Chapter 8: 8. Chapter 8: Bloodthirsty Lilith

Chapter 8: Bloodthirsty Lilith

Vasita nodded like a pecking chicken

"Exactly! I tried my best to respond to everyone, but I just ran out of energy. I clearly had a huge meal right before coming to the academy. Generally speaking, it should have lasted at least two or three hours! I didn't expect to feel hungrier and hungrier the moment the talent test ended. Luckily, the banquet started quickly, so I finally recovered a bit!"

Seeing how she had eaten earlier, the little witches believed her. They realized she wasn't being eccentric or antisocial; she was simply hungry.

With the misunderstanding cleared, many little witches exchanged names and greeted Vasita again. This time, Vasita behaved much more normally.

After she returned from going to the long tables of several different grades to explain and apologize, Sylph asked curiously, "Do you always get hungry this fast?"

"Yeah!" Vasita said with some distress. "My mother took me to see a healing witch before, and my body has no issues. After the talent test, I suspect it might be because I'm a witch... Do you all really not experience anything unusual in your daily lives?"

Sylph shook her head. "My appetite is quite normal."

She looked at Moran, who also shook her head. "Mine too."

"It might not necessarily be a large appetite or getting hungry fast; it could be something else!" Vasita said.

"Why do you think it's because you're a witch?" Moran asked.

"Because my talent manifestation... is a stomach sac!" Vasita said. "As soon as I manifested it, I felt like I was going to starve to death within minutes."

As she spoke, she manifested the stomach sac again. The motion of manifesting the sac looked exactly as if she were pulling it out from inside her own belly.

Moran finally understood why Vasita's talent manifestation looked familiar. The flesh-colored appearance and the crescent moon shape—wasn't that a stomach?

Her talent manifestation was her stomach? No, that didn't seem right. Even for a witch, internal organs couldn't just leave the body at will. Besides, Vasita didn't seem to be in any discomfort.

"Perhaps it's your second stomach!" Moran ventured a bold guess.

Not long after manifesting the stomach sac, the familiar hunger pangs returned. Vasita quickly tucked the sac away and began to eat rapidly. This time, even as she devoured food like a whirlwind, no little witch thought she was being rude; instead, they felt deep sympathy.

Seeing that most of the other little witches had finished eating, Aes suggested, "Everyone, please help pass some other food over to Vasita!"

Thus, the first-year witches sprang into action. They all took clean plates, picked out what they thought was delicious, and brought it to Vasita. Vasita accepted everything; whatever was placed on her plate, she ate. This treatment was much better than her earlier struggle of gnawing on bread without a care.

The commotion from the first-year section also caught the attention of the upperclassmen. They hadn't finished eating either; many were still eating, stretching their backs as they continued.

Lilith walked over carrying a plate piled high with food. She stood beside Vasita, eating her own food while observing the situation.

As they watched Vasita eat more and more—even more than before, with no sign of stopping—Lilith remained calm, but the first-year witches could not. *If she eats like that, won't she burst?* In Aes's words, Vasita had already eaten several piles of food taller than herself.

"Senior Lilith, regarding Vasita's situation, shouldn't we report it to Lady Amisha?" Moran felt that the Headmistress should take a look. The Headmistress was well-versed and knew much more than they did. If Vasita truly had a problem, the Headmistress could solve it. To be honest, Moran had never understood why Lady Amisha had left so quickly, even before the freshmen had fully grasped the situation.

Lilith shook her head. "If there were truly a danger, there would be no need to report it; Lady Amisha would appear immediately. You should know that since the founding of the Witch Academy, no little witch has ever lost her life within the academy. However, if it isn't a life-threatening emergency, we are expected to handle it ourselves. Lady Amisha generally won't intervene; it's considered a form of training for us."

Moran: "???"

She felt she had developed a massive misunderstanding of the Witch Academy. *Except for life-threatening emergencies, solve everything yourselves?* This was definitely not the ivory tower school she had imagined from her previous life.

"And... Vasita's guess is correct. Her current situation might indeed be caused by her talent manifestation," Lilith said, stroking her chin. "Every witch's talent manifestation is unique. The development of a talent manifestation can only be done through a witch's own trial and error. Even Lady Amisha cannot help her. From what we can see, the act of eating can alleviate her current condition; at least, it isn't dangerous, because her magic is gradually replenishing, albeit slowly."

"A talent manifestation can cause such side effects?" Moran was extremely surprised. A talent manifestation was undoubtedly one of the most special and powerful forces a witch possessed.

"It's not exactly a side effect. When one doesn't understand the characteristics of their talent manifestation in the early stages, such situations may occur. For example, I have been particularly interested in blood since I was a child. My mother and I once thought it was the influence of my paternal bloodline, as my father is a Vampire Count. When I was little, my father even secretly let me drink blood. But for me, the pleasure of drinking blood is not as great as the pleasure of playing with it. It wasn't until the Bloodthirsty Needle appeared, after a series of experiments and tests, that I realized it wasn't that I was interested in blood, but that my Bloodthirsty Needle likes to play with it."

Lilith manifested the Bloodthirsty Needle and plunged it into her own arm. It quickly sucked up half a tube of blood. "Look! Isn't it happy?"

Aside from Vasita, who was still busy eating, the other little witches all recoiled in unison, trembling. Senior Lilith looked a bit mad. Without a word, she had simply stabbed her own artery with a needle to draw blood, without even a frown. When she pulled the needle out, the blood nearly sprayed onto everyone's faces. The puncture wound was exceptionally large and bloody, looking quite terrifying.

Yet, Lilith seemed oblivious, staring at the blood in the syringe with an excited expression, even inviting everyone to look. It was as if the red liquid in the syringe wasn't blood, but some precious gemstone.

Looking at her juniors, who were huddled like quails, Lilith let out a laugh as if she had successfully played a prank.

"Alright! Lilith, stop scaring the juniors!"

An upperclasswoman could no longer stand it. While taking out a handkerchief to wipe Lilith's arm, she explained to the little witches, "Don't be afraid, Lilith is just teasing you! She is already able to slightly control her body's healing."