Chapter 286: The Focus of the Little Spellbook’s Effects
“Xiao Han, what exactly is your relationship with the Academy Head?”
Teacher Ji, who accompanied me out of the Academy Head’s office, finally asked me this question.
Never in her wildest dreams did Teacher Ji think that things would develop this way.
A powerful Extraordinary Witch serving as the Academy Head would actually lecture a student on these topics!
Forget about the Great Spellbook; the original spell sequence, new life, and so on—these topics shouldn’t even be something a student should hear.
Even in front of the research-focused scholar witches at the Witch Academy, these topics are treated with caution. The Academy Head’s success was celebrated by those witches as if it were a holiday, and it radiated joy even until now.
Just how many research-oriented Extraordinary Witches are there in the Witch Academy?
A lot, an overwhelming number in fact. The number of Extraordinary Witches in the Academy far exceeds appearances; they just don’t show themselves. They hold the title of teachers at the Main World Witch Academy and have the qualifications to stay—there’s no other need.
Some are dedicated to the Great Spellbook; whenever a witch with Extraordinary Knowledge calls out, swarms of Extraordinary Witches rush to assist.
Others cultivate new life and obtain the original spell sequence for new life, which are trending research topics, among many others that are less popular.
In the Witch Secret Realm, actions like placing research layouts there, such as the Academy Head did, are quite common—they’re just not conspicuous. If you search the Academy system for tasks related to the Witch Secret Realm, you can find plenty of research-related tasks.
Some witches even go to other Extraordinary Academies for collaborative exchanges; the rivalries between academies do not interfere with scholars’ collaborations. If they did, those academies would be left waiting for a new batch of people, as such insensitive individuals have no place in the front line of the Extraordinary Academies.
The Extraordinary Academy set up in the Main World essentially aims to facilitate research for scholars in this unique environment of the Main World, with the concept of the academy being an overlay.
They discovered that the people of the Main World are blessed with Spirit Vision bestowed by the world consciousness, so incorporating them into their own race has become a form of competition between different races.
Competitive struggle is inevitable in the Main World, but it’s never the Extraordinary-level powerhouses taking action—only students do. This has become a sort of unspoken rule.
“It’s just a normal relationship between an ordinary student and the Academy Head… I suppose,” I shrugged and said. Whether Teacher Ji believed me or not, what I said was the truth.
“Alright, if you don’t want to say, then don’t. I didn’t expect the Academy Head to put in so much effort for you.”
After sending me out, Teacher Ji left me directly and teleported away.
Watching such a convenient method, I was envious. Unfortunately, I only had a Teleportation Summoning Spell that could teleport others but not myself.
Looking at the time, I had wasted a considerable amount in the Academy Head’s office. The Alchemy class hadn’t ended yet; I could probably take another look since I had already paid for it.
After returning, the teacher shot me a glance, apparently confirming that I was indeed the one who had left midway before ignoring me.
It seemed that paying in advance was indeed quite useful.
“Xiao Han, why are you back?” Bai Yu was somewhat surprised. She thought she would have to spend the entire class alone.
“I finished what I needed to do and came back. By the way, where did the teacher leave off?”
“Here are my notes. You can take a look,” Sister Bai handed me her recorded notes to review.
I took them directly and recorded the materials I hadn’t heard yet in my Memory Shelf Spellbook.
This type of Spellbook is convenient, but similarly, during my time in the Fool Dream Secret Realm, reality taught me a lesson—that magic is ultimately magic. At least while I hadn’t thoroughly mastered the Spellbook, the knowledge recorded in it didn’t belong to me.
Before long, the class ended. It was a course on the basic operations of alchemy, and fundamentals are really important—they include numerous standard actions in alchemy operations, as well as the techniques of mental power or spells needed to be used in conjunction. A lot of knowledge and skills are not in books; many things, even the small habits casually mentioned by the teacher, are experiences shaped over countless repetitions.
Indeed, alchemy is such a complex existence. It could be said that alchemy is another way to utilize Extraordinary Power, similar to how witches use spells and warriors use body techniques.
It’s just a matter of different focuses.
There are many branches in alchemy, such as the potion-making alchemy of medicine stones, energy transmutation alchemy similar to a mage casting spells, biochemistry alchemy akin to beast-control techniques, and mechanical alchemy from the machinery branch.
Teachers instructing alchemy sometimes boast that any skill or application of Extraordinary Energy can be integrated into alchemy. While that statement is somewhat exaggerated, alchemy can indeed achieve a vast majority of effects.
