"You are a wild witch, and you have now awakened your talent. You will no longer recite spells involuntarily," Horn dispelled her doubts.
Annie breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest and saying, "That's good, that's good. I thought I would always summon those monsters."
Her chest shook as she spoke, causing Horn, hidden beneath his hood, to blush slightly.
"Before we proceed with our next topic, I have a question for you," Horn asked seriously.
"What question?"
"Why did you command those monsters to wreak havoc?"
It was crucial to clarify this point. If Annie had done it just for fun, Horn might not kill her, but he wouldn't teach her anything either, letting her fend for herself.
"I didn't instruct them to cause destruction everywhere. Apart from not attacking me, everything else they do is beyond my control," Annie said, feeling wronged.
Horn was skeptical of Annie's statement. Spells cast by wild witches can usually be controlled to some extent. Why were her spells so unique?
"Summon one for me to see, then I'll consider whether to believe you," Horn felt it was better to see for himself.
"Really summon one? Wouldn't that be too dangerous?" Annie hesitated, thinking it was fortunate enough the monsters didn't appear on their own. It would be difficult for her to summon them intentionally.
"The monsters you summon can't even bother what's-his-name who flopped, let alone me. Go ahead and summon; it won't cause any problems," Horn assured her.
"Alright, I'll try."
Annie agreed, also curious about the nature of the monsters she summoned. She focused and stood still for a moment, then sheepishly asked Horn, "Um, how do I summon? I've never done it myself."
"..."
Horn was speechless. This girl really knew nothing: "Didn't you recite a spell when you were forced to summon them? Focus, recite those spells, and the monster will appear."
"Okay, got it!" Annie nodded emphatically.
She concentrated and began reciting the spell. She had recited it countless times before, but those were not of her own will, making this her first intentional recitation.
Although it was her first time and she struggled to read the spell smoothly, she didn't miss a single syllable.
Despite it being her first incantation, she made no mistakes. The exact wording of every successful spell cast is inscribed in the soul by an unseen force, impossible to forget, even if one's memory is lost from a blow to the head.
This applies to both wild witches in the wild and those taught by Douglas.
As Annie recited, her voice echoed in the empty room. With her final syllable, a magical circle composed entirely of magic appeared on the ground before her—a circle with a six-pointed star embedded within it.
Horn watched the magic circle in disbelief. It was his first time seeing a magic circle outside of his inner consciousness.
As the magic circle formed, a black claw reached out from the space above it, followed by a creature the size of a wolf-dog leaping out from the void!
It had black limbs and pure white fur from its head, back, and tail. Its overall appearance resembled a creature known as a honey badger, but much larger.
Considering that even a normal-sized honey badger is troublesome, this larger variant posed a significant danger, at least to ordinary people.
The creature glanced at Annie before fixing its ferocious gaze on Horn, eyeing him like a predator does its prey.
After a few moments, the creature lunged at Horn, causing Annie to cover her mouth in fright.
Horn calmly reached out, touching the creature as it approached. Pale blue electricity coursed through its body, causing it to yelp and collapse, foaming at the mouth.
Having learned from the previous encounter with a caterpillar-like creature that these menacing-looking monsters weren't as tough as they appeared, Horn used a less lethal spell, the Touch of Lightning, which hardly kills.
Horn crouched beside the unconscious creature, starting his examination.
Having observed the casting process, Horn tentatively believed Annie's claim that she couldn't control the creature, which acted on instinct and didn't harm Annie but wasn't under her command.
Horn forcibly pulled a strand of hair from the creature's head. The silver-white fur in his hand faded and eventually vanished, indicating that anything separated from the creature disappeared. Yet, the creature itself seemed to exist physically, puzzling Horn.
After a while, Horn noted the creature began to vanish without dying, suggesting disappearance wasn't linked to death.
Shortly, the creature vanished without a trace, leaving Horn with many unanswered questions, but Annie's suspicion of intentionally releasing monsters to kill was cleared.
"Do you know how to read?" Horn asked Annie.
"I know some," Annie replied softly, her father had thoroughly prepared her, hoping she would secure a good match.
After confirming Annie could read, Horn took out some paper and a pen from his bag and handed them to her.
"What is this?" Annie asked, puzzled.
"Don't worry about what it is. Just do as you're told."
Horn spoke gravely, having written questions based on the teachings he received from Douglas during his childhood. Some questions were about everyday matters, while others were simple intelligence and math tests.
To consider inviting Annie into their group, they first needed to ensure she was of normal intelligence and didn't react too extremely to situations.
Though Annie didn't understand Horn's intention with these questions, she complied, puzzled by some like buying thirteen pieces of clothing at five copper coins each and how much it cost—was he treating her like an idiot?
Other questions were even stranger, like the one about Tom, whose mother was critically ill and needed a silver coin for treatment. Tom stole the money Jerry intended to use for his mother's treatment, resulting in her death. The question asked how to evaluate Tom's actions...
With many such bizarre questions on Horn's papers, Annie rolled her eyes as she worked through them. Although she didn't understand Horn's purpose, she completed the questions under his supervision in about three hours.
Horn reviewed her answers carefully and concluded Annie was a normal person.
Unbeknownst to Annie, in her eyes, Horn, who devised such questions, was far from mentally stable...