Chapter 504: Aisala: Sharon's Mother
"Some people have to go through countless bloody battles outside to get this promotion potion, while you just need to sit at home and have it delivered to you. Little one, you should be grateful."
Hastur stroked Aisala's head, signaling it to quickly consume the potion.
Sharon, standing nearby, also watched Aisala quietly. Despite Aisala's pleading eyes, she remained indifferent.
To progress further on this extraordinary path, one needs a strong will. If Aisala continues with this mindset, it will never go far, even if its master can find the necessary potions for it.
"Meow."
Knowing it couldn't avoid this, Aisala let out a sorrowful meow.
It licked the Witch of Joy potion in the bowl clean, then closed its eyes, ready to embrace its transformation.
Initially, it wanted to hide in Sharon's arms but was rejected.
After a while, Aisala's body began to tremble, shivering all over, and the temperature in the room dropped sharply.
Streams of pale blue cold air emanated from Aisala, frosting everything in their path, eventually turning to ice.
Is this a normal phenomenon for a promotion?
Hastur looked at Sharon, seeking her answer.
Sharon just shook her head, indicating she wasn't sure either.
But it was certain that Aisala was not in any immediate danger; all its vital signs were normal.
Hastur focused intently on every subtle change in Aisala. Seeing the cold air spreading outside the house, he sealed the entire room to prevent the cold from affecting nearby residents.
As time passed, the ice in the room thickened and hardened, almost forming ice blocks.
At the center of the cold, Aisala's curled body also began to change.
Its originally sleek black fur was falling off, and as the fur shed, its body gradually became covered in a layer of hard ice, as if trying to encase itself.
Hastur noticed that Aisala had fallen asleep, sleeping soundly.
This carefree little lazy cat...
Hastur couldn't find a more fitting description for Aisala.
When all its fur had fallen off, the ice on its body expanded to nearly Sharon's size.
Then, the ice emitted strands of ghostly blue light, which gradually converged into a glowing blue orb.
Is it transforming into a human?
Hastur had an epiphany. According to the bloodline inheritance of the mysterious world, all beings originate from humans.
Giants, elves, demons, magic wolves, phoenixes, and others are all variants of human bloodlines.
When a being steps onto the extraordinary path and evolves to higher sequences, it naturally gravitates towards its origin.
The Witch path is especially so; they are all children of the primordial witch, inevitably drawn towards her.
This is the influence of higher beings on lower extraordinary beings from the source.
In the Witch sequence, Aisala could already transform into a human but chose not to reveal it. Now, it could no longer control the transformation.
Seeing that Aisala's transformation would take some time, Hastur left the room, leaving Sharon to watch over it.
Outside, Hastur called the butler, Neil, and asked him to buy clothes suitable for Aisala, ranging from ages four to seventeen, three sets for each age group, so Aisala would have options later.
In less than three minutes, Hastur returned to the room, not wanting to miss Aisala's "birthday."
When Aisala transforms into a human, today will be her birthday, and they can celebrate it every year.
Hastur was unsure what age Aisala would appear as a human.
He privately hoped for a cute five or six-year-old girl, an eleven or twelve-year-old would be acceptable, but a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl would feel odd, and a woman in her twenties would be even stranger.
After all, he was only twenty himself; it would be weird to have a daughter older than him.
Based on his memory from browsing the internet in his previous life, a cat's 20 years roughly equate to a human's 100 years, meaning one cat year equals five human years.
Aisala was not yet three years old, so she would be about twelve or thirteen in human terms, fitting Hastur's expectations.
However, another calculation method equates a cat's growth stages to different human ages: one month for a kitten equals one human year, one year equals fifteen, and two years equal twenty-four.
By this method, Aisala would be around twenty-eight human years.
This worried Hastur; he didn't want Aisala to become another Mrs. Gorman.
Seeing Hastur's anxious expression, Sharon couldn't help but smile.
Hastur now looked like a father waiting nervously outside the delivery room.
Noticing Sharon's gaze, Hastur turned to her and mouthed silently, blinking.
It meant: If I'm Aisala's father, then you're her mother.
Sharon blushed, turning away to avoid looking at Hastur, her feelings mixed as she watched Aisala still encased in ice.
After about fifteen minutes, the room began to warm, and the frost started to melt. The ice on Aisala's body also slowly melted.
When the ice melted, what appeared before Hastur and Sharon was a naked girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, sitting on the ground with her arms around her legs, her head resting on her arms, her skin as white as snow.
She had long, jet-black hair falling straight down to her waist, and a black cat tail was playfully swaying among her hair.
Her features were outstanding, resembling a smaller version of Sharon.
Hastur compared her to Sharon several times, finding she looked about thirty or forty percent like her, with a bit of resemblance to himself.
"Go get the clothes."
Sharon, suppressing her embarrassment, spoke because she also noticed Aisala resembled both her and Hastur.
Knowing this was Aisala's subconscious desire to look like them, she transformed into this appearance.
"It really looks like our child."
Hastur sighed and went to get the clothes from Neil.
When Hastur re-entered the room, Aisala had hidden under the bed, wrapping herself tightly in the blanket, with faint sobs coming from inside.
She didn't turn out badly; why is she crying?
Hastur put down the clothes and looked at Sharon sitting by the bed.
"She's just having a hard time accepting it," Sharon's voice made Aisala's sobs more pronounced.
"Raising a daughter isn't so bad," Hastur whispered, looking at Sharon. "Sharon, you have to take good care of our child."
Sharon's blush returned as Hastur left the room, leaving her to comfort Aisala.
After closing the door, Sharon calmed herself, the blush fading, and gently pulled back the blanket corner, seeing Aisala's tear-filled eyes.
She softly patted Aisala's head, silently comforting her.
After a while, Aisala, seemingly understanding, looked up at Sharon, calling out her first words as a human.
"Sharon, mommy."
"?!"
Sharon's gentle expression froze, her pupils dilating and contracting, her hand stopping mid-air.
Taking several deep breaths, she couldn't shake off Aisala's words.
"Aisala, you can't call me that," Sharon said almost word by word.
"Why not, Sharon mommy?"
"…"
Sharon's intended words were scattered by Aisala's innocent and bold address.
Regretting not letting Hastur handle this, she explained, "Mother is a sacred term, referring to the one who gave you life."
"Sharon mommy, master said I'm your child."
"…"
Facing Aisala's innocent, kitten-like demeanor, Sharon was at a loss.
Finally, she sternly said, "You can only call me Miss Sharon or Sister Sharon."
"Sharon mommy, don't you want me?"
Aisala's blue eyes welled up again, clutching Sharon's sleeve tightly.
"…" Sharon was silent for a moment. "Get up and put on your clothes."
"I don't know how."
"I'll teach you."
"Thank you, Sharon mommy."
"…"
When Sharon led Aisala out of the room, two hours had passed.
In that time, Sharon had to teach Aisala not only how to dress but also how to walk properly, instead of crawling like a cat.
Most importantly, she had to endure Aisala's sweet, clingy "Sharon mommy," making her take deep breaths to calm down, speeding up the digestion of her puppet potion, likely finishing it by next week.
This change left Sharon both amused and exasperated, but she maintained a stern face, suppressing her inner turmoil, as she led the clinging Aisala out of the room.