Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

Soon, it was the morning of the next day.

The mountain road was steeper than Wien had imagined.

The carriage couldn't go any further halfway up the mountain; there were too many loose rocks, and the wheels were slipping. The driver jumped down, glanced at the situation, shook his head, and said he could only take them this far. Wayne paid the fare and got out of the carriage with the three women. Emma was the first to jump down, stepping on a loose rock. She wobbled for a moment, but Ella grabbed her arm.

"careful."

"It's okay, it's okay." Emma steadied herself, glanced back down the mountain, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's so high!"

Looking down from here, Frost Town stretches across the valley, its houses resembling building blocks and its streets like a chessboard, extending all the way to the foot of the mountains to the north.

The town's outline was indeed unlike that of an ordinary small town. The city walls were made of thick and neat stone, with arrow towers at all four corners. The wall on the north side was particularly high, like a dike stretching between the town and the mountain behind it.

It's more accurate to describe it as a small border fortress than a small town.

"Master, they're here," Ella's voice came from the side.

Three figures were walking down the mountain path.

Leading the way was Tiruru, whose silver hair gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and she was wearing a light gray long dress today.

Emily followed behind her, walking slower than Tilulu, a thin layer of shadow beneath her feet.

Dora walked at the back, clutching the thick notebook in her arms, her face slightly flushed as she looked at Wayne.

It seems that Dora has recovered these past few days.

"Mr. Wayne."

Tilulu walked up to her and stopped.

"My older sister asked me to pick you up."

"This is troublesome."

Tilulu's gaze lingered on his face for a moment before shifting away and turning to walk up the mountain.

"Come with me."

"Sister Tilulu," Emma peeked out from beside Wayne, "Wow, you live so high up! Do you have to climb such a high mountain every day?"

"Um."

"Aren't you tired?"

"I'm used to it."

"Oh." Emma nodded, then asked after walking a while, "So how do you buy things since you live up in the mountains?"

"Go down the mountain to buy it."

"Do you always have to walk this far?"

"Um."

"That's too much trouble."

Tilulu didn't reply.

Emma didn't seem to care and continued speaking:

"But living high up has its advantages; you can see far. From up here, you can see the whole town; it's beautiful."

Tiny white flowers bloom in the bushes on both sides of the mountain road, and when the wind blows, the petals drift onto the road.

Emma reached out to catch it, but missed.

Tilu walked at the front, her pace neither fast nor slow, her silver hair swaying gently over her shoulders. She didn't turn around, but her ears were constantly twitching, listening to the sounds behind her.

Emily came around from the back of the line.

She walked over to Wayne and stood beside him.

"Mr. Wayne." Her voice was very low, as if she was afraid of being overheard by the person in front of her.

Wayne glanced at her sideways.

"Um."

Emily twisted her fingers inside her sleeve.

"About the... curse." Her voice lowered further. "You cleansed it for me last time, and it faded a lot. But recently... it seems to have come back a little."

As she spoke, the tips of her ears turned a faint pink. It wasn't the kind of blush of shyness, but rather the awkwardness of being too embarrassed to speak but having no choice but to.

"Could...could you please take another look at this for me?"

Wayne didn't stop.

"Can."

Emily nodded, quickened her pace, and walked back behind Tilulu. Wayne assumed the matter was settled and would discuss it further once they arrived at their destination.

Then there was a movement inside his robe.

It wasn't blown by the wind.

It wasn't from the fabric.

Something emerged from the shadows inside his robe and hooked his little finger.

The panel popped up.

Emily Shadow Leap

[Ability Description: Allows any part of the user's body that is currently in shadow to appear in any shadow within sight.]

[Note: She felt incredibly excited at that moment. Like having an affair. The word swirled in her mind, but she quickly suppressed it. It wasn't an affair, it was therapy. She was just reserving a spot in advance, so she wouldn't be left out when it was too crowded. She told herself that.]

[Note 2: Her shadow-based abilities have found unexpected uses. She can make any part of her body that is in shadow appear anywhere within sight. Not a shadow, but a real limb. This means that she is currently standing still, but her right hand... no, not just her right hand. She can make any part of her body appear in any shadow.]

[Also: She was thinking about something earth-shattering. Beneath her clothes, many parts of herself were shrouded in shadow.]

Wayne regained his footing.

He gently moved the hooked little finger, not pulling it back, just moving it slightly.

Emily walked ahead, the tips of her ears turning even redder.

The mountain path continues upwards.

Dora caught up from behind, adjusted her glasses, and smiled at Wayne. The smile had a deliberately natural quality, as if it had been rehearsed beforehand.

"Mr. Wayne, is this your first time visiting the mountains?"

"Um."

"The mountain path is difficult to walk on, please watch your step."

"it is good."

Wayne looked away, his fingers twitching slightly inside his sleeve. To be precise, it was half-intentional.

His hand, resting on Emily's little finger, gently brushed against her knuckle with the pad of his finger. A tiny wisp of magical element seeped from his fingertip, creeping along the lines of her skin onto the back of her hand.

Emily's legs went weak.

However, he did not fall.

Emily, the Shadow Witch

Current status: Happy

[Past: During her childhood awakening, her mother locked her in the cellar for three days and three nights. In the darkness, she learned to communicate with the shadows and to take from them.]

[Note: If her previous life was gray and bleak, Wayne added a vibrant splash of color to her world.]

[Note 2: She decided to slowly win over Wayne. Not today, not tomorrow, but step by step. She had plenty of patience; the shadows had taught her to wait.]

[Additionally: She heard that Wendy had received an extraordinary healing treatment. It was spread by a witch in the Order named Urassou, whose ability is mind reading. Urassou's father was once a bard, and the lines she recited were: "If the mountains ever stood, it was fate that was at work."]

Wayne's gaze lingered on that line of poetry for a moment.

The descendants of bards are indeed different.

Even gossip is spread in such a poetic way.

Meanwhile, the mountain river flows continuously down to the town, the poetry of light and shadow intertwining for a long time, the river water constantly being reborn between the leaps of shadows, and no one knows which splash of water belongs to which river.