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In the classroom, the reserve trainees sat in five neat rows. Aside from Xu Yanqing, who stood at the front, Xu Yiyi occupied a seat between the second and third rows, while Su Qingyao settled in the very last row.
Naturally, Su Muxue took the seat closest to Su Qingyao, in the same row.
Jiang Jiuli sat on the other side.
“This is a fix! I was supposed to sit next to Muxue!”
Fang Xiaobai’s complaint was entirely ignored by both the mother-daughter pair and Jiang Jiuli.
“Alright, He Yurong, could you please tell us the three essential elements for calculating the release of universal magic during combat?”
“Um… how far away it is, then the direction, and finally—how much force to use?”
“It’s direction, distance, and compression ratio.”
As Xu Yanqing gestured for the standing girl to sit, she simultaneously wrote the correct answer on the blackboard.
“These terms might still feel a bit abstract to you, but even if you don’t fully grasp them now, it’s crucial that you commit them to memory.”
“Otherwise, in the future, you’ll be dealing with ‘just a little bit,’ ‘just let it go,’ or accidentally having your own magic blow up into a frizzy mess, as your junior teachers like to say.”
“Do I need to put up pictures of your past magical mishaps for you to appreciate?”
A chorus of “no, no” and bursts of laughter erupted throughout the classroom, while Su Qingyao subtly glanced at Su Muxue.
“Oh, don’t look at me,” Su Muxue said softly. “Muxue has never failed.”
Su Muxue’s small face flushed slightly, and she gently pressed down on Booboo, who seemed poised to speak.
“Ahem, Su Muxue—is that right?”
“Here.”
Su Muxue immediately stood up.
Su Muxue and Fang Xiaobai had originally been part of another nine-person group, led by a senior named Lin Xiaobai.
Under normal class divisions, Lin Xiaobai and Xu Yanqing would each lead a group of reserve trainees, allowing for flexible scheduling.
However, for this collective operation, the two small groups had been merged into one class. Consequently, this was Xu Yanqing’s first time truly seeing this unfamiliar face since the merger.
A fleeting glance in the office last time didn’t count.
Xu Yanqing gazed at the white-haired girl who had risen, a faint, almost imperceptible smile gracing her lips.
“Xiaobai often praises you to me,” Xu Yanqing explained. “So, Su Muxue, please recite the emergency response procedure for us—a general overview will suffice, of course.”
Su Muxue blinked, and in the very next second, she opened her mouth to speak.
“First, upon receiving notification, one must perform password and format verification…”
As if inheriting Su Qingyao’s cadence, Su Muxue recited the manual’s contents verbatim, her voice soothing and melodious.
Initially, a few whispers could still be heard in the classroom.
However, by the time she reached the “Precautions” on the thirteenth line of the emergency procedure, a profound silence had fallen.
Xu Yanqing, too, transitioned from a gentle nod to a gaze filled with approval.
“What Su Muxue has said is absolutely correct. Everyone, please give Su Muxue a round of applause.”
****
Amidst the applause, Xu Yanqing adjusted her glasses and continued, “As Su Muxue just mentioned, danger still lurks within our cities. Even if we can use our experience to avoid known calamities, there are still unrecorded presences lurking in the shadows.”
“It is said that several Transcended individuals, those qualified as ‘leaders,’ succumbed to madness due to an as-yet-undiscovered Calamity, ultimately sacrificing themselves.”
The smile on Su Qingyao’s lips suddenly froze.
‘Why is she suddenly bringing up ancient history from so many years ago?’ she wondered.
Sure enough, a curious question from the little girl soon surfaced beside her ear.
“Mama, is what the teacher said true?”
With a sigh of resignation, Su Qingyao quietly let out a long breath.
“Of course, it’s—false.”
…Yet, that was not the truth.
Non-combat casualties in the form of madness had indeed occurred, specifically targeting the most elite Transcended.
The cause remained unknown even until the eve of the final battle.
As the fighting intensified, further investigation had to be abandoned.
They could only suppress the information, letting it become mere rumor.
This was the inherent tragedy of being a Transcended.
The pillars supporting the roof were often the most vulnerable to hidden damage, weren’t they?
‘Madness, though…’
Su Qingyao vaguely felt that, given her personality, there should have been research related to this in her memories.
Yet now, her memory contained only a blank space, encompassed by a distinct fissure.
“I see,” Su Muxue murmured, thoughtfully nodding her small head.
‘She believed it without much hesitation,’ Su Qingyao thought.
Su Qingyao felt a pang of inexplicable guilt. Yet, revealing certain truths would only cause pointless panic.
This was precisely the purpose of the information blockade.
Back then, the Transcended domain was an entirely new field, as evidenced by what Xu Yanqing was currently explaining from the podium.
Although being at the pinnacle of her branch had given the girl knowledge of magic far beyond her era, even now, one could still find fresh perspectives within it.
Knowledge and conjectures derived purely from experimentation and exploration.
‘No, no, that’s not right,’ Su Qingyao mused. ‘Doesn’t that make me sound like an old fossil?’
A strange competitive spirit flared within her.
“Oh, right, Mama has a very powerful trump card,” Su Qingyao whispered into Su Muxue’s ear, as if on a whim. “Want to learn it? It can completely unleash your talent.”
“Hmm?”
Su Muxue sat up straighter with curiosity, as if two ears had perked up on her head. “What is it?”
“And another thing,” Xu Yanqing’s voice carried from the stage, “you must never allow a magical girl’s ‘magic core’ to be damaged, let alone shatter.”
Xu Yanqing’s words, echoing from the front, left Su Qingyao’s recently opened mouth suspended in mid-air.
“Huh?”
The girl’s questioning gaze forced Su Qingyao to swallow her unfinished sentence and quickly change her words.
“Ahem, Xiaoxue, let’s learn that another time.”
As things stood now, the method of deliberately shattering one’s magic core to seek “possibilities” was utterly unspeakable.
‘This old fossil has been denied!’
Although she had somewhat forgotten the exact procedure, she could have at least bluffed her way through with the child.
Xu Yanqing’s timely remark had left Su Qingyao at a loss for words.
Su Qingyao cleared her throat softly twice, deftly steering the conversation away from Su Muxue, while her own thoughts inadvertently drifted.
‘Speaking of which, how is Lu Zhichuan doing?’ she wondered.
‘If he simply left Xiaoxue by the roadside and hasn’t arrived yet, then Su Qingyao would certainly have to hold that against Senior Lu.’
****
Xu Yanqing’s hand, holding the chalk, suddenly paused.
She hadn’t had any point of reference before.
It was only now, seeing Su Qingyao sitting amidst a cluster of vibrant young girls, whispering with her daughter, that she suddenly realized something.
Su Qingyao’s face was simply too youthful, even more akin to a young girl’s.
In a sense, this could only mean one thing: the inexplicable maternal aura surrounding Su Qingyao was so profound that it often caused people to overlook her youthful appearance.
‘Was it because Miss Su Qingyao was now a mother?’
Xu Yanqing didn’t quite understand, nor did she have any immediate interest in personally investigating.
Thus, this unspoken question quietly slipped away from the impassive magical girl’s mind.
Even though it had, for a brief moment, touched upon the very “essence” of Su Qingyao’s true identity.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read My Abnormal Life After Becoming a Monster! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : My Abnormal Life After Becoming a Monster
