Chapter 53: Wand Lesson

Chapter 53: Wand Class

Thinking about today's lesson, Amisa, clad in her black robes, flew a little faster.

This was the most interesting lesson of the first week.

She walked into the alchemy classroom in high spirits, looking toward the little witches sitting upright and attentive.

However, she did not see the expected variety of thick and thin, long and short branches and sticks beside them.

She paused her steps. "Where are the fresh branches I asked you to prepare yesterday? Are they ready?"

"They are ready!" the little witches answered in unison.

Seeing several little witches struggling to suppress their laughter, Amisa knew that today's anticipated fun had likely taken an unexpected turn.

She did not show it on her face, only asking, "Where are they?"

The little witches pulled short, thin sticks from their sleeves.

The longest were only slightly longer than half an arm, and the shortest were about two palms long.

They were all sized for easy carrying and effortless wielding.

The thickness was also within an appropriate range—not too thick to grip, nor too thin to break easily.

Even the forks had been trimmed.

It was as if... they already knew what the fresh branches were intended for.

"Headmistress, how is it? Did we prepare them well enough?" Vasida asked with great interest.

"I suspect the trees in the castle garden have been quite ravaged by you all!" Amisa countered instead of answering.

In the entire core area of the academy, only the castle garden could yield such a wide variety of wood.

It went without saying where they had sourced the branches.

The little witches immediately lost their bravado.

Although they had been careful not to snap branches haphazardly, with twenty-seven little witches, at least twenty-seven branches had suffered.

Amisa was merely scaring them: "I'll let it slide this time, but you mustn't destroy the garden plants indiscriminately in the future. Although there are no magical plants in there, they were all carefully selected by me for everyone to appreciate during breaks."

"Yes!" the little witches promised.

Moran, the ringleader of the garden destruction, breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

She had only thought that the castle garden was close to the West Tower, making it easy to grab branches, and hadn't realized they were Lady Amisa's favorites.

"Alright! Tell me, how did you know the content of today's lesson?"

With no amusement left to watch, Amisa sat down disappointed in the high-backed chair at the lectern.

The little witches all turned to look at Moran.

Amisa understood; the problem lay with this little witch.

The child had good energy, but she looked more and more like someone who hadn't slept well.

"It was the book *Wands, Wands*!" Moran said. "On page 237, the second paragraph mentions: 'The earliest wands were obtained through infusion into fresh branches'!"

She had been incredibly focused while reading the book last night, to the point that the entire contents were deeply imprinted in her mind, becoming a "database" that could be accessed at any time, much like her memories of Planet Blue.

"A truly unexpected result! But since it happened to you, Moran, it feels quite logical," Amisa said.

After all, it was the first day of class, and here was a little witch who had taken the initiative to practice during the break.

"Alright! Since you have all guessed what this lesson is about, let us begin! As Moran said, the most primitive form of a wand is a fresh branch infused with magic. Now that you have prepared the fresh branches and know how to perform the magical infusion, try it yourselves!"

"Huh?" The little witches suddenly became somewhat at a loss. "Headmistress, aren't you going to tell us anything to watch out for?"

Even though they knew the method, being left to do it entirely without guidance made many of the little witches feel nervous and lacking in confidence.

"You should all gradually get used to the process of exploring and learning on your own. After all, in your five years at the academy, you won't be able to learn everything. The academy can only teach you the essential basic knowledge and methods of learning. Most little witches are only junior witches when they graduate from the academy; only a very few reach the intermediate level. The magical path beyond that will depend on you researching ancient texts and improving through autonomous study. Today is a great opportunity; the failure rate of wand making is extremely low. Even if you fail, there is still time to get another branch and try again at noon."

After Amisa finished speaking, she took out a tea set and began to brew tea elegantly.

The little witches knew there was no turning back.

Fortunately, they had listened to Moran talk about *Wands, Wands* all the way there this morning, so they had a general idea of what to do.

However, without the Headmistress's guidance, they had to be extra, extra careful.

They didn't ask Moran any more questions, as they already knew the method.

The Headmistress was right; they should learn to conduct independent research and study.

One by one, following their own understanding, they began to try.

Most simply performed a bit of trimming before starting the magical infusion.

Moran's progress was slower.

She intended to spend a long time on her first wand; she wanted to make it exquisite.

After the magical infusion, the wand would become hard and difficult to break, so she had to carve the shape before the infusion.

First, using the tools she had used to make her witch book, she peeled the bark off the green sandalwood stick in her hand.

Then, she carefully sanded and polished the shaft.

She spent a considerable amount of time on the handle, not only carving dense cloud patterns to prevent slipping but also engraving her name in witch script.

She even made a hollowed-out section at the end of the handle, leaving a spot for a gemstone inlay.

Once she learned alchemy magic, she could perform a slight modification on the wand.

After everything was processed, Moran applied a thin layer of olive oil.

The shaft instantly became lustrous.

Only then did she begin to infuse the wand.

At first, the intensity of the infusion was low. Once the entire shaft was covered in a thin layer of faint light under her energy vision, she began to increase the intensity.

In fact, when the shaft was covered in faint light, it meant the infusion was successful, turning it into a wand capable of constraining and stabilizing magical output.

However, the longer it was used, the higher the compatibility between the wand and its owner would become.

This process could also be accelerated through magical infusion.

When class ended at noon, Lady Amisa finally rose from the lectern, walked a circle among the little witches, and announced that they had all succeeded.

A burst of cheering erupted in the classroom.

"That's wonderful! I can't believe it actually worked!"

"Without any guidance, I didn't even look at how others were doing it!"

"We made it just based on the few words Moran shared this morning! That's amazing!"

This was the first time they had manufactured a magical item on their own without guidance.

Succeeding on the first try brought an unparalleled sense of achievement and increased their confidence.

If they encountered such situations requiring independent attempts again, they would no longer be hesitant.

Amisa nodded with satisfaction. "Class dismissed!"

Although she didn't get to see any comedy today, the little witches gained a great deal, making it a fulfillment in another sense.

(End of Chapter)