As Tunzuo, Sally, and Huli—three witches—were frantically dealing with the tide of rock golems surging toward them due to various accidents, a calm and clear voice cut through the battlefield noise, precisely reaching Tunzuo’s ears.
“Hey, little ghost, since you’re in this state now, how about listening to my commands?”
Tunzuo barely dodged a piece of rubble sent flying by collapsing quicksand.
At the sound of the voice, she paused and instinctively looked toward its source.
Olivia stood in a relatively safe area, her golden hair fluttering in the wind.
The usual domineering possessiveness in her blazing golden vertical pupils had vanished, replaced by an unquestionable calm and focus.
She raised one hand, golden light swirling at her fingertips, and effortlessly crushed a rock golem that lunged at her with magic.
But her eyes remained locked on Tunzuo.
Olivia’s proposal made Tunzuo lower her head in thought.
To be honest, the situation was a mess.
Sally was out of control, flying wildly in the sky.
Huli was being chased around on the ground by rock golems.
And Tunzuo herself couldn’t cast spells properly because the ground beneath her feet had turned soft as jelly.
Tunzuo considered the circumstances.
She figured it was better to listen to Olivia, that perverted golden dragon, than to keep taking blows and being dragged into a quagmire by Hai Lanyue’s special constitution.
After all, Olivia was a genius from the Capital Academy and certainly had more experience than they did.
So Tunzuo clicked her tongue in annoyance, nodded at Olivia, and shouted.
“Tch, fine. I’ll listen to you this once. So, what’s your brilliant idea?”
Having received Tunzuo’s affirmative reply, Olivia curled the corner of her mouth into a confident smile and immediately took on the role of group commander.
“In that case… Sally, steady your broom. Stop flying around! Huli, don’t panic. Get behind me!”
Though Olivia’s voice wasn’t loud, it clearly reached every witch present.
She raised her hand and swung it, sending a golden magic blast that precisely shattered the rock golem chasing Huli.
Then, with a flick of her fingers, a soft beam of magic shot out, gently steadying Sally’s broom, which was about to spiral out of control and crash.
“Alright, calm down and listen to my orders!”
After stabilizing Sally and Huli, Olivia looked around and called out sharply.
“All witches, gather near Hai Lanyue! Hurry!”
Despite the confusion in her mind, Tunzuo decided to follow Olivia’s command.
She turned into a puff of black mist and quickly moved toward Hai Lanyue’s location.
“Form a defensive circle around Hai Lanyue!” Olivia directed.
Tunzuo used shadow tendrils to fling away a rock golem that came close and asked Olivia quizzically.
“You’re planning a defensive battle? With that many rock golems, the line might not hold.”
In response to Tunzuo’s question, Olivia gave a sly smile and explained.
“Since Hai Lanyue’s constitution brings good luck to herself and misfortune to other creatures, if we gather around her, we can use that to our advantage. Sure, we’ll still be affected by bad luck, but luck will favor Hai Lanyue, right? As long as we stay near her, the rock golems will bear the brunt of the misfortune. That’ll greatly reduce our pressure. We’ll only have to deal with minor, harmless accidents.”
Olivia’s explanation made Tunzuo’s eyes light up. She had to admit it made sense.
It was like fighting poison with poison! Use Hai Lanyue as a human bad-luck aura generator and let the rock golems suffer.
They just had to endure a few side effects.
Tunzuo nodded in approval and couldn’t help but compliment Olivia.
“Didn’t expect that perverted dragon to have a good head on her shoulders.”
Olivia responded with an elegant smile.
“I have many virtues, little ghost. You’ll discover them all in time.”
“Tch. Give you an inch, and you take a mile.”
Once Tunzuo and the others gathered around Hai Lanyue, just as Olivia had predicted, the battlefield began to shift.
The rock golems charging at them started encountering all sorts of ridiculous accidents as soon as they got close.
Some tripped over an inconspicuous pebble on the ground and fell flat on their backs.
