Agatha and Her Uncle
In a corner of a desolate wasteland strewn with rocks and dead trees, a tall, grotesque figure, seemingly stitched together from many pieces of corpse, floats silently in mid-air.
His shoulders and head were covered with featherless, fleshy crows, and wisps of Ash Smoke emerged from his body, darting around the field like snakes.
Beneath this strange figure, two figures were struggling to fend off the attacks of crows and Ash Smoke.
One of them was a lean, middle-aged man with a short beard, wearing Pointed Wizard Hat. His robes were old, and there seemed to be some unwashed grease stains on his chest. His reddish-gray hair was messy and stuck out from under the brim of his hat, making him look somewhat unkempt.
The pressure from the tall, strange man was mostly borne by the tall-hatted wizard. He held a Short Staff with a polished tip in one hand, chanting incessantly and constantly summoning Ice Magic to defend against the attacks of Ash Smoke and crows. In his other hand, he tightly gripped a potion bottle, quickly gulping down a few mouthfuls between spells. The whole process was quite skillful.
Another small, thin figure darted about behind him, moving swiftly through the Ash Smoke and crows, making it impossible to discern its exact appearance.
Seeing that his methods had failed to subdue the two, the strange man in mid-air expressionlessly waved his hands, and more crows began to join the battle.
Moreover, the strange growths on these crows began to burst open, splattering out blackish-purple viscous fluid. Just a drop that fell to the ground corroded large chunks of soil, emitting a strong, pungent, fishy stench.
The wizard in the top hat's expression changed drastically. The situation, which had been barely maintained, became extremely precarious after the crows self-destructed.
In just a few breaths, he looked disheveled, nearly getting hit by the slime several times, and his robes were covered in dust.
Seeing the critical situation, the wizard in the top hat gritted his teeth and took out Metal Disc with a chipped corner and obvious rust from his pocket.
"Ah An..%&"
He uttered ancient and difficult incantations and suddenly threw the disc in his hand.
In an instant, a thick, Reddish-brown Lead Cloud surged out from the disc, followed by a deep roar, and a Metal Monster resembling a rhinoceros strode out from the leaden cloud.
The strange man who had been indifferent in mid-air changed his expression slightly upon seeing this, and immediately opened his mouth, inhaling all the drifting Ash Smoke in the arena.
His body visibly expanded rapidly, with sutured muscles bulging high, transforming in the blink of an eye into a five- or six-meter-tall Corpse-piece Giant.
"Boom!"
The man and the rhinoceros collided violently, unleashing a massive white shockwave.
At the moment of impact, the wizard in the top hat paled slightly, and the reddish-brown leaden cloud he had summoned seemed to thin a little.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The two shadows kept colliding, and with each collision, a patch of leaden cloud on the wizard's side thinned out, and the metallic rhinoceros's momentum also weakened.
Seeing that the Metal Disc suspended in the center of the leaden cloud showed signs of cracking, the top-hatted wizard finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Now, Agatha!"
"Whoosh--"
Almost the instant he finished speaking, a small, thin figure that had been hiding behind the top-hatted wizard and had been barely noticeable suddenly darted out from the side.
The terrifying speed ripped his tattered robes, causing them to billow like flags. His slender body leaped into the air, and then his entire body suddenly burst forth with intense, shimmering white light.
Like a small White Sun rising suddenly, and then setting just as quickly.
As the blinding light gradually faded, the previously [Rage] and monstrous Corpse-piece Giant was now standing there blankly, a round hole nearly a meter in diameter piercing through its chest and upper body.
"You"
The strange man uttered difficult words, his face showing extreme disbelief, but before he could finish speaking, he collapsed to the ground.
Behind him, a tanned girl with the slender build of a cheetah was crouching on the ground, panting heavily.
The girl's features were delicate yet possessed a touch of heroic spirit. Her hair was snow-white, and a beautiful Ice Crystal Pendant hung around her neck. Fine white arcs of light lingered on her athletic body.
The grotesque crows with fleshy growths, whose masters had died, swooped down to peck at them in disgust, only to be smashed into clumps of minced meat by a few casual punches she threw from a distance.
The terrifying power contained within that agile body is evident.
"Teacher"
"I told you, don't call me teacher."
The wizard in the top hat casually summoned a few spells to disperse the disturbing flock of crows in the air, then quickly put away the leaden cloud, picked up the Metal Disc that had fallen to the ground, and looked at the increased cracks on it, wiping it with a pained expression.
"Alright, old man."
A series of crisp cracking sounds rang out from the girl's body, and her lithe and beautiful figure immediately shrank back to its original thin and small, seemingly malnourished state.
"Is this guy even level three?"