Of course, at my current stage, I don’t need to delve too much into these branches of alchemy because the initial practices of alchemy are all somewhat similar. The basics need to be universal before diversifying based on individual situations; after all, not everyone learning alchemy is a jack-of-all-trades.
However, every apprentice new to alchemy feels that they are somewhat omnipotent, but reality will quickly slap that notion away.
After class, Sister Bai accompanied me to the cafeteria in the teaching area for a meal; in the afternoon, I planned to stroll around the Academy’s market.
Mainly, I wanted to purchase Little Spellbooks, specifically targeting those relevant to alchemy. If I came across any that looked decent, I would buy them as well.
Spellbooks are scarce in the Witch Academy; the higher-level Spellbooks are even rarer since there’s no large “supply channel” for them—either they come from accumulated personal wealth or are sold by others, or through Spellbook recycling, etc.
So, the prices can still be negotiated. After all, the value of spell effects is quite subjective; some effects are particularly valuable in special situations, while others might seem utterly useless to others.
While perusing the market, I finally witnessed how wild the effects of Little Spellbooks can be.
As expected, they lack systematic rituals, only possessing structure. However, the few Little Spellbooks I came across bore traces of rune rituals but were still classified as Little Spellbooks.
It seems that the Academy’s definition of Little Spellbooks has significantly deviated; according to the older sisters selling them, I discovered that what I had always considered the basic Spellbook, Cleaning Spell, actually falls under… a Little Spellbook, even though it contains internal rituals.
It appears they cannot see through the Spellbooks, thus their definitions are somewhat too crude…
“This… this Little Spellbook has quite an interesting effect…” I looked at the handwritten description of the Little Spellbook’s effects, and this action caught the attention of the selling older sister.
“Junior sister, are you interested in this Little Spellbook? This Spellbook targets pens, freeing your hands, so you don’t have to worry about your hands cramping during class while taking notes. Plus, it’s quite cool to use—you’ll definitely stand out in class!” This older sister enthusiastically promoted it to me.
I wonder if this method combined with the Memory Shelf would create new possibilities if I had to handwrite myself…
Although this Little Spellbook seems to have appeared a bit late, I still decided to buy it. After all, even with the Memory Shelf Spellbook, it doesn’t mean I won’t need to write something down with a pen in the future.
Moreover, this Little Spellbook isn’t expensive and doesn’t require Extraordinary Materials for purchase; it only needs money—the kind from the outside world.
Certainly, this is the normal pricing at the Witch Academy; money, this kind of thing, will never be eliminated as long as outside society continues to function normally.
“Hmm, can you make it cheaper? I’ll buy it if it’s a bit cheaper; after all, it’s just to help with taking notes, it’s really not worth thousands.”
“Ah~ This is magic! Don’t just measure it by its effects—the inherent value is the main point.”
“Even so, it’s still not worth it. Now, the Little Spellbook is a realm of pragmatism—dismissing it as mundane really doesn’t justify that price. Can’t you reduce it a bit?”
“Reduce… alright… you tell me a number…”
In the end, the older sister reluctantly sold it to me at a lowered price. Though she looked pained, her agreement indicated she still made a profit.
I came away with several Little Spellbooks, and the effects and prices of these Spellbooks varied greatly. Some could be bought with money, while others required Red Copper for purchase.
“How is it? You seem to have gained quite a lot,” Bai Yu asked as she watched me fiddling with the Little Spellbooks.
“Indeed, it feels like compared to ordinary Spellbooks, Little Spellbooks focus more on effects, and their functions truly seem to soar.”
“Indeed, the power of Little Spellbooks cannot compare even to the weakest basic consumption Spellbooks. Rather than pursuing direct damage, it’s more practical to focus on effects.”
“Hmm… but I still want to express how incredible it is—every Little Spellbook I see makes me want to buy it, but I feel like I won’t really use them.” I observed the Little Spellbooks carefully; they give me the illusion that I could also create similar ones.
However, even though they are Little Spellbooks, they are still Spellbooks, and the threshold for creation is mastering the real editing technique.
But since so many Little Spellbooks are designed for students, and the creation of Spellbooks can only be done by Extraordinary Witches as teachers, this indicates that a student-provided creative channel exists. At least, regarding the inspiration for Little Spellbook effects, they must have collected student opinions.
I asked Sister Bai about this and learned that the Academy indeed has such associated clubs. Some clubs collaborate with a few bored teachers to create these Little Spellbooks, and some clubs are even more impressive. They can make their own based on blank Spellbooks provided by the teachers.
