The Witch's Anatomical Notes

Chapter 71

Squad and Mead

A few days later

With only one week left before the departure for the Tri-Tower Tournament, the members of the squad formed by Lucy finally gathered together for the first time.

Inside a small private room at the official apprentices' cafeteria, a table full of steaming dishes had been prepared. Renting such a private room for an entire day only cost a few grains of magic sand.

However, usually, few wizards would spend on mere indulgence of appetite, but these days, these small rooms were fully occupied.

It was approaching noon.

Lucy, as the initiator, arrived first, accompanied by the inseparable Olivia.

Soon after, Talia, the plump Nure, and Meiwa Ferguson of the Symbiotic Mutation School pushed the door open and entered simultaneously.

Meiwa was an apprentice of the same year as the others. She appeared one or two years younger than Lucy, rather short, with a round face dotted with a few faint freckles across her nose bridge and cheeks, giving her an adorable appearance.

However, after removing her hood, it was clear that Meiwa had no hair on her head. Instead, her scalp was covered in green plants, with a few blue fruits faintly visible among them.

This was her Tier-1 Symbiotic Mutation modification of Symbiotic Mutation Studies — Enchanted Red Vineberry.

It provided effects of healing and short-term enhancement of defensive witchcraft.

Upon seeing Lucy, gratitude appeared on Meiwa’s face.

If not for the Silverleaf Awakening Potion, she would never have been able to break through ten points of Mental Strength before the tournament, let alone complete the mutation modification.

It didn’t take long before a series of heavy footsteps approached, and the tall and burly Bren Marques also pushed the door open and entered.

Because of his towering height, this Earth branch apprentice of the Elemental School even had to bend down slightly to pass through the two-meter-high doorway.

Seeing Lucy seated at the head of the table, Bren spoke in a muffled tone, "Hello, captain."

After brief introductions, Lucy pointed to a chair.

"Take a seat. There’s still one last member."

The others looked at Lucy with some confusion; even Olivia didn’t know there was a seventh member.

Lucy smiled and said, "The candidate was confirmed just this morning."

Everyone responded with an "Oh" and didn’t ask further.

She was secretly satisfied with the squad’s reaction.

The reason she recruited only trainee apprentices was not that she couldn’t recruit official apprentices. Whether as a wizard’s disciple or a potion scholar, her status already granted her certain influence even among official apprentices.

But she would rather spend Silverleaf Awakening Potions to recruit these people, for the sake of ensuring absolute obedience within the squad.

Only this way could the squad's combat power be fully utilized and unexpected accidents prevented.

Not long after, the door hinges turned once again, and Hain Luke, dressed in a formal wizard’s robe, stepped inside.

Indeed, the final member of Lucy's squad was none other than her former neighbor from the lower levels, Hain from Morgue No. 65.

While Lucy was attending the enfeoffment ceremony in the Principality of Kolo, this trainee apprentice, who was one year ahead of them, had successfully broken through ten points of Mental Strength, constructed two witchcraft models, and naturally registered as a Tier-1 official apprentice.

He thus became the second official apprentice in Lucy’s squad.

As for the others, although their Mental Strength had surpassed ten points with the help of the Silverleaf Awakening Potion, each had only constructed one Tier-1 witchcraft and were still wearing their gray robes.

The two Tier-1 witchcrafts Hain constructed were Corrupted Nest Resonance and Phantom Sentry. The former summoned corpse bees from dead bodies to attack enemies, while the latter summoned a translucent phantom from a corpse.

Therefore, when Hain approached her proactively, Lucy almost accepted him into the squad without any hesitation.

With this addition, the two weaknesses in the squad — pulling and reconnaissance — were now covered.

Once everyone was seated, Lucy cleared her throat lightly and stood up. Her gaze swept across each team member in the room, her eyes firm.

"Everyone, today marks the first full gathering of our squad. Each of you here has been carefully selected by me — not because you are already unbeatable, but because you possess the potential to break through adversity."

Lucy’s voice was slow and clear, ensuring that every person in the room could hear her words distinctly.

She did not expect that a few simple words from her would immediately make the squad fully united and confident.

Everyone present, except Olivia, was well aware that they were here solely because of that bottle of Silverleaf Awakening Potion.

The principle of equivalent exchange was always present in the actions of every Tower of the Four Sages wizard.

But there was one thing Lucy was certain of: the configuration of this team was definitely the most reasonable.

And with Olivia, the Time Witch, in the squad, she had the confidence to compete for first place.

"Since everyone has agreed to join the squad, let’s each state your specialty in witchcraft. In the following days, we will need to make time to practice coordination."

As soon as Lucy finished speaking, Talia volunteered and stood up.

"My primary witchcraft is Symbiotic Vine Bind, specializing in control and pulling."

Meiwa, somewhat timid, said, "My mutation plant is Enchanted Red Vineberry."

Bren patted his sturdy chest. "Mud Armor Reinforcement. Your safety is in my hands!"

Nure spoke a little awkwardly, "I’m still a trainee apprentice, but I have a lot of witchcraft tools."

As he finished speaking, he raised his hands, revealing all ten fingers adorned with colorful magical rings.

A few of the rings even emitted magical energy fluctuations no weaker than a Gear Staff.

Hain smiled, "I mainly specialize in summoning — corpse bees and phantoms."

"Ultrasonic Shockwave and Fractured Crystal Reverse Scale Shield are my Tier-1 witchcrafts."

Lucy’s sudden rising surprised everyone in the room.

Although there hadn’t been any particular order, everyone had tacitly chosen to introduce themselves from weakest to strongest.

As the captain, Lucy was expected to speak last, yet now she handed the final introduction to another equally beautiful female witch.

This action clearly indicated that the black-haired witch sitting quietly was their trump card!

And when Olivia revealed her identity as a Time Witch, the room fell into a brief silence, followed by visible excitement on everyone’s faces.

A Time Witch was actually in their squad!

Perhaps, just as Lucy had said, they really could compete for first place!

Seeing that the intended effect had been achieved, Olivia and Lucy secretly exchanged a wink.

"Please keep Olivia’s identity a secret," Lucy regained control of the pace, "I will now briefly assign the training tasks for the next few days."

"Meiwa Ferguson is undoubtedly the core of the team."

Meiwa pointed at her own nose, her face filled with disbelief.

"Don’t doubt it. The healer of the team deserves this treatment," Lucy affirmed, "You must always maintain a central position within the team, with Hain and Talia protecting you closely."

"Then Bren, your task is to always stand at the very front of the squad..."

Half a sandglass later…

Having completed the arrangements, Lucy raised the mead on the table.

"Our initial coordination may be a little clumsy, but time will prove everything."

Everyone stood up, lifting their cups to clink with Lucy’s, each wearing a smile.

Talia suggested, "Lucy, shouldn’t we pick a nice name for our squad?"

The others all nodded in agreement.

Lucy looked at the golden mead in her cup.

"Let’s call it 'Mead' — the Mead Fellowship!"

Seven wooden cups collided with a crisp sound, and a brand-new wizard squad was thus born.