Fight, Fight, and Never Stop Fighting!

"Stop. I know."

"Oh." Ye Qingqing straightened, standing there at a loss.

"My lady, something's been wrong with me since noon." Unable to hold it in, she gestured wildly as she spoke. "The wind inside me keeps rushing around. I can't control it at all."

"I floated off the ground while I was going upstairs. All my classmates stared at me. And at lunch, the wind snatched my chopsticks away as soon as I picked them up. I spilled soup all over the table..."

"I tried everything—holding my breath, running, soaking in cold water. Nothing worked. My lady, am I breaking?"

Thump.

The blunt side of the Great Scythe tapped her forehead.

Ye Qingqing crouched, clutching her head as tears welled in her eyes. "Ow..."

"Finished?"

"Y-yes."

"Then listen." Ziwei rested the Great Scythe on her shoulder. "Those symptoms are called pre-awakening overflow. The Wind Element is widening your magic circuits. It's a good thing."

"B-but I can barely walk straight..."

"That's all the resolve you've got?"

Ye Qingqing fell silent.

"Hesitation will only get you killed faster on a battlefield," Ziwei said evenly. "Monsters won't wait for you to get ready just because you don't know what to do."

"I..."

"This morning, you asked whether you could become someone like me." Ziwei cut her off. "Now I'm asking you. Think carefully before you answer."

"If you become a Magical Girl, monsters will track your scent. The Monster Hunting Bureau will investigate you. Some people will even pay a fortune for your Abyssal Core."

"You could die every time you fight. Are you still willing?"

Ye Qingqing lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes between her fingers.

A few seconds later, she looked up.

"I am."

"Why?"

"I don't want someone pointing a gun at my head again while I'm powerless to fight back. And I don't want a monster to swallow me whole." Her voice trembled, but she held Ziwei's gaze. "If you hadn't been there this morning, my Abyssal Core would already have been cut out."

"I want to live. I want the power to protect myself."

"And?"

"And..." She paused. "I want to become someone like you, someone who can protect others."

"I'm no role model." Ziwei gave a short scoff. "Give me your hand."

"Huh?"

"Your right hand. Hold it out."

Ye Qingqing obediently held out her hand.

The Companion Magic Book floated out from before Ziwei's chest. Purple light rippled across it as its pages flipped rapidly, stopping on a blank page where rows of golden runes appeared.

"Master, this girl's Wind Element is remarkably pure, but it's scattering too badly," Kabi said in Ziwei's mind. "You need to use your source power to condense a core for her, or she'll eventually burst."

"Mm."

Ziwei raised her hand, gathering a wisp of violet-gold source magic at her fingertip.

"It'll hurt a little. Bear with it."

"My lady, what will hurt a—"

Before she could finish, the wisp of violet-gold power sank into her chest.

"Urgh—!"

Ye Qingqing doubled over, breaking out in a cold sweat.

A powerful force gathered the Wind Element rampaging through her body and compressed it toward her chest, refining it.

The airy wind was pressed tighter and tighter until it became a substance as heavy as iron.

That power forcibly widened her magic circuits. The pain made her vision go black.

"Don't faint," Ziwei said beside her ear. "If you pass out, everything we've done will be wasted."

Ye Qingqing bit her lip, and the taste of blood spread through her mouth.

Ten seconds later, the pressure suddenly eased.

A jade-green pendant emerged from her chest and hovered at her neck. The Wind Element flowed within it, forming a seed-shaped core.

The next instant, streams of light surged outward from the pendant.

Ye Qingqing slowly rose into the air, then was enveloped in holy light!

An invisible wind lifted her long, disheveled black hair and swept it into a neat high ponytail, leaving a few loose strands beside her cheeks.

Her school uniform gave way to a lightweight, short pleated dress in jade green and silver, its hem embroidered with fine windproof patterns.

A dark teal stocking covered her right leg to the top of her thigh, while a single bronze band circled her bare left thigh, creating a striking asymmetrical look.

Light jade-green ankle boots covered her feet. Fingerless leather gauntlets protected her forearms, with two streamlined wind-blade grooves set into the knuckles.

This was nothing like Xia Ning's ranged style of casting spells with Mint's staff.

Every part of this magical gear was made for close combat and high-speed charges!

"You've become a transformed Magical Girl. This is the Starwind Seed." Ziwei withdrew her hand. "From now on, it governs the wind inside you."

