The next afternoon, Roland received Sharon’s ability report.
“That was fast.” He raised his eyebrows as Wendy handed him the test sheets. “Has she accepted what she is?”
“Yes—calmer about it than we expected.” Wendy laughed and recounted the previous evening. “Her parents raised a fine child, whoever they were.”
Hmm. The thought settled quietly. In this era, a person capable of that kind of far-sighted moral reasoning was rare enough to be called a pioneer. But perhaps this was how history had always moved: a belief passed down, generation by generation, until the numbers holding it reached a certain weight—and then the world shifted. A little spark, and the great fire followed. Mankind had probably always climbed toward civilization in exactly these small, mostly anonymous steps.
He studied the test results, paying particular attention to the evaluation of magic power. Sharon had awakened at fifteen, young even by witch standards, and her magic cyclone already measured above average—comparable, the report noted, to adult witches from Taquila. Phyllis’s handwriting, that last observation. Among the witches of Neverwinter, she was usually the most precise assessor of new arrivals.
Sharon’s ability was the generation of electric current. Wendy’s write-up on this section was somewhat vague, which was understandable: electricity was among the harder topics in elementary physics, and Wendy had been working from careful observation rather than theory.
At high intensity, the current consumption of magic power rose sharply—but the electricity became strong enough to shatter wooden planks and melt iron. At lower intensity, Sharon needed direct contact to produce an effect; she could light a bulb, for instance, though she tended to burn the filament. Her control was still erratic, as one would expect from a witch only days past her first bite.
Wendy’s recommendation: primarily a combat witch, with production potential to be developed over time.
Roland had no plans for a retest. He had no instruments to measure voltage or current precisely, so any retest would only produce the same qualitative picture. Besides, there was a principle at work here that mattered more than raw measurements: all effects produced by magic power—Anna’s blackfire, Sharon’s electric current—did not necessarily follow the physics he knew. They corresponded to theory only when they were transformed a second time into other effects. Until that transformation occurred, the raw ability was its own law.
What was already clear was that Sharon had real potential. He was curious to know what a full understanding of electric current might unlock in her—what her power would become once the second transformation happened, and how much her magic capacity would grow as she aged. For now, though, he would follow Wendy’s recommendation: let her practice at her own pace, catch up on her studies, and settle into the Union without pressure.
He thought of her sense of justice, and had a brief, vivid image of her years from now—badge on her coat, lightning crackling at her fingertips, walking the streets of Neverwinter at night. An electricity-generating young lady patrolling the city and arresting criminals. The image was, for reasons he did not explain aloud, exceptionally familiar.
He nodded at Wendy. “We’ll do exactly as you’ve recommended. Thank you.”
“My honor, Your Majesty.” Wendy bowed.
When Roland came back to his office after dinner, he found that Lily and Mystery Moon had both joined Nightingale inside. The three of them were clustered around the desk, apparently in the middle of an argument.
“Look at this,” Nightingale said, gesturing toward him as he entered. “They look so real—it’s unbelievable.”
“What is it?” Roland approached, and only then saw the two pots of Bird Beak Mushrooms on the table. One pot looked shriveled and dull, like something that had been simmering in stock for hours. The other was plump and glistening. He pinched a stalk from the fresher pot; sap welled up immediately, cool against his fingers. “This is quite fresh. Did Lightning pick these on patrol?”
Nightingale and Mystery Moon turned to look at Lily in unison.
Lily shrugged. “I made them with my magic power.”
“Oh,” Roland said automatically—and then caught himself and went very still. “Wait. You made them? With magic power?”
“Her cohering ability has changed,” Nightingale explained. “If the first evolution added the pattern—the purple worm—then the second evolution has added a new layer. Her magic power capacity has grown as well.” A small pause. “To put it plainly: Lily’s ability has evolved a second time.”
“They’re still worms,” Mystery Moon added, unable to help herself. Lily shot her a look of pure disgust.
Roland picked up another mushroom and turned it over in his fingers, thinking quickly. “You’re able to make a swarm of parent worms take any form you choose?”
