Chapter 68: The Tinkling of the Clear Spring

Chapter 68: The Tinkling of the Clear Spring

This time, Morlan learned her lesson. She prepared to follow every single word written in the book strictly, refusing to rely on assumptions.

Every step of learning magic had to be grounded in reality.

To ensure no information was missed, she not only finished reading the entire section on the Clear Spring Spell but also took out *The Tinkling of the Clear Spring* to skim through.

She saw in the preface of *The Tinkling of the Clear Spring* that the book covered the magical principles, common forms, control techniques, practice directions, and casting efficiency of the Clear Spring Spell. It was intended for witches who could already cast the spell and wished to further enhance it.

Once she was certain that not reading this book wouldn't hinder her preliminary learning, Morlan set it aside and began to attempt the spell according to the instructions in *Ignition, Illumination, and Water Creation*.

The first step: sense the spring water and form an accurate impression of it.

Morlan placed her left hand into the washbasin.

This step was not difficult; whether in her past life or this one, she was no stranger to water.

In her memories of Blue Star, there was an endless variety of water.

As she recalled her memories of water, Morlan couldn't help but let her thoughts wander.

Volume seven of *The Continent of Valen* stated that witches used their will and emotions to drive the magical power within their bloodlines to cast spells.

She wondered if, while casting, she thought of sewage, mineral water, or wine, would the resulting output be sewage, wine, or mineral water?

If that were possible, wouldn't a witch essentially be able to make their wishes come true?

However, before the emergence of Witches, the status of a standard witch did not seem to allow for such feats.

Though curious, Morlan didn't dare to experiment recklessly. She decided to ask Lady Amisha about these questions later.

What she needed now was completely pure, drinkable spring water.

Clearing her mind, she summoned all her memories of pure water to deepen the impression.

Holding her wand in her right hand, she pointed the tip toward the empty basin at her feet. She mobilized a tiny bit of magical power—not even half a Mana.

Something burst from the wand!

A stream of water as thick as a thigh poured from the tip, flooding the bottom of the basin within seconds.

Water splashed onto her feet.

Success?!!

As her emotions surged, the flow grew even larger, overflowing the basin.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Morlan hurriedly tightened her control over her magical power, and the water finally ceased.

That was a close call; she almost flooded her dormitory. Fortunately, she had practiced magic saturation extensively, making her control over magical power much stronger than before, allowing her to stop in time.

She patted her chest, her heart still racing.

"Don't get excited, don't get excited!"

Emotions had too great an impact on the casting effect.

Curiously, she touched the tip of her wand; it was actually dry. "That's incredible!"

After calming her heart, Morlan ran directly to the water tower in the backyard. She aimed her wand into the tower and mobilized half as much magical power as before to try the Clear Spring Spell again. A stream as thick as a calf poured down.

This time, she controlled her emotions. She halved her magical power output again, and the resulting spring water decreased as well, becoming only as thick as her forearm.

If she increased her magical power output, the water stream would grow thicker.

Before long, the water tower was filled.

In total, she had consumed less than 20 Mana.

She wanted to practice more, but there was nowhere left to hold the water, so she had to stop.

It was getting late, but Morlan lay in bed without any sleepiness.

She summoned her Book of Cards and took out her {Character Card}.

Tracing her finger over the newly appeared "Clear Spring Spell (Apprentice)" in the magic column, it felt incredibly fresh.

This was, in a true sense, the first spell she had learned on her own!

Apprentice-level Clear Spring Spell!

How were the levels of witch magic categorized again?

Right, they were judged by the maximum percentage of magical power/mana one could fully mobilize when casting the spell.

Those who mobilized less than 2% of their total magical power/mana were considered Apprentice level.

Reaching 2% meant being Junior level.

Reaching 4% meant being Intermediate level.

Reaching 6% meant being Advanced level.

Reaching 8% meant being Peak level.

And 10% was beyond the Peak.

Morlan's current total mana was 970 Mana.

In other words, if she could release the Clear Spring Spell using 19.4 Mana in one go without any loss other than the casting itself, her Clear Spring Spell could be considered Junior level.

Unfortunately, the water tower wasn't large enough to test it to the limit. When she had mobilized her magical power normally just now, she had only used 2 Mana at most.

That was only 0.2% of her total mana, still a long way from 2%.

However, she noticed that when she increased her magical power output later, it wasn't as effortless as when she decreased it.

While the water flow increased with the magical power output, it was clearly not proportional.

When she outputted half a Mana, the stream was thigh-thick; when she halved that, it was calf-thick.

The water flow decreased almost exponentially with the reduction in magical power output.

But when she outputted 1 Mana, the flow was only about a finger's width thicker than at half a Mana; when she outputted 2 Mana, it only increased by half a finger's width.

The more magical power she used, the slower the water flow increased; it was completely disproportionate.

Thinking back, it was likely that magical power was being lost during the process. What was causing this?

Morlan moved her fingers, and the Book of Witches on her nightstand flew over.

Recalling her experience of being hit in the face by it last time, she sat up and began flipping through *The Tinkling of the Clear Spring*.

"...

One factor affecting the effectiveness of the Clear Spring Spell: Water-elemental Magic Talent.

The Clear Spring Spell is essentially the manifestation of the purest water elements.

The higher the water-elemental magic talent, the higher the conversion efficiency between magical power and water elemental power, making it easier to convert magical power into water elements to cast the Clear Spring Spell.

If the water-elemental magic talent is at the Apprentice level, it means the individual can, at most, convert less than 1% of their magical power into water elemental power to cast water magic.

Therefore, they can mobilize no more than 1% of their total magical power to cast the Clear Spring Spell.

When water-elemental magic talent is limited, the effectiveness of the Clear Spring Spell is more influenced by the total amount of one's magical power; improvements through postnatal practice are minimal, and it is not recommended to spend too much time and energy on the Clear Spring Spell..."

Morlan was a Witch; her talent across all elements had no upper limit. The issue of talent did not exist for her.

She continued reading.

"The second factor affecting the effectiveness of the Clear Spring Spell: Will and Command.

Only a command formed by an accurate and clear will can cause magical power to transform in a specific direction.

Any stray thoughts during the casting process will lead to unclear commands and insufficient targeting of the magical power, causing it to be wasted.

Without the assistance of a wand for guidance, the body's self-protection mechanisms might even cause the magic to fail directly.

Beginners can design specific incantations or gestures to assist in casting, making the commands clearer.

Repeated practice, constant adjustment, and consolidation can also make the magical power familiar with your state when casting the Clear Spring Spell.

Once a certain level of proficiency is reached, an inertia can be formed. At that point, even if your thoughts wander during casting, it will not affect the effectiveness of the Clear Spring Spell..."