White Thistle and White Rose

Before becoming a magical girl, White Thistle, or rather, a girl named Qiu Yun, led an ordinary and unremarkable life.

She had an ordinary appearance, an ordinary figure, an ordinary personality, and ordinary talents. The only thing that wasn't ordinary about her was her mother, who left home forever due to a quarrel with her husband, and her father, who was always away from home at night.

However, in her mind, these things did not affect her too much. After all, her life continued. Her father did not show up often, but he still gave her living expenses and tuition fees, and she was still able to go to school normally.

Qiu Yun was considered an excellent student at school. She studied very hard, so her grades were relatively good. She was also very obedient, which is why her homeroom teacher appointed her as class monitor.

If nothing else goes wrong, Qiu Yun's life trajectory will likely be that she goes through ordinary schooling, works an ordinary job, and then leaves her dysfunctional family—which has no affection left—through the job she earned through her hard work, to find a husband who loves her enough and embrace her own happiness.

At least that's how she planned it.

One day, Qiu Yun, who was usually alone in her apartment, suddenly found herself in another person's home. A strange woman appeared with her father. The strange woman denounced Qiu Yun as the child of a mistress, calling her a "bastard," and then declared that she no longer recognized her right to live in the house and told her to leave.

During this process, Qiu Yun learned that her mother and father were not even married, and that she was merely the product of an extramarital affair.

Her father stood silently by the side the whole time, only secretly giving her some money after the woman left. Then, he just sighed and waved to her.

Qiu Yun tried dialing her mother's number, but all she got was a hollow broadcast saying "The phone number is not in service."

From that day on, Qiu Yun was forced to leave home.

She moved into a small, old rental room by herself. The man who was considered her "father" was still secretly giving her living expenses, but the amount was getting smaller and smaller, barely enough to make ends meet, and she couldn't even afford her tuition.

In order to continue her studies, Qiu Yun started looking for part-time work, but her age prevented her from finding any decent part-time jobs. She could only do odd jobs such as handing out flyers and tissues on the street. Struggling to make a living, her grades also began to decline, and everything seemed to be getting worse.

This kind of life continued for quite some time, until one day, while handing out flyers on the street, she met a very special woman.

The woman was beautiful, tall, and had a unique air about her. A raccoon-like doll sat on her shoulder, making her stand out from the crowd.

Unlike most passersby who would refuse her flyer, she took it and even asked a question that Qiu Yun almost imagined:

"Interested in becoming a magical girl?"

Perhaps because a life of hardship can numb people, Qiu Yun asked an incredibly bizarre question at that time, "... Is there a salary?"

"Free room and board, plus bonuses."

From that day on, Qiu Yun received another name: White Thistle.

White Thistle's talent as a magical girl is surprisingly good. Although she can't be called a genius, she is definitely not "ordinary". And because this is her hard-won "job", she studies as a magical girl even more diligently than she did when she was studying at school.

Qiu Yun always respected the woman who hired her. She respected the woman's kindness in pulling her out of her misery, and she also respected the woman's strength as a magical girl, so she called her "mentor".

Because of respect, we admire; because of admiration, we yearn for.

In order to become a magical girl as powerful as her mentor, White Thistle has always been strict with herself. Because of her hard work and self-discipline, White Thistle was able to stand out among the magical girls of her generation, and at the beginning of the year, she achieved the top overall ranking in the qualification certification with tenth place in practical skills and first place in written test.

She believes this is all thanks to her mentor's guidance.

She believes this is all due to her mentor's skills.

Her mentor, Margaret, was the greatest magical girl in the world, and at least in her mind, no one could replace her.

So when her mentor mentioned going to Fangting City to "see old friends" and revealed that "there might be a competition between young people," White Thistle agreed without hesitation.

She knew the "friend" her mentor had mentioned, and knew that the magical girl named Larkspur was a remarkable person. When meeting Lark's student, she felt it was her duty to make a good impression.

At the same time, she also hopes to continue to outperform her opponents and become a student that her mentor can be proud of.

