ‘resistance’, as if some special force was repelling the intrusion of the starlight.
And as she probed further, she was surprised to discover that this force actually overlapped highly with her own starlight!
Lina withdrew the starlight from the gem’s surface and did not continue the intrusion.
Who had placed these two gems here? Was it the creator of the mirror world? And what purpose did he have in storing these two gems within this world?
More importantly... why did these two gems possess the power of the Star Witch?
At that very moment, a wave of intense dizziness struck.
The time limit of the body exchange was about to arrive.
She casually tossed the gems into her storage ring and snapped her fingers.
The world rapidly collapsed toward her palm. In the very last second before the consciousness swap, the mirror world completely dissipated within her hand, and she successfully returned to reality.
When Lina opened her eyes again, she was already back in her own body.
The first thing that entered her vision was Annie’s pair of gray eyes filled with concern: “Sister Lina... is it Sister Lina?”
“It’s me, it’s me—you’re too close!” Lina gently pushed Annie away and sat up from the chair.
A small fragment of memory flowed into her mind—that was the memory from when Euphemia had been using her body.
This vampire girl had been quite honest, sitting in the chair without moving much... though the memories she received on her end might have been a bit ‘stimulating’.
Euphemia was still sitting on the ground in a daze. She stared blankly at Lina, saying nothing.
After a long while, she finally spoke in a trembling voice: “You... you... how did you do it?”
“How did I do what?” Lina kicked away the rope by her feet and walked toward Euphemia.
“You know, so many... stars.” The vampire girl took a long time just to squeeze out that sentence.
Lina crouched in front of her and, with her back to Annie and Seriel, made a shushing gesture: “Shh, don’t tell anyone, be good~”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm!” The blonde little girl nodded so fast it almost left afterimages, cold sweat constantly seeping out down her back.
After personally experiencing that terrifying and bizarre power, Lina’s image in her heart had completely changed.
Even now, she could still feel the lingering might of that starlight.
This black-haired witch, who looked utterly ordinary on the surface, was most likely some higher deity in disguise—or something even more dangerous. She absolutely must not oppose her!
“Is there anything else you need to instruct, Miss Lina?” Seriel, standing nearby, looked somewhat puzzled at Euphemia—whose little face was deathly pale (though it had been quite pale to begin with, making it hard to tell)—and Lina, who wore a gentle smile.
“Oh, nothing much, just some post-ritual reminders,” Lina stood up and extended a hand toward Euphemia. “Get up, we still have some cleanup work to do.”
Pulled to her feet by Lina, Euphemia’s legs were still trembling slightly, but she forced out a strained smile: “Ahaha... y-you, please go ahead...”
Annie also noticed Euphemia’s strange attitude. She felt that ever since the two had swapped souls, Euphemia seemed somewhat afraid of Lina.
“Euphemia...”
“Y-Yes!”
Lina glanced at Euphemia somewhat speechlessly, thinking that this girl’s reaction was a bit too extreme. Had it really been that frightening just now?
Of course, she had no idea what it felt like for an ordinary person to have their body used by a consciousness possessing divinity. It could only be said that the fact Euphemia hadn’t dropped to her knees on the spot and started kowtowing was already a sign of strong will.
“Take a look at your storage ring. There are two things inside that I brought out from the mirror world.”
“Oh, oh!” Euphemia hurriedly activated her storage ring. After rummaging through it for a moment, she took out the two somewhat strange gems.
The moment the gems were taken out, Seriel’s eyes widened instantly, while Euphemia was so frightened that she directly threw the two gems onto the ground.
“What’s wrong?” Lina walked forward in confusion and picked up the gems.
“You... you all... could it be...” Euphemia’s eyes were wide as she suddenly thought of something. She asked haltingly, “In your... your eyes... these two... are gemstones?”
“Another cognitive discrepancy?” Lina frowned. “What do you see?”
Seriel steadied herself, took a deep breath, and said, “Two eyeballs... wriggling.”
---
After some investigation, everyone finally confirmed that the source of the ‘haunting’ in the mansion was precisely these two strange gems (eyeballs). The two vampire girls stated that these eyeballs not only produced a kind of ‘noise’, but also made them extremely uneasy.
Unfortunately, Lina’s magic power could no longer support her in performing another summoning ritual, and her mental strain was also about to reach its limit. She would need at least three to five days of rest before conducting further investigation.
“Euphemia, this is the commission confirmation form. Just sign your name here,” Lina took out two neatly arranged contracts from her storage ring and handed them to the vampire girl. “Keep one copy yourself; I’ll take the other back to the Association.”
Euphemia took the two sheets Lina handed over and signed her name at the signature line without even looking.
“You’re not going to check the terms?” Lina took one of the confirmation forms back and said to Euphemia in a serious tone, “Your commission falls under a high-value category. This confirmation form is jointly protected by the Wizards’ Association and the Witches’ Association.”
“Ah... haha, I think the commission was completed very well! Extremely well!” Euphemia straightened her back and then added, “A noble person like you would definitely not violate these rules... right?”
Lina let out a helpless sigh, feeling a bit regretful about having scared this vampire girl earlier. Originally, she had only intended to use that method to make her behave and keep her secret, but judging from the current effect, it seemed she had left the child with psychological trauma...
