Anna Reed looked at the rows of blank-faced little lolis scattered across the open plain and couldn't help feeling distressed. In the middle of nowhere, how was she supposed to raise them?
She had been single her whole life—where would she get any parenting experience? She was completely in the dark.
Just thinking about the future gave her a headache. Even if succubi were less trouble than humans, basic survival still had to be considered. Food was the first major hurdle.
"M... Mama?"
A sudden call startled her, and then the sound spread, connecting into a chorus. It was actually her native language. Hearing it in this foreign land brought a sudden wave of homesickness. Tears burst forth.
The system showed that the Succubus race possessed hereditary memories and had received a portion of Anna's knowledge. She wasn't sure if it was at a primary, middle, or university level, but it was enough for daily communication.
"I am not your mother. A so-called mother is the person who gave birth to you and raised you."
"However, we do need a title. From now on, you shall call me Mentor, because I will teach you how to survive, and we shall progress together."
As soon as Anna finished speaking, the girls jumped for joy, their multicolored hair fluttering in the wind like a cluster of flowers. Truly a species of high intelligence and top-tier talent—the succubus cubs seemed to have understood already.
No way? Could there really be people who enjoy attending class?
Could it be the racial trait [Intelligent] taking effect? This was too competitive; if only she had possessed it in her previous life.
Looking at the scholarly aura of these little succubus "honor students" in training, Anna felt another headache coming on. She thought to herself: *Is my mere liberal arts master's degree enough?*
Through communication, she gradually realized that these girls' knowledge of science and engineering reached the level of high school students—Newton's three laws rolled off their tongues, hardly seeming like an idealistic race. In contrast, their literary and artistic literacy was extremely weak, stopping at basic reading and writing. They knew nothing of essential classics, had zero historical knowledge, and understood nothing of advanced ideologies.
The point that troubled Anna the most was that hereditary memory did not equal experience; the succubus cubs were still naive and ignorant.
"Mentor, why do we all look so similar... but this fellow has a mouth full of fangs?"
"Watch out!"
Having looked away for a moment, she saw a little succubus dragging a gray wolf over. The prey's body was a head taller than the hunter, yet it had been beaten until blood flowed from its seven orifices, with a clear fist-shaped indentation where its skull had collapsed. The fatal blow had killed the gray wolf instantly.
Being able to "Ora" an adult gray wolf at such a young age—what was she, Jotaro?
"Forget it. Let's set up a safe base first."
When Anna thought of this, a vast amount of information naturally emerged in her mind—strange knowledge increased. She picked up a branch and waved it as if by instinct, chanting under her breath:
"Transfiguration."
Her words became reality as the trees in the forest intertwined to form a wall protecting the surrounding hundred meters. The succubus cubs immediately let out a chorus of surprised cries.
"Magic really does exist in this world!" Anna was even more surprised. Could it be the Psionic Ascension path? Was magic also a form of psionic energy? Regardless, idealism explained everything—if you're not happy with it, go find your materialist father.
She had a faint feeling that the characteristic magic system of the Succubus race might originate from her own "impressions of magic effects" from various works in her previous life.
Otherwise, how could it be so similar to *Harry Potter*, albeit with greatly increased power?
"We are safe for the time being. Be careful not to wander outside the perimeter easily."
Although Anna warned them, she couldn't suppress the cubs' curiosity. They all started shouting in sweet voices things like "Avada Kedavra," "Shinra Tensei," and "Specium Ray."
Hearing this made her vision go dark. Clearly, besides "useful" hereditary memories, they had also gained a lot of fragmented information; they were practically 300 walking dark histories. Anna was losing it. Fortunately, the little succubi didn't use any world-destroying ultimate moves—at most using psionic energy to blow a gust of wind.
What would they be like when they grew up?
She had to teach these cubs well, both as her duty as a Mentor and as her responsibility toward this yet-unknown world.
"Silence."
Anna's single word made the little succubi obediently stop their movements. Clearly, authoritarian thought had deeply resonated with them.
"To answer the question from that brave wolf-hunting girl just now: why do we look alike while other species are different? Essentially, you are asking: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?"
"Does anyone know the answer?"
The succubi who had been trying out magic immediately answered eagerly:
"We come from an azure blue world."
"In the place where there were originally nine suns in the sky, later only one remained..."
The jumbled answers gave Anna a slight start. As expected, these children had received fragmented hereditary memories and had inherited the culture of the Seres people.
Unfortunately, they prioritized acquiring knowledge beneficial to collective development and only had a superficial understanding of the culture. It probably wouldn't be long before that hue of their ancestral land faded away—unless someone continued to popularize Seres culture for them.
The Succubus race was currently a blank slate; any creation myth or national narrative could be easily instilled.
Since she couldn't go back to her hometown, she might as well create a home for her "compatriots" here.
Although they had the talent to understand all languages, they had been communicating in her native tongue so far without any obstacles. Thinking of this, Anna no longer worried about the strange environment. She would deal with whatever came her way; they would surely be able to create a civilization, a nation. So what if it was another world? She would transform it into a shape she was familiar with.
"We are succubi, lost here from a land called Seres. We are heading toward a world where everyone works for the public good and there is universal harmony."
Anna's solemn words caught everyone's attention, and the girls listened with innocent but excited ears:
"If we cannot find Utopia, we will take root here and create a world of shared beauty."
"However, it is still too early to talk about these things..."
First, they had to fill their stomachs.
The first step should start with hunting.
Anna glanced at the sun slowly sinking into the horizon and dismissed the idea, estimating that a day in this other world was 24 hours. The night was not safe; they would stay in the settlement tonight and celebrate the establishment of their new life goals by staying up late.
Farming was not an immediate priority; not to mention the succubi's powerful physical strength, the knowledge reserves of 300 high school students alone could sustain them for a while.
"Mentor, we want to hear stories of the land of Seres."
"Alright, then we shall start with the Battle of Banquan: Legend has it that a war broke out between the Yan Emperor's tribe and the Yellow Emperor's tribe for dominance over the Central Plains..."
As someone from a liberal arts background, Anna could naturally recite five thousand years of history by heart, but she couldn't just copy it blindly. She took care to make the narrative consistent with the Succubus race while telling it, so she spoke slowly, but the children remained enthusiastic.
The blanket of a starry sky slowly spread out, covering the boundless great plain, and the bright moon shone high, making the night seem not so dark.
In a corner of the wilderness by the small forest dwelling, a group of girls sat around a campfire listening to ancient memories.
Anna was certain that this moment was sacred; the history of the succubi began here—the start of a civilization.