On the elevated bridge late at night, speeding car shadows whizzed by.
In the driver's seat, Lin Yun frowned. Even though he had driven at full speed, sprinting from his home to the vicinity of the wetland park took nearly 20 minutes. And for him at this moment, every second that passed was agonizing.
However, during this anxious journey, he managed to pick up some long-forgotten knowledge from the chaotic thoughts in his mind and sorted out a few things.
Why did he become a magical girl?
This was a question that he had firmly engraved in his heart, and it was only brought up again after 19 years. He looked outside the car, and distant memories from long ago began to resurface. Memories that dated back 22 years.
In fact, he was somewhat surprised that he could still vaguely recall it. It was an evening after school.
"Can I go and fight?"
On the street bathed in the setting sun, the still young Lin Yun asked the fairy-like creature that resembled a rabbit.
The fairy, who called herself the "Seeder," told him:
"How is that possible? You're a boy! Only girls can possess the talent to become magical girls, and it's an extremely rare constitution!"
"Why can't boys do it?"
"It's called 'magical girl' for a reason! It's girl, girl, girl! So only girls can become magical girls!"
"Then I won't become a magical girl. Magical boy, magical big brother, magical superhero, anything is fine. I want the power of magic too!"
With a powerful aura, the boy shouted these words, while not far away, a fierce battle was taking place between the buildings.
His childhood friend, An Ya, was also a magical girl, fighting against a brutal beast.
However, unlike the several battles he had witnessed before, this time the brutal beast was not only large in size, but there were also two of them. And when An Ya faced multiple high-intensity enemies, she clearly showed signs of struggling to hold on.
Undoubtedly, she was at a disadvantage.
Watching An Ya desperately holding on against the brutal beast, being hit by its attacks several times, the situation was critical. Lin Yun couldn't help but raise his voice again and shout at the rabbit-like fairy, "Can't you see it? An Ya is in danger! Isn't she the magical girl you chose?"
"Um... I'm really troubled too."
The rabbit-like fairy had a worried expression on its face. "I'm also worried about An Ya, but magic is a power that only girls can possess. Besides becoming a magical girl, there is no other choice. Those things you mentioned simply don't exist."
"Magical boy, magical big brother, magical superhero, if possible, I also want to help you, but I can't do it. I can only give someone the power of a magical girl..."
"Let me try!"
"Huh?"
"Let me try. Can I become a magical girl after all!"
"Are you crazy? I already said it has to be a girl!"
"Just let me try!"
"How can we even try something like this?"
"Tell me the method to become a magical girl, and I'll do it!"
"...I'm really scared by you."
Faced with the boy's strong and persistent attitude, and with An Ya in a crisis in the distance, the fairy had no choice but to say helplessly, "Then let it be. This is what you said, to give it a try."
It extended its claw to the fur on its waist, and after a moment of searching, it pulled out a round and transparent gem.
This gem was about a quarter of its body size, and the scene of it suddenly pulling it out looked very strange. However, neither the people nor the fairy paid any attention to these trivial matters.
"This thing is called the Seed of the Heart, which is the seed of the magical girl's power."
The fairy said solemnly, "Hold it, stick it to your chest, feel its presence, and establish a connection with your heart. If it reacts, it means you have the talent to become a magical girl. Otherwise, you have no hope."
"Seed of the Heart..."
Looking at the gem in the fairy's claw, the boy whispered the name of the object.
He also knew that what he said was unreasonable. Since the other party had already said that only girls could become magical girls, there must be some reason behind it.
However, he had no choice now. The situation was urgent to this extent, and as an ordinary person, if he wanted to save An Ya, he should try even the most impossible things.
Taking the gem-like object, Lin Yun immediately clenched it in his hand and pressed it against his heart.
Establish a connection with his heart.
This was the key point he remembered, so he didn't waste a moment and devoted himself wholeheartedly.He closed his eyes, gradually putting everything aside. Not far away, the rabbit fairy was watching the Seed of the Heart in his hand with a worried expression.
Several moments passed, but the Seed of the Heart showed no change.
Approaching one minute, the Seed of the Heart still showed no reaction.
Just as the rabbit fairy's heartbeat gradually slowed down, thinking that it could confirm his failure, a change occurred.
At first, it was a very faint light, leaking out from between Lin Yun's fingers, twinkling like fireflies. Then, it turned into clear radiance.
Rising from the gradually opened hands of the young man was a pure white light ball emitting a holy glow. It rotated with the gem-like Seed of the Heart, hovering in the air, and finally merged.
In an instant, the light bloomed.
White light radiated from the surface of the Seed of the Heart, forming a halo that enveloped Lin Yun.
The light was not very strong, but it was like a bright moon in the sky, not dazzling, but enough to illuminate the night.
"Is this really...you...you actually succeeded? Are you really a boy?"
The unprecedented fact made the rabbit fairy beside him lose his color, even speaking without choosing his words: "Could it be that you just look more like a boy, so you are joking with me?"
However, the young man in the light did not pay attention to its nonsense, but raised his head, looking at the fairy in front of him with firm eyes, his eyes shining brightly.
"What should I do next?"
—What should I do?
This sentence seemed to cross time and space.
Because this is also the problem that Lin Yun needs to consider now.
Under the night, in the quiet and deserted wetland park parking lot, he casually threw the car somewhere, and ran towards the depths of the forest along a small path.
In fact, what to do, the answer has been there. His mood at this moment is so similar to that of the dusk 22 years ago.
Perhaps many things have changed, but many things have always been there, at least, this feeling of "must save important people" is exactly the same.
Can his Flower of the Heart still connect with such emotions?
He raised his hand with a little doubt.
—The fragmented gem flower in his hand was already shining with deep blue light.
"…Ah, there's really no way with you, but now we can only treat a dead horse as a live horse doctor."
In a daze, he seemed to return to the sunset that day.
After the rabbit fairy briefly expressed his shock, he quickly adjusted his mentality and began to instruct him meticulously:
"First, after establishing a connection with the Seed of the Heart, you should be able to feel the Magic Power, that is, the energy that serves as a bond between you and the Seed of the Heart."
"Now, what you need to do is to activate it with a simple flow of Magic Power."
The young man nodded, closed his eyes again, feeling and summarizing in his heart:
The first step is to grasp the Magic Power.
"Divide your Magic Power flow, connect your limbs and forehead with the Seed of the Heart separately, and then adjust to balance each other."
The second step is to divert Magic Power and then balance it.
"Then it is to construct a standard Magic Rune, ah, if you don’t know... look at me, I’ll show you."
The third step is to construct a standard Magic Rune.
"The last thing is to think of a Transformation spell as the initial start switch. Although it is rarely used, don't think it's too weird, it's better to be cute, otherwise, if the Kingdom checks it, you will be ordered to change it."
The fourth step is to determine the Transformation spell.
And with all the steps in place, it was time for the Transformation.
The young man in the memory and the middle-aged man at this moment seemed to overlap for a moment, existing here at the same time.
However, this is after all an illusion.
The young man, full of passion and hope, with new power, shouted the newly compiled embarrassing spell, and set off for the battlefield in the sky to save the girl he cared about.
The middle-aged man whose passion had long cooled was still here, alone.
His steps paused slightly, he shook his head, drove away the distractions in his mind, and moved forward quickly again.
The light bloomed, and the deep blue Magic Power erupted in his hand in an instant, sweeping around like a torrent, lifting his clothes and hair.
Without any extra movements, without any extra sounds, he raised his hand and pressed the Flower of the Heart to his chest. Then, he coldly spat out two words from his mouth:
"Transform."
