Chapter 28: Metamorphosis Magic?

“Xiaoyao, now that you’re here, you won’t be able to escape my grasp…”

Inside a fitting room of a clothing store, a black-haired, black-eyed girl pinned another girl—who shared the same hair color but had different eyes—down onto a small sofa.

“Shiyue, stop messing around…”

She had been led out under the pretext of “getting some changes of clothes and a new phone,” but was it really just to play out a trope from a romance novel? ‘How embarrassing… You jerk…’

Ye Xingyao wanted to push her away calmly, but at that moment, her mind involuntarily flashed back to the scene where she and Yi Shiyue had confirmed their relationship as lovers. By the time she snapped out of it, her cheeks were already burning, and she couldn’t muster the strength to push the other girl away. She could only weakly tell her to stop.

‘She’s too close!’

“Sigh, I was hoping to try out a few more scenes from those novels. I didn’t realize Xiaoyao was so easily embarrassed… Here, take these and try them on yourself. If you can’t manage it, I don’t mind helping you change.”

Yi Shiyue let go of her and casually tossed a pair of pure white panties onto her fair thighs before turning to walk out of the fitting room.

Ye Xingyao watched her retreating back, pouting and grumbling in her heart.

‘I already knew Shiyue had a bit of a mischievous streak, but I didn’t know she had such wicked tastes. She’s so mean… Who would even like a girl like that?’

Wait. It seemed they were lovers.

‘Whatever. I don’t like her right now anyway.’

Ye Xingyao picked up the underwear resting on her thigh and held it up high with both hands. Using the fabric to shield her eyes from the overhead light that was starting to feel too bright, she stared at the shadow it cast.

‘Ah… the life of a girl…’

‘What will the future hold?’

With those thoughts, she slid off her uniform skirt and removed the men’s boxers she had been using as safety pants. Bit by bit, she pulled the panties up her thighs and put the dark blue skirt back on.

Once everything was done, Ye Xingyao slumped onto the sofa, looking completely burned out.

‘It’s true. There really is… no going back.’

***

“Xiaoyao, do you remember how I taught you that magic?”

Yi Shiyue poked the girl beside her, who was carrying several bags of clothes, and gave a quiet reminder. After all, they were a short walk away from the Human Alliance’s temporary housing. Her original intention for learning this spell was to pose as a brother in front of her sister. If they accidentally ran into Ye Xingling on the way, all their efforts would go to waste.

The probability of casually bumping into Ye Xingling on the street was low, but it wasn’t zero. As long as Ye Xingyao needed it, she would do everything in her power to ensure things were foolproof.

“I’ve been meaning to ask since we were at the clothing store. What’s with the name ‘Xiaoyao’? I’m not used to you calling me that instead of Xingyao.”

Ye Xingyao lagged half a step behind while carrying the clothes, rolling her eyes as she complained.

“Hehe, calling you Xiaoyao makes you sound much more feminine, doesn’t it?”

Yi Shiyue turned slightly and caught her eye-roll. She quickly turned back, covering her mouth as she giggled.

“Then how do we explain it to Xingling? Such a blatant change in how you address me will be obvious.”

As they entered a deserted alley, Ye Xingyao recalled the details of the Metamorphosis Magic she had practiced a few times and asked the question.

“I’ll just explain it exactly as it is.”

“And what exactly is that explanation?”

“It’s…”

The girl in front of her suddenly turned around. Caught off guard, Ye Xingyao nearly collided with her.

Yi Shiyue’s breath felt warm against her face.

“I, Yi Shiyue, have successfully made Ye Xingyao my lover, so I’ve changed how I address her to Xiaoyao. Understand?”

“Oh…”

Ye Xingyao turned her head away, trying her best to hide her expression from Yi Shiyue.

‘When did Shiyue become so aggressive…’ However, she didn’t particularly hate it. After all, she wasn’t the type who was good at expressing her own feelings.

Of course, she was still perfectly capable of talking big.

“Fine. Let me think about how to do this. When I tried it before, I was focusing on changing things like eye and hair color. I haven’t really tried fine-tuning my hairstyle or face shape yet. Isn’t describing it in Elven too complicated?”

At this moment, Ye Xingyao didn’t dare to act like a mesugaki. She was terrified that if she provoked Yi Shiyue, she would be subjected to another deep kiss—the kind that left her unable to breathe for a long time.

“Why not try casting it using your own power? When you were trying to use Elven, weren’t you still avoiding consuming the mana in the air? It felt more like magic completed by your own internal mana. Maybe your body, having been influenced by the Star Elf Stone, can cast magic just like an elf.”

Ye Xingyao blinked, stunned.

Yi Shiyue was right. The mana needed to cast spells using Elven usually came from magic stones of the same attribute or the surrounding environment. Rather than calling it magic, it was more like a formulaic system built with Elven as the framework—a system where mana was input, processed, and output as a spell.

That was fundamentally different from the purely will-based superpowers of elves or magical girls.

Ye Xingyao closed her eyes and silently recited the word in Elven.

BURN.

Visualizing a red spark, like the flame of a lighter, at her fingertip, she felt something within her body gather at her hand. A second later, she opened her eyes. At the tip of her extended right index finger, a small flame—just large enough to light a cigarette—flickered perfectly.

Ye Xingyao’s eyes widened.

For someone who had always been insulated from mana and possessed no superpowers, this was the first time she had felt this miraculous power flowing through her body.

Like a child who had received a cherished toy, or a blind person who had regained their sight, Ye Xingyao reached out with her left hand to touch the flame made of mana. The scorching heat quickly made her pull her hand back. When she imagined the flame going out, the mana flame vanished instantly according to her will.

Beyond the joy, she finally realized something. She might not be the old Ye Xingyao anymore—at least, not the one she used to be.

With a heart full of complex emotions, Ye Xingyao glanced at the girl accompanying her. She closed her eyes again, visualizing her former self. Soon, a white light flashed in the deserted alley, vanishing just as quickly as it appeared.

A moment later, Ye Xingyao, now back in male attire, was led out by the hand by Yi Shiyue, looking quite dejected.

Her magic experiment was a success—a massive success. Metamorphosis Magic could indeed perfectly replicate the appearance she had when she was a male.

The only downside was… no matter how she imagined it or how she tried to manipulate the mana in her body, that specific part was definitely not coming back.