Chapter 9: Is it funny that I got beaten up by my master?

“What a shame. I don’t accept little girls who can’t even use a single proper spell as my apprentices, you know.”

After easily knocking little Charlotte to the ground and seeing that she was too exhausted to get back up, Chloe, leisurely sitting on her floating broom, declared Charlotte’s challenge a failure with a regretful look.

“What is this?” Hearing Chloe’s one-sided declaration, little Charlotte vented her inner dissatisfaction. “You didn’t even give me a chance to use magic!”

“Oh? You mean to say, if I didn’t interfere, you could have successfully cast a spell?”

“Of course! Did you think I was some kind of idiot who came to find you without any preparation?”

“Alright then, I’ll give you one chance to use magic on me! However, I have a bad habit. I absolutely will not spare anyone who uses magic on me. Even if the spell is so weak it can’t even touch my body, I will do everything in my power to annihilate the naughty little girl who used magic on me. Are you really prepared to be annihilated by me?”

“Whoa, what is she, Yan Shuangying?¹” Yukina, who was watching the battle from under the large nearby tree, couldn’t help but retort upon hearing Chloe’s terrifying declaration.

However, little Charlotte was not intimidated by Chloe’s words. To her, proving that she was not a useless failure who couldn’t use magic was clearly more important than protecting her own life.

“Hmph, I’m not afraid!”

Little Charlotte used all her strength to struggle back up from the grass.

Although she was covered in mud, with a few patches on her face, little Charlotte paid no mind to the stains. Instead, she stared with exceptional seriousness at the witch before her, who hadn’t let her feet touch the ground from the very beginning.

‘This time, I’ll definitely bring this person down to the ground!’

With this thought, little Charlotte raised her wand, pointed it at Chloe, and, just as the magic book instructed, recited the corresponding incantation.

“Oh, spirits of the wind, unleash your fury—Level Eight Great Gale!”

This was the only spell she knew. Although its effect was only a whirlwind strong enough to blow away flowers and grass, that was more than enough!

However, no whirlwind emerged from the tip of her wand. Not even a gust of wind stirred around her. It was as if nothing had happened.

“Eh?” Little Charlotte’s face was a mask of bewilderment.

How could the whirlwind spell, which she could usually cast, fail this one time?

She quickly recited the same incantation again, but the result was the same as before. As always, nothing happened.

It was like Li Jue’s Seizing Charge,² utterly useless.

The scene instantly became exceptionally awkward.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible!”

Little Charlotte, in a panic, continued to shout the incantation, the movements of her waving wand becoming frantic.

Then, on her fifth recitation of the spell, the wand in her hand suddenly snapped in two out of thin air.

One half fell into the grass below. Charlotte, holding the other half, had a look of utter shock on her face.

“My wand, how could it…”

“Is that your wand? The workmanship is so shoddy. No wonder the spirits aren’t responding to your call,” Chloe, sitting on her broom, had spotted the problem. “Using a wand like that to cast magic is a grave blasphemy against the spirits. They might punish you by making you unable to use magic for the rest of your life, you know.”

“For the rest of my life… How could this be?”
Learning that she might never be able to use magic for the rest of her life, little Charlotte was dealt a heavy blow and immediately lost her fighting spirit.

“Little girl, don’t just give up on your own! Things aren’t over yet!”

“Eh?”

“I said it before, didn’t I? I won’t spare anyone who points a wand at me and tries to use magic, even if it’s just a little girl who hasn’t even grown all her hair yet.”

Hearing this, little Charlotte finally realized the gravity of the situation and stumbled backward in a panic.

“Are you going to attack a helpless little girl?”

“Of course! Seeing how hard you’ve worked, I’ll reward you with a blast of my specialty, Blazing Prairie Fire!”

Chloe raised her wand, pointed it at little Charlotte, and gave a wicked smile.

“Oh, spirits of fire, burn everything before you—Fireball Barrage!”

As soon as she finished speaking, countless fireballs appeared around Chloe and rained down on little Charlotte.

Seeing this, little Charlotte was so scared she quickly turned and ran.

‘I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die! I’m really going to die!’

But because little Charlotte had already exhausted most of her stamina in the previous fight, she didn’t have enough energy to escape now. After just a few steps, she was already gasping for breath.

The fireballs exploded one after another behind her. The scorching flames licked at the back of her neck, causing a sharp, stinging pain.

The last fireball exploded right at her heels, sending little Charlotte flying.

Yukina blinked blankly as she looked at the little Charlotte who had just rolled to her feet, emitting black smoke and looking like she was already well-roasted.

If she hadn’t seen with her own eyes that her brother was still alive and kicking right beside her, she would have really thought that little Charlotte had died before her quest had even truly begun.

“Wow, your master is way too harsh! She actually blasted you into that state. You didn’t suffer any permanent damage, did you?”

“It’s fine. It was a necessary sacrifice. Without my master’s tempering, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have become the strongest Star Witch so quickly. Just keep watching, Yukina. The main event is next!” the older Charlotte beside her said.

“You got beaten that badly, and you can still make a comeback?”

Just as Yukina finished speaking, the little Charlotte lying at her feet suddenly coughed twice.

It seemed she still had a breath left in her.

“Oh, you’re still alive? You’re quite lucky, little girl!”

Chloe, sitting on her broom, slowly floated over towards little Charlotte.

But when little Charlotte saw Chloe approaching, she surprisingly showed no panic. Instead, she pushed herself up from the grass.

With her stamina depleted, the action of getting up was incredibly slow.

“I see now. I was mistaken.”

“Oh?”

“I misunderstood how to communicate with the spirits. I thought that, just like the magic book said, I could cast spells by using a wand and chanting incantations, but that’s not how it works. I don’t need a wand or incantations at all. From the very beginning, my favorability with the spirits was maxed out. Using a wand and incantations actually made the spirits throw a tantrum at me. I’m really sorry to them.”

Saying this, little Charlotte raised her hand and gently pressed it against her chest.

In an instant, all of little Charlotte’s injuries were healed. Not only that, but all the stains on her clothes were also cleared away. The entire outfit was as clean as if they had been thoroughly washed with laundry detergent.

“Holy magic?!” Chloe’s face was filled with astonishment.

“Hey, black-haired witch-sister, you wouldn’t mind having another intense magical duel with your little sister here, would you!”
As she said this, little Charlotte raised her head, staring at Chloe with a serious expression, a blazing fire seemingly burning in her eyes.

¹ Yan Shuangying: The protagonist of a popular Chinese TV drama series called Detective Di Renjie. He is known for his stoic demeanor, incredible combat skills, and penchant for making menacing, over-the-top threats to his enemies.

² Li Jue’s Seizing Charge: This is a reference to the Chinese card game Sanguosha. Li Jue is a character in the game with a skill called 袭夺 (Xíduó), or Seizing Charge. The line is often used by players to humorously describe a situation where a powerful-sounding action ends up having a very weak or completely negligible effect.