Chapter 169: Coming Next is the Academy Exchange
At this moment.
In the laboratory, I was studying the first spellbook I obtained that consumes a hundred points, “Blessing of the Elemental Sprite.”
The spell, when released, lacked the terrifying momentum and destructive power that Tan Han displayed when she summoned the Flame Lord.
However, the consumption of a hundred points of magic power is still quite daunting. Both the blessing on me and the semi-transparent humanoid elemental sprite in front of me gathered that formidable magical energy.
If nothing else is done, this spell can persist for a long time.
The elemental sprite I summoned is a Fire Elemental Sprite, and her appearance raised the temperature in the laboratory significantly.
Moreover, it seems I can communicate with this sprite, and she obediently follows my commands. However, if I were to evaluate whether this elemental sprite constitutes a life form, possessing self-awareness and cognition, I would say it does not.
It lacks the vibrancy of true life. This is a subjective judgment, but this sprite is indeed a manifestation of the spell’s effect, merely possessing the predetermined “behavioral logic” outlined in the spellbook, akin to a quasi-artificial intelligence with an extraordinary form. In short, that’s the general idea.
The blessing I have is also of the fire element, and I can even feel the enhancement brought by fire element affinity on the spell’s power!
After all, my mental power is broadly empathetic. I had never experienced what it feels like to be attuned to a specific element, but now I know.
That feeling of being as nimble as one’s limb is truly fantastic; it feels like the difference between using an arm and a prosthetic!
It seems that the consumption of a hundred magic points is worth it since merely enhancing my affinity for the corresponding element significantly boosts my combat ability.
Additionally, this elemental sprite will cooperate with me in battle and can even sacrifice itself without hesitation to protect me.
However, when purely compared to Tan Han’s Flame Lord, it may still fall short in combat strength, but in terms of overall capability, it far surpasses merely summoning that Flame Lord.
After all, this is just a spell effect.
After witnessing the effect of this spellbook, I directly pulled out the panel of the Earth Vein System nearby.
I need to conduct external virtual modeling on the results of this spellbook and develop a modified magic scheme based on it.
Calling it modeling, before understanding the various structural functions of the spellbook, it’s mostly an exhaustive method.
SLOWLY exploring.
Summarizing corresponding functions through feedback after using the spell.
That is the normal procedure for studying a spellbook.
However, I have Spirit Vision, which allows me to skip a lot of meaningless steps and get directly to the key areas.
For this “Blessing of the Elemental Sprite,” the aspect I wish to modify is the “random” summoning of elemental sprites. If I could specify the summons, its value would increase exponentially!
Don’t think that randomization means that if the base is large, you can have whatever you want. It’s not true that if there’s enough magic source, you can always summon the desired elemental. In certain situations, some probabilities are indeed locked.
For example, back on the arena, when I was frantically using the Fireball Spell, the environment became saturated with fire elements, greatly increasing the chance of summoning a Fire Elemental Sprite.
Looking at it this way, this spell does seem fairly reliable. However, to put it bluntly, isn’t it only effective in favorable conditions?
When caught in the opponent’s home ground, a randomly summoned elemental sprite might be more suited to your enemies. Fortunately, my spell can’t aid the enemy; otherwise, the value of this spell would drop even lower.
But still, it is a high-cost spellbook, so it shouldn’t be completely useless. From a structural perspective, its potential for development is still quite broad, and there are many areas where I lack information and really don’t understand what this thing is.
I looked at the library access card given by Teacher Ji. With advanced library permissions, it should be enough for me to find the corresponding material.
Moreover, this thing can also link with a phone and the Earth Vein System, somewhat similar to a student card, after all, it also contains surges of Earth Vein Energy.
“I found it… Blessing of the Elemental Sprite; there are analytical papers about this spell in the academy as well.” After opening these materials, I discovered that many had specific Spirit Vision level restrictions, otherwise, the content descriptions would become incomprehensible or even impossible to reproduce.
After all, without having seen certain things, the mind cannot conjure them, let alone conduct experiments based on these materials.
However, I simply skimmed through them; it seemed the highest requirement was merely for the second tier “Imaging,” which posed no limitations for me at all.
As time passed, I gradually understood the internal structure. However, it would still take a while to fully comprehend it, especially since the complexity of this spellbook’s structure is not comparable to that of the Fireball Spell. I mentioned needing several days to digest it, mainly due to the experience from the Fireball Spell that allowed me to navigate spellbook studies with ease.
Naturally, the first limitation to break through is the so-called “randomness.” Now, the spellbook for the Blessing of the Elemental Sprite has become capable of specifying elements.
I attempted to release the spell once more, and the blessing of a Water Elemental Sprite appeared on me, manifesting a light blue silhouette in front of me.
“It seems I can indeed specify now.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead, glad that my efforts were not in vain, as this was much more complex than merely modifying the shape of the Fireball Spell, needing many considerations.
Especially in regard to the summoning ceremony.
