Aya Tone’s excited reaction sent a jolt through the girls’ hearts. Their eyes widened with surprise.
“Teacher, we didn’t just hit the jackpot, did we!?”
“This is even rarer than hitting the jackpot.”
Aya Tone stared at the three of them, incredulous, then slowly spoke in a voice laced with astonishment. “You three are truly unbeatable! This is something countless people search their entire lives for, a once-in-a-century rarity, a…”
“An empty treasure chest! … Puhahahaha!”
By the end of his sentence, Aya Tone himself couldn’t maintain his composure, bursting into hearty laughter. For them to encounter something with such incredibly low odds was truly unparalleled. Normally, these treasure chests might not guarantee fantastic loot, but they usually contained *something*, even if it was just a few bones. One could only say… they had terrible luck.
“Teacher, are you messing with us?” Lin Ling pouted, her pretty face betraying her undisguised displeasure.
“Not at all. I just saw you looking a bit down, so I thought I’d lighten the mood.”
She still had two mission requests in hand, and a lack of enthusiasm simply wouldn’t do. After all, these were commissions she had painstakingly selected and snatched from a swarm of lesser competitors. The kind that would be snatched away in an instant if she were even a fraction of a second too slow.
“I don’t care!” Lin Ling pouted, turning her head away to signal her refusal. She had genuinely believed she’d opened a grand prize just moments ago, and had been incredibly excited. To be tricked like that… She was truly furious, the kind of anger that couldn’t be easily placated.
“How about I give you another one to try?”
“Oh, yes please!”
All traces of anger vanished from Lin Ling’s face as she gazed at Aya Tone with eager anticipation.
“Heh, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Aya Tone chuckled, rolling his eyes at her. He was just teasing; why would he actually give it away? If they weren’t proactive in finding treasure, then all the treasure chests belonged to him!
“First, why don’t you explain what that skill of yours is called?”
Aya Tone certainly hadn’t forgotten that back in the Ghost Realm, someone had seemingly shouted out a very familiar skill. To dare impersonate him so brazenly, right in front of the original user? ‘What audacity!’
“Uh…” Lin Ling’s outstretched hand froze mid-air. ‘How could Teacher still remember that?’ she grumbled inwardly. She’d only meant to be a little playful back then. ‘Teacher is truly petty,’ she thought.
“Cough, cough, I couldn’t help myself.”
“Your magic, Teacher, when shouted aloud, was just too cool.”
Lin Ling delivered this blatant lie without a hint of blush on her face or ears.
“Heh, is that so?”
“Absolutely! Teacher is my idol!” This, at least, was the unvarnished truth.
“Alright, I suppose that passes.”
Lin Ling then deftly shifted the topic. “By the way, Teacher, why do you always favor this particular spell? Is it because you can’t use other magic?”
Hearing this, Ye Liu and Liu Fei also turned their expectant gazes toward Aya Tone. This question had piqued the curiosity of not only them but also the majority of his fans across the country. During the S-rank qualifiers, this particular witch had only ever used one offensive spell, aside from her utility magic. It was well-known that every magic-aligned ability user possessed at least several offensive spells. For someone like Aya Tone to rely on just one offensive spell wasn’t unheard of, but it was certainly uncommon and set him apart from the norm.
“Huh?”
Aya Tone blinked, momentarily stunned, his eyes wide with confusion. ‘What kind of question is that?’ he wondered. After a moment’s thought, however, he voiced the truth of his convictions. “Isn’t magic simply about practicality? All those flashy tricks, and they still can’t block a single one of my blasts, can they?”
It wasn’t that he lacked other offensive spells; he simply found ‘Starlight Burst’ to be the most effective after experimenting. ‘No matter how strong you are, I’ll meet you with a blast. If you can withstand one blast, then congratulations, you get to endure another. And if that’s not enough, you’ll simply be obliterated.’ As for insufficient magical energy… that was utterly baseless! Aya Tone’s own magical reserves were more than capable of sustaining his extravagant usage. The concept of ‘frugality’ was a foreign one to him, a parallel line that never intersected with his reality. Furthermore, with repeated use, the power of his spells could be adjusted according to the strength of his magical energy. Strong against the strong, weak against the weak. Over the years, the only time his magical energy had ever been depleted was during his last visit to the Imperial Capital, where, eager to save lives, he had unleashed his full power without reservation. It was a shame that, for some unknown reason, he hadn’t been able to trigger the ‘Power of the Heart’ that time, or his energy wouldn’t have been depleted.
