"Today is the first ti, so let's start with so common knowledge that Magical Girls need to know,"
Standing on the silent rooftop of an office building at dusk, Erald Sparrow, with her arms crossed, said to Lin Xiaolu in front of her, "First, I need to tell you how to assess the strength of your opponent and yourself, and to avoid fighting battles that you can't win."
"Okay, please teach a lot!"
Lin Xiaolu replied eagerly.
To avoid the evening rush hour and arrive on ti for their appointnt, Lin Yun changed into a Magical Girl in a corner away from the crowd imdiately after work and left the company through high-altitude flight.
The outfit of a Magical Girl was very conspicuous in an urban environnt. With the intent of not drawing attention, she chose the rooftop of an office building not far from her ho as the eting place, which was convenient for Lin Xiaolu to get to after school. In addition, the top floor of this building was normally sealed off and not open to others, so they didn't need to worry about being disturbed.
Now, what she was about to do was to provide the first lesson in Magical Girl guidance to Lin Xiaolu.
"I haven't told you before, but Remnant Beasts are categorized according to their evolutionary stages, starting from the most basic 'eggs' and progressing to higher levels such as 'Inchworm,' 'Pupa,' 'Molt,' and several other life stages. Each evolution is a leap in strength compared to the previous stage, and accordingly, they beco more dangerous."
"It sounds like they're insects..." Lin Xiaolu first responded with an instinctive aversion, then fell into thought.
"Just consider them like insects,"
Erald Sparrow added expressionlessly, "They won't have any empathy when they kill you, or even eat you, so when you kill them, you should do it as if you're crushing harmful insects and not harbor any sympathy."
She lifted her hand and spread out five fingers, "Furthermore, corresponding to that, we Magical Girls also have five stages of power developnt. More precisely, this process is called 'Blossoming', which signifies that to cultivate one's Seed of Heart from a seed to a flower, you have to go through five stages."
"At the outset, like you are now, it's a seed."
Erald Sparrow extended her hand palm-up, pointing to Lin Xiaolu's chest, "This represents the initial stage of your heart and abilities, a round gem that looks quite similar to a seed, indicating that you've just beco a Magical Girl and everything is still unclear."
Lin Xiaolu had a mont of realization, "So that's how you knew I was a newbie before?"
"No, it's simply because you're too weak."
Clearly, Erald Sparrow's response was more cutting, "The stages of Blossoming normally do not manifest on the Heart's Gem at your chest. Regardless of how developed the powers are, the transford state will always show a round gem."
She looked up, gesturing to her own chest, where beneath the choker at her neck, there was a small, round gem hanging. However, since her outfit always featured a soft cape that kept the gem partially concealed, it had not been noticed until now.
Lin Xiaolu, who had just been taphorically knocked down by a single sentence, looked over and instantly brightened, "Ah... this outfit really is cute."
"You're focusing on the wrong thing, idiot."
Erald Sparrow sighed, "Anyway, I can't demonstrate the other stages to you right now, as unleashing Magic Power in the center of the city would be too conspicuous. For now, morize their nas as if you were reciting a textbook."
"The slumber of 'Seed' in New Dream and True Origin, lying dormant."
"The 'Sprout' of Budding in Essence and Assembly, stretching out."
"The 'Leaf' of Vine in Mysteries and Spell Techniques, reaching forth."
"The 'Bud' of Becoming in True Self and Wonders, nurturing life."
"The 'Flower' of Awakening in Superbody and Flourishing, bursting into bloom."
Lin Xiaolu listened to the lengthy, almost poetic words of Erald Sparrow, her eyes glazing over a bit, "That is—uh, Seed? And then what was it?"
—"Just rember it as Seed, Sprout, Leaf, Bud, Flower for now—the rest are descriptions of the capabilities in each stage. You'll understand when you get there!"
The one who suddenly spoke up from the side was Echo, the cat-like Fairy who had been following Lin Xiaolu, "I suggest not to aim too high too soon; just rember that your next stage is 'Sprout'."
Erald Sparrow glanced at Echo, neither approving nor disapproving of its interjection, and continued,
"The stage of 'Seed' is just like its na. It refers to the formation of your Seed of Heart and the initial construction of your own source of Magic Power, enabling you to begin using Magic Power for combat. You should understand what this feels like."
Lin Xiaolu pondered, "As for feeling... Although I don't understand it, as long as I think about using Magic Power to do sothing, I subconsciously achieve it."
"If you want to move faster, you'll subconsciously use Magic Power to accelerate; if you want your attacks to reach further, you'll disperse your Magic Power; if you want to fly, you can use it to lift yourself up."
Erald Sparrow gave her several examples, "As soon as the thought occurs, your body moves on its own, right? That's the Magic Power source at work."
