Reborn as a witch in another world [slice of life, isekai] (ch.140)

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Blurb:

What does it take to turn your life around? Death, of course!

I died in this lame ass world of ours and woke up in a completely new one. I had a new name, a new face and a new body. This was my second chance to live a better life than the previous one.

But goddamn it, why did I have to be a witch? Now I don't just have to be on the run from the Inquisition that wants to burn me and my friends. But I also have to earn a living?

Follow Elsa Grimly as she:

--

Chapter 140. True Potential

Caelum paused and thought for a bit. Then he rose, clapped his hands and called off the sparring. “Sit down for a bit, Lily. Calm yourself before you go for the next round.”

Lily's shoulders sagged and she gave the man a confused look. “But I'm not even tired.”

“You don't have to be tired to take a break,” Caelum said. “I can see that you aren't focused. Sit down and relax your mind.”

Lily looked ready to push back.

That's when Smokewell added, “Do what Caelum is telling you. You give me enough trouble while I teach you, at least treat your other teachers better.”

That made the girl let out a huff and she hopped out of the sparring pit. As Lily came and sat next to me I got up. “I'll go get us something to eat,” I said.

“But I wanted to talk,” Lily said in a voice that made me feel bad about what I was planning.

“I'll be back in a bit. Don't worry,” I said, nudging her arm.

Then Smokewell sprang up and slashed at Gregory's boot with her claws. “Hey, what are you doing?!” he snapped.

“Go with Elsa to fetch the snacks,” the cat said as she climbed onto my shoulder. “What kind of knight are you if you don't have even a smidgen of chivalry?”

Gregory opened his mouth to argue but stopped. He had sensed we were up to something. “Whatever you say, little sister.”

“Oh great,” Lily said. “I suppose madam is going too then?”

“You have that right,” the cat said as she perched on my shoulder.

“You still have my company, Lily,” Caelum said.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Lenora will get all jealous of me.” Then her lips curled into a grin. “Maybe I won't mind that much. She looks funny when she gets annoyed.”

And with that, we left the gymnasium. Gregory asked me what that was all about.

“You guys are going about it wrong,” I said as we walked down the street to the bakery around the block. “If malice is activated by negative emotions, the most negative thing that Lily is feeling right now is slight annoyance about not being able to score points against you.”

Gregory hummed. “That does sound right,” he said. “The kind of feat that Caelum is asking the girl to pull off is going to need a lot more malice than what a little bit of annoyance can trigger.”

“Malice that is directed right,” Smokewell added. “More than just raw power. We are talking about malice channeled properly.”

“You guys are doing it wrong again,” I said, palming my face. “Lily isn't the methodical type. She is a bruiser. She is aggressive

She is singleminded. You can't expect her to be surgical with her malice. The best way for her to use it is by punching stuff.”

“Because you didn't care to teach her properly,” Gregory said, narrowing his eyes on Smokewell.

The cat growled, her back tensing up. “Don't give me that look.” Then she turned her red gaze on me. “And since you know so well what might help, then enlighten us.”

I thought for a few seconds before saying, “Well, here's the plan.”

--

It took us about twenty minutes to return to Blaine’s School of Arms. “We have returned, my fellows,” I declared as we walked into the gymnasium with paper bags in our hands.

“Took you forever, Miss Elsa,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “What did you get?”

I handed her the bag. Her face lit up with joy the moment she looked in. “Honeydrop cakes!” she squealed before pulling one out and biting in without hesitation.

Each one of us got ourselves a piece and dug in. Gregory only decided to eat half and handed the other half to madam. The cat was about to take it but I snatched it off quickly.

Gregory fixed me with a glare that would've kept a block of ice from melting. “I shared that with my sister,” he said slowly.

“Yes, give it back,” the cat hissed.

“Cats don't need to eat that much,” I said, shielding the cakes with my hands. “She already has hers anyway.”

“It's okay, madam,” Caelum said with a nervous chuckle. “Here, let me offer you my half.”

“Stay out of this!” the cat hissed much louder this time. “It's between Elsa and I.”

“Um, actually, it's between Miss Elsa and Mr. Gregory,” Lily added.

“Shut it,” Gregory snapped. “You can't even land a hit on me. You are below this argument.”

Lily gave him a dumbfounded look. “Below? This is just about honeydrop cakes.”

“No it's not,” Smokewell said with a growl hanging onto each of her words.