Even if her opponent is a student of the Investigation Institute's Inspector, she will not be intimidated; even if her opponent is a novice who has only been a magical girl for a little over half a year, she will not underestimate her.

In particular, this opponent dared to speak disrespectfully to his mentor.

When her mentor and his old friend greeted each other warmly, the short girl named White Rose suddenly ran out and made a scene, even uttering words like "pervert."

This rude, even contemptuous, attitude stung White Thistle deeply.

Out of courtesy, she couldn't criticize or retaliate in that situation; she wouldn't act rudely, as that would only embarrass her mentor in front of the Inspector.

However, this does not mean that she completely tolerated it.

After following the other party to their stronghold in Fangting City, White Thistle took the initiative to approach White Rose and proposed a "private contest." Of course, ostensibly a "contest," it was actually just a way to test the opponent's strength; if she turned out to be a fool, they would simply take the opportunity to teach her a lesson.

Without a doubt, the White Thistle succeeded.

The opponent was clearly unaware of the existence of the technique "Turbidification," believing that after the prohibition of Spell Formula and Magic Armament, the contest between magical powers was merely a simple brute force. As a result, they suffered a great loss and were defeated in a single exchange.

However, the White Thistle also failed.

When her secret competition was discovered by her mentor, instead of praising her, the mentor unusually sternly told her that what she did was wrong, that she had violated the principle of fair competition by taking advantage of information asymmetry and loopholes in the Rule, and made her apologize to the Fangting City Squad.

White Thistle didn't understand why her mentor was criticizing her for this, but despite her resentment, she still chose to comply.

And then, until now, she has watched helplessly as her opponent uses Turbidification.

"It seems to be three days?"

Upon hearing those words, White Thistle felt the string of reason snap.

To her own shock, the emotion that welled up from the bottom of her heart at that moment was not "anger" or "humiliation," but a far more vile emotion.

Envy.

Why did the other person show such disrespect to their mentor, yet the mentor still favored them and even offered to impart all their secrets to them?

Why is it that even though the other person has such a terrible personality, everyone around her treats her like a princess? The Inspector in Fangting City spoils her like her own daughter; it's obvious to anyone with a blind eye how much he dotes on her.

Why does God bestow such exaggerated talent upon someone who is clearly like this? He spent so much time practicing day and night to learn the Turbidification of Turbidity, but this person only needs three days?

White Thistle's mind was filled with doubts about the other person's words, but she couldn't express a single word coherently because her jealousy had completely robbed her of her composure.

She simply unfurled her Magic Armament pointlessly and began to pour out her magic power without a second thought. Spell Formula, Turbidification, Magic Armament —she used whatever she could, with only one goal: to defeat this annoying guy.

"Ornate Script!"

Shouting the name of his Magic Armament, the pen in his hand scribbled rows of Fawo Runes in the air like a printer, unleashing offensive Spell Formula indiscriminately.

Because she used up her magic so quickly, White Thistle even showed the same symptoms as Xia Liang before her—dizziness and blurred vision. She could only clench her teeth tightly, almost breaking her back teeth.

With her attacks so fierce, Lin Xiaolu naturally fared no better. Having only recently mastered the Turbidification, she hadn't yet been able to use it freely. She could only symbolically let the blue flames neutralize a few attacks before having to dodge in all directions. And with such a high density of attacks, even dodging couldn't completely shield her, so she still took several solid hits.

But even so, she was not discouraged.

Before going on stage, she still silently recited what Larkspur had told her.

"Let the Larkspur see me clearly now..."

These words, like some kind of spell, brought Lin Xiaolu's mind to a state of perfect clarity.

Regardless of victory or defeat, and regardless of others, she is only thinking about how to showcase the results of her recent studies.

Even if there's been no progress in Blossoming his abilities, and even if there's been no change in his Magic Armament, he has still put in the effort, and the results of that effort are tangible.

So, at least these things need to be seen by the Larkspur.

Her improved flying skills allowed her to evade some of her opponents' attacks.

