Chapter 944: Lucianne and Ian
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 944: Lucianne and Ian
"So you really are here. I guess once you lose those glamorous titles, you can't even manage a basic existence."
Lucianne turned a corner and looked at the disheveled figure before her. She had prepared these words to be mocking, but saying them didn't bring her the satisfaction she expected.
The figure was Ian Garland.
The youth who thought she had escaped the Secret Realm, enduring the humiliation of witchification to bring out vital information and seek help.
But no one expected her to fall into a coma for three or four days.
By the time she woke up, what "vital information" was left? It was already common knowledge.
And she had been utterly abandoned by the Wizard Academy.
She had gone to find her team leader—the senior who had brought her there—in a fit of rage. But before she could even open her mouth to demand answers, he had sent her sprawling to the ground with a single, brutal slap.
The Wizard Academy had no use for a witchified apprentice, even if the transformation had been forced upon her.
The Jack-of-all-trades Club had attempted to follow standard procedure and process her transfer paperwork, but Ian Garland had shoved them aside. She had stormed off, screaming that she would never become a witch as long as she lived.
But she had forgotten one very important thing: she was currently in the Witch Academy.
When she was "discharged," she had no storage equipment and no wizard tools. When she went back to retrieve them, she was told they had been taken by her former companions. After all, she was no longer a wizard apprentice and had no right to possess the Wizard Academy’s property.
Ian had cursed them out in a rage, but it changed nothing.
Now, she could barely manage a few basic wizard cantrips using her own meager strength.
No wizard tools, no casting materials, no experimental equipment—she had nothing. The only thing still with her was the companion Voodoo Gu insect she had been required to bond with during her time as an apprentice.
But... it was useless.
The primary purpose of this specific Voodoo Gu was companionship—it allowed a wizard to share vitality for immortality and provided resistance against spells, curses, and other occult threats.
It had no offensive capabilities, which meant she had no means of self-defense.
Fortunately, this was the Witch Academy, where physical safety was well-guaranteed.
In that regard, it was nothing like the Wizard Academy.
Back there, any area outside a Transcendent Wizard’s tower was a danger zone! You could fall victim to anything: vendettas, provocations born of jealousy, random instant-death curses, robbery, and more.
As long as you weren't caught, you were essentially in the clear. Even murder was ignored by the mentors if there was no evidence. And since most methods involved curses, evidence was hard to come by.
That was why almost every wizard apprentice’s Voodoo Gu had curse resistance. Without it, you wouldn't have a shred of security.
Only apprentices taken into a wizard tower by a mentor were truly safe. After all, killing an apprentice inside a tower was a direct insult to a Transcendent Wizard. Did anyone really think a Transcendent couldn't trace which little shit was responsible? They simply didn't deign to care most of the time.
This recent period had been the worst, yet safest, days of Ian’s life.
When she first arrived at the Witch Academy, she used to mock the weak witches for their total lack of crisis awareness, thinking that a sneak attack would succeed every time.
But after "wandering" the academy for these few days, she was incredibly grateful she was here. Humans are like that—they find themselves moved by the most unexpected things, even while stubbornly refusing to admit it.
And now, Ian had run into the one person she least wanted to see in this life.
Lucianne!
At this moment, Lucianne was dressed impeccably, while Ian was a mess. Lucianne wore a faint, composed smile, while Ian huddled in a corner, wishing she could vanish.
Her original clothes were gone. If it weren't for the fact that men's clothing was non-existent in the Witch Academy, she wouldn't be dressed like this. Even if there were any, she had no money to buy them.
This mismatched outfit had been a gift from a kind older sister who ran a clothing shop and took pity on her. Ian had whispered a request for men's clothes, but the woman had told her not to push her luck. Otherwise, she would still be walking around the academy in her hospital gown.
"How does it feel to be a witch?" Lucianne asked.
She tossed over a bag of bread she had picked up from the Baking House.
