Audrey unconsciously bit the end of her pen, her delicate and charming little face wrinkling up, lost in thought, Little Fox looked up at the ceiling above her, her heart filled with confusion.
Who am I? Where am I? What was I supposed to do again?
Boo hoo hoo, this question is too hard, she really doesn't know how to do it.
In the past, Audrey had always considered herself somewhat of a Talent, since everyone around her praised her as such, and she was able to pick up the skills taught by her two mothers with ease.
Although her aptitude was definitely not as miraculous as some people flattered her to be—unseen in heaven and unmatched on earth—she thought it still wasn't too bad and should be considered excellent among her peers.
Also, given her timid and reclusive nature, she spent a lot of time at home reading books to pass the time, so she was quite confident in her knowledge reserves; even her sister didn't know as much as she did.
So now, could someone please tell me why I can only do half of these questions?
Audrey looked at the large blank spaces on the test paper in her hand, her eyes growing even more befuddled.
So, tell me, second aunt, are you sure you didn't pick up the wrong test paper? This is really a test for new students, not some kind of entry-level exam for a Sage, right?
Looking at the test paper that almost encompassed knowledge from all of the Nine Major Factions, Little Fox was truly baffled.
Has she been cooped up at home for too long? Have the times changed? Do today's little witches need to have such a wide range of knowledge, and start on the path of Faction Mastery from a young age?
But such doubts were quickly dismissed by Audrey's reasoning.
After all, Mastery of all Factions is something only Sages could achieve, and if anyone could do it, Sages would become worthless.
Either way, Little Fox roughly estimated that, with her Talent, if she had started studying continuously from birth without eating, drinking, sleeping, or resting, she theoretically should have been able to score full marks at sixteen years of age today.
But who could possibly do that? It's impossible for anyone to manage that...
Right???
Audrey shook her head, originally trying to stop herself from overthinking, but as she turned her head, she inadvertently saw the student sitting next to her, also taking the exam.
To be honest, she didn't really like this classmate, and could even say she was a bit scared of her; after all, the classmate's outfit was exactly what you'd expect from a problematic student, only missing the words "I am a bad student" written on her face.
She is the type who clearly doesn't study well at school, only knowing how to fight, skip classes, and date—a typical bad girl.
With such disrepute, even a normal witch student would keep their distance, let alone someone with social anxiety like Audrey.
In fact, she had started regretting sitting down next to this classmate to take the test in a huff, but then the difficulty of the test caught her attention and she momentarily forgot about it.
A sorting device was placed at the exit of the Alchemy Furnace; it fed the processed materials onto the conveyor belts, which then transported them to the construction site, where the agile Unarmored Puppets, materials in hand, started working.
And some weird and wonderful machines were conjured up by the bad student, like a strange car with two huge solid wheels, another strange car with a flexible mechanical arm, and a tall, towering crane with a long arm and hook, among others.
A few small Mechanical Puppets climbed into these odd machines and then began to operate them.
Digging, laying foundations, mixing mortar, compacting the earth, plastering, erecting the skeleton, putting up scaffolding, encircling with dust sheets...
Once the commotion behind the dust curtains died down, and the cloth was torn away, an entire miniature palace appeared before Little Fox's eyes.
The Mechanical Puppets that had finished their work were now queuing up and leaping into the Alchemy Furnace; after a burst of flames, a host of charming and seductive doll women were reborn from the Alchemy Furnace.
They began to enter the palace, each to their duties; some took the throne, some became subjects, others became part of the harem, some performed music and dance—it was truly a miniature kingdom.
Ah, this....
Audrey, who had witnessed all this, could only think she had seen divinity. Her mouth agape, her charming fox eyes wide with astonishment, it wasn't until she heard the bad witch's voice that she snapped back to reality.
"Teacher, I'm finished, here's my test," she heard the bad student say.
This made Audrey subconsciously glance at the other student's test paper, but the bad student also noticed her look and immediately covered up the paper, wary as if afraid Audrey might peek.
Audrey: "....."
Little Fox, being treated like this for the first time in her life, couldn't even bother to be angry because, in that brief glance, she had seen the densely written words filling up the bad student's paper, leaving no space empty.
So, you're telling me she knows the answer to every question?
Impossible, that just can't be; she must have written nonsense.
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But then again...
Looking at the lifelike miniature kingdom on the other student's desk, Audrey fell silent.
After a while, Little Fox looked up at the ceiling again.
She began to think her family had been lying to her all these years; she probably wasn't a Talent at all, but more likely a fool. Otherwise, how could she not even match up to a bad girl, and not just slightly—this gap was colossal, enough to drive one to despair.
.....Little Fox in shutdown mode...