"About the same as me," Rhine recalled the first time he discovered this was the story of Sleeping Beauty in the palace of the Rose Kingdom many years ago. "On the Western Continent, I've experienced nothing but fairy tales."
In reality, there's no qualitative difference between the two, Rhine thought. The English word for 'fairy tale' is 'fairy tales,' which literally translates to 'spirit stories.'
Among the bustling pedestrians on the street, some glanced at the silver-haired young man and black-haired young woman conversing, but found they couldn't hear what they were saying. Some tried to approach, but after only a few steps, their eyes glazed over, and they immediately remembered other urgent matters, turning and leaving without looking back.
Night Ruge looked up, gazing at the picturesque rain fluttering in the wind like willow catkins, and seemed to recall:
"When I first came to this world, I was still quite curious, experiencing these stories one by one, dealing with mountain spirits, ghosts, city gods, and land deities…"
Rhine listened to Night Ruge's words and muttered in his heart:
I'm the 'Magician of the Fairy Tale World,' and you're the 'Demoness of the Strange Tales World,' right?
Aurora listened to Rhine and Night Ruge's conversation without interrupting.
Although she didn't understand everything, having traveled with Rhine for so long, she had actually vaguely guessed a little.
Is that really so? Teacher's original world…
Night Ruge continued:
"I am exceptionally gifted; I can grasp the essence of various spells with just a glance.
"Spring passed and autumn came, and years went by.
"After dealing with various gods, ghosts, and extraordinary individuals for a long time, I also became self-taught and acquired many abilities.
"Until…"
Night Ruge turned her head and looked at the pedestrians passing by on the street.
In an instant, the world suddenly fell silent, and the entire universe was dyed gray and white.
The sound of rain ceased, and the sounds of pedestrians walking and talking disappeared. Everyone's movements were frozen; raindrops hung suspended in the air, like a movie scene paused.
The entire street, the entire capital, the entire empire, all paused, frozen in dead gray and white.
Only Rhine and Aurora were the only two with color in this gray and white world, witnessing the universe being dyed gray and white, frozen in that instant.
"Until, there was nothing in this world that I couldn't accomplish!"
The black-haired young woman laughed up at the sky, a hint of triumph in her lazy tone.
The next second, time flowed again, and the gray and white receded, regaining color.
The frozen pedestrians began to move again, and the raindrops suspended in the air fell again, splashing into puddles with a pattering sound.
"Alright, I exaggerated a bit. I'm certainly not omniscient or omnipotent; I can't even go home by myself," Night Ruge said with an amused smile, then continued her narration:
"In short, from then on, I gradually began to feel that everything was very boring.
"I embarked on a journey to the Western Continent, and along the way, I met some witches. On a whim, I formed what you know as the Witch Society.
"Of course, the composition of the Witch Society members you've seen has actually changed several times.
"At that time, I didn't take this gathering seriously at all. Only later did I gradually learn that in some people's minds, it was a mysterious and terrifying evil organization."
Upon hearing of the Witch Society, Rhine slowly but firmly pointed out, "Your society members have harmed quite a few people."
"What does that have to do with me?" Night Ruge shrugged. "Besides, didn't you recruit two Witch Society members as allies? Clearly, not all of them are bad guys."
"Moreover, would the original villains do good deeds if they didn't join the Witch Society?"
Rhine didn't want to continue this topic and asked, "Which story is Red Heart of the Witch Society from?"
She was the only Witch Society member he hadn't met yet.
"The Queen from 'Alice in Wonderland' who wanted to chop off people's heads," Night Ruge replied casually.
She raised her head, extended her hand, palm up, letting the cool raindrops fall into her palm, and continued her story:
"Finally, I ended my journey and returned to the East.
"I recalled my hometown and began to research how to leave this world and return to Earth.
"I am indeed exceptionally gifted, and I quickly developed a ritual spell that could trace the soul's homeland, open a gate through space and time, and return to Earth.
"It's just a pity that this ritual requires two people to work together to open the door to Earth.
"And my other collaborator must be from the same world as me and possess the same powerful magic.
"For many years after that, I thought it would be impossible for me to find that suitable collaborator…"
At this point, Night Ruge suddenly smiled and looked at Rhine:
"However, I was lucky; I finally waited for you."
She pulled a book from somewhere and tossed it into Rhine's hand.
"Study hard. With your talent, you'll learn this ritual spell in less than two months. By then, we'll return to Earth together. Heh heh, it took me a lot of effort to research this ritual back then; now you're getting it cheap!"
"Okay," Rhine agreed.
As a master of prophecy, his intuition told him that Night Ruge's offer was sincere and contained no malice or trap.
"Learn quickly; I'll come find you in two months," Night Ruge said, then her figure transformed into a wisp of smoke and dispersed into the misty rain and cold breeze.
Aurora looked at the empty space where Night Ruge had left, watching the endless falling rain, and fell into deep thought.
From their conversation, she now fully knew that Rhine and the founder of the Witch Society came from the same world.
And they were about to return to their homeland.
After a long silence, Aurora asked in a deep voice:
"Teacher, many things that happen in our world are just stories in your world, right?"
"Yes," Rhine admitted, nodding, then smiled, "However, I prefer another, more romantic hypothesis."
"A more romantic hypothesis?" Aurora asked.
"In the realm of magic, past and future can be intertwined, reality and illusion have no boundaries, and the unchosen branches of fate also contain magic," Rhine said.
"Perhaps, it is precisely because there are many bizarre stories on this continent that a certain possibility of their development—that is, the unchosen branches of fate—through some connection between worlds, was reflected and projected into the dreams of poets and writers in our world, and only then did they become stories there."