As someone who had already walked this path, she was practically Ian’s "senior." She understood the extreme mental distortion and resistance, the dual torture of mind and body that forced one to confront this new self.
She understood it all too well.
The way long hair brushed against your neck when you turned your head... the habit of tucking hair behind your ear that formed in just a few days... the accidental touch of your hand against the slight swell of breasts that left you unsure whether to look or look away... the way your physique gradually shifted toward your own aesthetic ideals.
More importantly, there were the hygiene issues that simply had to be faced.
It felt as if every mundane detail of life was a constant reminder of the fact you wanted to forget. The more you cared, the more everything you did triggered those associations.
Lucianne had gradually accepted this version of herself.
But Ian clearly hadn't.
"Get lost! I don't want to see you here! You damn pervert."
Ian’s voice sounded strange—a bit raspy, with a forced, low pitch. But the underlying timbre was clear, unable to hide the fact that she was now a bright, beautiful young girl.
"I suggest you don't use that tone with passing senior sisters," Lucianne said, tearing away Ian’s last shred of pretense without mercy. "Using that voice makes it sound like you're acting spoiled, and it'll only trigger the 'conquest' instincts of the more twisted seniors."
It felt like provoking a dirty little kitten and watching it let out a "ferocious" but adorable meow.
Suddenly, Lucianne understood the perspective Senior Sister Daphne had when looking at her.
For a moment, the atmosphere turned awkward. Ian realized that no matter what she said, it was useless. She was a smart person; her hysterics were merely a mask for her internal conflict and helplessness.
No one had the courage to just commit suicide, and Ian was no exception. Or rather, anyone brave enough to kill themselves would have died on their second day at the Wizard Academy without even needing to lift a finger. Those who made it this far had naturally filtered out any suicidal tendencies.
Ian wanted to live; she just didn't want to live like this.
"How boring... Hmph! I don't feel the slightest bit of satisfaction from getting my revenge."
This was Lucianne’s honest thought. She had imagined many scenarios like this in the past. But now that it had happened, there was no joy—only a sense of melancholy.
Was it because she hadn't been the one to personally shove the Mana Source into Ian?
It didn't matter. As it turned out, a grudge only has true meaning before you've paid it back.
She felt a bit ridiculous. Was she really that vengeful? Looking back, this obsession had started simply because she had been mocked on the living volcano of the Bobapus Archipelago. She had held onto that grudge until now.
Are women really this vengeful? Lucianne couldn't help but sigh at this "truth." It seemed even she couldn't escape the rule.
Faced with Lucianne’s mockery, Ian remained silent. The weak have no right to anger. Even though she had once been a genius, she had started from the bottom; she was simply experiencing the powerlessness of being weak once again.
She only wanted Lucianne to leave. She knew very well that killing was forbidden in the Witch Academy.
But Lucianne wasn't finished. she continued to press her.
"Do you plan on staying like this forever?"
"..."
"The Glacial Throne Secret Realm has been moved away from the Witch Academy. The people from the Wizard Academy won't be coming back."
"..." Ian remained silent.
"The semester is over," Lucianne said. This time, something struck a chord in Ian, and she finally spoke.
"The semester is over?"
"Yeah. Why? Do you have parents you can't let go of?" Lucianne asked.
That was her own situation, and she was still debating whether she should go back for the break.
"...I'm an orphan."
"Is that so? Well... I'm starting to envy you. At least you don't have to deal with the same headaches I do." Hearing Ian’s words, Lucianne felt she had been overthinking things. It seemed she was the only one plagued by these particular worries.
After she was "forced" to leave the Jack-of-all-trades Club, Lucianne knew what would happen. Her parents would no longer receive the family’s financial support; they would have to return to their old life.
And that was the best-case scenario.
One should never overestimate a family's bottom line or their humanity. How could everything just end because she quit the club? They had taken so much, spent so much—the family’s style was to make them spit out every last drop.
