The Bizarre Wizarding World

The talent of the superbrain allowed him to instantly determine the origin of this badge—

This was clearly the president's badge of the True Knowledge Society that Silvester always wore on his chest!

"Mentor... I'm afraid has already fallen." Shelley murmured as she rubbed the metal badge, then took two more steps forward.

A few tattered pieces of gray cloth were scattered on the pristine ice surface.

From its style and material, it's not difficult to tell that it's from some wizard robe.

This discovery left Colin with no more room for luck, and he sighed deeply.

Although they haven't found a body yet, Fourth Rank Wizards, having lost their physical form, wouldn't leave behind obvious remains after death.

The robe and badge before them already could essentially declare Silvester's demise as a fact.

"It's just some remnants of a robe and a badge; perhaps the reality isn't as bad as we think."

Though thinking this way in his heart, Colin still comforted Shelley with words.

"Hmm." Shelley nodded, put away the robe and badge, and looked up at Colin.

Her light blue eyes seemed devoid of emotion, or perhaps filled with countless emotions.

It wasn't until Colin felt a little uneasy that she gently said, "Thank you, Colin."

"No thanks needed, we're friends after all." Colin smiled.

"Are we just friends?"

Shelley's clear voice was like a small copper hammer, striking Colin's heart, making him tremble involuntarily.

In the Eye of Blizzard, the weather was clear. Above, the night sky was filled with shining stars.

On this vast circular ice field, only the two of them stood atop the glacier.

Apart from that, there were no other people, other things, other sounds...

The gentle breeze seemed to pause due to the tension.

Colin felt the surrounding area was extremely quiet, Shelley's breathing was clearly audible, and his slightly accelerated heartbeat was even more noisy.

He paused, dryly laughed, and said, "We are close friends, extremely good friends!"

Shelley quietly glanced at him, her light blue eyes like a beautiful lake reflecting the starry sky, making Colin a bit speechless.

"Life is the most magnificent miracle in the world, and also the most fragile miracle.

— Mentor Silvester once said this to me when I was very young."

Shelley didn't continue the previous topic but suddenly said:

"As the elf of the world's birth, from the moment I was born, I possessed a long lifespan, so long that it's counted in tens of thousands of years."

As Shelley spoke, she stepped towards a mountain peak not far away,

"I never thought there would be a day I would completely perish... just like I never thought a mentor with a lifespan of millennia would leave me so quickly."

"But in reality, all of this happened."

Colin remained silent: "Life is always unpredictable."

"Indeed." Shelley nodded, "When I was little, although through twists of fate I became a human child and lost most of my power, compared to real humans, I was still much stronger."

"I wouldn't fear the cold, nor would I hunger, scarcely injured. So for a long time, I never understood what pain was, what fear was, what... love was."

Colin listened quietly.

He was also curious about how an elf, who was supposed to lack moral notions or even emotions, became such an existence more human-like than many ordinary people.

Shelley continued speaking, climbing step by step towards the mountain peak ahead, with Colin closely following.

"My adoptive mother was just an ordinary human. She knew little, could even be said to be ignorant, but she loved me dearly.

Unfortunately... I was too unique, and she was too naive. After taking me in, her life was not good."

"No one was willing to marry her, so in the Extreme North, even having a meal became difficult, and hunger constantly plagued her."

"I wouldn't get hungry, and she couldn't explain what hunger was.

So it was long after, after she starved to death, that I realized that for humans, hunger could be painful and even deadly."

Colin silently followed behind Shelley, trying to understand the situation this elf faced back then.

If someone never felt hunger, how could they understand hunger, just as describing brightness to a blind person might be futile no matter the effort.

"But I could only know hunger, not truly understand hunger," Shelley continued.

"After her death, I lost my shelter, though I didn't understand hunger or pain, I could read those strange gazes.

In a sense of crisis, I instinctively began to mimic the actions of the people around me... but I was not a good mimic."

"How can someone who can't hear act as a good listener?"

"Fortunately, before being handed over to the wizard by all the villagers, I met Mentor Silvester."

"Through the mentor's help, and through witchcraft, I felt hunger for the first time.

It was also the first time I felt real pain..."

Shelley continued recounting, recalling the past scenes in her mind.

...

In the enormous Wizard Tower, on the third-floor laboratory.

A little girl about five or six was clutching her stomach in confusion, with a look of pain gradually appearing on her face.

"Is this hunger?" she asked the kind old man in front of her.

"That's right, little Shelley." Silvester smiled warmly; he had no sons or daughters, but he felt this little girl before him was very much like the granddaughter he never had.