Breathing hard, Ye Qingqing looked down at her new appearance and lightly touched the wind wheel at her chest.

The moment her fingertip touched it—

Boom.

A wave of green wind pressure burst outward from her. Clean cuts appeared across the surrounding rock walls, and fragments pattered to the ground.

She stared blankly at her hand. "D-did I do that?"

"Releasing wind blades. The most basic of basics," Ziwei said calmly. "Your current rating is around four hundred. One-star sprout."

"A little stronger than the Monster Hunting Bureau's qualified full-time agents."

Just then, Kabi spoke in her mind. "Master! Outside the cave, two o'clock. Two magic signatures approaching fast..."

"Should we...?"

Ziwei turned her head and glanced toward the cave entrance.

Above the dense forest, two black crows with three-meter wingspans folded their wings and silently dived.

The awakening's disturbance had drawn them here. They were E-rank Shadow Crows, each rated around seven hundred.

"My lady?" Ye Qingqing followed her gaze. "What is it?"

"Your first lesson has arrived."

Ziwei made no move to attack. She merely tipped her chin toward the cave entrance.

"Go. Deal with them."

"What?!" Ye Qingqing's voice cracked again. "Me?"

"Right now?!"

"With the Starwind Seed and a rating of four hundred, you're strong enough to fight two crows rated at seven hundred."

"But they're seven hundred, and I'm only four hundred!"

"Ratings aren't simple arithmetic." Ziwei shook her head. "When mine was four hundred, I cut down something more than ten times stronger."

Ye Qingqing looked outside, then back at Ziwei, her legs shaking. "B-b-but... I've never been in a fight..."

"Then learn now."

"They came because they caught your scent," Ziwei added. "When I'm not around, you'll have to deal with threats like this yourself."

The first crow forced its way through a gap at the edge of the light barrier and lunged into the cave. A foul gust struck Ye Qingqing as its talons went straight for her throat.

"Aah—!"

She covered her head and crouched. The crow swept over her, the wind from its wings stinging her eyes shut.

"Get up!" Ziwei called from behind her. "Magical Girls don't crouch and take hits."

"I-I..."

"Hold your pocket watch tight."

Trembling, Ye Qingqing pulled out her silver pocket watch and gripped it in her palm.

"Remember your wind. Don't hide—meet it head-on."

The second crow swooped down, its talons tearing a bloody gash across her shoulder.

The pain cleared her head a little.

She remembered the cold gun barrel pressed to her forehead that morning. She remembered holding up the desk lamp, her hand shaking uncontrollably, yet refusing to let go.

When trouble comes, think about how to fight back before you think about crying.

"I..."

She pushed herself to her feet and clenched her right fist. The Wind Element poured through the Starwind Seed and into her knuckles.

"I don't want to hide anymore!"

In an instant, countless incantations flooded her mind. She whispered one and threw a punch.

A green storm roared forth, forming several solid wind blades that swallowed both diving crows on the spot.

Feathers, blood mist, and scraps of flesh rained across the cave floor.

Silence fell over the cave.

Ye Qingqing remained in her punching stance, panting hard, unable to believe what had happened.

"I... I did it?"

"You did. Learning 'Rapid Chanting' in your first battle isn't bad."

Ziwei walked over and flicked the Great Scythe. Two E-rank Abyssal Cores flew from the remains into her palm, and she casually put them in her Storage Magic Device.

"My lady, um..." Ye Qingqing had something else on her mind. She spoke softly. "Couldn't you leave me one Abyssal Core?"

"The spoils go to the instructor. Those are the rules." Ziwei's expression did not change.

"Master, those were the first monsters she ever killed. Aren't you ashamed?"

"Tuition."

Ye Qingqing did not argue. She looked down at her hands, smeared with dirt and blood. Her shoulder was still bleeding, but she barely felt the pain.

The Starwind Seed lay warm against the skin of her chest, the Wind Element flowing quietly within it.

So this is what it feels like to have power.

"Ye Qingqing."

"Yes!"

Ziwei turned toward her, violet-gold hair falling across half her face.

"In this world, there's only one thing that will keep you alive. Become stronger. Fight and fight, and never stop fighting."

Ye Qingqing froze.

A sliver of daylight slipped past the edge of the barrier at the cave entrance and fell between them.

She lowered her head and looked at her dirt-covered hands. Then she raised her sleeve and wiped the tears from her eyes with all her strength.

Finally, she nodded firmly.

"I understand... I'll remember your teachings for the rest of my life!"