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However, likewise, once the heart is shaken, then the problem becomes serious, ranging from loss of strength to actual fall.

The so-called growth is actually the process of constantly killing the naive self. Many people look back and always feel that their past self was foolish, but have you ever thought about one thing—are you and the you from back then really still the same person?

This process, which mortals call growth, is indifferent to them, and they are even quite pleased about it.

But Immortals are exceptionally taboo about this, because the secret of immortality lies therein. Instead of "growth," they prefer to call it "wear and tear" or "heart demon."

I began chasing strength to protect my family but ended up killing my family by chasing strength. Such tragedies are quite common. This is the horror of "wear and tear"; it can silently and completely change a person, making you no longer yourself.

Dorothy's magical enlightenment was taught by her father Adam, although Adam, the mortal mage, soon had his modest skills exhausted by the homebody witch, yet in the last lesson to his daughter, Adam emphasized the horror of "wear and tear" very seriously.

"Dorothy, to truly master the power of magic, first you must understand your own heart, and then protect it well. If hundreds or thousands of years later, your heart is still intact, then you will be an incredible mage by then."

"Don't mind what others think of you. You don't need to improve yourself to please others because of their disdain, nor should you distort yourself to become worse because of their praise. You just need to always be yourself, the true you."

"Of course, recognizing your own heart is a difficult task, especially since you are still young and your complete set of values has not yet formed, making it even more challenging. However, there are still some little tricks here; you can recall the happiest thing deep inside your heart, which must be the first thing you think of subconsciously."

"Like when I, your father, was young, the happiest thing was playing hero role-playing games. I wanted to be a hero; that was my heart, haha, silly isn't it? I'm of this age and still dreaming this dream."

"But if you want to laugh, go ahead, just like I said before, I will be myself and won't care about your jokes."

"The hero I envision should first be a good person, someone full of virtue, who doesn't bully the weak and stands for justice."

"So, first, I will strive to be a good person, a kind and just person."

"Next, heroes are powerful, I need strength, but this power should not contravene justice. If this power tarnishes justice, then it should be discarded without hesitation."

....

"You see, by a little bit binding or sculpting your heart with ideals like this, you can very clearly and straightforwardly understand what you most want, and then you just need to introspect frequently, don't let your heart deviate. If you can always do this, then you will always be yourself, even after a thousand years, ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years, it will remain unchangeable."

"Even if one day I die and go to the Underworld for reincarnation, as long as the reincarnated me still continues to dream the same hero dream, then I will always be me."

Those were Adam's original words, teaching Dorothy this self-invented technique to resist "wear and tear" named "Pact of the Heart."

Indeed, this is a unique family technique; maintaining the "Pact of the Heart" requires frequent self-reflection, which isn't difficult for the father-daughter duo with the talent of "Diligence Makes Up for Lack of Skill."

The Homebody Witch then also established her own "Pact of the Heart," a simple pact, more laughable than Adam's "hero dream," named the pledge of the "Homebody Witch."

I, Dorothy, even if I become a witch, just want to be a happy homebody.

She used her past self as a template for the pact, thinking at the time that making life goals simpler was better: having her own house, finding like-minded family, and then everyone living happily together every day.

Back then, she even naively thought that with the witch's strength, this small goal should be easily achievable?

And now.....

Sigh, such a hassle; there's always a bunch of things stopping me from joyously homing. Is this the horror of "wear and tear"?

But for so long, Dorothy has guarded her "heart" fairly well; at least up to now, she is still a homebody witch.

So, this hammer is smashing my hand. Abandoning this belief would mean breaking my own "Pact of the Heart," which is a non-negotiable matter for Dorothy, no matter how much money is offered.

The Homebody Witch looked down at the hammer in her hand and sighed.

To fulfill the "Pact of the Heart," I need a lot of money. Then go and make money.

But to make money, I need to betray the "Pact of the Heart." Then go and betray it.

I've said that I'm making money for the "Pact of the Heart." Then go and fulfill it.

Need money...earn money...

Maybe this is what is called wear and tear, unable to withstand the unsolvable repetitive cycle. Once there's a thought of taking shortcuts just for today, it will twist the heart, causing wear and tear on the heart.