Chapter 43
The cream-covered berry cake quickly disappeared. Ning Zhixia, his appetite whetted, ate a piece and a half, licked the jam off his silver fork, and pushed his plate aside.
Audrow slowly finished half a piece of cake, his gaze drifting to the young man, who was eagerly watching Maureen enchant the nail tips.
“Enchantment is actually quite simple…” Maureen seemed intent on teaching the Muggle, explaining each step in detail. She tossed an enchanted crystal out the window—
Pipi, the star student, excitedly chanted a short spell: “Explode!”
A loud boom, and a large, snow-covered rock in the distance shattered, sending white snow flying.
Ning Zhixia, the Muggle, cupped his face and exclaimed: “Holy crap!”
The crystal itself contained magic power, so enchanting it wasn’t too difficult. Next was enchanting the nail tips. Maureen waved her wand, and pale purple light flowed from the tip into the delicate lines on the nails.
The nails glowed brightly, the light flowing along the patterns, and the faint roar of a panther echoed in their ears. Pipi and Ning Zhixia gasped in amazement, their faces illuminated by the bright light.
“Did it work?” Ning Zhixia turned to look at Maureen, who also had a look of disbelief on her face.
“O-of course! It’s even better than a high-level scroll! It might be able to store even more magic power!”
Maureen was so shocked she could barely breathe, excitedly holding up the nail tip and asking, “How did you do it?”
“A clear base coat… then I opened the magic book and copied the patterns, oh, and!” Ning Zhixia said, slightly confused, “Some of the squiggly symbols looked pretty, so I incorporated them into the window frame lines as decoration…”
He said it casually, like it was something any student cramming for an exam could do.
“I can’t imagine how popular these nail tips will be among magicians…”
Under the bright light, Maureen could clearly see the tiny spell symbols, even smaller than sesame seeds, and she raised an eyebrow, sighing in admiration, “From a certain perspective, you have a real talent for magic…”
She treated the nail tips like precious magical materials, carefully channeling magic power into them, wanting to see their storage limit.
Flattered by the witch’s generous praise, the talented one proudly circled her, then strutted to the window.
He bumped the powerful one’s shoulder and said, winking, “Did you hear that? I’m almost a magician.”
Audrow: “Hmm.”
Ning Zhixia proudly declared: “Then call me the Great Magician from now on.”
Audrow raised an eyebrow: “Hmm.”
Ning Zhixia was satisfied with his cooperation and muttered, stroking his chin, “What do you think I should do with magic in the future?”
“Make your bed.”
Audrow lowered his gaze slightly, looking at the young man’s face, “At least you won’t hear Qu Banqing yelling at you every morning.”
“…”
Ning Zhixia’s face darkened, and he bumped Audrow’s shoulder, eliciting a lazy chuckle.
A cold wind blew outside, snowflakes falling, and Ning Zhixia pushed Audrow aside, hogging the window and breathing on the glass.
He made a fist and pressed it against the fogged-up window, then drew a silly footprint with his finger.
“I can draw too.”
A muffled voice sounded, and Pipi, standing on a stool, squeezed his head between them, his large ears blocking half of the young man’s face.
He didn’t notice the gaze behind him and, imitating Ning Zhixia, breathed on the window and carefully drew a few lines.
A small paw print appeared on the window, and he turned to Ning Zhixia and said, “My paw prints look like this during the full moon!”
Ning Zhixia praised him: “So cute, so cute!”
Pipi’s ears twitched happily: “They’ll be even bigger in the future!”
Ning Zhixia smiled and said “wow,” his gaze moving upwards, but a hand reached out and flattened the annoying ears against the boy’s head like a lop-eared rabbit.
“Ouch…”
Pipi awkwardly shook his head, about to tug on Ning Zhixia’s clothes to complain, when he noticed the young man staring out the window, mesmerized.
“What’s that?” Ning Zhixia pointed at a black dot in the snow.
“Let me see!”
Pipi stood on tiptoe, his gaze following Ning Zhixia’s finger, past the layered houses of the town, and the moving black dot suddenly multiplied into a line, swarming towards the stone wall.
Pipi’s ears perked up, his tail puffed up, and he exclaimed, his eyes wide, “It’s monsters! So many monsters!”
“What?!”
Maureen dropped the nail tips, stood up, and threw open the window. A terrifying roar came from the distance, faintly echoing in the snowy sky.
“Damn it, I thought those things would be quiet this year!” Maureen clearly loathed these uninvited guests and grabbed her magic robe from the hanger.