“Yes—but the target must be something observable through a microscope, and I need a suitable sample before the assimilation can proceed.” Lily nodded. Her expression was composed, but the light behind her eyes said everything she wasn’t saying. “Bird Beak Mushroom spores are relatively easy to observe under magnification, so I started there.”
Fungal spores. The building block of fungi. Roland’s mind moved ahead of his words. To Lily, any organism invisible to the naked eye could now, in principle, be controlled and replicated. The implications were staggering.
“Excellent,” he said, and reached out and pressed his palm to her forehead in praise.
Lily didn’t pull away. She didn’t roll her eyes. She lowered her head and accepted it quietly.
“And what about me?” Mystery Moon’s voice came out plaintive. “Your Highness—my bedroom is uninhabitable. There are Bird Beak Mushrooms on everything. My bed looks like the Misty Forest after a rainstorm.”
Lily’s cheeks went red. She glanced away. “I don’t know how it happened exactly. At first the worms wouldn’t take the mushroom form at all—I thought there was something wrong with the parent. When I switched to a different parent and resumed the experiment, I didn’t anticipate that the whole room would…” She trailed off.
Roland pieced together the rest from what he knew of biology: unlike a seed, a single fungal spore can’t become a mushroom alone. Two spores must combine. So when Lily discarded the parent within the room, it had drifted through the space on the air, assimilating bacteria into bird beak mushroom spores as it traveled—two spores meeting here and there, germinating wherever they landed.
He pictured the bedroom. He started laughing.
“We shall have a mushroom feast for lunch tomorrow,” he announced.
After Lily’s second transformation, her ability was no longer limited to sterilization and disinfection. Any observable organism could be replicated and spread like a natural microbe, multiplying outward in its transformed form. A complete microscopic army, grown from nothing, for next to nothing. Whether for food production or for war, she could play a role now that no one else in the Witch Union could fill.
Translator: Transn Editor: Meh
The next day afternoon, Roland received Sharon’s ability report.
“That’s fast.” He raised his eyebrows as Wendy handed him the test sheets. “Has she accepted that she’s now a witch?”
“Yes, and in a calmer way than we’d expected.” Wendy laughed as she recounted the meeting from the previous night. “I’ve to say, her parents have brought up a fine child.”
“Hmm…” Roland was rather impressed himself. In this era, someone who could make such far-sighted considerations would already be considered a pioneer. Perhaps, this was how history had always been driven. As a belief was passed down the generations, more and more people were imbued with the same aspiration, and when the numbers reached a certain level, the world would undergo an extraordinary change.
As they say, a little spark can kindle a great fire.
Perhaps, Mankind had reached civilization by taking small steps like this.
He examined the details of the test, particularly the evaluation of magic power. As a witch who was awakened at the young age of 15, Sharon’s magic cyclone ability was of an above-average standard. It was even noted in the report that this was comparable to adult witches in Taquila. Evidently, Phyllis was present during the test – among the witches in Neverwinter City, she was often the one who was most receptive to the arrival of new witches.
Sharon’s ability was to generate electric currents. However, Wendy’s writeup on this section was rather vague, perhaps because the study of electricity
was one of the more difficult topics within elementary physics.
When she increased the intensity of her electric currents, the consumption of magic power would rapidly increase, but her electric currents would become strong enough to break wooden planks and melt iron. At a weaker intensity, she would need to touch the object to produce an effect, such as lighting a light bulb, albeit she was prone to burning the filament.
As Sharon had only recently awakened, her control of magic power was very unstable. Wendy’s conclusion was that she was most suited to be a combat witch, while also having potential to assist in production.
Roland had no plans to do a retest. After all, he had no tools to measure electrical voltage and current, and therefore would not be able to obtain exact values.
Furthermore, Sharon would have to expend a lot of magic power to release high-voltage electric current. Her ability to maintain the transmission of electricity was obviously not as good as Mystery Moon’s Dawn I, let alone an electromagnetic gun.
But most importantly, all effects that were produced by magic power, whether it be Anna’s blackfire or Sharon’s electric current, did not necessarily comply with the related theories. Only when the abilities were transformed for a second time into other effects would they correspond with the knowledge he had.