‘That’s… it?’ Lin Ling and the other two were utterly dumbfounded, a mix of exasperation and amusement on their faces. Many theories circulated online—everything from ‘specializing in a single strike’ to ‘breaking all laws with direct force.’ Yet, they had never imagined the true answer would be so incredibly simple.
“Hey, snap out of it,” Aya Tone called, tapping the empty treasure chest. His voice immediately jolted the three girls back from their stupor. ‘So Teacher is truly that powerful? Even all those S-rank powerhouses couldn’t compel him to use a second offensive spell.’ Consequently, their gazes at Aya Tone grew even more fervent. ‘Their abilities belonged to the same series as Teacher’s, so did that mean…?’
Aya Tone’s scalp began to tingle under their intense scrutiny. Meeting their purposeful gazes, his small hands instinctively moved to shield his front as he warned, “What do you three want? Let me tell you, even though I specialize in blasts, I do know a thing or two about hand-to-hand combat. Don’t get any wrong ideas!”
“No, no~ Teacher, we just want to know the secret to your power. Could you teach us?”
The three girls tossed their empty treasure chests onto the table, then, with sweet smiles, they crowded around Aya Tone, their voices dripping with saccharine sweetness. The sound sent a jolt through Aya Tone’s entire being.
“Ew~ that’s disgusting,” Aya Tone muttered, trying to push them away with a look of distaste. However, in his current female form, without magical enhancement, his strength was even less than that of a middle-schooler. His feeble shoves felt more like a gentle massage to the three girls, causing them no harm whatsoever. After several attempts, he couldn’t push them away. Instead, he stumbled, effectively pushing himself further into their embrace. Seeing this, the three girls became even more brazen, their lips curving into delighted arcs. Gone was the initial worried expression they had worn. Lin Ling, in particular, was the most audacious, simply scooping Aya Tone up and settling him onto her lap.
“Hey! That’s too much! I’m getting angry!” Aya Tone’s feet dangled for a moment before his back met a soft, yielding surface, sending a shiver of alarm through him. ‘This is definitely not something to be touched!’ ‘I have to escape!’ He struggled frantically, attempting to quickly extricate himself from this perilous situation. Yet, before he could even exert his strength, reports of ‘Little Left’ and ‘Little Right’ falling captive reached him. Turning his head, he discovered his ‘Big Wife’ and ‘Second Wife’ had already been taken captive. ‘No! My comrades! The battle hasn’t even begun, and two great generals on my side have already been lost. How can I possibly fight now?’
“Teacher, don’t be shy. We’re all girls, so a little closeness is perfectly normal. Please, just tell us your secret to becoming strong. We’re so eager to improve!”
“Stop! I’ll teach you, I will! Lin Ling, my dear student! Please stop blowing into my ear when you speak!” Aya Tone’s voice was laced with a mix of shame and indignation. ‘Just speak normally! What’s with blowing into my ear?’ The female body was far more sensitive than the male, and with just a slight stimulation, his ears had already turned a deep crimson, looking almost tempting enough to bite.
“No rush, Teacher~ You smell so good~”
The playful antics between the girls quickly drew the attention of everyone else in the shop. After all, Lin Ling and the other two were already attractive, and having not yet been ‘baptized’ by the great dye vat of society, they still exuded an undeniable youthful charm that held a mysterious allure for most people. Not to mention Aya Tone, who was currently being playfully mobbed in the center. His recognizability was far too high; who in Yan’an City didn’t know him? For a moment, the bustling shop fell quiet, save for the sounds of the four of them playfully bickering. Everyone else silently pulled out their phones, eager to capture this delightful scene.