Aurora pondered Rhine's words and suddenly felt that this hypothesis was indeed filled with a wonderful romantic quality, and it was also quite reasonable.
The two remained silent for a long time.
Only the falling rain scattered, and the pattering sound of raindrops was clearly audible.
Finally, this silence was broken by Aurora:
"Teacher, uh, you're going home soon. Congratulations."
Aurora forced a smile, and though she said this, she felt a faint sense of reluctance in her heart.
"There are still two months, no rush," Rhine let out a long breath, feeling a sense of relief.
He looked at Aurora, who was showing reluctance: "Before I leave, I happen to have a gift for you."
"What gift?" Aurora widened her eyes curiously.
"Aurora, when I taught Oz in Emerald City, I discovered that I also have a talent for being a magic teacher!
"And Aurora, your magical talent is actually far better than Oz's. It's just that in the past, in order to defeat Black Witch Maleficent, you dedicated most of your energy to your best skill, swordsmanship.
"Now, Black Witch Maleficent is dead, and I have become a legendary magician with boundless magic, so it's time for me to impart my magic to you."
After Rhine finished speaking, he gently placed his hand on Aurora's shoulder, and magic as surging as the sea flowed into the golden-haired young woman's soul.
"Aurora, I think you must have noticed long ago that I can draw power from others' wishes and gain new spells or items.
"I call this constitution 'Wish Magician.'
"Now, after resolving the crisis in the Rose Kingdom and absorbing an unprecedented amount of wish power from you and the entire Rose Kingdom, my magic has advanced by leaps and bounds, and I finally have the ability to duplicate my special ability.
"I will soon leave this continent…"
Rhine looked at the young woman and spoke his final words.
"The Princess of the Rose Kingdom, the future King…
"While being King, will you replace me and become the next 'Wish Magician' on this continent?"
Feeling the surging magic boiling in her soul, Aurora nodded in surprise:
"Yes, Teacher!"
During her past journey, Aurora often felt that she had plenty of martial power but couldn't do many things because she lacked magic.
Now, she could finally become a great magician like her teacher!
"The Rose Kingdom will soon have a King with wondrous magic!" Rhine thought of this future and said with a smile.
After an unknown amount of time, Rhine removed his hand from Aurora's shoulder, a slight weariness on his face.
"Alright, Aurora, I have duplicated my special ability for you. From now on, you are the new 'Wish Magician.'"
Aurora raised her hand in surprise.
She could feel her magic level advancing by leaps and bounds, with wondrous magic boiling in her soul and many vague incantations echoing in her mind, as if she had just gone through an entire night of studying, leaving her a bit dizzy.
"Aurora, how do you feel? Do you have any special sensations?" Rhine asked with a smile.
Vaguely, Aurora felt that the silver-haired young man in front of her seemed to be emitting waves of intense heat.
"Teacher, I feel like you are a blazing fire, hot, scorching, and radiant…"
Rhine smiled, "What you are feeling is my wish power."
"Hmm, it's Teacher's wish to go home."
"Of course, this wish of mine is not something you can fulfill. You can only absorb the corresponding wish power if you participate in fulfilling the corresponding wish and play an important role in that process," Rhine simply explained the mechanism he was already familiar with.
Aurora nodded thoughtfully, her expression a little regretful.
"But it's okay; you'll have plenty of opportunities to fulfill wishes in the future.
"Let's go back to the Rose Kingdom first.
"For the next two months, I will personally teach you, striving to impart all the magic I know to you during this time.
"Of course, you won't be able to master and become proficient in all the spells immediately.
"But it doesn't matter; you won't be inheriting the throne that quickly. You can practice slowly in the days after I leave."
Rhine looked up at the western horizon, his gaze profound, as if he could see through everything.
The young man's heels, wearing the silver shoe, gently clicked together, and a silver current swirled, carrying the cold rain.
Their figures vanished into the silver whirlwind, transforming into a streak of light that shot towards the distant west, crossing a thousand li in an instant.
On the streets of the capital, only the fine rain fell like weaving threads.
…
In the depths of the Rose Kingdom palace, the long-empty bronze palace became quite lively over the next two months.
Palace maids and attendants would occasionally hear the sound of incantations emanating from the palace, or strange lights shooting out from the palace, illuminating the sky; sometimes, flocks of birds would gather above the palace.
Inside the bronze palace.
Rhine sat on a wooden chair, flipping through a book in his hand.
For these two months, besides reading the book Night Ruge gave him daily and studying the ritual spell to return to Earth, he also personally taught Aurora magic.
"This Night Ruge, her handwriting is so ugly," Rhine opened the last page, noting down the key points.
The subtlety of this ritual was such that an ordinary magician might simply die on the spot just by thinking about it carefully, but for the current Rhine, he could quickly comprehend it.
After confirming that he had thoroughly understood the entire book, Rhine stood up and looked at Aurora, who was constantly teleporting and leaving afterimages in front of him:
"How's the practice going?"
Aurora turned back in surprise:
"Teacher, I feel like I'm a super powerful magician now!"
Perhaps it was the personal guidance of the world's first magician, combined with Aurora's original talent, that allowed her to make such rapid progress.
"However…" Aurora said with a slight hint of disappointment, "Besides that one time two months ago, I haven't felt any wish power since then."
Rhine was not surprised by this at all.
During this time, Aurora and he had both stayed in the palace, with no opportunity to interact with people.
Rhine took Aurora's hand:
"Come, let's go somewhere.
"Let's try to fulfill your first wish in your own way!"