“Whoa! This…this is…just…AMAZING!”
When she opened her eyes, Shiori found herself in a magical valley. The luscious greenery, the glimmering blue lake, the soft and fluffy clouds surrounding the perimeter. People can tell her that this is heaven and she would easily believe them.
“Hehehe, now I can relate to those isekai characters.” Shiori chuckled.
Indeed, it was perhaps similar to those anime realms she had been obsessed over since she was a little girl. With the dragons and the phoenix and all other magic creatures. And the city in the valley is full of a bunch of humanoid creatures such as elves and dwarves.
“I wonder if I could turn into a slime like Rimuru? Or die infinitely like Subaru?” Shiori stopped to ponder.
“It doesn''t work like that, Miss Shiori Smith.” Somebody spoke in an amused tone.
Shiori turned around like a twister. Too startled to find somebody knowing her name here.
Standing a car''s length from her, was a beautiful lady. She''s wearing a beautiful purple dress that complimented her pink blushed pale complexion beautifully. If not for the witch''s hat on her silver hair head, Shiori would assume that she was on her way to a royal ball.
Wait a minute. Witch''s hat?!
“Urm…are you the witch that will give me the test? The…arrogant rat''s master?” She asked, trying to guess.
The lady in purple pouted. “Wiccans, Miss Shiori. We are wiccans. Since you''re gonna join us, please at least respect your own organization.”
“Hehe, sorry sorry.” Shiori chuckled awkwardly.
The lady''s downcast expression disappeared. Replaced with a bitter smile. “Also…please don''t mind the rat. Isfet has gone through many hardships over the years. I…I could only apologize on my familiar''s behalf.”
Shiori hurriedly went to the lady to stop her from bowing to her. “Oh uh, no. It''s okay. I don''t mind it at all. At the very least, that rat was straight to the point. Plus, compared to most people, the rat''s not that bad.”
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“Hehehe, I''m glad to hear that. And I hope that you''ll take care of Isfet for me.”
“I''ll do my best.”
The lady beamed brightly with joy. “I''m glad, Shiori Smith. I''m glad Isfet met a good person like you.”
Shiori blushed. “Urmm…how do you know that I''m a good person? Or rather…how do you know my name?”
The lady smiled. “Well, I am inside your head. I know what kind of a person you are.”
Shiori was shocked. And then she was weirdly disappointed. “Oh. So this place is not real?”
“Says who?”
“Huh? Didn''t you just said that this is all in my head?”
The lady chuckled. “Yes, we are in a dream I conjured. But this place…this place is indeed real?”
Shiori''s childish joy returns. “Then…can I go there one day?”
“Hehehe, of course. But maybe we should wait until you passed the test first.”
“Then what are we wasting time for? Let''s go and do the test.”
The lady shook her head as she laughed. She extended her right hand to Shiori. Shiori took it, and they were instantly teleported. This time, they were hovering over the center of the blue lake.
“I, Maat, call upon the spirit of the World Tree. Master of the wiccans, defender of the mortals, executioner of the wicked. We seek your wisdom on our new sister. Heed my call. YGGDRASIL!”
The lady extended her left hand. Magic began to gather on her palm. When it reached the size of an infant, she released the light orb into the lake.
Shiori waited with bated breath. But nothing happened. Not yet at least. Her eyes just followed the light orb as it made its way to the bottom of the lake.
And then, something did happened. Something…fairy tale like.
The light orb burrowed itself into the bottom of the lake. Instantly, young leaves sprouted. And the scene after was just like Jack and the Beanstalk. A huge tree shot up from the bottom, and grew right into the sky.
“Gosh, that nearly hit us. Hehehe.” Maat chuckled.
Shiori was too shocked to reply. Imagine being killed by a tree. That''s a Hogwarts moment right there.
“Urm…is the tree the test? Do I…do I have to climb it?”
Maat clicked her tongue. “Why would I want you to climb the tree? What''s that got to do with magic?”
“Hehehe, I''m just saying.”
“Hmph! Now put both your arms on the tree, and absorb it.”
Shiori was taken aback. She stared at Maat, then scanned the humongous tree. In her mind, even if she could absorb a tree, whatever that is, there ain''t no way she could take in this giant green thing inside her body. She would explode.
“Urm…what?”
Maat frowned, confused. “You don''t know how?”
“...no!”
“Fine, don''t get snippy.” Maat grumbled. “A wiccan''s source of magic is the Wisdom Tree. The Yggdrasil. A wiccan became wiccan when they absorbed the Wisdom Tree into themselves.”
Shiori''s jaw dropped. “I have to absorb this giant thing?! What''ll happen to my body?!”
Maat rolled her eyes. “Nothing will happen. Once the Wisdom Tree has been absorbed, you can mold it into anything you want. Usually, us wiccans turned the Wisdom Tree energy we absorbed into a book or a grimoire. But really, you could turn it into anything. A castle, a ship…whatever you want.”
“Hahahaha. Wow. That''s a cool feature.” Shiori almost jumped with joy hearing that.
“Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up. Establish a connection with the tree, and absorb it.”
Shiori rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on the tree. Now she knew where the rat got its bad manners from.
“Close your eyes. Let the beating of your heart guide you into the Tree. Let the energy from the Tree flow inside you like water. And channel it into your heart.”
Shiori did as she was told. It worked. She sensed energy entering her body through her hands. Converging inside her heart.
Maat noticed the tree shrunk as time passed on. She could not help but to grin widely. “My oh my. You are one talented wiccan. Now you can already form the energy into whatever you want. Remember. Choose something you could store your spells.”
Shiori didn''t need to choose anymore. Where else would you keep information?
Soon, her core began to take a shape of a building.