Isa’s Advancement

“Winnie, how do you think I should cook this?”

Eve, wearing an apron and holding a kitchen knife, looked at the fresh ingredients she had just bought, at a loss for where to start.

“Your Highness, I will teach you.”

Winnie snapped back from her brief memory.

Her Highness the Princess had learned to cook from her.

This meant that the taste of her own cooking would definitely have similarities to the dishes Her Highness made.

Having returned to her own dormitory, Winnie hadn’t thought of this for a moment.

When making dinner, she had simply looked at what was in the refrigerator and cooked in the way that came most naturally to her.

Now that Su Ran had tasted the food, she might discover something from it.

“What’s wrong?”

Maintaining a calm expression, Winnie decided to wait and see Su Ran’s reaction.

‘Manager Winnie’s cooking tastes so similar to Eve’s… Is it because I still haven’t moved on from the shadow of Eve’s passing?’

Su Ran had read somewhere that the departure of a loved one is not a sudden storm, but a long, damp season that lasts a lifetime.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that when she ate food with a similar taste, she subconsciously associated it with the memory of Eve’s cooking.

“It’s nothing. Your cooking just reminded me of some things,” Su Ran shook her head.

After thinking it over carefully, Su Ran felt her own idea was a bit absurd.

‘How could Manager Winnie’s cooking taste the same as Eve’s? I must be overthinking things.’

“Xiao Ran, eat up. You have on-the-job training tomorrow, which will definitely be tiring.”

The only one at the dinner table who could enjoy the delicious meal without a care in the world was likely Yuan Shirui.

With Yuan Shirui’s words, the atmosphere at the table became lively again.

Seeing that Su Ran had no intention of dwelling on the topic, Winnie gradually relaxed.

Dressed in a new nightgown, Su Ran sank into the soft bed.

Winnie had not only bought her underwear but also a considerable amount of stockings, casual clothes, and nightgowns.

When the shop assistants delivered the clothes in the evening, they had already filled the wardrobe in Su Ran’s room, with many boxes still left unpacked.

Like the one she was wearing now, a round-collared nightgown with abundant ruffles, which had just been unpacked that afternoon.

The only slight imperfection was that all the clothes Winnie bought for her were dresses; there wasn’t a single pair of pants.

Of course, if tights counted as pants, then there were quite a few.

However, if it came down to wearing only tights, Su Ran would rather wear a dress to go out.

She felt the soreness spreading from her calves.

Su Ran gave a helpless, bitter smile.

She had originally planned to walk less for the next two days to let herself recover and allow her legs to slowly adapt.

Unexpectedly, due to Li Ming’s attack, she had ended up walking a great deal again today.

Su Ran’s current condition was just sore legs; there were no other major issues, so this effect was still within her range of tolerance.

To avoid any further complications, Su Ran prepared to find and deal with Li Ming tomorrow.

She had already heard from Yuan Shirui that after the on-the-job training tomorrow, Winnie would take them to the supermarket to restock the fridge.

She could use that time to slip away, use the tracking potion to find Li Ming, and finish him off.

‘Speaking of which, have Isa and the others returned from Blackstone City?’

Without a computer, Su Ran could only take out her phone.

The mobile interface of the Witch Game was no different from the PC version; it just looked like it had been scaled down proportionally.

Su Ran saw that Isa was currently meditating with her eyes closed, using the magic essence crystal she received from her daily sign-in reward.

Just as Su Ran confirmed that Isa had safely left Blackstone City and decided not to disturb her meditation…

The magic essence crystal in Isa’s hand was instantly covered in cracks, and the last bit of magic essence was absorbed by her completely.

However, Isa’s meditative state did not end with the depletion of the magic essence crystal.

Instead, she began to continuously absorb the free-floating magic essence from the air.

At this moment, Isa seemed to be at the center of a vortex, constantly pulling magic essence into her body.

“What’s happening?”

The door to Isa’s room was broken open by a hurriedly arrived Philly, with Maimai following slowly behind her.

Sensing the pull of Isa’s magic essence absorption, the two of them had rushed over immediately.

“Isa is about to advance to Sequence Three, but the magic essence concentration here isn’t high enough.”

With Isa nearby, Su Ran’s voice could reach Philly’s and Maimai’s ears.

“What should we do?”

Insufficient magic essence concentration could cause Isa’s advancement to fail, possibly leaving behind lasting side effects.

Philly and Maimai were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, wishing they could conjure a large number of magic essence crystals for Isa to use right now.

“You don’t need to worry. I won’t let anything happen to Isa.”

Hearing Su Ran’s voice, their anxious moods instantly eased.

With Lord Su Ran here, there was no way anything would happen to Isa so easily.

After reassuring the two, Su Ran continued to look at the small screen in front of her, where the system was displaying Isa’s status.

[Name: Isa]

[Sequence: Current Magic Essence: 200 (Note: Due to sequence advancement, witch abilities are also undergoing new changes. A higher concentration of magic essence is required to complete this advancement.)]

‘It seems the big commotion Isa is causing this time is clearly because this place cannot satisfy the magic essence she needs for the dual breakthrough of her witch abilities and sequence advancement.’

Knowing the reason made it very easy for Su Ran to handle.

After the daily sign-in started giving magic essence crystals, the high-level magic essence concentration-boosting magic circle appeared less frequently.

But Su Ran had been continuously renewing her 18-yuan membership.

After all, the discounted initial Sequence Six service that came with the membership was just too good.

Being able to use it for only ten thousand yuan made it impossible for her to stop.

If one day this service was gone, Su Ran couldn’t imagine how sad she would be.

As the last of the balance on Su Ran’s bank card was withdrawn by the Witch Game, the magic essence concentration in the area surrounding the small cabin in the woods began to rise continuously.

“This…”

Philly and Maimai were speechless as they felt the steadily climbing concentration of magic essence.

The physical sensation was the most obvious.

They had personally experienced what the magic essence concentration here was like before.

Not long after Lord Su Ran’s voice faded, the magic essence concentration around Isa was constantly increasing.

This was clearly the work of the Lord.

Compared to those who needed to draw magic circles stroke by stroke, Lord Su Ran used them as simply and easily as eating and drinking.

With the coverage of the high-level magic essence concentration-boosting magic circle, Isa’s original pull on the magic essence gradually weakened, and the aura around her slowly stabilized.