Xia was very cute.
Not just in appearance – though, of course, her appearance was also outstanding. It seemed there were no unattractive witches; even Boshan, who always treated him with coldness, couldn't be described as ugly. Sometimes, the way she kept a straight face... had a unique charm.
But Cham would never say it out loud.
That would undoubtedly earn him twice the coldness.
Xia's cuteness lay more in other aspects. She would laugh when she was happy, cry when she encountered setbacks, never hiding her emotions and thoughts, as pure as a clear spring in the snow. But she was also particularly persistent in some ways. For example, after getting lost, she stubbornly waited by the platform for a week until he appeared, just to thank him properly.
In short, everything about her was good.
Unlike all the girls he had seen before – Xia was the most special. If others were black and white, then she was definitely orange-red, just like her wavy red hair.
In comparison, Boshan was far inferior.
Even though they were both witches.
"Hey, don't think I don't know what you're up to," Cham said, entering the yard and finding Boshan waiting for him at the entrance. "You should know, we are witches, right?"
"Since the first day we met," he retorted.
"So you're admitting you're just playing around?" Boshan raised her eyebrows.
"I don't know why you would think that, but Xia is so cute, I have no reason to give her up to someone else."
If Xia were present, Cham would never dare to say such a thing, but in front of Boshan, he didn't want to back down at all. It seemed he could blurt out any bold words.
Probably not expecting him to admit it directly, Boshan was stunned for a moment. "But... cuteness isn't important, okay! She's a witch, and witches can't – you know that!"
"So what," Cham puffed out his chest, displaying the "Combat Hero" badge on his clothes. "I have an older brother, even if I can't have children, my father won't mind! And this badge personally awarded by His Majesty is enough to guarantee her future life, do you have any other questions?"
Boshan was dumbfounded.
After a long while, she said indignantly, "Hmph, verbal guarantees don't count for anything – I'll be watching you and exposing you."
"Whatever," Cham shrugged. "By the way, I forgot you were a witch until you mentioned it. What exactly is your ability? I feel like you're just using your strength to move goods?"
For some reason, after saying this, he felt her expression worsen.
"Do you think I shouldn't be here?"
"No... I was just curious," Cham quickly waved his hand. He realized that his words could easily be interpreted as sarcasm. Strange... he was usually very careful with his words, how did he become so casual now? Although she was unreasonable, he wasn't the kind of person to hold grudges.
Just when he thought she wouldn't answer, Boshan whispered, "My ability is to kill."
Cham gasped, "What?"
The latter picked up a seed from the ground and placed it in her palm. Soon, the seed withered and shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually turning into a dark brown lump.
"Any life will wither quickly upon contact, just like this seed... In fact, it's not just plants and animals, even stones and metals will be affected, but the effect is extremely slow and consumes a lot of magic power, so it's usually used to deal with enemies."
Cham took two steps back, "Then why don't you go and fight the devils?"
"The Witch Union didn't approve. They are responsible for all the witches' work arrangements, and my ability requires close contact to use, they think the risk is too great and there is little room to maneuver. The final conclusion was to let me choose myself – except for going to the battlefield." Boshan smiled self-deprecatingly, "So verbal guarantees are nothing... not even from Roland."
"You're talking nonsense!" Cham couldn't accept someone slandering His Majesty the King in front of him. "His Majesty has never broken his word, this is something all Neverwinter people see – even if it's unbelievable, as long as His Majesty promises, he will definitely... achieve it..."
Looking at her mocking expression, he suddenly felt a little lacking in confidence. "Wait, have you met His Majesty?"
"I have," Boshan threw down the black lump in her hand. "The Witch Union arranges work like this – they prioritize screening based on ability, then ask for the witch's personal opinion, and finally combine the two to determine, for example, that's how it was for Xia. If the ability's use is unclear, it will be handled by Roland himself. After all, according to him, any ability can play a role in the great development of Graycastle, there is no such thing as useless." She paused, "And I belong to the latter."
Cham found himself in a dilemma. He racked his brains but couldn't imagine what else this purely destructive force could be used for besides combat. His Majesty must have been very troubled at the time. But he didn't think it was Roland's fault, admitting this was even more difficult than admitting he hadn't fulfilled his promise.
"What... did His Majesty say?"
"He said that in fifty to a hundred years, I could shine in the visual effects and props industry." Boshan pouted.
"Uh... what are those things?"
"Who knows. It seems to be related to magic shadows, I'm not sure. His Majesty said a lot at the time, such as visual effects having extremely wide applications, and aging being an indispensable part of industrial visual effects, etc..." She walked towards the platform with waning interest. "A very cunning way of putting it, right? Even if he wasn't lying, it's still many years in the future, but for now, I'm just a useless person..."
So that's what it was, Cham realized.
He finally understood why Xia had hesitated before.
When the witches were hiding and running, Boshan, who could fight the pursuers, was definitely the core of the group, but now that His Majesty no longer needed them to fight bloody battles, she had become nothing, the gap between the two was imaginable.
For a moment, Cham felt empathetic. When he learned that he was being transferred out of the army, he almost felt like he had been abandoned by the world. In such circumstances, it was probably normal to have a bad temper.
Looking at her lonely back, his heart softened.
Originally, he had been planning how to distract her so he could invite Xia out alone, but now he couldn't bring himself to say it – if even Xia wasn't around, wouldn't she be all alone?
After clearing his throat, Cham reached into his pocket, "Um... I have two tickets for a new play."
The latter turned around, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
"But I have something to do tonight, I probably won't be able to go..." he hesitated, "Why don't you and Xia go, it's better than wasting them..."
Boshan's face showed surprise.
But before she could answer, a crackling sound suddenly rang out in the sky.
The two looked up and saw thousands upon thousands of birds flying overhead, almost blocking out the sunlight – Cham had never seen such a cloud-like flock of migratory birds before.
He had heard that migratory birds had fixed overwintering periods, but this scene clearly didn't belong to that category. The types of birds in the flock were varied, and he always felt that these birds were in a great hurry, completely lacking the elegance of soaring wings in normal times.
"What's wrong with them?" Cham frowned, "Are they all moving house?"
"Shh!" Boshan held up a finger. "Do you hear any sound?"
"Besides the flapping of wings, is there anything else?"
"No, in a more distant direction –" Her expression became somewhat serious.
Cham had to hold his breath and listen again. This time, he vaguely caught a faint long cry, dull and turbid, mixed in with the flapping of the birds' wings, like undulating howls.
His eyes widened suddenly.
That was... the alarm from the north!