Chapter 34: The Witch’s Past

If confusion could take a physical form…

Then right now, Xu Xi's head would surely be covered in dense question marks.

To ensure Klisa's success in meditation, Xu Xi had prepared multiple plans long before today and was ready for a long-term struggle.

He never expected this.

The girl actually succeeded on her very first attempt at meditation.

"Klisa, tell me how it felt to meditate," Xu Xi asked the girl, just to be safe.

"Yes, I saw…" Klisa responded obediently. When she spoke, she would occasionally stumble over her words, but compared to when they first met, she was already much better.

Elements.

Mana.

Mental Energy.

Through Klisa's description, Xu Xi could confirm that she had indeed succeeded in her meditation.

But why?

In the dim meditation room, the scent of burning spirit clearing grass still lingered, a bit pungent and spicy. The Demon Race girl, dressed in pitch-black Magic Apprentice robes, waited quietly for Xu Xi's next command.

Xu Xi looked at the girl, sinking into confusion and thought.

"I was able to succeed in meditation and go from an ordinary person directly to a Magic Apprentice because I have the highest-level red trait, plus two purple traits for support."

"With three traits in hand, like a built-in cheat, it was only natural that I succeeded on my first meditation."

"But this child actually…"

Xu Xi pondered.

He was trying to determine the factors that led to this successful meditation.

Aside from the most basic talent and Comprehension Ability, there had to be something he hadn't noticed—a unique advantage that other Demons didn't have, and that even humans lacked.

"…I see, so that's it."

Looking at the small figure before him, Xu Xi suddenly fell silent.

He understood.

The witch before him was indeed no Genius; she neither possessed the powerful Physical Body of a pure-blooded Demon nor a spirit superior to that of a human.

Her body was weak and frail, having suffered through the torture and beatings of others.

Her spirit was like stagnant water, having closed itself off during long periods of despair, knowing no emotion, no joy, and no sorrow.

However.

This was precisely the truth behind why Klisa's first meditation went so smoothly.

The so-called meditation is essentially the caster's Mental Energy reaching out to perceive the elements of all things, and it has extremely high requirements for one's state of mind.

Ordinary people fail because of emotional fluctuations or hesitate because they think too much.

But Klisa would not.

Without emotion, there are no fluctuations; without thought, there is no hesitation.

Only when subjected to pain and devastation would this half-human, half-demon girl briefly show fear and terror due to the intense agony.

"This truth is truly cruel."

Xu Xi silently tightened his grip on his Wand.

It was a wonderful thing that Klisa had the talent to be a mage, but the price behind this talent was so tragic it left one speechless.

Xu Xi sighed inwardly. To verify if this theory was correct, he had the girl perform several more tests.

Everything went smoothly; everything was fluid.

Just like her attempt at the Meditation Method.

In the subsequent processes of perceiving elements, establishing a connection, and absorbing mana…

Klisa showed the performance of a super-Genius.

"You did very well, Klisa," Xu Xi said, crouching down to praise the Demon Race girl who had remained quiet. "Do you feel unwell anywhere?"

"No, Mentor," Klisa Christina shook her head.

Her small face was expressionless, lacking any of the innocence and liveliness a child should have; there was only a gloom that seemed to swallow her pale gold eyes.

It was an indescribable void.

It made one fall silent.

In a sense, the girl was a total failure; besides her physical defects, she was even severely lacking in emotions, unable to give others the responses they desired.

But it was precisely this lack that unexpectedly gave the girl the Aptitude of an Elemental Mage.

Xu Xi paused the girl's Cultivation.

"Mentor?" Klisa tilted her head blankly at him, seemingly confused.

"Sit down, Klisa," Xu Xi sat cross-legged on the ground and patted the spot next to him, signaling for the girl to sit by his side.

Xu Xi realized.

Compared to making the girl stronger, there was something more important to do.

That was to understand the girl's past and her experiences. Only through understanding could he better help the girl move toward the future.

If he knew nothing…

What he considered kind actions might very well cause the girl secondary trauma.

"…" Klisa sat down obediently. The Magic Apprentice robes were a bit too large for her thin frame, completely covering her legs the moment she sat down.

Her long, grey-silver hair touched the ground at the ends, spreading across the floor tiles of the meditation room in a soft, slow manner.

A breeze brushed against Klisa's cheek.

It was the warm breath exhaled by Xu Xi because he was so close.

A strange feeling welled up in the girl's heart, making her feel inexplicably at peace.

Then, Xu Xi asked, "Klisa, can you tell me about your past?"

"Do you mean…"

"Anything is fine. I want to get to know you."

"I understand, Mentor."

The girl didn't actually understand what about her was worth knowing, but she knew that she just had to listen to Xu Xi.

As a personal possession, listening to her master was the most basic requirement.

And so.

Under Xu Xi's gaze, the Demon Race girl, only eleven or twelve years old, slowly began to recount a story from long ago—a reality that had occurred long before Xu Xi came to this world.

The year she was born, the girl saw her biological mother.

She was a female Demon that humans called a 'Succubus,' possessing large, curved horns, a hot figure much like a human's, and a massive iron collar locked tightly around her neck.

She gazed at the infant Klisa with a gentle look that seemed to overflow with tenderness.

Klisa had never seen her father.

Because from the day she was born, she had been hidden away by her biological mother.

After being hidden for about three or four years, Klisa finally saw her father. It was the first and last time she would ever see him.

Her "father" dragged her violently out of the room, threw her out of the window, tossed her into the wilderness, and cast her into a desolate, remote place.

Her mother tried to resist.

But she was met only with her "father's" look of disgust.

"Trash… mongrel… what right do you have… die…"

At that time, Klisa couldn't hear everything her "father" said; she only knew that thrown out along with her was her mother's head.

Even today.

Klisa still clearly remembered how miserably her mother's head had been burned; it felt very rough to the touch, a hard surface turned to charcoal, and the massive horns had been heartlessly severed.

"Run…"

The life force of the Demon Race is very resilient.

Even after being beheaded, even after being burned, her mother's head still spoke to the young Klisa in her final moments.

And so, the obedient Klisa ran away.

Away from that "home."