Three days passed. During this time, Mary continued her life as usual, happily seeking out Tirian to play. However, Mr. Marsvell's bookstore had remained closed for the past few days. Upon asking the neighbors, they learned that he had shut his doors due to urgent business, though he intended to reopen whenever time permitted. Hearing this, Mary didn't dwell on her sadness for long and quickly found new ways to entertain herself with Tirian.
During these three days, Mary's parents were also preoccupied with their own affairs. On some days, they weren't seen at home at all, returning only late at night. When Mary came home from playing, she could only eat the food prepared by the servants, which tasted rather bland and unappetizing to her.
On that particular morning, when Mary was awakened from her bed by her mother, she went through her morning routine in a daze. She sat at the dining table in a dreamlike stupor, her eyes showing signs of intense drowsiness, her eyelids looking as though they might snap shut at any second.
Seeing his daughter in such a state, Mary's father shook his head slightly, feeling a twinge of self-reproach. Over the past few days, he and his wife had been contacting several old acquaintances to discuss matters regarding their daughter's future.
"Mary, would you like to go with us to buy some school supplies?"
After some consideration, he decided to ask her. Having once been a child himself, he understood the feeling of being dragged along by parents for shopping. Whether one liked it or not, being around adults could be quite awkward in certain situations. He wanted to gauge Mary's reaction first. Besides, it had been several years since he had gone shopping with his wife and child, and he was secretly quite excited.
Hearing her father's words, Mary's eyes instantly lit up. "Yes, please! I love shopping the most!"
Hearing the genuine joy in her voice—not a hint of reluctance, but true excitement—her father felt a wave of warmth in his heart.
"All right, it's settled then. Let's eat now before the food gets cold."
Her mother clapped her hands to draw their attention, speaking to the father and daughter who were so busy talking they had nearly forgotten their meal. Mary's father scratched his head sheepishly, while Mary looked at her mother with a gaze of pure innocence, her eyes seemingly filled with countless stars.
"Do you need something, little Mary?"
Involuntarily, her mother succumbed to this "true damage" of cuteness and blurted out a nickname from when Mary was only a few months old. Upon hearing it, Mary felt a bit strange and pouted. "Mom, don't call me by that weird name."
Her mother burst into laughter, and her father joined in, making Mary feel even more aggrieved. "Stop laughing at me! I want to eat now!"
With that, she buried her head in her food, refusing to look at the two of them. Her parents exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and began to use their own knives and forks.
By noon, the three of them arrived at a large square crowded with pedestrians. In the center of the square stood a massive fountain, its sparkling waters reflecting the sunlight in a way that was truly eye-catching. Quite a few people passing by paused to admire its beauty.
Mary's father led the way toward the fountain, his hand flicking slightly. "[Invisibility]"
This was a basic spell that could render the caster and those they touched invisible to the eyes and minds of others. It wasn't standard physical invisibility but rather a psychological type of cloaking, causing others to subconsciously ignore the caster's presence. If they tried to remember later, the memory would be vague and unclear. This magic was frequently applied in assassinations and reconnaissance, but its fatal flaw was that the more people there were within a certain range, the higher the mana cost became.
Currently, there were countless people around the fountain, so his magic could only be maintained for a few brief seconds, but that was enough.
He took the hands of both mother and daughter, whispering the next incantation. Although mana in the Primary World was nearly depleted, every mage possessed a type of mana circuit within their body to absorb and preserve mana. This was an innate trait and the threshold that allowed humans to use magic. At this moment, Mary's father tapped into his circuits, exhausting a year's worth of preserved mana. However, once they reached the magical world, he would recover it all within a few hours, which was why mages had no desire to stay in the Primary World and suffer.
"I am the sword, I am the tolerance, I am the candle, I lead the way, I open the path; the world shall open a miracle-filled road for me [Open the Reverse Side of the World]."
A vortex began to swirl beneath the water of the fountain, pulling the three of them down. Being her first time experiencing this, Mary panicked slightly, flailing her arms and legs. Her mother remained calmer, gently patting her daughter's back, while her father looked somewhat exhausted from the significant loss of mana.
The three of them vanished into the waters of the fountain.
Mary saw streaks of colors distorting all around her. Her eyes widened; these lights felt like friends waving hello to her, and she instinctively waved back.
Looking at her innocent daughter, Mary's mother sighed inwardly. 'My daughter is so naive. What if she gets tricked by boys when she grows up? I wonder if I'll lose my temper and start casting magic everywhere.' Indeed, while Mary's mother looked like the standard definition of a virtuous wife, she was actually quite a fierce person. Years ago, she had met Mary's father through a fight before they eventually married. Her wild nature had subsided significantly, but it was hard to erase completely.
After a moment of dazzling light, the three of them finally touched down. Mary, feeling a bit dizzy, clung to her mother's leg and wouldn't let go. Once her vision cleared, she looked around at their new surroundings.
They stood in an ancient and solemn street. There were many pedestrians, but far fewer than at the square earlier. Mary's sharp eyes caught sight of numerous strange objects and costumes on the people around them. Tugging on her father's trouser leg, she whispered, "Dad, are we in the magical world you told me about?"
"That's right, daughter. We're here today to buy your uniform and school supplies."
Mary's eyes sparkled. She took the initiative to grab their hands and pulled them forward. "Let's go!"
Her father and mother shook their heads with an amused smile. Mary's curiosity was practically overflowing from her face.
First, Mary's father led her into a wand shop. Along the way, he explained the importance of a wand to her. In summary, a wand acted as a medium to help the caster more easily convert mana into magic. If the wand was a perfect match for the user, its power could increase significantly, making it ideal for apprentice mages or for combat.
Mary curiously asked why her father could use magic without a wand. He puffed out his chest, his eyes gleaming with pride. "Isn't it because your father's power is simply too great? I can use powerful magic now without the need for a measly little wand."
Mary looked at him with worshipful eyes, while beside them, her mother stifled a laugh. 'Isn't it because you were impulsive back then and snapped your wand, so you can't use one anymore?' she thought. Seeing his wife's smile, the father's face flushed hot, his middle-aged features turning as red as an apple.
Mary burst into laughter at her father's comical expression.
Inside the shop, Mary's attention was immediately drawn to a man cleaning wand boxes nearby. He was a rather old man with a beard much longer than one would expect for his face, dressed in clothing that was exceptionally beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
Looking closely, the shop was impeccably clean. Sunlight streamed through colorful stained-glass windows on the ceiling, making the space feel even more poetic and dreamlike.