In the ruins at dawn, Tunzuo was awakened by a strange, itchy sensation.
“Ugh… so itchy…”
Tunzuo rolled over groggily, her once-lazy sleeping posture instantly collapsing as she subconsciously reached out to scratch her back.
However, the moment her fingertips touched her skin, the drowsy Tunzuo froze.
Her previously smooth, jade-like skin, which usually exuded a cold aura, was now covered in faint silver patterns.
These patterns were not tattoos but appeared to be something alive, pulsing beneath her skin like tiny blood vessels and radiating a faint yet pure magical fluctuation.
“Do witches get skin conditions, too…?”
Tunzuo yawned, attempting to use her magic to suppress the patterns that were ruining her sleep.
Instead, the patterns became even more active under the stimulation of her magic, eventually creeping up her spine to her neck and forming the shape of a blooming, dark, mystical flower.
“Oh my, it seems that sour little ‘snack’ has been mostly digested～”
Antuxi’s teeth-gritting, melodic laughter rang out as punctually as an alarm clock.
This near-omnipotent Mother had appeared at some point on a broken wall above Tunzuo’s head.
She held a scroll scavenged from some unfortunate soul and looked at Tunzuo with a face full of affection, provided one ignored the playful smirk on her lips.
“Mother… good morning.”
Tunzuo greeted Antuxi listlessly, her body slumped on the ground like a puddle of melted ice cream as she asked for help.
“Can you make these shiny lines go away? They keep crawling all over me, and it is really affecting my sleep quality.”
“That will not do, my silly daughter.”
Antuxi leapt gracefully from the wall, her high heels emitting a crisp sound as they landed on the rubble.
She crouched down, her slender fingers lightly tracing a silver pattern on Tunzuo’s collarbone.
“These are magic circuits. You devoured that ‘Acid Nightmare,’ and its magic core was dismantled and absorbed by you, now constructing your own magic transmission network within your body. Only after forming a complete magic circuit can you be considered a true witch.”
A hint of satisfaction appeared in Antuxi’s eyes.
“Although the process was incredibly crude and your table manners were not particularly elegant, the result is quite good. The clearer these patterns are, the higher your magical affinity. It seems my bloodline integrated well within you; it did not turn you into a drooling, idiotic ghost.”
“That sounds impressive, but I only want to sleep…”
Tunzuo pouted, trying to bury her face in her own shadow.
“Sleep? Heh, that is a luxury only the weak require.”
The parchment in Antuxi’s hand instantly transformed into a teaching pointer, tapping lightly on Tunzuo’s forehead.
“Since the magic circuit has formed, it means you possess the foundation to learn ‘magic.’ As my daughter, the Supreme Witch Antuxi, if you cannot even perform a few basic tricks, where would I hide my face if word got out?”
Antuxi gripped the pointer with a radiant smile.
“Wait, Mommy, what are you doing?”
Alarm bells rang instantly in Tunzuo’s mind.
“Naturally—it is time for class!”
Antuxi snapped her fingers, and several massive blackboards instantly erected themselves in the open space of the ruins, densely packed with complex magic formulas, geometric figures, and obscure incantations.
“Starting from today, until you can skillfully control your shadow, you are forbidden from sleeping. Lesson one: The Flow of Magic and Shadow Geometry!”
Antuxi announced this horrific news with a smile.
“Spare me, please. I have already spent 22 years in school within that cage; I really do not want to study anymore. Gulp, just kill me…”
Tunzuo covered her face with both hands in despair, yet Antuxi did not grant her the power of choice.
“Listen well, magic is not meant to be splashed around like water. You must imagine it as a single thread, following your circuits, coiling around your shadow…”
The next few hours were nothing short of hellish torture for Tunzuo.
“Wrong! The angle is off by 5 degrees! Are you trying to trip yourself with your own shadow?!”
“The incantation is wrong! It is ‘Shadow Touch,’ not ‘Shadow Pig’! Although your intelligence is indeed like a pig’s, I do not want your mouth to be like one as well!”
“Stand up! Who gave you permission to lie on the ground?! Your magic circuits were not designed for you to lie down more comfortably!”
Tunzuo felt as if her brains were about to be stirred into a pulp by Antuxi’s pointer.
She tried to resist, attempting to use pathetic excuses like “my brain storage is full,” “I will die if I keep studying,” or “Mother, love me again,” to garner sympathy, but Antuxi was clearly immune to such pouting.
“Tired?”
Antuxi ceased her lecture, looking at Tunzuo, who was sprawled on the ground like a dried salted fish, and flashed a “kind and benevolent” smile.
