If it were just that her daughter's Magic Armor could also manipulate threads, she wouldn't be so surprised, for after all, this was her own flesh and blood, and the connection of bloodlines might indeed result in some similarities in the manifestation of their powers; she had long been prepared for that.
But she had seen clearly that, when her daughter uttered the words "Guardian Mode," the first of the four Crystal Stones on the Magic Armor extinguished, while the second one lit up.
And this Magic Armor had a total of four Crystal Stones.
Following a rather conventional line of thought, if these four Crystal Stones truly had functions, then, it was likely that Lin Xiaolu's Magic Armor possessed more than just the two forms of scepter and spear.
She even had an inkling of what one of the remaining two forms might be.
Because Lin Xiaolu was the child of her and An Ya.
If one of the forms could inherit her threads through the bloodline, then, could there be another form that, at some point in the future, might inherit An Ya's Magic Armor?
Emerald Sparrow could not confirm this speculation, but she knew that whether it was true or false, it signified a fact: Lin Xiaolu's future as a Magical Girl was destined to exceed everyone's imagination.
In other words, the option she had once envisaged, of helping her daughter to survive the ten-year term of a Magical Girl and then allowing her to retire and return to an ordinary life, might have never existed from the very beginning.
From the moment Lin Xiaolu became a Magical Girl, her future was destined not to contain the words "ordinary."
Thus, she spoke, "I have a few questions, questions without correct answers. I hope that when you answer, you follow your heart and respond according to your own thoughts."
"What?" Lin Xiaolu was somewhat puzzled.
"Do you regret becoming a Magical Girl?"
Emerald Sparrow looked at her: "Not only facing battles that gamble with your life, learning more complex knowledge every day, even your personal time becoming increasingly scarce, not having the privilege to play like other people your age... Do you feel any regret for such a life?"
"Um... Maybe a little at the beginning?"
After a brief struggle, Lin Xiaolu spoke truthfully: "After all, I'm very afraid of dying, and I'm also afraid of pain, but now, I've completely stopped thinking that way."
"Is that so? Then, if you had the eligibility to retire after ten years but someone asked you to continue being a Magical Girl, which option would you lean towards?"
"Continue, I guess? Probably. After all, Emerald Sparrow, you've been a Magical Girl for more than ten years, right?"
"What if I retired then?" Emerald Sparrow pressed, "For instance, I too can grow tired of fighting, and perhaps one day in the future, I might find continuing to be a Magical Girl too tiring and thus step away from battle."
"Emerald Sparrow, you would retire?"
This question caught Lin Xiaolu off guard.
However, after a brief reflection, she followed her heart and gave her answer: "Even then, I think I would continue to be a Magical Girl."
Lin Xiaolu scratched her cheek: "For the time being, it's because I like it, that's why I became a Magical Girl."
This answer brought an end to Emerald Sparrow's questioning.
She fell silent for a moment, then gently laid down the chalk in her hand and clapped her hands.
"That's a great answer, I understand. However, due to the special nature of your Magic Armor, I need to consult with other more knowledgeable people before I can formulate your next training plan."
She picked up the eraser beside her and wiped away the writing on the small blackboard behind her: "So, that's it for today's lesson."
"Today is January 5th, and I'll give you another 3 days until January 9th; during these days, you can tackle your school homework a bit, and it's okay if you can't complete it, after all, for the assessments in March, the Abnormal Strategy Bureau will help you ask for leave from school, and you only need to return to school in mid-March."
"However, the flip side is that from January 9th to February 10th, the one-month period will be the final intensive training before your participation in the assessment."
She set down the eraser in her hand and tapped on the blackboard:
"Be prepared, this will be the strictest special training you've encountered since becoming Magical Girls."
The reason Emerald Sparrow could say "the strictest special training" was because she knew that the training objectives she had set for this month couldn't possibly be achieved with the usual training intensity.
To maximise the combat effectiveness of the three juniors to the fullest extent possible, she had tailor-made different training courses for each person.
Beyond relentless training with the Magic Armor to encourage its growth, there were many other contents.
For instance, Bai Jingxuan, as a seed-level Magical Girl, could already be described as remarkable in combat effectiveness, and even when her Shifter identity was taken into account, her combat ability was definitely beyond the requirements for the white badge assessment.
Even if this year's assessment would be harder than previous years, Emerald Sparrow had no doubt about Bai Jingxuan's ability to pass.
It's just that this strength, Bai Jingxuan could not often utilize freely.
For one, her control over Residual Beast Magic was still immature, just like Lin Xiaolu had been before; oftentimes, it required an emotional fluctuation to promote the shifty of magic power.
Secondly, because it was a national assessment, Bai Jingxuan should not, and absolutely could not, reveal her Residual Beast Magic power during the assessment.