Inside the Air-Raid Shelter, their expectant gazes met a profound violet-gold expanse.
Those eyes were slightly lowered, their shifting radiance sweeping across epochs unknown to anyone.
Bathed in Ziwei's radiance, Su Bai gave a light cough, using the small gesture to conceal his guilty conscience.
If I'm being honest, probably when I've paid off my student loans and bought my third property.
Of course, he couldn't say that.
"Stand at my side?"
Ziwei repeated the words, her voice desolate and lonely. It sounded less like an answer than a sigh murmured to herself.
"That is no easy road..."
The atmosphere she created made Su Xiaoxiao's and Ye Qingqing's hearts clench.
Their teacher, this first light, the original Magical Girl, bore a burden far heavier than they had imagined.
"The magic you have seen—Mint's communications, Cherry's barriers. Your light, Starshine, and your wind, Azure Gale."
"These are merely the most superficial manifestations of power."
"They depend on the magical star rings within you. Every use consumes their power and resonates with them."
"But the star ring itself is a shackle."
Her words echoed through the cavern, every syllable carrying the power to overturn everything they knew.
Su Xiaoxiao and Ye Qingqing listened in bewilderment. This wasn't what the Monster Hunting Bureau's textbooks said.
Ye Qingqing asked quietly, "Teacher, do you mean there's another path?"
Ziwei's gaze settled on her face with approval.
"There is."
"It is a forgotten path leading to the very essence of magic's source. I call it the Ringless Path."
"The Ringless Path?"
The two girls spoke in unison, their eyes filled with confusion and curiosity.
"When you can free yourselves completely from the shackles of your star rings, no longer relying on fragile energy cycles or the free-floating magical particles in the air..."
"And instead draw directly