Mirage Pearl

Seeing Ailin's vacant eyes, the Sorceress chuckled and shook her head.

"Relax, Ailin. I wasn't reading your mind."

There was no need to read his mind. The Witcher Apprentice's expression was easy enough to understand.

Though he half-believed and half-doubted Lady Vesemir's explanation, Ailin still pretended to be unfazed.

"I'm not nervous, Lady Vesemir."

Seeing Ailin's stubborn yet adorable little face, Lady Vesemir's lips unconsciously curved into an indulgent smile as she gently coaxed him.

"Alright, alright. Then let's continue."

Ailin was so tense that he was trying to empty his mind and failed to notice Lady Vesemir's smile.

"I absorb meals very quickly, apprent—"

"Wait."

The Witcher Apprentice was interrupted by the Sorceress once again.

Snap.

The exquisite waterskin on the floor floated up and landed on the alchemy table before Ailin.

"Drink it for me."

Ailin tilted his head.

The Sorceress rested her cheek on her right hand, wearing a very strange expression.

Curiosity, amusement, and eager anticipation.

It was less like she was getting to the bottom of a question or experiment, and more like she was eagerly... watching a show?

If a child from an ordinary family had transmigrated here, they would definitely have recognized that expression.

It was the look adults often wore during the New Year when they egged children on to perform their special tricks.

After hesitating for a moment, Ailin could only pray that the Witcher's Handbook would hold up and not let the Sorceress discover anything unusual.

Under Lady Vesemir's expectant gaze, Ailin removed the wooden stopper and drank his share in one gulp.

Use Drowner Heart Essence Fluid?

After selecting it with his thoughts, the familiar currents of heat and cold alternated inside the body. The pain and itch had only just surfaced before vanishing.

A moment later, Lady Vesemir saw Ailin open his eyes and impatiently asked, "Finished?"

"Yes, I've absorbed it already."

Mary, who had been eavesdropping, immediately cleared herself of responsibility.

"Lady Vesemir, this has nothing to do with me. I prepared it according to the original formula..."

Lady Vesemir casually lowered the hand folded across her chest, stopping Mary from explaining further.

"You didn't display this special talent during the first two days after the Trial of Grasses. Why?"

Ailin's heart skipped a beat, but he forced himself to answer.

"I don't know. It suddenly became possible yesterday."

"Is that so?"

The moment Ailin heard the Sorceress's question, his heart rose to his throat.

Just as he thought the Sorceress would dig deeper, Lady Vesemir unexpectedly let the matter go and had him continue.

It was roughly half an hour later when this "interrogation" finally ended.

During that agonizing time, Ailin had to hide his thoughts while making up stories.

In the end, he also had to follow the Sorceress's instructions and perform the uniqueness of the Witcher's Eye like a trained monkey.

Even fighting Drowners all afternoon had not been this exhausting.

At last, the torture was over.

"Alright, Ailin. Thank you for your cooperation."

"As long as you're happy." Ailin forced out a smile, quickly stood up, and prepared to leave this "hell."

"Wait!"

Hearing those words, Ailin's whole body involuntarily trembled.

Every round of torture from the Sorceress began with those three words.

They had given Ailin a trauma over those very syllables.

"Wh... what is it... Lady Vesemir?"

To be honest, Ailin had reached his limit. If he had any chance of beating the Sorceress, he would have been ready to take her down with him.

"You haven't used the Phantasm Pendant yet, have you?"

Ailin froze for a moment, then took the pendant out from inside his collar.

If the Sorceress had not brought it up, he would have nearly forgotten that he possessed a Magic Accessory.

When he had first acquired the pendant, Ailin had tried it in private, but no matter what he did, he could not figure out how to use it.

At the time, Ailin had thought he lacked the magic power needed to use the pendant.

Only after learning Signs did he discover that it was not merely a matter of magic power.

The pendant was rejecting him.

She was refusing to let Ailin's magic power enter her body.

As though she was not a pendant, but some living creature.

Having never encountered a Magic Accessory before, the Witcher Apprentice instinctively recoiled from that eerie sensation of something neither alive nor dead. He had forgotten to ask the headmaster and the Sorceress about it when he saw them.

Of course, that was also because the headmaster had left in too much of a hurry, while the Sorceress had asked about the Witcher's Eye.

"Give me the pendant." Lady Vesemir extended her slender, fair right hand.

Ailin did not hesitate. He removed the necklace and handed it directly to the Sorceress.

Taking the necklace, the Sorceress traced a counterclockwise circle around the edge of the pendant's round gemstone with her index finger, then returned it to Ailin.

Ailin accepted the pendant and glanced at the Sorceress.

"Inject your magic power into it. Haven't you learned Signs? Just like when you cast a Sign, pour your magic power into the gemstone." Lady Vesemir explained with a smile.

Ailin nodded. After taking a deep breath, he activated the Mutated Organ inside the body, drew out a wisp of magic power, and cautiously injected it into the pendant.

That wisp of magic power was instantly swallowed. The gemstone on the pendant seemed to flash with white light before dimming again, as though it lacked energy.

"Don't be afraid. Put all your magic power into it."

The Sorceress's voice was gentle and intimate, making Ailin unable to resist looking up.

Lady Vesemir's smile was equally encouraging.

For some reason, Ailin saw a sense of maternal kindness on that exquisite, beautiful face.

Maternal kindness?

!!!

He hurriedly drove that thought from his mind.

It was all the Witcher Master's fault.

Ever since learning that the Sorceress was older than Grandpa Vesemir's grandfather, the more Ailin looked at her beautiful face—which appeared to belong to an eighteen-year-old girl—the more he sensed an increasingly profound motherly affection within it.

The key was that those two feelings did not clash at all. They blended together perfectly.

It made the Witcher Apprentice instinctively feel dependent on her.

Was this Sorceress magic too?

Ailin muttered to himself inwardly, then promptly stopped his baseless speculation.

If the Sorceress learned what he was thinking now, neither Ailin nor Vesemir would live to see tomorrow's sun.

Refocusing on the pendant's gemstone, Ailin no longer hesitated. He drew out as much magic power as possible from the Mutated Organ and poured it all into the Magic Accessory in one breath.

In an instant.

The translucent gemstone flickered bright and dim, as if it were breathing.

A close connection formed between the gemstone and Ailin's soul.

The Witcher Apprentice discovered in astonishment that the Phantasm Pendant was truly alive.

Thud.

Mary, who had been eavesdropping openly, collapsed to the floor.

This time, because of her position, the girl's head failed to land on the alchemy table.

Hearing the sound, Ailin hurriedly turned to look.

"Don't mind her. She's just sleepy." Lady Vesemir said lightly.

Ailin had countless things he wanted to complain about.

Unfortunately, he did not dare.

He could only pretend that he had seen nothing and refocus on the pendant that seemed to be a living creature.

Lady Vesemir understood Ailin's expression and said with a soft laugh.

"Yes, this gemstone is alive."

"Her name is Mirage Pearl. She appeared after one of the Conjunction of the Spheres."

"Ever since the first settlers sailed to this continent, fewer than three Mirage Pearls have been discovered, and two of them have already vanished without a trace."

"So the one in your hand is the only one in the world?" Ailin could not help exclaiming in amazement.

"At least, she is the only one I know of."

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