Wind thought back to her childhood, then pursed her lips. When she was finally ready to speak, her voice was calm, almost distant. "It was when I was six… I didn't have parents, no, maybe I just don't remember them. My earliest memory was wandering the outskirts of Llynun, traveling through the slums and occasionally being chased away when collecting scraps…"
She paused. "That day, I was fighting a bird for food..."
Wind continued, her tone unchanged. "It was really big, really violent. I remember that it even tried to peck out my eyes, so I just bit it really, really hard." She said, slightly embarrassed. With a red face, she added, "Of course, I won in the end..."
The image was formed on its own—
A small, dirty girl, with mud-covered silver hair and pale skin, clutching some scraps. Blood dripped from her hands, and a chunk of black feathers stuck out from her chubby cheeks, as she looked at the camera with a cute and naive expression.
"…That's when 'grandpa' found me," Wind silently added. "He's an elder of the Gallon Family, the big one… Um, you'll know him if you see him; he's a muscular grandpa."
In a narrow alley, drowned in blood and shadows. Rain fell from the eaves as a tall figure in layered robes stepped closer. He watched quietly as the child unceremoniously stuffed the dead bird into her mouth. She looked miserable, yes, but that was not why he 'chose' to adopt her.
As an elder of the Gallon Family, it was only natural that he had a high level of cultivation! As the gap between two people increased, it became more difficult to detect the other person's presence. Back then, Wind had not only turned to him and taken a defensive stance, but she also threw the blood-soaked bird and tried to attack him! The fact that she was brave enough to attack him was one thing, but the mere fact that she could 'sense him was abnormal!
In the end, even after being soaked in bird blood, He didn't scold her.
Instead, he didn't just praise her, he also took her in…
As an uneducated street rat, Wind had to go through a lot of etiquette classes before she was properly accepted into the family, but she learned surprisingly fast! In addition, although she tried, she was incapable of learning the 'Gallon Families Hereditary Magic', no, it wasn't that she was incapable, it was just that she didn't seem willing! Which was a huge deal! Regardless, she still learned magic, specifically specializing in wind-element magic. 'Hereditary Magic' didn't mean that others couldn't learn it, it just meant that the family's descendants would learn it extremely easily! This usually meant that the targeted spell was an extremely difficult spell, for example, 'Space' or 'Time' spells, or the Gallon Families 'State Magic'.
"The reason I refuse to learn the Gallon Families' secret technique (Spell) to manipulate the 'state' of certain 'matter' wasn't because I couldn't, it was because I felt that I was 'too' compatible with it."
She frowned.
"I felt like I would be 'devoured' by it…"
Wind went silent.
Petra frowned slightly.
Petra didn't understand what 'my compatibility was too high' meant, but that was beside the point.
Wind just shook her head.
She didn't understand what she meant either, it was just an instinct, an innate sense of danger.
It was likely that 'State Magic' had an extremely high compatibility with the White Whistle Ability, or perhaps it even originated from it!
The difference between Cultivators and Mages was this: cultivators would visualize their spells and cast them, but mages would use runes to construct and augment their spells. It was the same result, but it was also the difference between a professional artist and a professional draftsman or mathematician.
When a mage messed up, their bodies wouldn't be able to stop what was going to happen, they were locked in! When they miscalculated and made a mistake in their spell, this would result in a phenomenon called 'Mana Immolation'.
State Magic wasn't a rune-formed spell, so she suspected the danger came from Mana Immolation.
Wind thought back to the lessons, the expectations, the distance, and the familial feelings that her family had for her. She remembered the cold stares and the wordless whispers. She thought back to the day her identity as a white whistle was discovered, and she thought back to the time that she went out to play adventurer with some friends. It was a mixture of fond and frustrating…
Then, flashing back once more—
The same elder appeared again in her mind…
He was standing tall in the hall, telling her she had to leave. It was a chilling memory, like the world was collapsing around her.
"He said it was for my own good, but I was too young to understand what he meant," Wind quietly said. "He said that I didn't belong there, and that I needed to go. He said that if I stayed, I'd live to regret it, and likely die…" Her figure curled up slightly into the blanket.
"…Thinking back, he was probably right, but I didn't know that at the time..." she added. "The rest of the family never liked me, especially the older generation, so I thought he was just abandoning me."
She mumbled something.
"After that… I was thrown onto the streets, left to wander the capital alone. It didn't take long for the black market slave traders to catch me and enslave me…"
She stopped talking, falling silent.
-
The room was dark, and no one spoke…
Petra opened her mouth, ready to say something 'uncharacteristically wise', when suddenly—
Thud! A corpse fell from the ceiling and landed unceremoniously in the middle of the dark room….
Petra: "..."
Wind: "..."
The 'Sleeping' Girls: "..."
Everyone froze.
What a mood killer… seriously!
'He' hit the floor with such a resonance that it became a clap of thunder! It was incredibly awkward. His leg was twitching, his eyes were bulging, and his skin had turned purple and black…
It was quite the frightening scene!
But this wasn't a horror novel!
Achoo!
Someone sneezed…
Petra: "..."
Wind: "..."
The 'Sleeping' Girls: "..."
Noah: Hides awkwardly under his blanket…
Petra stared at Noah for a painfully long second, then looked back at their 'third visitor' of the night…
"…Huh." She hopped out of bed, crouched beside the body, poked it with a stick she had found somewhere, and sniffed once! "Oh," she said indifferently.
"It's my poison… Mm, is this the first time it actually worked?"
The 'Sleeping' Girls: "??"
Petra stood up and calmly clapped her hands together. "Since a while ago, I've noticed that I, er… we? Mm, anyway, there's usually a cloud of poisonous gas that accompanies us around!! This doesn't really hurt people, but it sometimes knocks birds out of the sky!"