Ning Zhixia, still reeling from the sudden turn of events, asked hurriedly, “What’s going on?”
“Food is scarce in winter, the monsters from the deep mountains always come looking for food.”
The meaning of “food” in her words was self-evident. She opened the door and cast a few protective spells around the house.
Pipi, wagging his tail, clearly wanted to follow, but Maureen stopped him with a look.
“Stay home, I’ll be back soon.”
“Oh…” Pipi lowered his ears and muttered dejectedly, “Goodbye, Master…”
“Good boy.” Maureen patted his head, her gaze meeting Audrow’s by the window.
She understood the principle of non-interference for powerful beings, so she didn’t say anything. At least Audrow hadn’t immediately taken the panicked young man away, which meant leaving Pipi here was the safest option.
“Thank you.”
Maureen chuckled softly, and the corner of her robe disappeared into the snowstorm.
The ethereal bells of the church, calling for the paladins, echoed throughout the town. Many townspeople grabbed their weapons and rushed towards the defensive stone wall. Looking down from the cottage, a long line of flames roared amidst the magical aftershocks.
“Audrow, do you think Maureen will be okay…”
Ning Zhixia had been restless since the chaos started, staring out the window and asking every few seconds.
“She will, she’s much stronger than those old, bearded men napping in the temple.” Audrow was incredibly patient, patting the sofa.
After Ning Zhixia and the boy, who was obediently waiting for his master’s return, sat down side by side, Audrow looked at them for a while, then raised his hand and patted their heads.
Ning Zhixia was used to his little actions, but as the large, slightly cold hand moved away from his head, Pipi’s eyes widened, staring at the indifferent, long-haired young man in shock.
A surge of magic power flowed through him, but Audrow didn’t say anything, just glanced at him and calmly returned to the sofa, flipping through a magic book he had picked up.
The cottage quieted down, only the dry wood in the fireplace crackling.
Just then, a sharp, childish cry came from outside. The two, who had just settled down, rushed to the window—
“Oh my god, look, it’s the monsters!”
The stone wall south of the town had been destroyed at some point, and lizard-like monsters, dripping with foul saliva, roared excitedly, heading straight for the nearby houses.
The poor children left at home screamed in terror, their voices clearly reaching Pipi’s large ears.
“I, I have to save them!”
Pipi perked up his ears and declared bravely. After the young man nodded dumbly, he dashed out the door towards the source of the sound.
The howling wind almost flipped his ears inside out, and his short legs gradually transformed into powerful limbs, leaving a trail of paw prints in the snow.
“Go to the witch’s cottage! There’s a protective barrier there!”
The young magic wolf crashed into the monsters surrounding a small house. Compared to those ugly creatures, the fluffy gray wolf was like a divine warrior descending from the heavens. The tearful children froze for a moment, then opened their doors and ran out.
More and more children escaped from the monsters’ claws. Pipi’s magic power surged, and he howled, running against the flow of the crowd.
Ning Zhixia watched as the black-scaled monsters poured through the breach in the stone wall, crawling towards the houses on all fours, and he immediately opened the door and yelled, “This way! Come here!”
A dozen panicked children, hearing his shout, found their escape route and ran towards the witch’s cottage, their short legs a blur in the snow as if their hidden potential had been unleashed.
The darkness behind them was terrifying.
However, in the distance, Ning Zhixia saw Pipi trapped on the roof of a red house, baring his teeth and snarling at the climbing monsters, protecting the crying boy behind him.
“P-Pipi… maybe you should leave!”
The boy’s eyelashes were covered in frost, and he sniffled, “I threw rocks at your window… waaah… I’m a bad kid…”
He tilted his head back and cried, “Just let them eat me!”
Pipi’s ears flattened against his head at his sudden outburst, and he swatted away two monsters that had just climbed onto the roof. He grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck, threw him onto his back, and leaped, landing on a monster’s head and escaping the encirclement.
Run! Run!
Pipi ran as fast as he could, getting closer and closer to his home, when he tripped on a hidden rock and fell into the snow. The roaring monsters seized the opportunity and swarmed towards him.
“Pipi!”
Just as he rolled over, shielding the terrified boy with his body, a short spell drowned out the monsters’ roars, and a bright light flashed with an explosion.
Pipi raised his ears in confusion, then felt a chill on his back. A large shadow, carrying a wave of icy snow, swept past him and crashed into the monsters.
“Pipi! Come here, come here!”