"If it were level three, we'd both be dead already!"
The wizard in the top hat glared at the girl with annoyance and shouted, "How many times have I told you not to trespass into other wizards' territories?"
We were lucky this time, but what about next time? And the time after that?
"Who knew that Rose Garden had an owner?"
The girl stuck out her tongue guiltily and retorted defiantly, "Besides, I didn't actually go in. I just wandered around the edge, and this guy kept biting us like a mad dog."
He clearly wanted to harm us!
The wizard in the top hat shook his head and sighed softly, "The Magic Disaster has only just ended. Even if Queen Alba's Morning Light Guard works day and night, who knows how many more sunrises and sunsets it will take to completely eradicate the remaining evil from this continent."
This is a time when dark magic is rampant; no one will listen to the old rules and order. Whoever is strong is right.
"The combined strength of you and me, old man, isn't weak either."
The girl ground her two little tiger teeth and raised her fist to show them.
Just as the wizard in the top hat was about to say something, the sky above them suddenly went dark without warning.
It was as if a huge dark cloud was rapidly descending in this direction, blocking out all the light, and the sky was about to turn from day to Black Night in an instant.
The two men's expressions changed drastically, and they quickly looked up. The next second, the girl froze.
She saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her life.
Her entire body was enveloped in a hazy glow, and the free-floating energy particles around her gathered into aquamarine light, dancing like sprites and ribbons.
She wore an incredibly gorgeous black lace-trimmed long dress and matching gloves. She looked at the girl, her smile, a mixture of curiosity and inexplicable warmth, replacing the sun in the sky.
"Dawn"
The girl heard the wizard in the top hat trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, the woman who was dazzlingly beautiful in the girl's eyes secretly gestured for the girl to look back.
The girl turned around slowly, as if possessed, and then met a pair of deep blue eyes as serene and profound as the starry sky.
The moment the girl saw the owner of those eyes, all the shock and radiance the woman had previously given her vanished in a fraction of a second.
Her eyes were fixed solely on the other person; her soul seemed to detach from her body at that moment, and within her small frame, wave after wave of throbbing, originating from her very blood, surged forth.
Time seemed to slow down countless times at that moment, and in an instant, images from so long ago that she had almost completely forgotten flashed through the girl's mind.
Moonlight, windowsill, evening breeze, cradle, a man bathed in starlight.
Until--
A familiar figure tumbling and crawling pulled her thoughts back to reality.
The girl saw the tall-hatted wizard who had been wandering with her for many years, treating her like a teacher and father, yet never letting her call him "teacher."
At this moment, she knelt deeply at the feet of the person before her, just like a child.
He was so excited and joyful that he kept muttering incoherently, "My lord... it's my East Coast... ship... Demili Plateau... secret chamber"
The owner of those deep blue eyes gently stroked the top of the wizard's hat and spoke softly, "I remember, I remember you, Harry."
The top hat of the wizard rolled off his head and fell to the ground, revealing a head of fiery red hair interspersed with strands of silver.
He wept with joy, his face showing such contentment that it would be worth dying for him even if it meant the next second.
Then, the owner of the eyes continued to look at the girl, his gaze gently falling on the ice crystal pendant hanging around her neck.
The ice crystal pendant that the girl had worn since childhood was now emitting an unprecedented, strange red light.
A flash of inspiration struck the girl like a thunderbolt, and she blurted out, as if struck by lightning, "Ronan... Uncle?!"
The latter smiled at her and then softly called her name.
Agatha Christie
The gale-force winds howled from both sides at an altitude of 10,000 meters, and the sunlight and drifting clouds flew by like arrows.
Agatha stood on the solid ground covered with azure eagle feathers, her head still spinning.
Uncle?
Ronan Damien's uncle?!
Agatha had heard countless tales and legends about the Daimien Family, the man hailed as the greatest legend in the family's history, and about his exploits on the East Coast. She was so tired of hearing them that her ears were practically calloused.
It was because of him that Agatha resolutely chose to leave the East Coast with Harry, the wizard in the top hat who shared the same goal, and wander all the way.
The latter always claimed to be his uncle's disciple, although he didn't know much more about his uncle than she did, but he was, after all, the only one who had truly inherited the skills of the "Ronan's Studio".
If he hadn't chosen to leave, he could at least have lived a comfortable life in the Daimien Family, just like that old woman Sandrine. Everyone would have respected him, including her grandfather, that arrogant, haughty, and strange old man who always talked about his son.
Harry once said that the legacy left by his uncle was enough to support him steadily and surely all the way to the level of a second-level wizard. Back on the East Coast, he was already a second-level wizard, at least.
