The Cornflower Witch

Bringing Amelie along, as well as Lovier and Aurora, the four of them arrived at Vichia College's exclusive restaurant. There were still quite a few people inside, but it wasn't crowded, and the atmosphere felt lively and spirited instead.

The hall was decorated with plenty of pink, white, and red ornaments. Young men and women in all sorts of beautiful dresses and attire moved through the space, and occasionally, a few could be heard performing impromptu pieces, strumming out pleasant melodies.

Lovier was quite famous within the college, and although Aurora wasn't a student of Vichia College, many of the instructors and upperclassmen still recognized her. After all, she had been a child prodigy of the Opera School and the eldest daughter of a prominent family, drawing plenty of attention. Many of the current upperclassmen had once been her classmates and friends.

"Aurora, come over here!" Someone waved at her enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, a few first and second-year apprentices gathered around, curiously asking Lovier questions.

"So this is Senior Hedra?" They had heard of Hedra's reputation and recognized her at a glance.

"That's right, we used to be roommates." Lovier explained with a hint of pride and delight in front of these juniors.

After that, the four of them were surrounded on the spot for quite a while, chatting away. Only after some time did they manage to break free and get their food, then find a relatively quiet corner to sit down.

Once she started eating, Sylutia complimented the quality of the food and then brought up what had just happened.

"Everyone is so enthusiastic."

"It's like that at the academy too. Since we often have to organize performances and shows together, everyone gets along really well!" Lovier said happily. Wherever she went, she felt like everyone around her was wonderful, like a child pampered by fate itself.

Aurora, on the other hand, was more composed and rational. She simply remarked that the Opera School was different from other factions, that teamwork was often essential, and so it wouldn't do to let relationships become strained, and so on.

Amelie, who had been watching the three of them interact with others with a hint of envy since she walked in, finally became the subject of curiosity once Lovier and Aurora started asking about her during the meal.

"And who is this?"

"She's Amelie." Sylutia introduced her on her behalf.

"According to the Dean, she wasn't in good health in the past and spent most of her time at home and in the library studying. Only recently has she had the chance to get out and about."

"Is that so?" Aurora tilted her head, propping her cheek on her hand.

She wasn't an easy-to-fool little fool like Lovier. Naturally, she could tell that Amelie was far from ordinary. After all, the Dean of Tetis College was a Seventh Tier Sage; ordinary people wouldn't receive such special treatment. Besides, who ever heard of someone being in such poor health that they still managed to reach Fifth Tier at such a young age? That was far too impressive.

However, Aurora didn't press further. She could tell that Amelie's identity wasn't meant to be exposed, and digging deeper would only offend people.

After that, the four of them shifted the conversation to this year's Silver Bell Festival celebration, the College Grand Competition, and other topics.

"Hedra still has the second event tomorrow, right?" Aurora recalled.

"Yes, but I don't have much experience or confidence." Sylutia admitted openly.

"Good luck! But don't stress too much about it." Aurora encouraged.

Hearing this, Lovier also cheered Sylutia on, then said,

"In my heart, there's nothing Hedra can't accomplish. She's always been the most, most, most reliable and trustworthy person." When she said this, her eyes were full of trust and admiration, which actually made Sylutia feel a bit embarrassed.

"I'm not really that amazing."

"Giggle giggle." Watching the two of them interact, Aurora couldn't help but laugh again.

The four of them continued eating and chatting idly. Although Amelie didn't have many chances to jump into the conversation, she still found it fresh and interesting to hear all sorts of amusing tidbits about daily life from the three of them.

After the meal, Sylutia and Amelie said their goodbyes to Lovier and Aurora, then returned to their sleeping quarters.

Sitting at the desk, Sylutia organized the day's events, then began brainstorming ideas for the next event, the Mechanical Creation competition.

Just as she was feeling a bit lost on where to start, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a few strands of blue hair in the corner of her vision. She turned her head and saw Amelie sitting not far behind her. The girl was watching her curiously with those light-golden eyes, as if asking whether Sylutia needed something from her.

"Amelie." The young woman called out softly, then pulled Amelie over to sit beside her.

"Can you tell me about the mainstream design philosophy and development history of war machines?" Here was a walking repository of vast knowledge right in front of her; it would be such a waste not to ask.

"Of course." Amelie thought for a moment, then began organizing the various knowledge she had accumulated to share with Sylutia.

Before long, under Amelie's guidance and explanation, Sylutia began to develop a deeper understanding of war machines, grasping the strengths and weaknesses of various large-scale war machines, their specialties, and the crafting techniques for their key structures.

Although she had flipped through related books over the past two months, the affairs of Mishil District had kept her busy, and she couldn't afford to pour precious time and energy into a competition that wasn't all that important. So her preparation had been fairly limited.

It wasn't until today, with Amelie's assistance in organizing everything, that those scattered and jumbled pieces of knowledge finally began to take shape, and she came to understand the various series of war machines currently produced by the Mage Alliance.

"Currently, the Alliance's war machines can be divided into seven major categories with 41 core models. Beyond those, there are various modifications, variations, and simplified versions derived from those 41 core models."

Sylutia glanced at the names and simple sketches written on the paper on the desk, then began to think and pick.

Given the time constraints, she'd better choose a prototype whose crafting process wasn't too complex, then modify and optimize it from there. Considering the material limitations, the most she could build for the competition was a Fifth Tier war machine. Anything above Sixth Tier would require materials, manpower, and effort that simply couldn't be completed in just a day or two.

Fifth Tier, huh. That difficulty was already extremely high. Fortunately, Sylutia had accumulated plenty of experience from building vehicles before, and much of that knowledge could be applied by analogy. She wasn't completely in the dark.

In the afternoon, she brought Amelie to the workshop and began testing individual components and details. The most important among them was the war machine's power furnace. If she could get that right, it would determine half the odds of victory.

As the saying goes, brute force makes anything fly. As long as the power output was strong enough, shortcomings in technique and functionality could all be compensated for.

Over the course of one night, Sylutia tried five different power furnace designs, continued testing and refining three of them, and finally settled on the one she was most comfortable and skilled with for detailed improvement. Once that was complete, she began building upon this core to add the power system, attack system, defense system, and so on for the war machine.

By noon the next day, just before the deadline, she finally finished. A war machine shaped like a falcon hovered silently in the air. Its silhouette resembled an enlarged triangle, with a flat underside and a streamlined ridged upper structure, much like the flying vehicles. A faint golden circuit pattern flickered across its surface.

[Grey-Winged Falcon] (Fifth Tier·Superior): A war machine capable of hovering in the air. Equipped with levitation and flight devices, it can eject high-temperature flames upon activation to fly at extreme speeds. (Overall Evaluation: Attack B-, Defense C, Speed A)

Due to the lightweight requirements of flight, this war machine had sacrificed high-strength defensive structures and omitted some attack systems, leaving only the fireline cannons on both wings and the bow, along with the wing blades.

Once it was complete, the afternoon competition officially began.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!