Divine Spark: Starlight

Elisa grabbed Hekate's face and rubbed it like she was cuddling a cat, leaving Hekate feeling a little dead inside.

This was the terrifying part of having a high favorability rating.

Only after Elisa finally let her go did Hekate explain why she had come.

"Archmage..."

Elisa stared at Hekate in astonishment and said, shocked, "Your breakthrough speed is absurd. I doubt anyone in the entire Magic Calendar has ever broken through faster than you."

She took a moment to calm her stunned emotions before continuing, "A Divine Spark is difficult to explain. You can think of it as the crystallization of your insights into life. After I broke through to become a 10-star Grand Magus, I spent a long time understanding the path I wanted to take. Then my Divine Spark naturally condensed, and breaking through to Archmage afterward became a matter of course."

"Honestly, how did you even break through to this realm without a Divine Spark?" Elisa looked at Hekate in utter confusion.

Breaking through quickly was one thing, but reaching Archmage without condensing a Divine Spark first—had there ever been such a case throughout history?

Probably not, right?

Hekate vaguely replied, "My talent helped me break through."

She then changed the subject. "Recently, because I did something, I felt the Magic Bottleneck inside me loosen. Does that mean I'm walking the right path?"

Elisa thought for a moment before saying, "I can't give you advice on that. Everyone's insights into life are different, and the paths they walk cannot be the same. Just follow your heart's choice."

"However, before making a choice, I hope you'll be cautious. You're still too young..."

Hekate said helplessly, "All right, I understand."

"Then can you tell me how you came to understand it back then, and what your path was? I just want something to refer to."

Elisa was a little speechless. "You really didn't listen to anything I said. I told you that what I say might affect your future path. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"It's fine. Just as a reference."

"From the Ice Princess to the Ice Queen—that was the path I walked."

Hekate suddenly understood. So that was what a path was.

Then what was my path?

It definitely wasn't becoming an empress.

Could it be becoming stronger?

That didn't seem right either. There were many ways to become stronger; reducing it to two words was far too vague.

Elisa had gone from the Ice Princess to the Ice Queen. She must have experienced many things along the way, and those experiences had helped her condense her Divine Spark.

And what experiences did I have?

This life had been very ordinary. I had never lacked food or clothing.

Then, as she carefully recalled her past life, Hekate seemed to open the door of time in that instant. She returned to her former life, growing up step by step, entering school, graduating, and then joining society to work. Amid all its chaos and clamor, growing up had made her understand that the greater one's ability, the greater one's responsibility.

Empress Elisa froze, then panicked. That worked too?

I only said a few words, and you're already starting to condense a Divine Spark?

Then did I live for hundreds of years for nothing?

My heavens, what kind of monster are you?!

Do you really have enough life experience to support the condensation of a Divine Spark?

If Elisa had experienced the modern age's information explosion, she definitely would not have doubted Hekate's breadth of life experience.

All those memories flashed by in an instant. Hekate opened her eyes amid a thunderous chorus of voices and saw Elisa's face almost pressed against hers.

Her ice-blue eyes were filled with disbelief. "You successfully condensed a Divine Spark? You found the path you want to walk in the future?"

Hekate nodded awkwardly. The path she had realized was actually a world of universal harmony.

She really had once fantasized about such a world.

"How did you do it?" Elisa asked blankly, looking like a beautiful fool.

Hekate shook her head. She had imagined such a world only because she wondered whether she could be a lazy good-for-nothing there and live easily. She had never expected that her Divine Spark would now demand that she carry the banner.

"Forget it. If it's hard to explain, then don't." Elisa waved her hand understandingly, then smiled. "Since you're here, don't rush back. Keep me company for a few days."

"Okay." Hekate nodded. She needed the freezing temperature of this icy land to cool her entire mind down.

At the same time, a new description appeared on her attribute list.

