"Mu Lin…"
It felt like a long, intoxicating dream—sweet and wild, her soul drained dry, her body crumbled and powerless, yearning only to sink forever into sleep.
"Mu Lin…"
Someone called to her from the depths of consciousness, gently shaking her to wake.
"Please, Noyes… spare me…" the girl mumbled with eyes still closed, wanting just a little more rest.
"Mu Lin, wake up!" Nina's voice rose sharply as she shoved her harder, jolting her awake.
The instant clarity returned, Mu Lin shot upright, sucking in a cold breath.
More than twenty classmates turned in unison to stare; some already wore amused smirks. Magic Theory instructor Rolin stood with arms folded, expression blank. "You can answer this: how many fixed patterns are in the tracing spell's array?"
…...
In a side room of the Cis Holy See library, Mu Lin lay slumped over a desk, miserably drawing array after array across the pages.
"I never would've guessed—High Priest Noyes looks so cool and aloof, but his needs are pretty intense." Nina's lips curved in a mischievous, knowing grin as she jotted something in her little notebook.
No! It's not what you think! Mu Lin roared inwardly, but the words died on her tongue; she only let out a weary, defeated sigh.
Midterm results were out, and—as expected—she ranked dead last. Aside from a few theory courses she barely managed, every other subject was disastrous. Over a month in the Holy See, Mu Lin spent days in classes and nights dragged off by Noyes for brutal special training that left her feeling dismantled. Yet no matter how hard she tried, her magic showed not the slightest improvement.
The title of "waste" was now firmly hers. Unable to face the mocking or pitying stares, she found fleeting peace only in this perpetually deserted library.
"Sigh…" Her fiftieth sigh of the day.
"You're putting too much pressure on yourself," Waste No. 2 beside her said cheerfully, far more relaxed about grades.
Nina's magic was pitifully weak too, but her photographic memory and obsessive love of books had earned her a position in the Holy See library. Alongside her priest—who managed procurement—she lived quite comfortably.
"I wish I had your mindset," Mu Lin said, collapsing face-down on the desk in despair. "Noyes must be so disappointed in me."
"Don't take it too hard. Some people are just late bloomers. Maybe once you're actually on the battlefield you'll discover your power." Nina wasn't lying; many witches exploded with strength far beyond their norm in real combat. "You know Elysia, right?"
Mu Lin nodded. The famed top witch of the Cis Holy See, familiar to Bishop Timothy—terrifyingly strong, supposedly undefeated.
"Her grades in school were even worse than yours. Thanks to her, the rest of us stragglers don't get bullied too badly. There's precedent, after all—people leave a little room, just in case another top witch emerges."
So even the legendary witch had such a dark academic history. Mu Lin felt slightly better. But she dared not pin hopes on miracles; wishing to become a top witch felt far too unrealistic.
She kept drawing the intricate arrays, though she lacked the magic to use them. Witch combat relied mainly on fusion with their inner monster; few bothered studying the tedious arrays and incantations priests needed. But Mu Lin had no room to be picky—these were among the few pitiful points she could earn.
Noyes sat motionless in his chair, his calm face betraying nothing.
"That's roughly the situation," Sister Theresa said, smoothing the grade sheet in her hands. "Aside from theory courses—which she barely keeps up with—every class requiring magic places her dead last. She's close to breaking the lowest-score record Elysia once held. From every angle, apart from strong regeneration, she's essentially an ordinary girl with none of the abilities a witch should possess."
The silver-haired priest remained silent. He had known Mu Lin's magic was weak—only not this weak. These weeks of special training had shown him that talent gaps truly existed.
Her theory scores weren't bad; catching up on half a semester's material in little over a month despite late enrollment proved her effort. But magic wasn't something effort alone could produce.
"How did Elysia become so strong later?" He clutched at the last straw.
"She was freakishly powerful from the very first day she became a witch," Theresa said mercilessly, shattering the illusion. "Her bad grades came from chronic truancy that disqualified her from exams."
Noyes's expression darkened further.
The sister gazed sympathetically at her troubled old friend and couldn't resist a gentle reminder. "Though Elysia's exceptional case means no one dares judge a witch solely on school performance… you're someone the Cis Holy See places great hopes in. If Mu Lin never demonstrates strength matching yours…" Theresa paused, lowering her voice, "…Bishop Timothy likely won't remain hands-off forever."