NABC Chapter 294 Guidance and Security
Chapter 294 Guidance and Security
Chapter 294 Guidance and Security
After their initial excitement and exploration, the family gradually began to experience the magical space more deeply. Karen observed from the sidelines, explaining some of its functions as needed.
His gaze fell on a corner of the room, where there was a relatively quiet area with several props that looked more "specialized". He walked over, and Lily followed curiously.
There was a small pillar here, supporting a fist-sized, completely transparent crystal ball. "Lily, come on, try this," Karen called out.
Lily approached the crystal ball, staring at it with wide eyes: "What is this? It doesn't seem special at all?"
"It's called a magic-sensing crystal," Karen explained. "Try to calm yourself down, focus your attention on it, and think about something happy or something you really want to light up."
Lily did as instructed, holding her breath and staring intently at the crystal ball. At first, nothing changed, but after a few seconds, extremely fine, misty white specks of light began to appear inside the crystal ball. They drifted slowly, as if blown by an invisible current. When Lily's curiosity caused her to become slightly distracted, the movement of the specks became chaotic; when she focused her attention again, the movement seemed to become more regular, even flickering slightly.
"Do you see that, Lily?" Karen said softly. "These specks of light are the energy emanating from your body, a very, very weak form of magic. It changes when you concentrate or when your emotions fluctuate."
Lily's mouth dropped open in surprise: "I made this? Amazing!" She stared even harder at the crystal ball, and sure enough, the points of light inside became more numerous and active.
"Isn't it interesting?" Emily came over and looked at her daughter gently. "This will help Lily feel better about herself."
Then, Karen picked up two exquisite silver bracelets, engraved with extremely fine patterns, that lay beside the pillar. "These are guiding bracelets." He put one on his left wrist and handed the other to Lily. "Wear them, Lily. Now, look at me."
Karen extended his right index finger, concentrating his mind, not to cast a complete flash of light, but merely to gather a barely perceptible wisp of magic. Soon, a tiny point of light, even fainter than the glow of a firefly, appeared at his fingertip, almost imperceptible.
At the same time, the bracelet on Lily's wrist also emitted an extremely faint, almost imperceptible, soft white light, which lasted for only two seconds before going out.
"Ah!" Lily felt a very slight warmth on her wrist. She looked at the bracelet with surprise, "It lit up! Brother, it lit up!"
"Yes," Karen smiled, "when you wear it and I use the accompanying bracelet to cast a little magic, you can feel the magic flowing and resonating. This helps you establish the initial feeling of casting a spell."
When you're older, maybe you won't need a bracelet; you'll be able to light up your fingertips yourself.
Lily nodded excitedly, looking at her wrist repeatedly, as if hoping it would light up again.
Finally, there was a prop that Lily really liked: a flat panel with glowing edges, completely blank. "A symbol drawing board," Karen said. "Draw on it with your finger, draw anything."
Lily drew a crooked line haphazardly on the blank surface with her finger. The surface didn't react.
"Try drawing a circle, or a wavy line," Karen guided.
Lily struggled to draw a circle that wasn't quite round. This time, the drawing board emitted a soft, encouraging "ding," and the line Lily drew shimmered with a faint golden light.
"Wow!" Lily exclaimed, encouraged, and began trying to draw wavy lines and straight lines. Whenever the lines became slightly neater, the drawing board would give positive audio and visual feedback. She played with this for a long time, and although her drawings were crooked, she enjoyed it immensely. Karen knew that this was subtly familiarizing her with the basic patterns of certain spells.
With encouragement from her family and guidance from Karen, Lily's enthusiasm was fully mobilized. She faced the magic-sensing crystal again, concentrating intently until her face turned slightly red. She extended her index finger, mimicking Karen's earlier gesture, and focused wholeheartedly on the thought: "Light up, light up—"
Finally, at her fingertip, a tiny, flickering light, lasting perhaps less than a second, flashed briefly before quickly fading away.
