Yvette’s moment of surprise was clearly not an illusion. Over the following years, not only did her appearance become more youthful, but her height also increased from just under 1.5 meters to around 1.65 meters—gaining a full ten centimeters.

With a perfectly shaped figure, pure white skin, magnificent silver hair, and a stunning face, anyone who saw her would surely exclaim, “What a remarkable beauty!”

However, this trend didn’t continue.

Four years later, on the eleventh year after her journey began, her development halted. For the next two to three decades, despite no changes in her living habits, she maintained the appearance of a 17- or 18-year-old girl, showing no signs of aging.

She couldn’t comprehend why this was happening. It made her feel as though she were a bio-machine implanted with a specific program, functioning only to a certain extent as dictated by that programming, with no control whatsoever.

Had she been subjected to rune compilation at the genetic level?

Were her survival capabilities, reminiscent of the Magic Glow Vines, and the beauty trait of “age freezing” preset features?

Could this be an undisclosed hidden technology from Black Tower Pharmaceuticals?

With these thoughts in mind and recalling the sealed metal door at the lower levels leading to the core area, she couldn’t help but entertain some possibilities.

If one day that door could be opened, perhaps all her questions would be answered.

…

The lead-gray clouds covered the sky, and sporadic raindrops fell from the thick clouds, creating ripples on the lake’s surface inside the volcanic caldera.

This marked the 53rd year after her journey, and Yvette—whose magic power had now surpassed 80 points—was at the study table on layer negative one, dipping her quill into the juice of the Magic Glow Vines as she wrote notes. Dried vines crackled in a fire pile in the corner of the room, while the cold and dampness outside contrasted with the warm ambiance inside.

“Frost Technique C-9, temporary name ‘Frost Bolt.’ I feel like I’ve hit my bottleneck; the rune seems to have no room for improvement…”

“Fire Technique B-5, temporary name ‘Flame Dance.’ Experiments prove that I can continue to add more logical and operational runes for ongoing iterations…”

“Wind Technique A-7, temporary name ‘Wind Walk.’ The user experience is poor; it feels like bouncing on the moon, very unstable—needs further optimization.”

This was her personal training notebook, documenting the rune arrangements she derived based on her understanding of magic.

In fact, the only spells she was proficient in were these three.

This wasn’t because she couldn’t access the magical techniques left behind by the Origin Civilization; rather, all those spells required entry into a magical terminal for assistance in casting. Otherwise, with the tens of thousands of runes, she wouldn’t be able to memorize them, let alone use them. The rightful source is novel·fıre·net

Thus, she could only draw inspiration and ideas from the rune groups to create her own necessary spells, resulting in the “Frost Bolt,” “Flame Dance,” and “Wind Walk,” which were half adaptations and half originals.

“It feels like I’m ready to practice on the fish monsters in the lake.”

She made this decision as her gaze swept across the hall of level negative one, filled with items that resembled surfboards.

Those were magical equipment called “Flying Boards.” As the name implied, they were mini vehicles enabling people to float in the air, at a height of around twenty meters.

Currently, these flying boards were all out of energy; her magic “pressure” wasn’t sufficient to recharge them, and she wasn’t sure if they were broken. Still, they gave her a glimmer of hope for escaping the confines of her cage.

After stepping out of the tunnel onto the water platform, feeling the cool wind and mist from the rain, Yvette noticed a massive shadow moving slowly beneath the lake’s surface in the distance.

“This aberration is a bit smaller; I’ll go after it…”

The thought crossed her mind as Yvette raised her right hand, forming a “gun” gesture and pointing her index finger toward the water below while gently tapping her thumb as if pulling a trigger.

In the next second, accompanied by a 2-point magic expenditure, a translucent light shot from her fingertips, piercing into the water dozens of meters away, exploding into a magnificent display of ice flowers!

—The “Frost Bolt” was a spell she had iterated over a decade. Simple yet powerful, it required only 2 points of magic power to achieve three to four times the single-target damage compared to the similar spell “Ice Spike,” boasting a magic efficiency that was overwhelming!

Of course, “Ice Spike,” as basic knowledge in the Origin Civilization, wasn’t a particularly practical spell. It was more about being simple and easy to remember, comprising just 20 runes. In contrast, “Frost Bolt” involved over 300 runes, which any normal person would find tedious to memorize; they would prefer to copy and paste it into the magical terminal.

However, for a spellcaster with limited conditions, casting magic didn’t require reciting the complete set of runes.

As long as one fulfilled the conditions of “fully memorizing the rune sequence” and “massive practice until forming a cross-memory between body, spirit, and memory,” they could transform it into a unique “sensation.”

Then, by linking that sensation through thought, magic could be instantaneously cast, like an instinct engraved in their genes.

…

Compared to the monster from 53 years ago that had horrified her to the core, this aberration was much smaller, measuring only about two meters in length.

Provoked by Yvette, it moved closer, eagerly splitting its head into four petals even before reaching the shore, revealing its central orchid-like maw, indicating its anticipation for this hunt.

As Yvette stepped back, she flicked her thumb, sending more Frost Bolts into its deformed mouth.

However, her aim had some issues; most of the Frost Bolts missed their target, hitting various odd places instead.

Well, practice in aiming needed to be prioritized, she noted to herself.

Soon, accompanied by the screeches echoing through the air, within mere seconds, the ferocious fish monster scrambled up onto the metal platform, crawling toward Yvette like a maddened seal.

Seeing this, Yvette cast “Wind Walk” on herself, gently retreating and creating a distance of over ten meters.

Then she immediately unleashed her third spell, Flame Dance.

In an instant, a magical circle adorned with classical patterns appeared on the ground about twenty meters ahead, and scorching flames spiraled up from it, engulfing the fish monster that had just climbed over!

The painful howling of the fish monster filled the air, followed closely by the smell of charred flesh. Although it hadn’t been burned to death directly by the rising fire whirl, the scorching effect still dealt significant damage.

Not wanting to press the attack further, Yvette instead withdrew into the mouth of the tunnel, skillfully locking the door behind her.

—Over 20 Frost Bolts consumed 2 points of magic each. Adding in the 20 points from Flame Dance and 6 points from Wind Walk, her previously abundant magic power of over 80 points was now less than one-quarter, exceeding the danger threshold.

At this moment, many strange aquatic aberrations were drawn by the battle and the smell of flesh, accelerating toward her from various angles. Hence, she found no need to engage further.

Regardless, the important practical feedback had been attained, and she had gained initial combat experience. In the future, there would be plenty of time for hunting—there was no need to rush.