“Since you are tired, let us replenish some sugar.”
Antuxi flipped her wrist, and an exquisite silver tray appeared out of thin air.
On the tray sat a Black Forest cake emitting an alluring aroma, topped with bright red cherries and delicate white cream that looked as if it were glowing.
“This is made with the milk fat of an Abyss Magic Wolf and Dreamberries; it is said to restore mental fatigue～”
Antuxi picked up a fork, elegantly sliced a small piece of cake, and brought it to Tunzuo’s lips.
“Ah—open wide.”
Tunzuo twitched her nose; the fragrant, sweet scent instantly shattered her final line of defense.
As a salted fish, Tunzuo had absolutely no resistance to delicious food, especially high-calorie desserts.
“Ahh.”
Tunzuo swallowed the cake in one bite, and a profound sense of happiness instantly exploded in her mouth.
Her exhausted body felt as if it had been injected with a magical vitality, and even her dull eyes brightened a fraction.
“Delicious…”
“Is it delicious?”
Antuxi smiled gently.
“Delicious…”
Tunzuo nodded subconsciously, even opening her mouth for the next bite.
However, what Antuxi gave her the next second was not cake.
Slap!
A loud, crisp slap landed on Tunzuo’s rear without warning, the force of it launching the now-satisfied girl right off the ground.
“Ouch! Mommy, why did you hit me!”
Tunzuo clutched her behind, crying out in protest with teary eyes.
“That was to help you wake up!”
Antuxi retracted her hand, looking righteous.
“That bite of cake was a reward for opening your mouth, and that slap was a punishment for your lack of focus—you drifted off for 3 full seconds! No lack of focus is allowed in my class!”
“There is no logic in that! Giving a reward and a punishment at the same time is devilish logic!”
“That is the way of the Outilis family.”
Antuxi cut another piece of cake, dangling it temptingly in front of Tunzuo.
“Want another bite?”
Tunzuo looked at the enticing cake, then at Antuxi’s hand—ready to strike at any moment—and fell into an internal conflict.
“Want…”
“Then sit up straight! Straighten your back! Continue practicing your magic output!”
Thus, a strange yet harmonious scene appeared deep within the ruins of the Granitnuo Forest.
A cold, beautiful, imperial witch was shedding tears while struggling to control the transformation of the shadow on the ground.
Meanwhile, her mother, the legendary Supreme Witch, acted like a strict private tutor, holding an exquisite dessert tray in her left hand and remaining ready for “physical correction” with her right.
“Correct, just like that, maintain this frequency… very good.”
“Wuu…”
“Persist for 10 more minutes. If you make a mistake, I will feed this cake to the rocks over there.”
“Wuu… I will do it right…”
Tunzuo erupted with unprecedented survival instinct.
For the sake of that cake, and to avoid being hit again, the magic circuits within her began to operate at an unprecedented speed.
The shadow, which could previously only barely coalesce into tentacles, now began to turn solid, even faintly reflecting a metallic luster.
“Shadow Spear!”
Following Tunzuo’s low shout, the shadow on the ground instantly elongated and sharpened, turning into a spear black as ink.
The Shadow Spear shot out with a sharp, piercing whistle, accurately piercing a giant boulder 100 meters away.
Clap clap clap.
Antuxi clapped her hands, a satisfied smile on her face.
She walked over to Tunzuo and shoved the remaining large piece of cake into her hands.
“Well done. It seems that as long as the methods are proper, even a fool can learn to walk.”
Tunzuo could not be bothered by Antuxi’s taunts; she shoveled the cake into her mouth, a happy smile blooming on her face.
“Since you have learned the first technique, let us review the magical geometric principles we just studied. Regarding the application of magic refraction in Shadow Penetration…”
Antuxi pulled out another blackboard from nowhere.
Tunzuo’s chewing stopped instantly, the happiness on her face freezing.
“Mother, I think I do not really want the cake that much anymore. Can we please skip the lesson?”
“That will not do, my dear daughter. Only after you are fed do you have the energy to get hit… ah, I mean, have the energy to study.”
Antuxi smiled like a flower.
Just as Tunzuo was preparing to accept the devilish training with tears in her eyes, she seemed to remember something.
She stopped her actions and looked up; for the first time, her dark green eyes held a trace of seriousness and confusion.
“That… Mother.”
“Hm? Trying to slack off again?”
Antuxi arched an eyebrow.
“No…”
Tunzuo set the cake aside and patted the dust off her skirt.
Although her body remained lazy, her tone turned somewhat low and hesitant.