Others, after gathering power, had their core energy nodes short-circuit for no reason and exploded on the spot.
Still others were unlucky enough to be struck by a boulder falling from the sky, turning into a pile of gravel.
The once unstoppable army of rock golems now stumbled along, unable to mount an effective attack on Tunzuo and her group.
Seizing the opportunity, Olivia gave clear orders to all the witches present.
“Sally, you have the best mobility. Go to the outskirts and harass them. Distract the rock golems so they don’t group up!”
“Huli, you’re in charge of building the defensive position. Use ice walls to block the charging rock golems!”
“Little ghost, you and I will be the main force and take down the ones that get through!”
“Hai Lanyue, you and your jellyfish will clean up any that slip through and provide support with water magic!”
Olivia’s gaze swept over the other four witches, and soon she received their affirmative replies.
“Leave it to us, Lady Olivia!”
“I-I’ll do my best!”
“Tch. Troublesome, but… I’ll listen this once.”
“I won’t let everyone down!”
Thanks to Olivia’s division of labor and command, the battlefield became orderly.
Sally rode her broom in the air, wobbling occasionally as the broom slipped, but she tried her best to follow Olivia’s instructions.
She threw fireballs everywhere to draw the rock golems’ attention, leaving the clustered monsters confused and spinning in place like headless flies.
Huli took a deep breath.
From the tip of her wand, waves of cold air spewed forth, forming crystals on the ground.
Walls of ice, transparent and glittering, rose up before the witches.
Though sometimes her trembling hands placed them slightly off, overall they effectively blocked the advancing rock golem army.
Tunzuo and Olivia worked side by side, mowing down the rock golems in waves.
Tunzuo’s hands moved swiftly.
Shadow magic coalesced at her fingertips into countless pitch-black blades that rained down like a storm, slicing the rock golems into chunks.
Olivia was especially domineering.
She clenched her fist and punched forward, causing a massive earthen wall to rise with a rumble.
It advanced like a steamroller, crushing every rock golem in its path to dust.
Tunzuo’s shadow magic was insidious and vicious, targeting the weak points of the rock golems.
Olivia’s earth walls and impacts were grand and overwhelming, crushing them head-on.
The two witches—one dark, one light; one yin, one yang—complemented each other with surprising harmony.
Hai Lanyue stood at the center, her three jellyfish minions drifting obediently beside her.
They shot high-pressure water jets to shatter rock golems that tried to bypass the ice walls and launch sneak attacks.
At the same time, they spread their translucent umbrellas, releasing gentle water-ring shields that firmly protected Tunzuo and the others.
Thus, with the five witches working together, the battle situation looked promising.
Even though there were occasional mishaps—like Sally’s fireball nearly hitting Huli’s tail, or Tunzuo’s shadow blades veering off course to slash at Olivia—these were minor.
The accidents were quickly resolved by the other witches’ corrective measures.
They maintained their formation and pushed forward, forcing the rock golem horde to retreat step by step, until the crisp bell rang.
Ring-a-ling—
As the class-ending bell sounded, the rock golems that were still putting up resistance stopped moving.
Their rocky bodies crumbled, turning into ordinary piles of gravel that dissipated into the yellow sand.
A white light flashed in the sky.
The scorching scene of the Gobi Desert receded like a tide, and in an instant, it reverted to the empty, cold white space inside the Spire.
When Tunzuo and the others opened their eyes and adjusted to the light, they saw Shirley and Lena standing before them, smiling, holding scoreboards.
“Not bad, not bad! Everyone performed very well this time. Full marks for the practical simulation! Especially the tactical adjustment at the end—perfect!”
Shirley pushed up her glasses and heaped praise without reservation.
She commented on each witch.
“Sally, though it was a bit tense, your diversion worked great. Huli, the defense was solid—well done. Hai Lanyue, you and your minions coordinated smoothly. Tunzuo and Olivia, your output was excellent, and you worked well together. Very much like a couple—oh, I mean, a pair. Especially Olivia’s on-the-spot command—outstanding.”
