Vasida nodded rapidly, almost like a little bird pecking at grains of rice.
"That's exactly it!" she exclaimed. "I tried so hard to talk to everyone, but I just don't have the energy anymore."
Her voice dropped as she explained, "I had this huge meal before I even came to the college. Normally, that should keep me going for at least two or three hours! But after the talent test, I started feeling hungrier and hungrier. By the time it was over, I was starving."
She chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Thank goodness dinner started quickly, or I don't know what I would've done!"
The other young witches, who had been watching her devour food earlier, finally understood. Vasida wasn't being rude or antisocial; she was just genuinely, overwhelmingly hungry. Their earlier suspicions of her being strange or aloof dissolved.
With the misunderstanding cleared up, the little witches around her began to smile and introduce themselves again, this time much warmer and friendlier. Vasida, now more composed, greeted them back politely. She moved through the hall, going from one group to another, explaining her situation and apologizing for any awkwardness earlier.
When she returned to her table, Sylph couldn't help but ask curiously, "Do you always get hungry this quickly?"
Vasida sighed, rubbing her belly thoughtfully. "Yeah... It's always been like this. My mom even took me to see a healing witch once. They said my body's fine. But after the talent test, I think it might have something to do with me being a witch. Have you guys noticed anything odd with yourselves?"
Sylph shook her head. "No, everything's normal for me," she said, glancing over at Lyra, who nodded in agreement.
"Same here," Lyra said. "Nothing unusual."
Vasida looked thoughtful, biting her lip. "But it can't just be that I eat a lot. It has to be something else!"
Lyra tilted his head. "Why do you think it's because you're a witch?"
Vasida hesitated for a moment, then blurted, "Because the manifestation of my innate talent... is a stomach!" Her eyes widened as she spoke, as if the words surprised even her. "Right after my talent showed up, I felt like I was starving to death. No kidding."
As if to demonstrate, she closed her eyes for a second, and with a strange, rippling sensation, she materialized the object in question, an oddly familiar, crescent-shaped organ.
It took Lyra a moment to process what he was seeing, but when it clicked, his eyes went wide. "Wait... that's your talent? A stomach?" He leaned in, staring at the flesh-colored organ hovering in front of Vasida. "But that's... impossible. Even for witches, internal organs don't just pop out like that!"
But Vasida seemed perfectly fine, showing no signs of discomfort.
"Maybe... maybe it's a second stomach?" Lyra suggested, his voice filled with a mix of awe and disbelief.
Not long after she summoned it, Vasida's face scrunched up, and she clutched her actual stomach. "Oh no, it's happening again," she muttered, quickly making the strange stomach disappear before diving back into her meal with renewed fervor.
This time, however, the little witches didn't think her behavior was strange. In fact, they felt sympathy for her. Eating like a whirlwind was clearly her way of dealing with the strange talent she had.
Seeing how Vasida struggled to keep up with her hunger, a stood up and made a suggestion, "Come on, let's help her out! Everyone, pass over some food to Vasida!"
In no time, the first-year witches sprang into action. They took clean plates, piling them high with what they thought was the tastiest food and handed them over to Vasida. She accepted everything with a grateful smile, eating without hesitation.
It was a much better scene than earlier, where she had been frantically eating bread just to keep her hunger at bay. The sight of everyone helping her created a warm atmosphere, and even the senior students, who hadn't finished their own meals, started to notice the commotion.
Lilith, one of the older students, sauntered over with her own plate full of food. She watched Vasida eat, her eyes narrowing as she observed how much food was disappearing down her throat.
"Is she... still going?" one of the younger witches whispered in disbelief. They had already lost count of how many plates Vasida had finished, and it didn't seem like she was about to stop anytime soon.
Lilith remained calm, but the younger witches were clearly concerned. "Do you think she'll get sick if she keeps eating like this?" one asked anxiously.
Amy nodded gravely. "She's already eaten piles of food that are taller than her," she whispered.
Lyra, now genuinely worried, leaned toward Lilith. "Senior Lilith, do you think we should tell Ms. Amisha? The dean should really see what's happening with Vasida."