The improvement in the quality of her magic allowed her to fight against a Leaf Rank opponent without losing due to magic depletion.

The magic- Turbidification flames allowed her to ignore and even counteract the opponent's Turbidification vibrations.

These advancements are real and tangible.

As long as these things are presented truthfully, and the Larkspur sees that she is truly making an effort and progressing, that is enough.

Is that enough?

She suddenly questioned herself internally.

Simply showing this much seems to be missing something.

For some reason, Lin Xiaolu always felt that she could have done more.

Although it was just an intuition, it was so clear at that moment, it was shouting to Lin Xiaolu in a clear voice, telling her that this feeling was just right.

This feeling was both strange and familiar to her.

The last time she felt this way was on the night of the Full Moon Festival; the time before that was during the crisis at the orphanage, but in those instances, she experienced this change because of her immense anger towards the enemy.

This time is different.

It's not something you do unconsciously out of anger, but simply because you feel that you can do it.

Because of the repeated Turbidification her magic, she always felt that this was not her limit.

Gazing at the magic that had transformed into blue flames, she kept telling herself that she could go even further and reveal even more.

Can it Turbidification again?

This idea startled even Lin Xiaolu herself.

In previous lessons, Asō Madoka had discussed this issue with her, and the answer was that it was theoretically feasible, but practically unprofitable.

Since Turbidification itself is a process of stripping away the commonalities of magic and making it more personalized, can Turbidification further enhance the already personalized nature of magic?

The answer is no.

In fact, further Turbidification magic that has already Turbidification will only allow the magic to regain some commonalities, and these commonalities will cause the magic to return to its original form.

Asō Madoka has yet to figure out the specific principle behind this seemingly contradictory effect. But there is no doubt that Turbidification, in which she even lost extra mental and magical energy, only to gain some unchanged magical energy, was indeed not very beneficial.

That's why Lin Xiaolu was surprised by her own thoughts: she already knew the outcome of "Turbidification again," so why did her intuition still tell her it was worth a try?

But soon, she put this pointless dilemma aside—it was just a try, after all, and there was no harm in it.

With this in mind, she focused her attention on the magic in her hands and then used the skills she had learned during this time to influence the pale blue flame.

The fiery magic in her hands gradually calmed down with Lin Xiaolu's efforts. Then, the flames slowly dissipated, leaving only the radiance of ordinary magic.

This behavior naturally did not escape White Thistle's notice.

What on earth is that guy doing?

This was the first thought that popped into White Thistle's mind.

She had naturally tried to further Turbidification the already Turbidification magic; in fact, it could be said that everyone in the Bai'an City Squad who had learned this technique had attempted it.

But the answer to all these attempts was the same—the magic would revert to normal.

Right now, the opponent is actually making this attempt during the battle. Is it stupid? Or is it simply an expression of contempt for me?

Thoughts raced through White Thistle's mind, but unlike Lin Xiaolu, he didn't let his mind wander. Instead, he swung his Magic Armament once more, intending to deliver a few more attacks and end this frustrating battle.

Regardless of what the other person is thinking, just take her down first.

With this thought in mind, White Thistle pointed the nib of his pen at Lin Xiaolu, gathering magic above her, intending to take the opportunity to knock Lin Xiaolu down.

But at that very moment, something unusual appeared in her field of vision. To be precise, it appeared in Lin Xiaolu.

Because the magic that had previously returned to calm after its Turbidification state and was now quietly residing in Lin Xiaolu's hand seemed to have faded somewhat.

The original light blue gradually lost its color, as if someone had taken it away, and it was becoming increasingly pale.

Is it just my imagination?

Before White Thistle could confirm her idea, she noticed that the magic in Lin Xiaolu's hand had faded a little more, until it turned from pale blue into an incredibly dazzling white.

Its very existence tells White Thistle: this is not an illusion.

Then, this white color, starting from a small ball in Lin Xiaolu's hand, suddenly spread out.

White, at this moment, stole everyone's attention.