Shirley’s teasing made Tunzuo blush.
She was about to retort, but Olivia beat her to it.
“Thank you for the compliment, Teacher Shirley. Tunzuo and I will continue to work hard.”
Olivia smiled radiantly, completely ignoring Tunzuo’s glare that could kill a dragon.
When it was time to part, Hai Lanyue hugged a blue grimoire and shyly scurried over to Tunzuo.
“Um… Tunzuo.”
Hai Lanyue looked down, her cheeks flushed, and asked awkwardly.
“Can I add you on the Magic Network? Later… later we can chat?”
Tunzuo heard the request from the soft, adorable immortal jellyfish witch and naturally agreed.
“No problem! We’re friends, after all!”
Tunzuo pulled out her grimoire and tapped it against Hai Lanyue’s.
With a beep, the two witches officially became Magic Network friends.
Just as Tunzuo was using her grimoire to add Hai Lanyue, she suddenly felt a resentful, burning gaze on her, making her uncomfortable.
Tunzuo turned her head and saw Olivia holding her own grimoire, looking at her pitifully.
Those golden vertical pupils, usually so domineering, were now filled with emotions like “Why didn’t you add me first?”, “Aren’t I your roommate?”, and “I want a friend slot too!”
Olivia looked like a big golden retriever abandoned on the roadside by its owner.
Tunzuo turned away, not wanting to deal with the perverted golden dragon pretending to be pitiful.
But as she turned, she caught a glimpse of Olivia with her eyes lowered, golden lashes trembling, and her thick dragon tail drooping listlessly on the ground—the very picture of a wronged big golden retriever.
That pathetic look made Tunzuo feel awkward, and a strange sense of guilt welled up inside her.
After a long inner struggle, Tunzuo’s heart softened.
She sighed helplessly and decided, for the sake of Olivia having taken command today, to grant her a Magic Network friend slot.
“So troublesome…”
Tunzuo clicked her tongue in disdain, turned around, and lightly tapped her grimoire against Olivia’s.
Beep—
After the tone, Olivia officially snagged a friend slot on Tunzuo’s Magic Network.
Seeing this, Olivia immediately beamed.
Her previously drooping tail shot up and spun around like a little propeller in joy, thumping against the ground.
“I knew you wouldn’t forget me, little ghost! You’re the best~”
Olivia was as happy as a kid who’d gotten a piece of candy.
Her bright smile made Tunzuo momentarily dazed.
“It’s just a friend slot. Are you that happy?”
Tunzuo muttered under her breath, but she didn’t notice the faint smile of satisfaction that had crept onto her own lips.
After adding all the witches from Teacher Shirley’s class to her Magic Network, Hai Lanyue waved goodbye to everyone.
Her happy smile was a world apart from the indifference she’d shown when she first came in.
“Goodbye, Tunzuo! Goodbye, Olivia! Goodbye, Sally, Huli!”
Hai Lanyue hugged her grimoire and skipped out of the Spire behind Lena.
As Lena passed Tunzuo, she paused and quietly said, “Thank you.”
That took Tunzuo by surprise, and then a faint smile spread across her face.
Tunzuo knew that Lena was thanking her for accepting Hai Lanyue, for letting that lonely child have friends.
After leaving the Spire, the two classes parted ways.
It was dusk.
The setting sun dyed the Witch Academy of the Vast Sea City in a golden hue.
On the way back to the dormitory, Sally and Huli excitedly discussed the day’s public practice class.
Tunzuo and Olivia followed behind them, with Olivia occasionally stealing glances at Tunzuo, looking quite pleased.
Suddenly, Olivia’s eyes darted as if an idea struck her.
She turned her head and, in a tone that seemed casual but was actually probing, asked.
“Hey, little ghost. Do you prefer the soft, cute type like Hai Lanyue?”