"I did it! Dad! Mom! Brother! Did you see that?" Lily jumped up excitedly, raising her finger high as if she had accomplished a great feat.
"I saw it! Honey! That's amazing!" Emily clapped immediately, her face beaming with pride.
"Well done, Lily!" David praised with a smile, taking out his phone to take a picture, but found that the phone seemed to be unable to start here.
Karen smiled and nodded, "Very good, Lily. This shows you have a strong talent. Remember this feeling." He thought to himself that the bracelet and the support of the environment might really allow Lily to get a glimpse of wandless spellcasting earlier, before she officially gets a wand.
Next, Karen demonstrated the room's environmental control function to his parents. He focused his mind on "night." Instantly, the blue sky and white clouds on the ceiling gradually darkened, transforming into a deep night sky, with countless stars beginning to twinkle, and even a faint Milky Way stretching across the sky, its soft starlight illuminating the room.
"Oh my God!" Emily exclaimed, "This is so beautiful! It's more real than any starry sky dome!"
She found this feature very relaxing.
Karen thought of "the sounds of the forest" again. Soon, the very faint, soothing sounds of a babbling brook and the rustling of leaves in the wind echoed almost imperceptibly in the room, adding to the tranquil atmosphere.
David's primary concern remained safety. "Karen, are you sure it's safe enough here? For example, if Lily tries out her little flashlight, will it have any effect on the outside world or on herself? Are these toys sturdy?"
“I’m sure, Dad,” Karen replied solemnly. “The mentors have thought of everything very thoroughly. First of all, the walls and structure of this space may appear soft, but they are actually extremely sturdy and cannot be destroyed.” He gestured for David to try it himself.
David pushed the wall hard, feeling as if he were pushing a steel wall cast into the rock; it didn't budge, not even a tremor. "Incredible strength—" he muttered.
"Secondly, absolute soundproofing and energy isolation," Karen continued. "Any sound we make inside, any magical attempts we make," will be completely confined within this space, having no effect on the outside. Similarly, no noise from outside can get in."
To prove it, Karen even cast a slightly louder spell with her wand, a red spark striking the distant wall with a "crack." There was no need to consider the Ministry of Magic's ban on spellcasting here. But in the living room, Karen was certain there would be absolute silence.
"Finally," Karen said, pointing to the toys, "none of these props can be taken out of this space."
"As long as you think about leaving, when your consciousness returns to your body, you won't be able to hold anything inside."
David tried it himself. He picked up a building block and silently said "leave." The next moment, his consciousness returned to his body in the living room, and his hand was indeed empty. He went back in, and the building block was still safely on the floor. "Completely relieved," David breathed a sigh of relief, a relaxed smile on his face. "This is safer than any children's playground in the world."
The last two days of the holiday were often spent in the Hawthorne family's magical practice box. Together, they built huge and complex castles and bridges with magical blocks, while Lily sculpted her imagined fairytale world with a shapeshifting sandbox and then played off-key "opening music" on her rainbow harp. Karen would also, at Lily's request, conjure brighter orbs with her real wand or make a cushion float like a feather, satisfying her curiosity while emphasizing that true magic requires systematic learning and control. In this special little magical world, the family created many warm and happy memories.
The day before returning to school, Karen began packing. He carried the advanced magical theory books that Nico had sent him...
He carefully put away his study notes and rune practice samples. Then he took out some simple gifts he had prepared for his roommates: a few copies of the latest "442" football magazine and a large bag of toffee for Wesley; a smooth-writing Parker pen and a fine sketchbook for Fabian; and a set of high-end astronomical telescope cleaning and maintenance tools and a small jar of Earl Grey tea bags, which he had mentioned, perfect for stargazing in the tower, for Ernesto. He neatly packed these gifts, along with his clothes and books, into his suitcase, which was enchanted with a stretching spell.
Although Lily was reluctant to see her brother return to school, the sadness of parting was greatly reduced because of her own magical paradise. She was more excited about planning what new things she would build in this space tomorrow, or trying to make the light in the crystal ball brighter.