“These two gems will be taken to the Witches’ Association for containment. The danger level of this item is currently undetermined. After the appraisal results come out, the Association will compensate you based on the item’s base value,” Lina put away the confirmation form and continued, “The final result will be sent to your mansion by letter within three days at the earliest. Please keep an eye out.”
“Oh, oh! No problem!” The vampire girl nodded repeatedly.
“Young Lady, we’ll need to make a trip to Gaul City soon,” the maid reminded from the side. “We are to attend that charity banquet.”
Euphemia blinked her ruby-like eyes. “R-right, oh?”
“It’s fine. The letter will be placed in your mansion’s mailbox. It’ll still be in time for you to check it when you return,” Lina said, indicating that this wasn’t a big issue—just a matter of signing.
Annie observed Lina’s practiced and effortless manner from the side, and many doubts arose in her heart.
Lina didn’t look like someone handling a commission for the first time at all. The official procedures that even many experienced witches found complicated and cumbersome were as simple as eating and drinking to her.
After thinking for a long time, she finally arrived at a conclusion:
Sister Lina is amazing!
“Bang!”
The dull sound of an impact drew Annie’s attention to the outside of the main door. A wooden crate as tall as a person blocked her view.
Seriel poked her head out from behind the crate and waved at Annie with a smile: “Miss Annie, this is the doll you selected earlier. I’ve packed it for you.”
“Ah, thank you, Sister Seriel!” Annie’s eyes lit up.
While thanking her, she happily stored the large crate into her storage ring.
Lina turned back to look at Annie, whose eyes were sparkling, and shook her head with a smile.
This was the kind of expression a girl of her age should have, instead of being like herself—wearing a worried face every day over a few gold dragons.
In the end, witches below B-rank were just slightly more advanced laborers. If one wanted a life free of worries about food and clothing, one still had to climb higher.
After bidding farewell to the two vampire girls, Lina and Annie headed toward the Association.
As she walked, Lina calculated in her mind.
“This commission totaled one hundred gold dragons. After deducting the Association’s ten percent handling fee, that leaves ninety gold dragons...”
“I’ve already bought magical tools and equipment, but the variety of my magic is still too limited. I need to buy a few magic books from the Association’s library to learn some new spells. The Witches’ Association in Osselro Town doesn’t have a library, so I’ll have to make a trip to Gaul City.”
“A D-rank magic book should cost around forty gold dragons. One offensive spell and one defensive spell would add up to eighty gold dragons...”
The more she calculated, the more something felt off. It seemed that even after earning another ninety gold dragons, it still wouldn’t be enough.
“Sigh... it’s still not time to slack off yet...” Lina sighed, taking out a cookie she had taken from the mansion from her storage ring and stuffing it into her mouth.
As her strength increased, the cost of magical tools and equipment would only grow higher. In the future, when she obtained weapons and gear of fine quality or above, she would have to pour large amounts of gold dragons into affix enhancements.
This is exhausting—starting from scratch and grinding like this really feels like a prison...
Right, I killed quite a few monsters in the mirror world earlier. Even though it was a shared consciousness state, my level should have increased a bit...
Lina summoned her current status panel in her mind:
Username: Lina
Class: Witch (D)
Magic Level: LV19 Magic Attributes: Fire, Blood
Armor: Excellent Witch Hat (Head) Excellent Witch Outfit (Torso) Excellent Witch Boots (Feet)
[Set Effect Activated (3/3): Magic Damage +40% Physical Defense +30 Magic Defense +50 (Enhanced Affixes: None Equipment level insufficient, all attributes -10%)]
Accessories: Magic Enhancement Ring 【Mana Consumption -10% Magic Damage +5%】
Weapon: 【Elite Legion Standard Staff · Modified】 (Magic Attack +70 Physical Attack +30 Base Magic Damage +10% Fire Magic Damage +30% Mana Consumption -20% Enhanced Affix: Mana Consumption -15%)
Spells: Fireball Divination Clone Technique Blood Manipulation
Physical Attack: 35 Magic Attack: 170 Physical Defense: 30 Magic Defense: 100 Health: 25
Overall Combat Power Evaluation: 91 (D)
Title: 【Slacker Witch】
What’s going on? I learned blood magic?
A person’s magic attributes normally do not change after birth.
The reason she had possessed so many attributes in her previous life was due to the divine authority “Source of All Magic.”
But now, she had only swapped bodies with Euphemia once, yet she had gained compatibility with her blood attribute magic—and had even learned a blood spell!
Lina quietly activated her magic. A crimson thread of magical energy condensed out of the air, coiling around her forearm. She could clearly feel that she was able to control this thread.
“Sister Lina, what’s wrong?” Annie, seeing Lina suddenly stop, asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
“No, it’s nothing,” Lina quickly withdrew her magic and shook her head.
It seemed... this body she had now truly held quite a few secrets...
At that moment, a series of hurried footsteps came from the other end of the street.
A young girl with short brown hair, dressed like an apprentice witch, was running toward Lina in a rush.
While running, she called out breathlessly, “Miss Lina... Miss Lina! Lady Sibyl told me to inform you—do not return to the Witches’ Association!”