"...Sorry to keep you waiting."
Aozaki Touko placed two steaming bowls of porridge on the dining table, and a rich aroma wafted from the bowls, greatly stimulating the appetite of someone who had just woken up.
Especially since it was still a cold winter.
To have a steaming bowl of porridge at this time was definitely a very pleasant thing.
"...Thank you."
Kujou Alice held the spoon in the bowl and carefully took a bite. A familiar taste instantly flooded her taste buds, just like the breakfast Aozaki Touko used to make.
"...You've been away for so long, but your cooking skills haven't declined. I thought that during your time as a young lady at Einzbern, your culinary skills would have deteriorated quite a bit."
She said with some surprise after putting down her spoon.
"Hmm... being rusty is probably impossible for me. Any skill I remember, no matter how much time passes, I can recall it if I want to. I can even recall memories carried from the womb."
Aozaki Touko explained with a light chuckle.
Now, with her Gene Lock unlocked, she wasn't just increasing her physical output; her self-interference was extremely precise.
Actively reading and reviving dormant memories in the brain was as simple as eating and drinking for her.
If she wanted to, she could return to her peak state in less than three seconds.
"...If you were a warrior, you might even reach the level of a hero from the Age of Gods."
Hearing this, Kujou Alice said with a somewhat strange tone.
This was her true feeling. Having a general understanding of Aozaki Touko, she could clearly say that Aozaki Touko now seemed more like a warrior than a Magician who studied the magical arts.
Her combat didn't involve exquisite magical techniques; instead, it used unleashed, limit-breaking power to confront enemies, achieving powerful strength akin to a hero from the Age of Gods through unparalleled combat skills.
"That was an accident... I didn't expect my skill points to be skewed."
Aozaki Touko poked the porridge in her bowl, her tone a bit strange: "At first, I just had a flash of inspiration while researching puppetry, thinking it might be feasible."
"Then I specifically experimented with this idea."
Indeed, the origin of the so-called Gene Lock unlock was actually just an accident. It was purely a flash of inspiration she had while researching puppetry, thinking it seemed very feasible, and then she dedicated some time to researching it.
Who knew the results would be so gratifying, allowing her to gain power at the Dead Apostle Ancestor level?
"These are all the results of your accumulated efforts~"
Kujou Alice said calmly: "However, you should also pay a little attention. This technique of unlocking human potential already meets the criteria for Seal Designation."
Although she said that, she didn't really care much.
Could the Mage's Association be so crazy as to dare to seal the successor of the Fifth Magic?
Not to mention Aozaki Touko's strength was already ridiculously powerful.
"Hmm... I'll pay attention."
Aozaki Touko nodded slightly, then smiled: "However, I am quite curious about those enforcers. If I can fight them, it should provide considerable inspiration."
After some time, her grandfather should announce Aoko as the successor.
At that time, without the protection of being a Magician successor, many people who disliked her would likely choose to push for a Seal Designation to deal with her.
As for whether the Seal Designation would be achieved, that depended on how bold the Mage's Association was.
Currently, her 'Gene Lock unlock' absolutely met the Seal Designation standards, possessing a rare and irreplicable quality that others could never learn in their lifetime.
Indeed, don't let the fact that Aozaki Touko developed it quickly fool you.
But if others were to learn it, it would be absolutely impossible. Even if the prodigy Kenneth tried to learn it, he wouldn't be able to.
Because learning this magic required two prerequisites.
The first was having a level of human cognition close to Aozaki Touko's. To achieve this level of cognition, even a brilliant person might take decades to learn.
The second was having an overwhelmingly precise Magic Crest. This was basically a natural talent, falling into the category of private limited abilities, and generally impossible to possess.
"Facing enforcers... even you might be defeated."
Kujou Alice's tone became a little more serious. Even though Aozaki Touko now possessed great power, there were many strange and unusual methods in the magical world, such as tools that could reverse causality.
"Don't worry, as long as I have a chance to start over, defeat is fine."
Aozaki Touko's eyes held a smile, and her tone was suggestive.
"...You've completed that?"
Blinking slightly, Kujou Alice asked softly. Her eyes seemed a little unfocused, and a blush colored her delicate face, as if what she was referring to was something very difficult to speak of.
"I've completed it."
Aozaki Touko nodded slightly: "Now I can create puppets identical to myself. Even if this body dies, I will revive in the next body."
"Is that so?"
Kujou Alice nodded with slightly red cheeks, then silently ate her porridge.
As a fairy tale Witch, if she were to become pregnant and give birth, her life would quickly wane and she would die.
This was a compulsion akin to a curse.
Even her mother couldn't avoid this outcome.
Her ancestors had repeated this process for generations.
Shortly after giving birth to a child and transferring the Magic Crest to her daughter, they would succumb to death.
However, Aozaki Touko could now create bodies that could house a soul.
This meant that even if she became pregnant and gave birth in the future, she wouldn't have to follow the rule of Witches dying quickly after childbirth.
Aozaki Touko would prepare a suitable body for her to revive, allowing her to bypass the Witch's curse.
Of course, this resurrection technique required a huge price to use.
At least a nine-figure sum was needed to purchase a body from Aozaki Touko.
She certainly couldn't easily come up with that money.
However, there wasn't a middle-ground solution.
She could avoid that astronomical sum by becoming pregnant with Aozaki Touko's child.
That is, through conceptual conception, she could become pregnant with Aozaki Touko's child.
The consequence of doing so would be that Aozaki Touko's descendant would inherit the fairy tale Witch's Magic Crest.
And she wouldn't lose out, having fulfilled her mission as a fairy tale Witch, passing on the Magic Crest, and also avoiding the fate of death.
This was a win-win situation.
The only thing was, she would have to become Aozaki Touko's wife.