In sum, it was already clear that Sharon’s ability had a lot of potential. Roland was certainly eager to know what kind of progress could be made when the essence of electric current was fully understood, as well as to see how much Sharon’s magic power would improve by as she grew older. But for now, it was best to follow Wendy’s recommendation to allow Sharon to practice on her own and focus on her studies, in which she had some catching up to do.
Roland thought about her strong sense of justice, and suddenly had an idea to admit her into the judiciary one day.
“An electricity-generating young lady patrolling the streets and arresting criminals… this seems to be exceptionally familiar.”
Without revealing his thoughts aloud, he nodded at Wendy and said, “We’ll do as you’ve recommended, many thanks.”
“My honor, Your Majesty,” Wendy bowed.
…
When Roland returned to his office after dinner, he discovered that Lily and Mystery Moon had joined Nightingale in the room. The trio were gathered around the desk and seemed to be in an argument.
“Take a look at this.” Nightingale gestured towards Roland. “My goodness, they look so real!”
“What is it?” Roland walked up to the desk curiously, and only then noticed the two pots of bird beak mushrooms placed on the table.
“Eh… what’s with these mushrooms?” One pot of mushrooms seemed rather shrivelled like kitchen stock, while the other was much fresher and juicier. He pinched a mushroom stalk from the latter, causing its sap to gush out immediately. “This is quite fresh. Were these recently picked by Lightning?”
Nightingale and Mystery Moon turned to look at Lily in unison.
Lily shrugged her shoulders. “I used my magic power to create them.”
“Oh… magic power?” Roland casually replied before he startled violently. “Wait… what? You used magic power to create them?”
“Your Highness, her cohering ability has changed somewhat,” Nightingale explained. “If, let’s say, it was only a purple worm after the first evolution, it has now added patterns on its back. Her magic power capacity has also increased.” After a brief pause, she continued, “In other words, Lily’s ability has evolved a second time.”
“But still, they’re worms!” Mystery Moon chimed in. Of course, this provoked a look of disgust from Lily.
“Is this so?” Roland joyfully picked up another mushroom and examined it carefully. He quickly understood how she had created them. “You’re now able to make a magical swarm of worms turn into a particular form that you want?”
“Yes. But they must at least be visible through a microscope, and a suitable target must be found, before the next step of assimilation can be transacted.” Lily nodded. Although she acted very calm, the glimmer in her eyes gave away her inner delight. “Because the worms produced by bird beak mushrooms are relatively easier to observe, I chose them for this experiment.”
She was most likely referring to fungal spore, which was also the building block of fungi. Roland started to feel excited. Perhaps, to Lily, organisms which were invisible to the naked eye, such as microscopic bugs, could now be controlled.
“Excellent!” He reached out his hand and caressed her forehead.
Unexpectedly, Lily did not move away or roll her eyes at him. Instead, she lowered her head and accepted his compliments.
“How is that any good.” Mystery Moon grumbled. “Your Highness, my bedroom is no longer inhabitable! There are bird beak mushrooms everywhere, even on my bed, which now resembles the Misty Forest after a rain!”
Lily’s cheeks suddenly reddened. She glanced at Mystery Moon and said, “I… I don’t know why it would be like this either… At first, the worms couldn’t turn into bird beak mushrooms at all, and I even thought that there was a problem with the parent I was using. After I changed the parent, I didn’t imagine that the whole house would grow full of mushrooms.”
When Roland understood the whole story, he could not help but laugh aloud. From the little knowledge of biology he remembered, unlike a seed which
could grow into a large tree, a single mushroom spore could not grow into a mushroom, no matter how much assimilation was done. Only after the parent mushroom was changed, two spores might combine and grow into mushrooms. The reason why they grew everywhere was likely to be because the parent was discarded within the room, where it drifted around and assimilated bacteria into bird beak mushroom spores.
“We shall have a mushroom feast for lunch tomorrow.” He announced gleefully.
Indubitably, after Lily’s second transformation, her ability was no longer limited to sterilization and disinfection. Any observable thing could be wholly transformed for next to no cost, and could be multiplied and expanded like a regular microbe, so as to form a complete ‘microscopic’ army of its own. Whether it be food production or war preparation, she would be able to play a great role from now onwards.