“Wait.”
Soon, I realized an issue: the original Fire Elemental blessing had not dissipated, resulting in an elemental clash between the water and fire elements.
The focus was not on the elemental clash between the blessings but on the coexistence of two elemental sprites!
I remember this spellbook didn’t seem capable of summoning multiple elemental sprites, right?
What exactly went wrong here?
Though this mistake now seems like a beneficial bug, a useful loophole is no longer a loophole but rather a well-designed feature!
However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to understand what structure caused this effect. This is a result of a fortunate mishap!
I certainly need to master this technique well; it might be applicable to similar architectures.
Furthermore, if I were to modify this spell again, I’d be concerned that this ability to summon multiple sprites might vanish by mistake.
Just as I prepared to dive into it further, the door to Room 8401 was pushed open.
“Hm?”
I looked up at the opened door. There typically shouldn’t be any students on this floor.
Only when I saw Teacher Ji did I let out a sigh of relief.
“Teacher Ji, you’re back?”
I instinctively glanced at the time and found that it had passed quickly; it was already night. Upon realizing it was nighttime, I started to feel hungry.
“I would say I’m back.” After entering, Teacher Ji quickly transformed her previously troubled expression.
Then, she looked curiously at the opened spellbook I was examining and asked, “Oh? You’ve begun working on a spellbook at this level? How’s the progress?”
“Uh… progress is slow, I suppose…” I humbly replied, but indeed, it was true; after all, in just a little over half a day, I had only resolved one requirement and discovered one beneficial bug, without even having time to test potential unknown risks.
“Slow? Slow is correct.” Teacher Ji glanced briefly and nodded, saying, “That’s the pace a new student should have. The previous speed was a bit frightening.”
However, as she leaned in to look closer, it seemed she was primarily concerned with whether I had made any adjustments to the runes. Given that I was still modifying the spellbook’s structure, there wasn’t too much to worry about.
In fact, modifying spellbooks isn’t as unattainable as it sounds. Once Spirit Vision level reaches the second tier of Imaging, one qualifies to learn disassembling spells techniques and can even slightly adjust their structures.
This is known as “micro-modification.”
Also referred to as spell refinement, this micro-modification does not greatly alter the format of the spellbook but allows it to adapt more smoothly to the user’s habits.
Teacher Ji looked back at me, then at the opened spellbook. The level of structural adjustment I had performed already exceeded the realm of “micro-modification.”
This is the advantage of having a high Spirit Vision level.
Mental power is the initial power grasped by life and the most formidable tool possessed by life. Spirit Vision reveals what is within the reach of mental power, further enhanced by the Witch Meditation Method which refines mental power into strands, enhancing the controllability of this tool.
The reason real editing requires extraordinary qualifications is partly due to the quality of mental power at that extraordinary level, which can sustain the operations required for real editing.
“Don’t be anxious; you’ve been busy all afternoon, haven’t you? Why not take a break and balance work with relaxation?” Teacher Ji pulled over a chair nearby and sat down herself.
“It’s fine, I didn’t work the whole afternoon; just now, I discovered a problem, and I was contemplating where the issue lay.”
“Problem? Share it. When you encounter a problem, there’s no need to pressure yourself to find answers; that doesn’t prove your capability; it simply wastes your time.” Upon hearing that I encountered a problem, Teacher Ji intervened, as she was somewhat averse to the insistence on self-solving issues. Problem-solving is still a learning process. You can try to tackle them yourself, but there’s no need to be overly stubborn. Even if you find a solution through sheer determination, it only brings temporary satisfaction while wasting a lot of time. With that time, you could ask others or look for materials, thereby obtaining various methods.
Before reaching a boundary that no one has crossed, one should learn a fundamental lesson: seek external help.
Persisting in stubbornness when encountering problems is disrespectful to the predecessors who have paved the way. What? Do you want to prove you’re more remarkable than the greats? Instead of seeking superiority here, why not follow their paths and walk alongside them, comparing notes at the boundaries of knowledge?
“Um, I am facing a problem. This spellbook is the Blessing of the Elemental Sprite. I modified the internal structure to convert its random summoning of elemental sprites into a specified summoning. Although the modification was successful, it can now summon multiple elemental sprites to coexist, which was not possible before.” I pushed the spellbook toward Teacher Ji for her to explain.
“Isn’t this a good thing? Why do you sound like you think it’s a bad thing?”
Looking at the internal structure of the spellbook, Teacher Ji couldn’t help but twitch her mouth at my description, indicating she couldn’t understand my line of thought.
“Subjectively, yes, it is, but I don’t know how I achieved it, so I can’t retain this characteristic. If I don’t understand the principle, then if I attempt to modify it again, I might accidentally lose this trait.”
“Ah, is that how you think? That’s quite a greedy perspective. Indeed, I would think the same way if I were in your place.”