Don't think a massive entity like a family wouldn't target small fries like them. On the contrary, there were plenty of people who would gladly torment an old couple just to curry favor with the family.
It was a blessing that the Witch Academy’s curtain wall blocked standard real-time communication. Her parents had probably tried to call her a thousand times by now...
Had she become cold-blooded? Was she ignoring her parents' lives?
In Tan Han’s words, the family was the culprit behind everything. Lucianne hadn't changed; she just hated the family members even more now.
Regardless of what Lucianne was thinking, Ian found her completely baffling. A girl with living parents was envying an orphan? Had she studied herself into a stupor at the Witch Academy, or was her mind so twisted she couldn't tell fact from fiction?
"You don't understand anything. You haven't experienced my suffering... What's with that look? Do you think I've lost my mind?"
"Haven't you?"
"Forget it. Just assume I've lost my mind. I realize now that coming to find you was a mistake. Goodbye, Witch Academy beggar. I hope you still have bread to eat tomorrow."
Lucianne didn't find the joy she sought, but if asked what the point was in going through all the trouble of getting Ian’s location from Yang Yuehan, she would say it was to resolve a knot in her heart.
From now on, she was a "free person." The only thing still weighing on her was her parents.
Tan Han had suggested they meet during the break. She said Xiao Han had done the same—that it was better to face them than to worry every day.
Lucianne didn't know how to face them. Perhaps if they yelled at her and cut ties, she would finally be free.
Probably...
Watching Lucianne’s departing figure, the tension in Ian’s face finally eased slightly. She looked at the bread Lucianne had thrown. It bore the "Baking House" logo and looked somewhat cheap.
If Lucianne hadn't suddenly appeared, Ian might have continued to drift aimlessly. She didn't want to give up her transcendent power, but she didn't want to be a witch. She felt powerless to change anything and hated herself for being so weak.
But after Lucianne’s mockery, her mindset began to shift.
It was like being back at the Wizard Academy, being humiliated and oppressed by the upperclassmen. That period had been short because she had worked hard! She had fought!
And... and... she was a Child of Destiny. She couldn't deny that this was the primary reason for her rise.
But she hadn't forgotten the ruthlessness etched into a wizard's bones! Endurance, accumulation, self-enrichment, constant learning! In the Wizard Academy, knowledge was the most precious thing. Any knowledge could be converted into a wizard's power—that was the charm of "Wizard Knowledge."
Wasn't this just another low point in her life?
Even if she had heard a thousand times that witchification was irreversible, what about gender? She had seen gender-reversal spells, biological experiments, and more. Once she mastered the power of knowledge again, she could change everything!
Power...
Power!
Never before had Ian felt that power was so vital.
She was technically a witch now, right? She remembered that a witch's power was exceptionally easy to obtain—Mana Sources, spellbooks... even if these ready-made methods weren't what she wanted, power was power!
Ian was calm now—terrifyingly calm. Once the hysterics passed, logic reclaimed the high ground.
She began planning her future. What value did she still have? When she had nothing, she had to leverage whatever she could. And there was one value she wouldn't lose even as a witch: she was a Child of Destiny!
As Ian was deep in thought, a figure suddenly appeared behind her.
"Hey! What's with the look? Are you playing beggar here?"
"Who's there!"
Ian jumped. She hadn't expected that these days of lethargy and the peaceful environment would dull her senses so much. Someone was standing right behind her, and she hadn't even noticed!
But when Ian saw the person, she froze. The girl’s outfit wasn't in the style of a witch at all. She looked more like—a wizard!
"You... you're wizards!" Ian exclaimed, her excitement rising. But remembering Lucianne’s words and that slap, she forced herself to stay calm.
"Hmm?" The girl in the wizard outfit took a lollipop out of her mouth with a look of slight disdain. She corrected her, "I'm a Witch! Don't you get it? Haven't you heard of the Witch Academy Victims Alliance? No? Then... you must at least know about the Witch Coven?"
"The Witch... Coven?"