“It's not?” Lily and Caelum said in unison.

“It's about the disrespect Elsa has shown me throughout this month,” the cat gave me a venomous look. “You think you know better than me?”

“I do,” I said without missing a beat. “That's my whole thing. I know things better than everyone.”

“This is what you taught them?” Gregory said, lifting his broad shoulders as he folded his arms across his chest. “One girl can't throw a real punch. The other thinks she knows everything.”

“See what you did?” Smokewell rose to her hind legs and pulled out her ivory pipe. “My own brother thinks my apprentices don't respect me.”

“Well, your brother is right, then.” I shrugged. “Respect is earned. You think you can get away with everything just because you are older. The world doesn't work that way, bitch.”

“That's it,” Smokewell took a long drag of her pipe and dark fur rippled and lengthened, her muscles popping and inflating as she grew in size.

“People, can we calm down?” Caelum tried to interrupt.

But the cat, the old man and I kept glaring at each other.

“Stop it, everyone. You are making a problem out of nothing,” Lily said.

“Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth?” Gregory said.

“You shameless, unworthy, ungrateful sow!” Smokewell snapped and dove at me.

Lily shrieked and lunged towards me, trying to shove me out of the large cat's way. But Gregory stomped up and drove a fist into the girl's jaw. “I told you to stay out of it. You are below this,” he growled.

By then, I'd whipped out my revolver and fired. There were loud bangs and flashes as I jumped back, dodging the cat, my long skirt fluttering violently.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted Gregory summon his sword to his hand and rush at me. Lily outpaced him, her auburn hair flashed behind her like a fiery mane as she ran.

My back slammed into a wall and I winced in pain. Smokewell was still charging at me. My eyes widened when I saw her massive black paw flying in towards me. But before the blow could land, Lily had stomped into the big cat's shoulder, clutching onto the thick tufts of fur. The girl opened her mouth and let out the most ear piercing, teeth rattling, glass-shattering scream I'd ever heard.

It made everyone in the gymnasium cover their ears, flinching in pain.

Then Lily drove her fist into the cat's face, slamming the huge feline into the ground. The floor cracked on impact.

Then Gregory charged at the girl with his longsword. He swung it in a powerful slash. Then Lily did something even more shocking. She made a fist and her entire arm turned into a large wolfish, white furred paw with five inch claws. She growled like a beast and swung her fist at Gregory, breaking the blade to a dozen pieces and striking the knight in the torso.

Gregory went flying through three walls, leaving behind a man-sized crater in his wake and onto the street outside.

“Lily, stop it!” I yelled.

The girl swung her head at me. I saw her eyes. They burned with fury, hatred, bloodlust…wrath. They weren't Lily's eyes.

That's when Caelum snuck up on the girl from behind and planted a firm hand on her head. “Revertere.”

Lily almost collapsed but she managed to hold herself up. Her wolfish arm morphed back into its human form. Her breath came out in fumes that I could smell. It had the stench of burnt rubber. I remembered that smell. That's the scent that Lily gave off when she was using her powers to their highest limit. I'd only ever caught a whiff of it once.

The girl looked at me. I looked back at her, terrified. She saw Smokewell laying on the floor, wincing and groaning, saw the holes in the walls she had thrown Gregory through. She shuddered. Then she ran off.

After several minutes, Gregory walked back into the gymnasium. The front of his shirt was slashed and stained with blood but his wound had already healed. Smokewell shrank back to her regular feline form.

Gregory was the first to break the silence. “She broke my sword.” He looked grimly at the hilt with the shattered blade on it.

“You were right,” Smokewell said to me. “Attacking you did make her use her full potential. It worked.”

Yes, my plan had worked. Way too well. I hated it.

“So that was the creativity?” Caelum asked. “If I hadn't used that malice reversal spell on her, I don't know what would've happened.”

“Was it an illness?” Gregory asked.

“No,” Caelum said. “Reversal is a type of transmutation. But it can't be used to reverse a malice illness.”

“So that was just her?” Gregory said.

“No!” my voice echoed in the gymnasium. “That…that wasn't Lily.”

No one said anything. I felt glad I had drank the potion before coming here. But I don’t think it helped much. The silence around us made it clear what everyone thought.

I couldn't look at anyone. Because I knew I didn't believe my own words. That was Lily. It was no illness. It was what Lily became when she stopped caring.

And I'd tricked her into doing it.

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