You finally came.
One reason Hibiscus risked danger to charge into the swarm Disaster Beast battlefield was the rich rewards. Holding the Small Origin Advancement Stone gave her a sense of security, just as she touched the next stage of magic power internal destruction—a perfect match. Carrying it regularly while frequently training should be no problem.
The so-called "Advancement Stone" was the only relatively reliable method besides pure mystical enlightenment, most importantly speeding up progress and avoiding detours.
She believed in her talent in the Magical Girl field, but achieving complete leadership throughout was harder than climbing to heaven.
Competitors included the original storyline protagonist—unfortunate background, diligent study and hard practice, perseverance—a proper growth-type character who became stronger like a rocket in later periods. There was the Salvation Church's second-in-command—naturally intelligent, mature disposition, good at judging people, especially excelling at detailed management with comprehensive coverage, also counting as a protagonist in some derivative works. Even without mentioning these two, there were other prodigies.
For example, Fire Crane Flower with the first Regalia, Kale with the first Origin, Corn Poppy the first magic master, and various special talent holders...
Among Magical Girls were many exceptional powerhouses who didn't follow conventional patterns.
Although inseparable from the "three elements" system, some geniuses could forge entirely new paths, comparable to the strongest magic holders.
Moreover, their growth routes emphasized "passionate training" or "idealism," unlike opportunity-type characters who were easy to control variables and could even fade into the crowd.
Even excluding the Magical Girl group, there were Disaster Beasts, fairies, humans...
Hibiscus competing on the same stage with them had to fight desperately or it wouldn't work. Actually, the dream on the night of college entrance exams gave the girl a strong sense of crisis—unwilling to see the original storyline's ending where everyone had to slide into the abyss together. She had to control everything and save the tragedy—power was indispensable.
For this, she naturally had to work tirelessly to improve herself.
"System, allocate points."
Half went to Magic Power, the other half—40 points—evenly to Constitution, Speed, Spirit, and Strength. Almost simultaneously, the girl felt heat rising from her feet spreading throughout her body, sweeping away fatigue to perfect completion.
Steady cultivation of foundation still relied on Origin. Basic attribute improvement represented raising the floor, otherwise even 10x acceleration for ordinary people was useless.
Magic was actually a rare thing, because quite a portion of Magical Girls couldn't awaken it—not from weakness, but they truly didn't match with this kind of miracle. In contrast, they had talents different from ordinary people in techniques, Regalia, and magic power. Some outstanding ones among them had distinguished records with Regalia alone, after all, don't forget Origin could neutralize magic effects to a certain degree.
Hibiscus benefited from consuming potions plus her desperate fighting style, making her physical potential grow rapidly. Currently, she had no weak points—even encountering troublesome opponents wouldn't matter.
For example, the Abyssal White Whale's mechanism was disgusting enough, yet wasn't it still defeated?
"Open lottery."
With a thought, the wheel before her spun rapidly. Unexpectedly, purple light appeared again this time: One Large Health Recovery Potion!
She had experienced the power of Large Enhancement Potions, almost forcibly bridging the hard power gap with Boss Disaster Beasts, and after fighting the full battle, she hadn't even used her trump card of Large Mana Recovery Potion. Now adding one Large Health Recovery Potion gave such a sense of security—not a loss.
Other items: Small Health Recovery Potion ×2, Small Enhancement Potion ×1, Small Mana Recovery Potion ×3, Evil-Repelling Incense ×1, Origin Advancement Stone Fragment ×1, Magic Advancement Stone Fragment ×1
Seemed like she'd be using "medicine bottle tactics" from now on, constantly breaking through limits.
Worth noting was one additional relic.
With a thought, a palm-sized sandalwood piece appeared in Hibiscus's hand, similar to the one under her bed, but when she fanned it to disperse the scent, she clearly sensed the hallway cleaner moving far away. Ordinary people wouldn't feel any discomfort, just thinking they should leave—subconscious actions leaving no trace.
The radiation range wasn't large but was convenient. If enhanced with magic power, the effect would be better, though unfortunately it overlapped somewhat with Hypnosis Technique.
Better than nothing. It might be useful in the future, so she'd save it for now. Maybe it could give a surprise like Evil-Repelling Incense.
Sometimes she couldn't help suspecting the system's rewards were too natural, especially how attribute points perfectly integrated as if gaining power that originally belonged to her, just like how the girl now felt comprehensively improved. Facts proved as expected:
[Constitution: 330]
It determined the container foundation among the five-dimensional attributes, directly affecting Hibiscus's regeneration and endurance in battle. Though seemingly plain, it supported every high-intensity combat.
[Magic Power: 405]
You're the most outrageous, leading other attributes by a mile. This was also the result of deliberate training—after all, without mana, the high-consumption Sands of Time couldn't be used at all, instantly becoming a countdown warrior.
[Spirit: 369]
[Speed: 370]
[Strength: 354]
These three provided intuitive combat support as their names suggested. Spirit was relatively special, generally manifesting as charisma and precise magic operation.
In the Magical Girl of Light worldview, mental manipulation techniques existed but were basically useless. Everyone had strong mental power, leaving no survival space for such abilities—perhaps the hot-blooded manga tone was too lazy to play with this. Although Disaster Beasts possessed mental attributes, they were mostly used for intimidation.
In any case, Hibiscus's basic attributes averaged a hundred-point improvement over last time, not only due to accumulated training but inseparable from Sands of Time's leap-forward improvement and Origin touching a new stage. Actually, Magical Girls weren't an upgrade route but more like an independent species gradually developing their own characteristics. Therefore, any major improvement in the three elements would comprehensively elevate all aspects—hard for lopsided specialists to appear.
She was certain that with normal training, breaking through the 500-point threshold wouldn't be a problem. When all attributes averaged over a thousand, that would count as a new realm, easily crushing Boss Disaster Beasts.
Don't look at how the world saw her as narrowly defeating the Abyssal White Whale—the actual hard power gap between them was huge.
Besides, it had been worn down beforehand by conventional weapons and Pasha's clones. She had somewhat won dishonorably—that guy was probably unconvinced in heart and mouth.
Hibiscus had self-awareness and could clearly measure her current position. She should benchmark against Vanguard Disaster Beast Three-Eyed Cat, equivalent to "street-busting level" according to netizen power scaling. The reason she repeatedly fought above her level was entirely due to excellent mechanics and drug use—otherwise, these Disaster Beasts were all tough nuts to crack.
Still far off.
According to current international Disaster Beast Countermeasure Organization statements, "current attack intensity has slightly increased compared to ten years ago"—so you're inflating too? Average power would continue rising after the Great Catastrophe.
Moreover, some remote ocean islands far from continents and isolated from the world had become Disaster Beast lairs for years. Reconnaissance teams were continuously sent but returned without success—who knew what was brewing?
Facing these ticking time bombs, Hibiscus had to be vigilant.
"Almost forgot, someone's still waiting for news."
Opening the Q&A page, she indeed saw dense notification content. Obviously, many people were quietly waiting for updates—the otherworld melon-eating crowd was very interested in this swarm event.