“I just want to know… why me?”
Antuxi’s movements paused for a fleeting moment.
“I was just a salted fish on the Blue Star waiting to die. If I died, I died. You are so powerful; what kind of creation could you not produce? Why go through the trouble of leaving behind blood beads, turning me into a witch, and then… putting me through all of this?”
“Is any of this worth it…?”
Tunzuo looked at Antuxi, her eyes filled with deep self-mockery and inferiority.
A brief silence fell over the ruins, accompanied only by the wailing of the wind through the broken walls.
Antuxi stared at Tunzuo.
In those eyes, capable of seeing through all things in the world, there was none of the profound meaning or calculation Tunzuo had expected.
Antuxi laughed.
It was not the playful mockery, nor the mischievous giggle of a prank succeeded, but a laugh so pure that it was like a child who could not help but laugh because they had thought of a fun idea.
“Why?”
Antuxi walked to Tunzuo, raised a hand, and flicked her forehead.
The force was light but carried an unquestionable dominance.
“Because I was bored in the void that day and happened to hear a soul wishing to become air so it could sleep forever. I thought that wish was quite interesting.”
Antuxi spread her arms, as if speaking of something incredibly trivial.
“I decided that if I shoved that salted fish’s soul into my most troublesome, most lazy, and most headache-inducing ‘Shadow of the End’ container and transformed it into a witch, it would definitely be interesting.”
“And so, I did it.”
“Just that? Just because you… found it fun?”
Tunzuo stared, her face filled with disbelief.
“What else would it be?”
Antuxi tilted her head, her long, silver-white hair sliding over her shoulder.
“Do you expect some fatalistic prophecy? Some prophecy about saving the world? Or a revenge script? That sort of thing is too cliché; it does not fit my aesthetic at all.”
Antuxi leaned down, moving close to Tunzuo’s face; her beautiful eyes sparkled with mischievous light.
“To me, the universe is a giant playground, and I am the only player. Creating you, torturing you, teaching you, watching you cry while eating cake, watching you want to sleep but forced to get up and study magic… this whole process is, to me, the greatest pleasure.”
“You are just a…”
Antuxi paused, a wicked curve forming on her lips.
“…rather interesting toy, nothing more.”
Tunzuo stood frozen in place.
She had thought of countless possibilities: that she was the product of some forbidden experiment, that she carried a heavy destiny, or even that Antuxi had resurrected her for some ulterior motive.
But the one thing Tunzuo never expected was that the truth would be so… absurd.
It was merely because it was “fun.”
Merely because the Supreme Witch was in a good mood that day and had a whim, the soul of a useless person was dragged into another world, turned into a witch, and forced to endure beatings, study homework, and learn magic.
“What even is this…”
Tunzuo slumped powerlessly on the ground, feeling as if her body had been hollowed out.
“So, the reason I am suffering so much is simply because you were bored?”
“Oh, do not be so gloomy.”
Antuxi picked up the cake tray again, skewered a cherry with her fork, and held it to Tunzuo’s lips.
“Although the cause was a joke, your current existence does indeed bring me joy, does it not?”
“Look, your potential is great, your personality is amusing, and you are cute when you are being corrected, so as a reward for making me happy, you must study even harder～”
Antuxi said with a smile.
Tunzuo looked at the bright red cherry, then at Antuxi’s face, which seemed to say “I am just capricious and powerful, and you cannot beat me.”
She suddenly felt that trying to reason with a monster that followed only its own desires was an act of foolishness.
Tunzuo opened her mouth, bit into the cherry, and chewed it fiercely.
“After I finish eating this, I will copy that ‘Basic Magic Circuit Analysis’ 10 times! Once I finish, I am going to sleep! Nobody is stopping me!”
“Heh, you have spirit.”
Antuxi nodded in satisfaction, but her tone shifted immediately.
“However, copying books is too slow. I prefer to watch you in live combat. Come now, cast that Shadow Spear at me 10 times. Once done, I will let you sleep for 30 minutes.”
“10 times?! No way! I will be drained dry!”
“Haggling is the behavior of a bad child～”
Slap! Another crisp sound followed.
“Wuu! I will do it! I will do it, okay!”
Deep within the ruins, Tunzuo’s tearful protests and Antuxi’s joyful laughter echoed once more.
And beneath all this clamor, the magic circuits within Tunzuo’s body were growing at an astonishing rate under this extreme “balance of carrots and sticks.”
The future Chief of the Witch Council was, in this way, progressing bit by bit under the tutelage of the current Chief.