About three minutes earlier, above the water—
With a splash, Shade plunged into the water. The worried cat padded over to the gap in the ice and looked down.
Its large amber eyes were full of concern. Miss Reinhart, who was holding the rope, had originally been worried that the black ice surface would freeze over again. But as the cat let out a soft "meow," a small flame sprayed from its mouth and immediately melted the ice layer that had just begun to refreeze.
"Miss, what breed of cat is that? Look at it standing in such a filthy area without even wearing a protective charm, yet it hasn't been affected at all."
The White-haired Girl softly asked her teacher. This youngest Witch Apprentice of her generation was still at an innocent age and had little resistance to small, adorable cats like Little Mia.
"Back in my homeland, there are some snow-white alien creature cats on the Ice Field that can withstand extreme cold and storms. But generally speaking, cats that can endure the cold have white fur. Orange-and-white fur like this cat's is very rare."
Even the Sun's Great Witch could not answer that question. She was only wondering why the flames the cat had breathed at her before had carried no heat, yet could now melt the black ice formed by the filth of Snow Mountain.
The rope in her hand suddenly twitched, and Miss Reinhart understood that Shade had begun preparing his Thaumaturgy.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, her keen senses caught the pure power of earth beneath her feet driving away the surrounding filth. However, she could only sense this through her connection to Snow Mountain. She was not an Earth Witch herself, so she could not determine the exact origin of Shade's Thaumaturgy