Divine Spark: Starlight

"Oh, right. Did you know the Calamity Witch is in your territory?" Hekate remembered that Calamity Witch, who was shrouded in mystery. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to ask her name.

"Verz? You ran into her?"

"So her name is Verz. When I came here, I saw gray-black snow falling in one area. I asked the stars and learned that a Witch lived there."

Elisa said, "Don't worry, I was the one who let her stay there. Wherever she goes, that country suffers bad luck. I'm the only one who can take her in."

Hekate fell silent for a moment.

That incredible? No wonder history books were always cursing her out.

A few days later, Hekate returned to Lundria.

After condensing her Divine Spark, the upper limit of her Magic Level had been unlocked. Future gifts from fate would most likely continue giving her Magic Level increases. As for Communism, it was extremely difficult to achieve in this world, so she would take things one step at a time.

Another half month passed.

That day, Hekate once again drew a gift that exchanged lifespan for Magic Level, but the lifespan it would deduct had reached a full three thousand years!

If she continued breaking through to higher realms, the lifespan deducted would probably keep expanding. What a terrifying talent.

Hekate shook her head, then went to tell Natasha that she would not be going out for the next few days and was not to be disturbed.

Back in her room, she accepted the gift.

Her vision immediately went black.

Having lost such a huge amount of lifespan at once, even her Strong Physique talent could not withstand it. She fell asleep on the spot.

When she woke the next day, her Magic Level had become 2-star God of Magic.

Her body still felt waves of weakness, but it was no major problem.

That day, Furia suddenly said, "Teacher Hekate, I heard the students saying that Ancient Ruins have appeared by the sea. Do you want to take a look?"

"Ruins?"

They were Teacher Emand's favorite, but she had little interest in them. She was already an Archmage; the things inside the Ruins were basically useless to her, so she could not be bothered to go.

Hekate shook her head. "I'm not going. If you want to go, follow a teacher. Don't go alone."

The appearance of Ancient Ruins would not be known only to the Uruk Kingdom. The Silbon Kingdom across the sea would learn of it first, and there were many kingdoms to the north and south as well. If a fight broke out, it would be another huge mess.

Furia said somewhat regretfully, "Okay."

Her classmates all desperately wanted to meet Teacher Hekate, but Teacher Hekate truly would not move unless she had to. She was far too much of a homebody. Furia could not stand that; unless she was cultivating, there was no way she could stay cooped up in a room all day.

Betty came looking for her.

The Ruins had appeared near the Uruk Kingdom, which posed an enormous challenge to the kingdom.

"Hekate, many magicians may pass through here afterward. If powerful magicians show up, we might need your help," Betty said hesitantly.

"I know. Don't worry."

Hearing that, Betty breathed a sigh of relief. "I keep asking you for help. I feel like I owe you so much."

Hekate smiled unconcernedly. "It's nothing."

Betty stood up and hugged Hekate. "Hekate..."

"Comrade Betty, your ideological awareness isn't high enough!"

Hekate drove her out. Betty was a little dumbfounded by those words and left the Astrology Tower without understanding them.

For several days in a row, the continent's coasts were extremely lively. The appearance of the Ancient Ruins had drawn the attention of many people.

Hekate put down her Magic Crystal Phone and used Star Speech to learn about the past few days' developments, while also checking whether any powerful magicians were causing trouble.

Dean Ornis drove away some troublesome foreign magicians and suffered minor injuries.

Students from Grants Academy were ambushed inside the Ruins, but Teacher Ivin stepped in and dealt with their attackers.

Furia resonated with the sea through Sea Resonance, obtained more information about the Ruins, and picked up many treasures.

Henry Hodgson, the Naval Commander of the Silbon Kingdom, was consumed by envy, jealousy, and hatred toward Furia. He organized a group of naval soldiers, preparing to abduct Furia and seize the treasures she had picked up along the way.

Hekate sneered. Someone actually wanted to lay a hand on my little apprentice? Henry Hodgson, you've chosen the narrow path.