Teacher Ji skillfully took over my spellbook and, like me, opened the online library on the Earth Vein System to start searching for information…
Well, it seems even extraordinary witches need to consult materials for corroboration.
I didn’t feel it was unusual. I even edged closer to observe what keywords Teacher Ji used to search for information or which channels she explored. This was crucial for me; otherwise, standing before a search box, I wouldn’t know how to find what I wanted in unfamiliar fields.
To put it mildly, Teacher Ji’s operation greatly benefited me.
After a while, combining the materials, Teacher Ji began to explain to me.
This helped resolve one of my problems, and she even downloaded all the information she had just found.
The efficiency left me feeling greatly impressed.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“It’s nothing; these are things that can be found easily. Play around with it yourself.” Teacher Ji pushed the spellbook back to me, effectively transferring control.
“By the way, it’s getting late; you should be heading back, right? Before you go, there are some things I need to discuss with you. Well, it doesn’t really matter, as the academy will notify everyone anyway.”
“Huh? What is it?” I instinctively asked, but I somewhat guessed it had to do with Teacher Ji’s hasty departure earlier in the afternoon.
“After the selection of the top ten in the new student competition, the Witch Academy will also host an inter-academy exchange competition. The main purpose is for new students to interact and understand the differences between various extraordinary academies. Of course, this is just rhetoric; in reality, other academies come with ulterior motives, so you can go all out during the exchange competition.”
Teacher Ji casually mentioned, even saying I could go all out as if it were a trivial matter.
“Ah?”
At this moment, I felt perplexed. What kind of development is this? I couldn’t help but comment, “Is it really necessary for new students to exchange so frequently? It’s been such a short time since school started; what is there to exchange?”
“Haha, you think? The new student exchanges aren’t about the new students; they are about exchanging fortunes. The new student competition is merely a performance. If you don’t exchange now, later you might not even have the fumes to consume.” Teacher Ji also complained about this.
Some things are like this; you know they’re unreasonable, but you shouldn’t ask why they developed this way but rather inquire what caused this development and ultimately, who benefits, while casually observing what façade those benefitting individuals use to distort the facts.
“By the way, tomorrow, other academies are likely to visit our Witch Academy, with Aphhemia Academy probably being the first to arrive. So don’t be surprised, and also mention this in the class group to notify them in advance, to avoid causing a commotion tomorrow.”
“Okay, got it.” I nodded.
Then, I tidied up various items here. As the issue with the spellbook had been resolved, there was naturally no reason for me to stay any longer.
It was better to head back.
Additionally, I should mention the exchange with other academies in the class group.
After all, new students are still quite curious about other extraordinary academies during this stage of ignorance about the extraordinary realm.
However, every extraordinary academy has its challenges that only students understand. Others only envy the beautiful facade.
I wonder how many hardships the new students will have to face before they realize that.
On the way back, I communicated this matter in the class group.
Actually, it won’t take long; the academy will also issue a notice. However, not every student will check the notifications.
As I started to engage in the group, classmates who had been silent suddenly popped up.
Meanwhile, the Mutual Assistance Group was still discussing the new student competition that day; perhaps they were more invested in the event than I, the participant!
Soon, they were drawn in by the announcement I suddenly made, especially since this was an inter-academy exchange competition!
While other extraordinary magic academies might not compare to the Witch Academy, many elements would still attract them, such as the novelty brought by different races.
Moreover, many students expressed that at the Witch Academy, they were surrounded by pretty girls; they felt they might be bending!
With this exchange, it seems the Witch Academy might have some male participants this time.
Although there have always been male students in the Witch Academy.
Like that dorm of mine, there are plenty, right?
I feel that once this news spreads, it will likely incite a debate even more fervent than the new student competition. The academy’s online forums will probably be full of this topic.
Nonetheless, this is favorable for me, as I’m not particularly fond of being discussed online by so many people.
After sending out the information, there was an uproar in the class. I received many private messages, with everyone asking questions, making it so busy that I could barely keep up.
By the time I returned to the villa, the black night sky hadn’t turned on the lights inside.
“No one?” I curiously pushed open the door. It seemed, indeed, no one was here…
Yesterday, they were all in the living room watching TV, and now they were off having fun without me?
And they didn’t take me along! Seems like the bonds have truly grown weak!
I quickly took out my phone and contacted Hong Chanyi; she was the least burdensome person for me to reach out to.
“Hong Chanyi, where are you all?”
“Ah? Sister Xiao Han? We’re out having fun; I didn’t expect it to be so lively here at night. Are you coming over? We might take a while to get back.”
“Out? Who suggested it? Did you all not think of me?”
“Ah? We thought you were too busy with your daily tasks, so we decided not to disturb you. But with your message, we will definitely contact you first for any activities in the future!”
“Well, that’s fine. I’ll hang up for now.”
“By the way, Sister Xiao Han, do you want us to bring anything back? The snacks here are quite good.”
“Forget it, enjoy yourselves; I already ate before coming back.”
