Chapter 345: Aunt Melyn

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Listening to Melyn, Leah followed her out of the lab hut. Outside the hut was a somewhat open training ground. Melyn said nothing, turning to look around, then simply tied the wax block she held to an empty clothesline.

“First, try this. If you can change the properties of something that’s already solidified, you can move on to the next step.” She didn’t use a strong “commanding” tone; it was more like guidance. After speaking, she stepped aside.

“Who exactly are you? Did Mother send you to… to monitor me…”

“To check on your condition.”

“Check on my condition… heh.”

Leah gave a self-deprecating laugh. Then, she looked up at the wax block. She raised her staff.

“—Do you hear it, the pulsation of life?”

She began chanting the first line of the Radiant Silence spell. In truth, she knew well that even when using this magic, which required mobilizing the most magic circuits in her entire body, the blood and circuits within her didn’t “eagerly surge” because of the “need.” They didn’t surge intelligently, like a student whose focus intensifies before a major exam, making them absorb more knowledge. They were still the same as before: the blood in her body was like solidified mud, not a deep, surging ocean.

“…Radiant Silence.”

Although she was no longer the Leah from three years ago, who needed to be in peak condition and use all her strength to fully cast magic. Even without feeling the stimulation of her witch-blood circuits, she could still cast the magic she had learned and used countless times.

But, the effect…

“As expected, it wasn’t a complete success.”

As the bright light and white faded from her vision, and the sound waves taken away by the magic returned, the chirping and flapping of birds in early spring filling her ears, Leah saw what she expected—the ice-blue wax block before her, which looked more like crystal or ice, showed almost no signs of melting under such high-temperature magic. The rope holding it and the clothesline were both burned by the magic. Thus, it lay on the burnt, ashen grass, its ice-blue color standing out even more against the blackened ground.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

The sound of applause came from Melyn.

“Why are you clapping? I clearly did terribly, didn’t I?”

“Although you failed at the secondary processing. It also proved something in reverse…”

Melyn walked over, bent down, and picked up the wax block.

“You did indeed create the wax block for the Primordial Candle. As stated on page 322 of the original text of the Primordial Candle…”

“It ignites the ice-blue, which contains the most energy, like a tear from a god.”

Leah looked at the ice-blue wax block in Melyn’s hand and recited the line from the original text she had pursued for years.

“As expected of Lis’s daughter. In some ways, you’re just as excellent as your mother.”

“…Th-Thank you for the compliment?”

Leah felt a bit uncomfortable. Although she now realized Melyn’s identity was unusual, being praised like an elder by someone who was her “student” just yesterday felt incredibly strange.

“Of course, for Radiant Silence itself. To achieve secondary processing, you need a very high output—the requirement for total magical power is very high. Given your current state, you probably can’t do it.”

Melyn tapped the air slightly, and an ancient magic book dropped from her storage ring. It didn’t even look like a copy; its yellowed pages, tattered cover, and illegible title all indicated it was a genuine original text.

“Herein lies… a fire magic spell specifically designed for secondary processing of the Primordial Candle wax block. However, you probably won’t be able to learn it until your blood and circuits return to normal.”

She looked down. Leah noticed that when Melyn had just come out, she had, without anyone noticing, seemingly carried out the box of Bloodmint Essence that Leah had left inside the hut.

“Your condition is a depression of the magic circuits. The primary healing method is to use Bloodmint Essence.”

She opened it. The scent of Bloodmint Essence, upon opening, quietly diffused into the air, tempting Leah as it wafted past her nose.

“From Arya’s era, witches using this was commonplace. Give yourself a shot, and try again?”

Melyn also seemed to react slightly to the scent of Bloodmint Essence, a faint blush appearing on her face. She looked up, as if she had already assumed the role of a “doctor” in charge of treating patients. But Leah showed no intention of trying it, merely shaking her head.

“…No need.”

“Hmm? Why…?”

Leah sighed, bending down to pick up the box lid. She gave a self-deprecating smile, and as if “accidentally,” revealed her arm. The needle marks on it had faded considerably, but were still numerous. Melyn only then noticed that in such a high concentration of Bloodmint Essence, Leah’s face showed no redness, her heart rate was steady, and she seemed perfectly fine.

“Because I’ve already tried… it can’t ignite it.”

“I see…” she chuckled softly. “Sigh. Lis, I apologize. It seems now that your daughter’s condition is probably not as simple as we imagined.”

“Mother…?”

Leah didn’t often use that “title” anymore. For a witch, a mother in childhood was like a “mother” who guided their growth. But when the age difference between two witches became a simple fraction compared to their combined ages, that title, carrying a hint of childish dependence, slowly faded from use.

Leah looked back, following Melyn’s gaze, and found Lis standing by the tree behind them, arms crossed, watching everything as if waiting for something.

“Thank you, Aunt Melyn.”

“A-Aunt Melyn…?!”

Leah turned in shock, watching the red-haired Melyn take out an older, more tattered but higher-ranking witch’s hat from her ring and put it on.

“Strictly speaking, you should call me great-aunt… but that sounds too old. Aunt is fine.”

“I’m only calling you Aunt because I’m thanking you. Normally, I’d just call you great-aunt, you know?”

“You brat.”

Leah, standing aside, looked on with surprise as the two began bantering.

“So, could it be that Melyn wasn’t just acting as my student… but she’s also especially, especially old… Could it be, is she that Melyn?!”

“That’s right. Let me reintroduce her. Melyn Waterwarm Element is one of my mother’s aunts, and also one of the greatest contributors to your Radiant Silence ancient magic.”

The more Lis spoke, the more Leah felt a sense of embarrassment she thought she no longer possessed.

Wait, wait, wait. So, all these days, she had been letting that historically famous witch call… call her “Teacher,” for almost a whole week?!

Although the magic circuits in her body hadn’t recovered, Leah felt her face flush again.

“Hello, Leah. Don’t worry about it. Your mother was curious why your magic circuits were abnormal… but you’re not one for simple communication, so I volunteered to play the student and investigate.”

Melyn finished speaking, then took out her own great staff from her ring—clearly made of better materials, but looking older.

“To be honest, it was nice to feel young for a change.”

“So, next…”

She floated into the air, steadying her hat, and looked down at the mother and daughter staring at each other on the grass.

“It’s your two’s time now.”

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