She Is Not a Witch

“Is there a specific reason for that?” Lacy was also curious about the Ocean Sequence.

“It’s a long story,” Rachel said as she swung back and forth, recounting her family’s records.

“Our ancestors were originally farmers by Lake Kempe, growing some crops and fishing to make a living.”

“Hundreds of years ago, there was a great drought in this region, and even the lake dried up. Our ancestors, struggling to survive, caught fish and mussels in the lake’s muddy bottom. By chance, they discovered a legacy jewel.”

“This jewel contained the advancement path from Ocean Sequence 1 · River Fisherman to Ocean Sequence 5 · Ship of the Ebbing Tide, including cultivation methods and required resources. That’s how the Agdelin family rose to prominence.”

“But from Sequence 4 onwards, supernatural beings often need rare items or conditions to advance. Advancing to Ocean Sequence 5 · Ship of the Ebbing Tide requires the skull of a blue sinking whale. These strange whales live in the deep sea and rarely surface.”

“Despite constant searching and collecting, our family has only produced two Ocean Sequence 5 beings in our history, both due to the luck of obtaining a blue sinking whale skull.”

“So, these rare resources are the main factor limiting advancement?”

“Yes, at least before Sequence 7, it mainly depends on talent, mentors, and resources. From Sequence 7 onwards, personal talent and strength become more important. I’m not sure about Sequence 9, but I’ve heard those are unique professions in the entire world.”

Loranhil had learned about these things from Trina’s records, but it didn’t resonate deeply with her. In the Mercury Dynasty, supernatural knowledge education was extremely widespread, and resources for advancement were abundant. As long as you had enough talent, you could progress smoothly and quickly.

After hearing Rachel’s description, she understood why supernatural beings were so rare in the current world. First, there was a lack of relevant knowledge education, and second, there was a scarcity of resources.

As for the two supernatural sequences she was cultivating, the Nature Sequence was derived from the system and required very few resources—the fruits of the Amber Red Leaf Maple were more than enough. The Demon Sequence was even stranger, requiring no additional resources, only the accumulation of time to break through advancement limits.

If ordinary people’s cultivation was like starting from a blank sheet of paper, gradually building a supernatural core, and then finding wood as a frame for support when the paper’s strength wasn’t enough, and later finding steel for support when advancing to higher levels to compensate for innate weaknesses…

However, Loranhil’s innate talent was like starting with diamond-level strength, hardness, and sharpness already at their peak. Naturally, she didn’t need other resources to compensate for any deficiencies.

In Loranhil’s sea of consciousness, the deep red supernatural core was constantly absorbing the surrounding Mana, converting it into Demon Sequence magic power. This magic power was further refined and condensed into tiny red particles.

These particles were continuously generated by the supernatural core like an hourglass, slowly settling. When this hourglass was full, it would mean Loranhil could advance to Demon Sequence 4 · Song of the Rose. This process would take about half a year, but unfortunately, she had fallen into a complete slumber earlier, and her supernatural core had also gone dormant. Otherwise, she could have advanced much earlier.

“Lacy, I’m a bit envious of you, actually,” Rachel said, slowly bringing the swing to a stop. She sat on the wooden plank of the swing, turning her head to look at Lacy.

“I’m getting married next year. My fiancé is Pinel from Hopland.”

Loranhil was a bit surprised. Getting married right after coming of age? But then she thought, perhaps this was normal in this world.

She looked up at Rachel and asked, “Do you like him?”

“I’ve only met him once. He’s quite tall and doesn’t talk much. I can’t say I like him, but I can’t say I dislike him either. My second brother knows him better. He’s a member of the White Orchid Cross Sword and Master Herang’s most promising disciple.”

The White Orchid Cross Sword was a supernatural faction within Vegar, mainly practicing the War Sequence. Their highest mastered advancement path was War Sequence 7 · Sword of the White Orchid, founded by the hero Saint Dullan over a thousand years ago.

Supernatural factions differed from family inheritances. They didn’t particularly value bloodlines, but rather emphasized master-disciple relationships and ideological alignment. If you had enough talent and passed their faction’s tests, and swore to uphold their traditions, you could join and learn the faction’s supernatural knowledge.

The advantage was that due to their broad recruitment range and large membership, factions could consistently maintain beings of Sequence 6 or above in each generation. And because they practiced the same advancement path, members could exchange experiences, avoiding wrong paths and major problems.

The disadvantage was that factions often focused on only one or two advancement paths, which might not suit everyone. For geniuses pursuing higher goals, joining a faction could be disadvantageous unless their talent perfectly matched that path.

Also, due to oaths and traditions, faction members generally couldn’t switch to other sequences, as it would be seen as a form of betrayal.

It was somewhat similar to martial arts sects in wuxia stories, but factions were more free. They didn’t all live together, only gathering at specific times for meetings and exchanges, with members having their own lives.

“Master Herang really likes this disciple and offered a blue sinking whale skull he obtained in his youth as a betrothal gift. My father examined his character, thought he was decent, and agreed.”

“What do you think about it, Rachel?” Loranhil sensed from the young woman’s words that she didn’t seem to want to get married.

“Sigh, it’s not that I hate it. I know I’ll have to get married eventually. It’s just that there are so many things I haven’t had the chance to do yet. Entering into marriage, having children for someone else, staying at home every day to take care of my husband and in-laws, then becoming an old woman—doesn’t that life sound terrifying?” Rachel pressed her two index fingers to her cheeks, making a grimace at Loranhil.

“Hehe… I’m sure it won’t be like that. The Agdelin family is quite wealthy, after all. You won’t have to do household chores and such,” Loranhil replied with a laugh.

“That may be true, but being constrained is unavoidable.” Rachel started swinging again.

“I want to experience the feeling of flying. I want to study at Emenas. I want to see what the geniuses from all over the world are like. I want to freely choose the supernatural sequence I like. I want to become a Sequence 7 and gain ultimate freedom!”

Rachel, sitting on the swing, loudly expressed her heart’s desires, venting the long-suppressed feelings within.

Loranhil watched this young woman who yearned for freedom, and memories slowly surfaced in her mind. In those seemingly distant recollections, there was once a figure who had made the same cry.