Chapter 67: The Witch's Magic Directory

Chapter 67: The Witch's Directory of Magic

Although Moran's passion for studying cards had waned recently, with her focus shifting toward reading and learning, she was still no amateur when it came to selling the cards she had already tested in the market.

Yesterday's {Mobile Kitchen Card} and {Portable Cookware Card}, and today's {Recording Card}—Moran had updated them all on the large posters pasted outside the castle warehouse. She had essentially turned that spot into her own card-selling column.

On her way down the mountain, a senior student came to find her to buy a card.

After the afternoon culinary magic class ended, Moran walked toward the dormitory and saw Senior Lilith pacing indecisively in front of her courtyard entrance. "Senior?"

"Ah? Moran, you're back!" Lilith's body stiffened. She turned around, asking with a final glimmer of hope, "How is the research on the Energy Storage Card going?"

Moran shook her head. "I won't be able to make it anytime soon."

Her hopes shattered, and Lilith's face twisted with the pain of the loss. "Then... just give me a {Portable Cookware Card}! Can you make it a bit cheaper?"

Moran smiled and said, "I can't! This is already the 'little witch friendship price'."

Even if it were ten times more expensive, witches would still be willing to pay for mana that could be recovered every single day.

Lilith gritted her teeth. "I knew it! Forget it, I'll just buy the {Mobile Kitchen Card}! Might as well get it right the first time."

What if some goblin witch raised the prices in a few years?

"Alright!" Moran pulled a piece of parchment from her satchel. "Installments or full payment?"

"Installments! Of course installments! Five hundred mana is too much for a witch to cough up all at once!" Lilith said.

Moran scribbled out a contract, making her sign it as if she were afraid she might regret it.

Once the contract was established, the mana was received, and the card was delivered, Moran finally comforted her: "Senior, with your total mana capacity, five hundred mana will be recovered in less than a day, right?"

Lilith was already a high-level witch; five hundred mana wasn't even half of her total capacity of over a thousand.

"You'll understand once you learn more spells. Practicing magic requires mana, and researching manifested talents requires mana too. Do you know how long it's been since I've been able to keep even half my mana left before midnight? Your cards are getting more and more expensive to buy; buying one means living frugally for several days!" Lilith said resentfully.

She truly missed the junior who used to want to give cards away for free at the slightest disagreement!

"Thanks for the reminder, Senior! I'll make sure to save up more mana while my magic practice consumption is low!" Moran said.

She couldn't save mana that could be used directly for spellcasting, but she could save mana for card-making!

"By the way, Senior, do you have any news about the fifth-year seniors?" Moran asked.

Witches from years one through four had all come to buy her cards, but the fifth-years had never appeared.

"I don't know either. Every year after the entrance banquet, the fifth-year witches disappear. I only know they go to the academy's outer perimeter. However, they reappear on the eve of graduation," Lilith said.

Hearing this, Moran felt relieved.

Before enrollment, the little witches had all signed contracts prohibiting them from leaking information about underage witches. Therefore, until she reached adulthood, her target audience for cards was limited to the witches currently in school.

Every year, little witches graduated, and missing one was her loss. As long as she could still contact the fifth-year witches, it would be fine.

Having just lost a large amount of mana, Lilith had no heart for further chatting. She climbed over the wall to return to her dormitory, closed the door, and buried herself in her pillow, wailing in frustration

"Witches and witches... how can the difference be so huge!

Witch magic, witch magic! No! I have to research witch magic faster. I can't just keep selling without gaining anything!"

Having sold another card, Moran returned to her dormitory in high spirits. While eating the dried meat provided by Ais, she organized her problem notes from today and integrated them into a paper.

Before long, one paper was completed.

Writing a summary paper was easy, but the other one, *On Witch Magic Schools and Representative Spells*, would be a bit more troublesome; she would need to look up some data.

Moran opened *The Witch's Directory of Magic*.

This was an encyclopedia of witch magic, recording the existing schools of witch magic, the magical effects corresponding to different levels, approximate mana consumption, common uses, recommended learning tiers, and recommended study guides.

With this book, one might not be able to master any single spell, but they could gain a basic understanding of every spell, know which tier was appropriate to learn it at, and which books to read to learn it.

For example, the recommended study books for culinary magic included the textbook from the culinary magic class, *Learning Culinary Magic from Scratch*, as well as elective titles like *The Gastronomy Guide to the Valen Continent*, *Selection of Ingredients*, *The Cultivation of a Chef*, and so on.

The information needed for her paper was also easy to find. Moran quickly filtered through it, summarized it into an article, and wrote it on parchment.

Only after actually writing it did she realize that today's two papers were only intimidating in appearance; in reality, they weren't difficult to write, nor did they need to be very long.

After finishing the papers, Moran still couldn't bear to put down her book.

Seeing as she had been attending culinary magic classes for quite some time, perhaps she could try to self-study other magic in advance?

Like the Spring Water Spell?

After all, no matter how much she conserved, the water in the backyard water tower was running low!

Coincidentally, she had the introductory study guide for the Spring Water Spell.

She flipped open *Ignition, Illumination, and Water Creation*.

This book was designed to guide beginners in learning the Flame Spell, the Light Spell, and the Spring Water Spell.

Moran skipped directly to the section on the Spring Water Spell.

"Preparations before learning: A basin of completely pure, impurity-free spring water, a suitable wand, an empty basin to catch the water..."

Moran prepared the necessary items as the book instructed, then continued reading

"Step one: Feel the spring water, observe the spring water, and form an accurate impression of it.

Step two: Holding the wand, concentrate your attention and issue a clear and accurate command to your magical power to transform it into pure spring water."

"That's it? That's all?" Moran flipped through the pages in disbelief.

The practice steps for this spell really were only two steps!

The subsequent content was about how to control the flow size and speed of the spring water.

It was even more concise than the culinary magic learning methods written in *Learning Culinary Magic from Scratch*.

The more concise it was, the more cautious Moran became.

It had been the same when she first attempted culinary magic.

It looked simple, but she later discovered that every single sentence written in the book was precise.

For instance, the book had told her to start by kneading dough with magic and to use an infused spoon; all of these had been mentioned.

She had mistakenly assumed that once the book said she had mastered the techniques of baking bread, simmering thick soup, and searing steaks, she could immediately start trying to make bread, soup, and steaks using culinary magic—automatically extending the logic that any other dish she knew how to make could also be attempted with culinary magic.