Lilith didn't answer immediately. She just kept watching Vasida, who continued to eat without a care in the world, unaware of the attention she was drawing from the entire hall.
The dean, Ms. Amisha, was known for her vast knowledge, far surpassing that of the younger witches. If Vasida truly had any issues, the dean would be the one to fix them. But Lilith couldn't shake the odd feeling that Ms. Amisha had left too quickly, long before the freshmen could fully grasp the situation.
Lilith sighed and shook her head, turning to Lyra. "If there were any real danger, we wouldn't even need to report it. Ms. Amisha would show up immediately," she said confidently. "Ever since the Witch Academy was founded, no witch has ever lost their life here. If it's not life-threatening, though, we're expected to handle it ourselves. Ms. Amisha won't step in, this is all part of our training."
Lyra blinked, a wave of confusion washing over her. "What?" she muttered, a look of disbelief crossing her face. Handle everything ourselves, unless it's life-threatening? This was definitely not the safe, sheltered academy she had imagined.
"And," Lilith continued, eyeing Vasida, "it seems Vasida's guess is right. Her condition might actually be caused by her talent manifestation."
She stroked her chin thoughtfully before explaining, "Every witch's innate manifestation is unique. Figuring out how it works, how to control and develop it, is something we each have to learn on our own. Not even Ms. Amisha can help with that. But for now, it seems like eating is enough to manage her condition. It's not dangerous, at least not yet, because her magic is slowly replenishing. Even if it's happening a bit too gradually."
Lyra's eyes widened in surprise. "A manifestation of talent can cause side effects like this?"
Lilith shook her head with a slight smile. "It's not exactly a side effect. It's more like the early stages, when you don't fully understand your talent yet. Take me, for example." She paused, recalling her own experiences. "Ever since I was young, I've had this unusual fascination with blood. My mother and I thought it was because of my father, he was a vampire earl. He even secretly gave me blood to drink when I was little."
Lyra's expression shifted from surprise to slight horror.
Lilith continued, seemingly unbothered, "But the funny thing is, I never really enjoyed drinking blood. What fascinated me was playing with it. And only after my talent manifested, the Bloodthirsty Needle, did I realize it wasn't me who liked the blood. It was the needle."
Without warning, Lilith materialized the Bloodthirsty Needle, a dark, menacing object that gleamed ominously. Without hesitation, she stabbed it into her own arm and drew out a large vial of her own blood. The red liquid swirled inside the syringe like a hypnotic, crimson whirlpool.
"See?" she said with a wicked grin, holding the needle up for all to see. "It's happy now."
All the witches around her, except Vasida who was still engrossed in her meal, gasped in shock and took several steps back. A collective shiver passed through the group as they watched Senior Lilith calmly draw blood from her own arm without flinching.
For a moment, they stared at the deep, gory puncture wound. Blood seeped from the wound, and it looked far worse than they had imagined. Some witches couldn't even look at the scene without feeling queasy.
Lilith, on the other hand, was smiling proudly, gazing at the blood in the syringe as if it were the most precious thing in the world. "Come on, take a look!" she urged, waving it toward them. "Isn't it beautiful?"
The younger witches, terrified, shook their heads furiously.
Lilith cackled gleefully, clearly enjoying the fear she had stirred.
"Alright, alright, that's enough, Lilith! Stop scaring the new students!" A senior witch approached, rolling her eyes and pulling out a handkerchief. She began wiping the blood from Lilith's arm with practiced ease. "Don't worry," she assured the younger witches, "Lilith's just playing around. She can control her body's healing now, at least to some extent."
The witches glanced at Lilith's arm, watching in amazement as the gory wound began to close up, almost as if nothing had happened. Even though they could see the wound healing before their eyes, the image of Lilith drawing her own blood was something that would stay with them for a long time.
Vasida, still seated at the table, hadn't even noticed the commotion. She was too focused on finishing yet another plate of food, blissfully unaware of the chaos her unique talent had triggered.