"The Magic Power source creates a bridge between your body and mind while generating Magic Power internally and externally, allowing for a two-way flow of Magic Power, which imbues the connection between body and mind with magical properties."
"In simple terms, having a Magic Power source ans using Magic Power becos an instinct."
Hearing this, Lin Xiaolu raised her hand to ask, "Do Remnant Beasts also have a Magic Power source?"
"Yes, since it's called the 'Magic Power Source,' it's the origin of all magic power. The power of magic is born from the Magic Power Source, and Remnant Beasts are no exception. In fact, the Echoes we recover are the remnants of the Remnant Beasts' Magic Power Sources."
Erald Sparrow extended her hand, pointing to her Heart's Gem: "As for Magical Girls, the Magic Power Source is right in the Heart's Gem, which is sothing that must never fall into the wrong hands."
She paused for a mont before continuing: "Let's move on to the next phase of blossoming, which is called 'Bud', and the characteristic of a Bud we refer to as..."
Between the buildings, the girl's voice drifted into the night sky with the wind.
A big and a small Magical Girl were here asking and answering questions, and ti slowly passed by.
Lin Yun said a lot, and Lin Xiaolu listened a lot, feeling that the outline of the magic world had never been so clear.
Although there was still a lot she didn't understand or rember fully, the world of the Magical Girls, as described by Erald Sparrow's words, made her feel once again that becoming a Magical Girl was the right decision.
Her feelings for the identity of Magical Girl were no longer just a nebulous admiration for a character on a children's show, but laced with a longing for a new world.
With this longing, as the day's lessons ca to an end and they were saying their goodbyes, she took out her mobile phone.
"Um... Erald Sparrow, do you have a mobile phone for this world? I an..."
She started to speak sowhat awkwardly but proposed enthusiastically, "Can we exchange numbers?"
Mobile numbers an daily life communication. Establishing such a connection would inevitably lead to more interactions in their daily lives.
Erald Sparrow knew that if she was only Erald Sparrow, she had no reason to reject this request.
Exchanging information between Magical Girl companions is necessary, whether for reporting the location of Remnant Beasts or for communicating progress in investigations.
In the Magic Kingdom, Magical Girls often use magic mirrors to contact each other, but since neither Erald Sparrow nor Lin Xiaolu had magic mirrors at the mont, mobile phones were the best choice.
So, after a brief thought, she pretended to speak nonchalantly: "I do have one, but I didn't bring it with . Give your number, and I'll get in touch with you later."
She couldn't give Lin Xiaolu her number right away—it was Lin Yun's number, and regardless of how strained the relationship between Lin Yun as a father and his daughter was, they at least knew each other's contact information.
To establish contact with Lin Xiaolu in reality as Erald Sparrow, she would have to get a new number, and even buy a new mobile phone.
The expense behind this didn't matter much to Lin Yun; it was like a necessary sacrifice to make for his daughter.
Thinking this, she pretended as though she was hearing the number for the first ti and took note of Lin Xiaolu's shared number.
But if she could establish a new connection with her daughter, then she hoped she could learn more about her daughter's inner thoughts, understand her a bit more, and bridge the gap between them a little further.
She closed her eyes, wishing for this in her heart.
Lin Xiaolu was also full of hope.
She wanted to get to know Erald Sparrow, to see what her everyday life was like, to see what her life was like, and to get closer to the Magical Girl she admired in her dreams.
And perhaps, that would also change this self she disliked, right?
However, neither of them under the night sky could have imagined that the numbers they exchanged would be used the very next day.
It wasn't because of the Remnant Beasts, but a much rarer occurrence.
When Lin Yun, sitting in his office, discovered his newly purchased mobile phone ringing, and saw "Lin Xiaolu" as the contact on the screen, he had to imdiately pull out the Seed of Heart and transform into the appearance of Erald Sparrow.
She sat back in her office chair and pressed the call button, when a deafening shout imdiately ca from the other side:
"Lord Patrol! I've found one!"
The voice was clearly Moco's, and she was very excited: "I've found a girl with magical talent. We can recruit a new Magical Girl!"
A new Magical Girl.
Erald Sparrow furrowed her brows because in her heart, she actually didn't want to increase the number of Magical Girls indiscriminately. On one hand, it ant bringing a girl into a dangerous world, and on the other, ensuring the quality of team mbers was difficult.
But Fangting City was indeed in need of more Magical Girls at the mont, and she also had to consider building a team for Lin Xiaolu, and as she currently was, she could ensure the safety of the newcor...
A string of thoughts crossed her mind in re monts, and she smoothed her eyebrows, making a decision, her voice calm:
"Where?"
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