Before that day arrived, Agatha had imagined countless times that her uncle might already be a powerful Third Level Wizard, or even Dawn wizard?!
Okay, fine. It's hard enough for Level Nine Apprentice to break through to become a full wizard. Advancing from level two to level three will only be harder.
Throughout her wanderings, Agatha had seen far too many wizards who were stuck at level two their entire lives, unable to advance.
Level three, just level three, is enough for her, enough to keep the legends about her uncle from fading from her memory.
As for Dawn, it was just a small, fleeting hope she occasionally had before falling asleep.
However, the truth is...
She was now standing on the back of a giant eagle, larger than a small reef, flying in one direction at a speed faster than the wind and lightning, leaving the sun far behind.
The most beautiful, radiant, and powerful witch she had ever seen, Dawn Rank witch, was meek and submissive in front of her uncle, as gentle as a lamb without a temper.
So, what is her uncle's current strength?
Agatha couldn't think any further; everything happening before her eyes was far beyond her imagination and comprehension.
She instinctively grabbed the Ice Crystal Gem Necklace around her neck. On the inside of the chain, somewhere, there was a line of small words she had polished to a shine: "[To Agatha - Ronan Damien]".
Agatha murmured the words aloud, and countless dreams and realities merged at that moment.
"What a beautiful necklace."
A voice suddenly rang in her ears, startling Agatha. She turned around abruptly and found the woman who had been surrounded by azure light and was so beautiful it was almost blinding, standing smiling beside her.
Knowing that her opponent possessed strength exceeding that of Dawn, and that her outstanding appearance and demeanor made her feel inferior, Agatha appeared somewhat flustered and nervous, unsure of what to say.
Did he make it for you himself?
The woman's attention, however, was entirely focused on her necklace, her eyes filled with a deep envy that Agatha could clearly sense. "He's never given me anything before."
The woman sighed softly, a hint of bitterness and sorrow in her expression.
"You"
Agatha looked at the other person, mustered her courage, and asked, "Are you your uncle's woman?"
The woman was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly beamed with joy.
"Yes, I'm your uncle's woman. His only woman right now."
She seemed quite pleased with the title of "her uncle's woman," emphasizing it repeatedly to Agatha.
Agatha could sense the closeness and affection emanating from the other person, so she mustered up her courage and started chatting with them.
How should I address you?
Don't use honorifics with me, my little darling.
You can call me Hathaway, or Sister Hathaway.
"Sister Hathaway."
"Why."
The woman smiled and put her arm around Agatha's shoulder.
"Do you know what level of wizard Ronan is now?"
Agatha looked at Fang Moudao's tall and slender figure before her and finally asked the question she had most wanted to ask.
She looked at the woman in front of her with anticipation, imagining what shocking words would come out of the other's mouth, but the woman thought quietly for a while, and finally just shook her head. "I don't know, nobody knows."
No one can see through him.
Agatha was stunned by the answer for a moment, then became excited and couldn't help but ask, "Then, what about the Magic Disaster?"
Given the power of Sister Hathaway and uncle, they must have been involved in the Magic Disaster two years ago.
Have you ever seen Golden Dawn?
Did you ever fight alongside him?
Can you tell me what the Golden Dawn looks like?
Agatha looked at the woman in front of her with pleading eyes.
This is also what she most wants to figure out.
If her uncle, who left her with a legacy and guidance, was a star she could only dream of as a child, then the Golden Dawn is the sun she has been chasing for the past few years.
They were equally important to Agatha.
Whichever one it is, they are her greatest idols, irreplaceable by anyone else.
But as soon as Agatha asked the question, the woman named Hathaway in front of her froze.
A moment later.
The beautiful and noble Dawn Witch laughed heartily.
They laughed as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world.
A crisp laugh echoed in the strong winds high in the sky, causing a figure ahead to turn his head slightly in apparent displeasure.
The laughter stopped abruptly, but the woman's shoulders continued to shake.
Agatha didn't know what was going on; she felt as if she had asked a very, very stupid question.
But she didn't understand what was so stupid about that question.
The far north, the Frost Leader.
Ice Stone Hall, Ronan stood quietly before a human figure sculpted entirely from ice and snow.
The Ice Sculpture depicts an extremely beautiful and dignified woman, dressed in a robe and holding a blue staff that emits a faint glow.
As Ronan gently extended his hand, the Ice Sculpture before him seemed to come alive instantly, gracefully bowing to him.
"Six months ago?"
Ronan looked at the respectfully posed Ice Sculpture in front of him with a complicated expression, and spoke softly.
"Yes."
Elsa beside him replied softly, "The Grand Elder said there was no need to disturb you. Her spirit has merged with the winds and snows of the far north and will serve your throne forever."