She nodded her head, completely convinced that this was normal.
In fact, this cloud was a very real thing, but it only appeared when more than thirty of them were together, and in this case, it had all concentrated in the 'attic'…
Soryn, no longer pretending to be asleep, suddenly jumped up and snapped, "Is that why birds keep falling on my head!?"
Petra ignored her!
Soryn: "!!"
Petra tilted her head towards Wind. "Do you think he was sent by your family to kill you?"
Wind glanced at the corpse, then shook her head. "No, that's unlikely." She paused, then added, "They probably haven't given up on convincing me yet, it's too soon to send an 'assassin'…"
The Kidnapper: Dead…!!
"Oh?" Petra hummed to herself, "Then—"
Soryn finished her sentence, —He was probably sent for you."
Petra blinked. "…Wow, am I that popular? But I don't seem to have any enemies, do I?"
Soryn let out an awkward laugh, not even willing to comment. She changed the subject, "It really could've been any of us…" That was true… wasn't it? Mm, Petra, even after a full year, still didn't know how many 'timebombs' she was unknowingly harboring…
Author: "…"
Finally, Petra dragged the body towards the door, slid it open, then chucked it past the porch and down the hill. "I'll… Mm, someone will deal with that in the morning!" She returned, climbed back into bed, and flopped down. "…Anyway," she said drowsily. "Where were we?"
The rain continued.
* * *
The next day.
The morning sky was a light gray, heavy with clouds, but barely raining. The storm had temporarily stopped, clearing up just enough to allow the girls to go out and play for the day.
Past the outer border of the Hot Spring Resort, a semi-abandoned racetrack stretched out across an open plain. It was a broad loop carved into the grassland, marked by wooden posts, and eroded by constant use from a long-forgotten period. The area was framed with dull and fluttering banners that rippled lazily in the wind. The ground was firm, perfect for riding, racing, hosting, and gatherings, basically a plot prepared for whatever poorly planned activities the locals intended to host.
In short, it was a wide-open space, barren, and with lots of room to run!
-
They arrived in high spirits, and some time had already passed…
Hooves thundered across the plains as the girls surged forward. Petra wobbled precariously in her saddle, sitting alone, while Wind rode ahead in an exquisite equestrian uniform. She was clearly experienced in riding, second only to Mell, who was following them close behind with a domineering aura. Apparently, these two 'exiled nobles' were more skilled than they had first appeared, especially Miss Tibon. If wind was a 'competition-type', then Mell was a 'professional-type'. Mm, behind them, Lira, tears spilling from her eyes, clung to her older brother—sister, Rose, as they shared a single horse, shrieking violently as their uncontrollable amount thrashed.
Petra 'bounced' up and down, her little body performing something that could indeed be, arguably, called 'horseback riding'. She had never seen a real horse, so she had naturally never ridden one either.
This was applicable to both lives…
Her 'movements' were violent and chaotic, not exactly dangerous, no, at least not for her, but—
The way she rode her horse looked very abnormal, even malicious in an inexplicable way.
Anyone watching could clearly tell which one of the two was truly struggling, and unfortunately, it wasn't the small child who was smiling like a fool. Petra looked very determined, but the horse beneath her butt was clearly distressed, suffering more than anything else. It was… painfully pitiful. She clutched the reins, her tongue stuck out, and her face scrunched up in concentration, allowing her to reach a terrifying level of focus.
Her legs flailed wildly as the horse carried her forward, matching the grace to its tiny top tot.
"I'm doing it!" Petra cried out proudly!
She was not…
To the side, Levy watched her little student fly up and down uncontrollably, only to use the reins to snap herself back and slam her tiny butt into the horse's back again and again.
It was a brutal sight—
For the horse…
Levy even pitied the horse a bit, wondering what it had done to warrant such suffering. Petra, although still very early in her development, was already awakening her draconic bloodline. She probably weighed a ridiculous amount, far more than her tiny body could display.
That poor horse… His suffering continued for over an hour…
* * *
After Petra finally finished playing with what she had started to call the 'muscular dogs', she moved on to something that required a bit more 'finesse'.
- Archery!
Twenty targets were set up near the edge of the field. Simple wooden boards painted with rings by the dumb dog maid, spaced at what the resort's personal instructor confidently claimed was a 'reasonable distance'. Not too close, not too far, very fair for beginners like them…
He was an idiot!
Petra walked up to one of the racks and stopped.
A little hand reached out, pulled back, reached out, pulled back, and finally dragged out, only god knows where she had found it, a black bow that was literally more than twice her height! A few of the girls paused mid-conversation, looking at the ridiculous sight of the little master struggling to drag this huge black thing across the ground, and leaving a long trench through the earth.
She tugged and tugged, grunting with each pull… but still slowly made her way over.
Wind: "…"
Mell: "…"
Rose burst out laughing.
Someone quietly asked if that was even a bow meant for people…
No, it wasn't—
That was a bow left behind by a Telltera from a week earlier. It was a Tellterian Short Bow, but for Petra, who was not six meters tall, this three-meter bow was massive!
She didn't care!
Nope!
Not at all!
She planted her feet, lifted the bow with both hands, and knocked an arrow in an over-exaggerated display, then lifted. The temporary instructor felt cold sweat run down his forehead. They hadn't removed that bow because it weighed as much as a small building…
Inside, he felt a bit panicked.
Anyways—
Her eyes narrowed as her brows furrowed. Like she had done while riding the horse, she stuck out her little pink tongue and nibbled on it in concentration.
Hmmm—! She pulled back…
The bow creaked ominously, producing a black haze.
Then—