Ning Zhixia, holding a bag of crystals, waved at them a few meters away, also holding a glowing enchanted nail tip, his voice anxious, “There’s one more I don’t know how to use, quickly chant the spell!”
The half-witted water-drinker sent an urgent plea to the star student wolf cub.
Another explosion!
Black vines erupted, wrapping around the monsters’ necks, thorn-like stingers piercing their hard scales, turning them into pincushions.
The children inside the cottage couldn’t see the hidden Audrow, staring blankly at the scene outside, instinctively hugging the only adult in the room, and burst into tears of relief.
Ning Zhixia, covered in miniature accessories, stood frozen like a statue, muttering, “My nail art is that powerful?”
“Mmm… yes…”
Pipi’s voice was muffled as he glanced sideways.
Outside, sharp roars echoed through the sky, bones cracking, innards spilling from the monsters’ fanged mouths.
And the powerful one, taking advantage of his invisibility to ordinary people, squatted beside the children, poking their tear-stained faces playfully.
The enchanted nail tip in his hand still pulsed with icy power, and Pipi shivered, quickly averting his gaze.
“Bang!”
Before dying, a monster swung its powerful tail at Maureen’s glowing wand. She cursed angrily, pointed her finger, and the monster’s head exploded, splattering blood on the white snow.
The arriving paladins reined in their horses, staring in horror at the witch’s shimmering fingertips.
By the Light, had magicians evolved to the point where they didn’t need wands anymore?!
With reinforcements arriving, the monsters, unable to gain the upper hand, fled in panic. However, someone in the crowd pointed towards the smoke-filled area and cried out in despair, “No, the south wall’s defenses are down! The children are all there!”
“What! My children are still at home!”
“Those cunning monsters, I’ll kill them all!”
“Oh my god…”
Like being struck by lightning, the townspeople panicked, some even fainting at the thought of the horrific scene.
Maureen’s heart was in her throat. She didn’t want Pipi to be reckless, but she knew that the brave little wolf would never stand idly by and watch others suffer.
They rushed towards the smoke-filled area with the paladins, only to find charred and broken monster limbs.
Magic-infused thorns entangled the roaring monsters, throwing them to the ground and silencing them. The paladins paused, their brows furrowed, unsure whether these monsters had come to attack or to be food.
At the door of the witch’s cottage, the children, like a group of chicks seeking shelter, huddled around an unfamiliar young man.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the unharmed children, as if stunned by the miracle, speechless.
“Master!”
Pipi pulled his tail free from the children’s grasp, spread his arms, and jumped into Maureen’s embrace.
Maureen rushed out of the crowd, her face lit up with joy, and after spinning him around, she ruffled his soft head and praised him repeatedly: “Good boy!”
The other children also ran out, crying and hugging their families, the adults patting their chests in relief, comforting each other.
The imagined tragedy hadn’t happened. The paladin captain breathed a sigh of relief, placed his fist over his heart, and said gratefully, “Respected Witch Maureen, thank you for protecting so many lives…”
“It wasn’t just the witch!”
Before Maureen could explain, the children who had been protected yelled.
They pointed at Ning Zhixia and the half-beast boy in Maureen’s arms, chattering excitedly, “It was this great magician and Pipi who did it!”
“They used very powerful magic!”
“It was a magic circle painted on their nails, it was super powerful!”
“No wands needed, the magic circle just appeared!”
“The crystals went boom, boom, boom!”
Pipi blushed and buried his face in his master’s neck, and everyone turned to look at the unfamiliar young man in front of the cottage.
A giant black panther, his familiar, lay obediently beside him, its tail swishing casually, its gaze wary as it watched the crowd, as if ready to attack at any moment.
And even under the numerous gazes, the delicate-featured, black-haired young man remained silent, standing on the steps like a god looking down on mortals, his eyes downcast as he surveyed the crowd and the scattered corpses.
So composed, so indifferent!
The townspeople and paladins were impressed by his demeanor and exclaimed sincerely, “You must be a great magician!”
I’m going to throw up… what? They’re calling me a great magician… I’m still going to throw up… hee hee, great magician… damn it, hold it in…
Ning Zhixia’s mind was filled with images of bloody corpses, his stomach churning, his lips pressed tightly together, afraid he would vomit if he opened his mouth.
Before he could collapse, a strong arm caught him, and a refreshing scent dispelled his nausea.
Ning Zhixia immediately straightened up, raised his chin haughtily like a peacock, and said shamelessly, “Yes, that’s right, it was me!”
