The third-ranked Witch, named Hummingbird, lives up to her nickname as a petite figure. She is far more reserved than her peers when asked about her abilities. Having just reached adulthood this winter, her symmetrical dimples, delicate features, and soft voice make her exceptionally endearing.
Her ability is to "reduce the weight of objects." By attaching Magic Power to an object, she can make it nearly weightless. When Roland had the hummingbird demonstrate this with his teacup, he found the cup floated in midair—meaning its weight was almost equivalent to that of air. Of course, in the eyes of people in that era, air was considered weightless.
This explains why the Gongzhu Society could traverse the western border of Graycastle without resupply. With the young girl's help, sacks of wheat and dried fish could be easily carried to the front lines. A small team could transport large quantities of supplies, significantly reducing logistical pressure.
Though mature, hummingbirds lack branch ability. Their primary ability requires direct contact with the target and is ineffective against living beings. Larger objects demand longer transformation time and greater Magic Power consumption. Once completed, the transformation can last for several hours.
This capability appears highly suitable for the transportation industry and could prove valuable in the impending war, though too many unknowns remain. Further testing is necessary to confirm its effectiveness.
At the bottom of the parchment, Roland wrote: Practice with stones of varying weights as targets, precisely control the output of Magic Power, and make the activation and expiration times exactly controllable.
After finalizing the training regimen for the three, he had his attendant install an additional candlestick to brighten the room. Yet even so, reading and writing proved a strain on the eyes under the flickering orange glow.
Roland yawned and unrolled the parchment containing the fourth Witch's details.
Witch, the fourth-ranked member, is a rare individual with a surname. Her full name is Soroya Zuo 'en, hailing from a merchant family in Graycastle's capital. She sports short brown curly hair and slender, elongated eyes. The few freckles on her nose do not detract from her beauty but rather accentuate her youthful vitality.
Soroya, just nineteen years old, possesses extraordinary abilities. As an adult, she can faithfully depict the characters and scenes she sees or imagines. With her branch ability, the 'Magic Power Pen,' she creates photorealistic images without using paint or paper.
This camera-like capability has countless uses. As for training, just have her draw a few pictures every day.
He then pulled out the next sheet of paper.
The fifth Witch, Echo, is a woman from the Far South. With her tall stature, coffee-toned skin, and distinctive features of the Shamin people—especially her eyes and nose—she exudes an exotic charm. According to her account, upon awakening, she could initially mimic animal sounds. As an adult, she became capable of imitating any sound with remarkable finesse, though she lacked the ability to branch out.
Roland named her ability 'Phantom Voice Technique.' She couldn't think of any immediate uses for it yet, but the practice required... just shouting a couple of times.
The sixth Witch to be questioned was Lily, a sixteen-year-old with two ponytails and a doll-like face. Her expression remained somewhat stiff when meeting her. Though her ability to prevent food spoilage had only been awakened a year ago, she had already become the most popular figure in the Gongzhu Association. Without preservation skills, much food would have gone bad and moldy during their exile. Lily and the hummingbird jointly supported the Association's logistical operations.
Whether this preservation capability is achieved through Magic Power's antibacterial effect remains unverified. Roland decided to have her practice with various meats and fruits, while testing the maximum freshness retention time when Magic Power was depleted.
He rubbed his sore neck, then stacked the six witches' documents into a pile, leaving only the final parchment on the table.
This was another pleasant surprise Roland discovered after Ye Zi.
7th place: Witch – Mystery Moon.
She walked into the office looking extremely nervous. Nightingale comforted her for a while and even explained the reason briefly to her ear.
Mystery Moon was the least capable in the camp, practically useless, relegated to menial tasks requiring manual labor. Her constant reprimands from Hakkara made her timid and fearful that Roland might dismiss her as useless and banish her from Border Town.
Her primary ability is magnetizing objects. Before adulthood, she could only magnetize metallic items, but once she reached adulthood, she could magnetize any object in her hands. She has no branch abilities, and magnetizing requires direct contact with the target, a process that is extremely slow. According to her, it takes half a day to magnetize a one-foot square stone.
This proves of little use to the Co-Operation Society. Magnets are nothing new—ships sailing between fjords and continents are equipped with compasses for navigation. On land, there are plenty of reference points, making such devices unnecessary for quick orientation. On the contrary, magnetized objects can cause trouble. For instance, a lightly weighted iron pot or utensil, when magnetized by a hummingbird, might fly toward the Enigma Moon at the slightest lapse in attention. This led to Hakkara prohibiting her from using her powers within the camp.
But to Roland, this quiet girl was a priceless treasure that came straight to him.
This is precisely why he wants to hum 'Super Star' —can you think of a more fitting lyric than 'You are electricity, you are light'?
The principle of 'magnetism generating electricity and electricity generating magnetism' is a well-known concept to any science and engineering student. He silently thanked Faraday, Gauss, Ampere, and Maxwell in his mind. With electricity comes light, and perhaps before long, he will demonstrate another miracle within his domain.
Despite being a Witch with forbidden powers, she survived the demonic phage. Though introverted and insecure, her will was unbreakable—her will to live was stronger than most. Roland secretly rejoiced that she had joined the Guild of Assistants less than a year ago; otherwise, after years of hardship, she might have been buried alive by Hakkara.
With a decisive stroke, he outlined Muyue's training plan for the coming days: magnetizing various objects, while establishing the correlation between Magic Power consumption and magnetic strength.
With these seven new Witches, Roland's Witch roster expanded dramatically to twelve members. After examining such a diverse sample, he gained a clearer understanding of Magic Power's manifestations. The traditional categorization of combat and non-combat types proved inadequate, prompting him to classify abilities based on their intrinsic characteristics. Ultimately, the core abilities of Witches can be broadly grouped into three major categories.
The first category is self-reinforcing. This type of ability is exceptionally rare, with only Shukun being the sole individual to possess it. The passive effect of this ability remains unaffected by the God's Stone of Punishment, allowing her to maintain photographic memory even when wearing the stone.
The second category comprises summoning-type witches, including Anna, Nightingale, Nana Wa, Lightning, Wendy, Leaf, Soraya, Echo, and Lily. Their defining trait is the ability to cast Magic Power from a distance of up to five meters. These summoning-type witches possess the most versatile abilities and are most susceptible to the God's Stone's effects. Once they enter the forbidden zone, all effects generated by Magic Power will vanish. However, any damage inflicted before the spell is stopped is permanent and irreversible.
The third category comprises enchanted entities, exemplified by hummingbirds and moon mysteries. These magic powers activate through physical contact with targets, though their transformation process is slow and energy-intensive, while also being susceptible to disruptions by God's Stone. Once activated, the transformation becomes an inherent attribute of the object, remaining effective within the forbidden zone. The duration of the enchantment is time-sensitive, determined by the object's size and the entity's current magic power.
This likely explains why the God's Stone cannot neutralize the backlash of Magic Power. He reasoned that the God's Stone doesn't interfere with the gathering and flow of Magic Power, but rather disrupts its transformation into abilities. In simpler terms, it targets the client interface rather than backend data.
Roland set down the quill pen and rubbed his eyes. Whatever the case, he'd be busy again soon.