Chapter 52: Wand, Wand

Chapter 52: Wands, Wands

The mages' hunt did not defeat the witches; instead, it provided the witches with inspiration drawn from the mages' magical knowledge.

Alchemical magic was developed and summarized by the witches after they witnessed the magical items produced through the mages' alchemy.

From then on, the witches also began to arm themselves with magical items crafted through alchemical magic.

The emergence of alchemical magic also brought new changes to wands.

Wands were no longer just novice wooden sticks used to help witches stabilize their spellcasting; an increasing number of enhanced forms began to appear.

For example, melee wands equipped with spiked blades, or amplification wands embedded with magical gemstones.

Wands transitioned from being specialized tools for novices to becoming magical items that could accompany witches for a lifetime.

However, no matter how much they changed, all wands began as a single wooden stick.

Having finished reading *Wands, Wands*, Moran still felt unsatisfied.

Immersed in the historical stories within the book, her heart could not settle for a long time.

The birth of the wand was accidental and its development was tortuous, but it was a beautiful flower blooming in a harsh environment—the turning point where witches began to master their own abilities.

One witch after another contributed to the development of the wand.

Unlike the Church or the later mages and other transcendent beings, they never monopolized knowledge or exploited the paths of the weak to secure their own status.

Every witch would impart her research results entirely whenever she encountered a peer.

This was the true reason for the continuous strengthening of the witches' survival capabilities.

Moran felt a profound sense of luck and pride to belong to the community of witches.

"Clang! Clang! Clang..."

The castle bells rang six times.

Moran looked out the window in shock: "It's six o'clock already?"

It was only then that she realized her eyes felt somewhat sore.

"Oh no, oh no!" Moran hurriedly checked the mana bar on her character card.

[Mana: 989/989 Mana]

Her mana had truly overflowed!

When she stopped card production last night, she still had 356 mana left.

In the early hours of this morning, the new day's card income arrived, totaling 613 mana.

Based on the mana level before midnight last night, she should have naturally recovered 89 mana over the six hours from dawn until now.

Added together, that would be 1,058 mana!

A full 69 mana of naturally recoverable mana had been lost!

Moran was heartbroken.

She quickly charged 207 mana into the purple gemstone of the Book of Cards to clear some space.

She couldn't let the natural mana recovery for the remaining 18 hours of the day go to waste.

She would have to check tonight; any extra mana tomorrow could be charged into the Book of Cards!

Even if it couldn't be used for spellcasting, at least it could be used for card production!

The loss was so great that Moran felt listless when she went out this morning.

Of course, there was also the lingering effect of staying up all night reading.

"Moran, what's wrong?"

Vasida asked worriedly.

Moran's dark circles were on par with her family's zombie, and her expression was even more dejected than a zombie's, completely lacking her previous vitality.

"Sigh!" Moran let out a depressed sigh. "Don't even ask. I got so caught up in my book last night that I forgot to charge my mana into the Book of Cards in advance. I wasted a full 69 mana!"

This truly felt worse than being killed.

"Look on the bright side, mana can be recovered! And since your cards are so popular, you'll earn that much mana back in no time," Vasida comforted her. "Think about something happy. We might learn wand making today! Soon we'll be able to learn magic!"

"We are definitely learning wand making today," Moran said as they walked. "The most basic wands are just branches or sticks infused with magic."

Sylph, who had just met up with them outside the courtyard, asked curiously upon hearing this, "Moran, how do you know?"

"From the book *Wands, Wands*." Speaking of the book, Moran's spirit brightened again. "Let me tell you, this book is written incredibly well! You all must read it!"

"You didn't sleep at all last night because of this book?" Vasida said.

"Yeah! I didn't intend to stay up late, but once I started reading, I lost track of time. If I hadn't suddenly heard the castle bells, I would have thought not much time had passed! Otherwise, I wouldn't have forgotten to transfer the mana in advance."

Thinking of that 69 mana, Moran felt the sting once more.

"What is this book about? What could make you so absorbed? Is it about wand making?" Sylph asked.

"This book! It's a popular history book about wands..."

Moran couldn't help but start telling the story.

Today, the first-year little witches had agreed to go to the castle garden together to cut branches, so they set off from the dormitory area together.

Along the way, the little witches huddled around Moran, listening to her recount the stories from *Wands, Wands*.

From the foot of the mountain to the summit, Moran told the story with passion the whole way. Upon reaching the top, she gave a strong recommendation

"What I've told you is just an outline; many details are missing. You must go and read this book; it definitely won't disappoint you. The senior witches are so moving. However, it's best not to read it at night; you might accidentally stay up all night like I did."

The little witches had long been intrigued by the history of the "Witch's Stick" she had described.

One after another, they expressed that after adding a few blank pages to their Books of Witches, they would go and transcribe the book.

With her recommendation successful, Moran was in high spirits: "Let's go! Let's find our wand materials!"

"Since wands are obtained by infusing fresh branches, does that mean we don't need to prepare so many different thicknesses and lengths of branches? We can just pick one that feels right?" Vasida asked.

"Exactly!" Moran said.

"Yesterday I asked several seniors about the use of fresh branches, and they all gave the same excuse as the Headmistress and refused to tell us. Well, now we know without needing them!" Aes said.

"I bet the seniors have all fallen into the trap the Headmistress set. They probably brought branches or sticks that didn't fit their hands to class, made wands that didn't work well, and then had to start all over again!" Moran said.

She suspected that wand making was scheduled for Friday because it left the weekend for the little witches to remake a wand that actually felt right.

"Hahaha! If we all choose suitable branches, the expressions on the Headmistress's and the seniors' faces will surely be wonderful!"

"Shh! A senior is coming!"

...

The little witches kept their shared secret and crept sneakily toward the castle garden.

The garden was very quiet in the morning with few little witches around, making it convenient for them to act.

The garden wasn't large, but it had many varieties of plants. The first-year little witches moved among them, selecting a tree they liked, breaking off a branch, trimming it roughly, and waving it in their hands. Only when it felt right did they stop.

Moran chose a branch of green sandalwood. It had a faint sandalwood scent, was about the length of a forearm, and the weight was just right. She liked it very much.

(End of Chapter)