Unlocking.
Yao Yao the cat solemnly chanted her spell.
Two seconds passed.
The cage door didn't budge.
Cen Yao stared at it.
The cage door remained motionless.
Another two seconds passed.
It still remained stubbornly shut.
Cen Yao the cat: “?”
Refusing to believe it, she raised her paw again.
“Meow, meow~”
Unlock!
The cage door: “...”
Excellent.
Absolutely no reaction.
Cen Yao froze, her entire cat body stiffening.
In the next second, she clutched her head in her mind and screamed.
“Orb! What's going on? Why won't the door open? Have I lost my magic?!”
Inside the System Space, the orb was holding its cheeks as it watched its cat Host.
Hearing Cen Yao call out to it, it immediately cleared its throat, trying its best to sound serious.
Unfortunately, it failed.
Its voice still unconsciously became high-pitched and cutesy.
“Because Host didn't chant the spell.”
Cen Yao: “?”
The orb looked at Yao Yao the cat with an affectionate gaze. “Host is currently a kitty, so you can't pronounce the spell correctly.”
Cen Yao's ears instantly perked up with a whoosh.
What?
She had clearly chanted it just now!
She had chanted it very seriously!
Fearing that she might puff up her fur in anger, the orb's voice grew even gentler.
“Does Host still remember our very first lesson?”
“Spells are the medium for casting magic.”
“Only when the caster pronounces the spell objectively and correctly will the magic manifest.”
“But what Host is saying right now is meowing, not a spell in the sense of human language. Therefore, the magic cannot be cast through the spell.”
Cen Yao slowly lowered her head and looked at her little paws.
Then she looked down at her body.
Then, her round little ears drooped down bit by bit.
“Meow, meow~”
Does that mean I won't be able to use magic for this entire dungeon?
Her voice was incredibly soft and dejected.
The orb's heart practically melted upon hearing this.
It immediately projected itself out of the System Space, landing as a tiny, fluffy white ball on Cen Yao's smooth, furry back.
“Well, not necessarily.”
Cen Yao the cat instantly perked up.
Her ears stood straight up.
Her eyes sparkled.
She wanted to turn around to look at the orb.
But since the orb was currently perched on her back, she had to strain her eyes backward to see it.
She almost turned a cute and clever little cat into a cross-eyed, silly one.
Click.
The orb pulled back its camera with satisfaction.
Cen Yao the cat froze.
She asked suspiciously, “Meow?”
The orb immediately pretended nothing had happened.
“What I mean is, if Host can achieve silent casting, you can still use magic.”
“After all, magic power is the foundation of spellcasting, while spells are merely the medium.”
“Once Host is familiar enough with the spell itself and can guide magic power to complete the corresponding structure without relying on speech, you can basically achieve silent casting.”
Cen Yao the cat listened intently.
After listening, she flicked her tail thoughtfully.
“Meow~”
Alright then, I will practice hard, orb.
She didn't know if it was due to the influence of her cat body, but Cen Yao felt that her brain capacity was clearly lacking.
Under normal circumstances, she would have immediately analyzed the principles, possibilities, and training methods of silent casting.
But now, after hearing the orb's words, the very first thought that popped into her head was—
Flicking my tail actually feels pretty nice.
Cen Yao: “...”
She was doomed.
She was really being influenced by this cat body.
Cen Yao tried her best to pull her attention away from her tail and went back to staring at the cage door.
Open the door.
Open the door.
She had to open the door.
She must get out before the sun set.
Cen Yao tried to channel the magic power within her body.
The magic power was still there.
Although her body had turned into a civet cat, her magic power hadn't vanished.
It still flowed quietly inside her. However, because of her different physical structure, the feeling of channeling it had also become very strange.
In the past, she could hold her wand and release magic power along with spells and gestures.
Now, she had no hands.
To be precise, she had paws.
She also couldn't pronounce spells correctly.
The magic power was stuck in her body like a pool of water that didn't know where to flow out.
Cen Yao stared at the lock.
She tried very hard.
So hard that her eyes were almost crossing.
The lock still wouldn't open!
She tried a different angle.
Still closed.
She even stretched out her paw and made a gesture in the air.
Still nothing.
Cen Yao flicked her tail in irritation.
Just as she was about to try again, a pair of vigorous cat legs suddenly appeared on the open ground in front of her cage.
Cen Yao looked up.
A civet cat was passing by her cage.
It was much thinner than a normal civet cat. Its fur was a grayish-brown color with deep stripes, and its spine was tense, giving it a wild yet cool beauty when it walked.
The most eye-catching part was its two hind legs.
They dragged limply along the ground. Every step forward was powered entirely by its two front legs.
Yet even so, it still walked very steadily.
It didn't look pathetic at all.
It passed by the row of cages, as if observing or confirming something.
Cen Yao stared in awe.
So... so amazing.
What a strong-willed kitty.
It was like a superhero cat!
A disabled but strong-willed superhero cat walking alone in this dangerous coffee garden!
Just as Cen Yao was sincerely praising this superhero cat in her mind, the other party suddenly stopped.
It turned its head and looked at Cen Yao inside the cage.
Those eyes were extremely cold.
Cen Yao instinctively sat up a bit straighter.
Then, she saw the superhero cat's lips move.
“Heh, stupid cat.”
Cen Yao the cat: “???”
She was stunned.
She suspected she had misheard.
“Meow?”
What did you say?
The disabled civet cat looked at her coldly.
“Staring at the lock for so long—what, are you planning to glare it open with your eyes?”
Cen Yao: “!”
“Meow!”
“Meow, meow, meow!”
“Meow!!!”
You're the stupid one!
You bad kitty!
To think she had actually been praising it in her mind just now!
She spoke too soon.
How was this a superhero cat?
This was just a mean cat!
Its mouth was as bitter as coffee dregs!
The disabled civet cat looked at Cen Yao, whose fur had puffed up inside the cage, without the slightest ripple in its eyes.
“Even stupider.”
Cen Yao: “!!!”
Outrageous!
This was way too much!
Cen Yao the cat immediately pulled a grumpy cat face and began to complain in her mind.
“Wah~ Orb, he insulted me!”
“How could he say such mean things to me!”
“He's a bad kitty!”
The orb had originally been enjoying its cat Host's puffed-up state.
But the moment it heard its Host feeling aggrieved, it immediately began to coax her in a fluster.
“Don't cry, Host. Don't be mad, don't be mad.”
“Let's open this door quickly and go out to challenge him to a duel.”
“We'll beat him until he's spitting out teeth, and see if he ever dares to insult Host again!”
Cen Yao's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Yes.
She had to get out.
She was going to challenge this mean cat to a duel.
She would beat it until it spit out its teeth.
She would let it know that a Witch kitty was not to be trifled with!
Perhaps fueled by her anger, when Cen Yao looked at the cage door again, her entire aura had completely shifted.
She stared at the lock.
Open the door!
Open the door for her!
Open the door right now!
Driven by this surge of emotion, the magic power inside her body violently slammed against the lock.
Cen Yao opened her mouth.
“Gwah~ wen!”
She was so angry she was practically speaking human.
Click.
The lock opened.
The cage door gently popped open, leaving a small gap.
Cen Yao the cat: “...”
The disabled civet cat: “...”
The orb: “?”
Wait.
Did the door seriously just open like that?
And that spell wasn't even close to being objective and correct, was it?
“Gwah wen”?
“Gwah win”?
“Kai men”?
Even that counted?
Rate on N.U.