Upon hearing about such clubs, my eyes widened. Perhaps Sister Bai doesn’t know about the real editing technique or what that skill represents, but those older sisters who create custom Little Spellbooks are definitely geniuses!
They are just one advancement away from grasping real editing to create true Spellbooks!
I didn’t expect that the modified Spellbook concept had already taken root in the Witch Academy; it was just oriented towards Little Spellbooks, while my experience started directly with Fireball Spell, possibly due to a difference in Spirit Vision.
But aside from the advantage of Spirit Vision, the experience and knowledge accumulated by others absolutely surpass mine.
Therefore… I still can’t belittle those older sisters, right…
As for the so-called blank Spellbook, it probably isn’t truly blank; the teachers might also want to save time and allow them to tinker with necessary preparations.
Of course, it’s also possible that they wanted them to adapt to creating Spellbooks early due to their strong accomplishments in Spellbooks.
Thinking of this, I recalled the perspective of real editing that the Academy Head had granted me in the Great Spellbook. Is this real editing?
It seems that everything is still a long and arduous journey ahead.
Several days passed.
During these days, I continued like this, returning to a normal Academy life without being influenced by anything.
However, the expenses were still considerable, not only for the Alchemy course but also for the Rune Literature course; the thresholds for these courses were quite high.
Even though I felt I had been granted the Academy’s resource advantages with so much Aoqin, I still considered myself a rich girl, but the Academy insisted I was still a poor ghost.
Despite that, I still had to attend these courses. However, I wouldn’t go to every class randomly; I would self-study what I could and ask teachers about what I didn’t understand.
This learning method proved to be the best and most efficient for me, and I learned a lot during these days.
Until the Academy Head privately messaged me, I realized that the matter regarding Fool Dream had begun.
I reflected on the Academy Head’s earlier description of scripts, which was essentially about acting.
Originally, Teacher Ji told me that the fortune I had now could be played with however I wanted. As long as I held this fortune card, I could organize any event in my name, attracting all the potential fortunetellers.
Now, plans were being overtaken by changes; the fortune I possessed had to be given to the Nightmare, but it was okay. The Academy Head said she had arranged that; the fortune would be transferred to the Nightmare, which would serve as the next script event node. The nature of this was quite similar to competitive events.
“I need to go to the Dream Equipment area… It seems it’s time to take action.”
I looked at the message from the Academy Head on my phone, realizing it was time to get moving. After all, Teacher Ji was partially right—the fortune belongs to me, and others can’t directly snatch it away. Thus, some operations would be necessary to transfer it.
“Hmm? What action?” At this moment, Bai Yu also asked. She had been accompanying me all these days, knowing I had many secrets but wouldn’t insist on me revealing them.
“It’s about Fool Dream. I might have to borrow… Oh, the Dream Equipment that Teacher Ji facilitated for me in the laboratory; it should all be the same.”
“Dream… Hmm, do you want me to accompany you?”
“I’m not sure… It’s related to the Academy Head, so I might not be able to bring you along. But it’s just a minor issue.”
“Okay.”
Bai Yu didn’t press further. Since it was related to the Academy Head, it would be impolite for her to forcibly involve herself. Anyway, she was already content spending time with Xiao Han all these days. Although she wished it could last forever, she understood that it was impossible.
“Then I wish you success~”
“Don’t worry~” I nodded and smiled in response.
Now I realized that when someone truly desires to accomplish something, more people will support them.
Just like now, I want to grant Fool Dream true life. Even though this idea seems very distant, it has already begun. This is not just my trial task; the Academy Head also hopes for my success. Even potential progress is a substantial step forward.
There are layouts guided by the Academy Head, support from the scripts to propel it forward, and ideas brought to fruition by other Extraordinary Witches.
The matter regarding the completion of the Great Spellbook by the Academy Head has never subsided; it’s just that students cannot see it.
However, the topic has never stopped among Extraordinary Witches, so I again stepped into their field of vision as the center of this whirlpool of events.
Some of them approach me out of admiration for the Academy Head, inquiring about the Great Spellbook, while others try to dig into my secret, only to be chased off by Teacher Ji.
Of course, there are also teachers drawn by curiosity—some simply come to see, pinch my cheek, and leave. I can say that I still don’t quite understand the world of Extraordinary Witches.
What I care about most is still the subsequent placement of Fool Dream after it acquires a body, but it seems that problem has been resolved.
Among the summoned Extraordinary Witches, one identity surprised me—she was the one who first provided me with the Golden Cat Card!
At this point, I realized that the figure behind the Witch Cat Café was unexpectedly an Extraordinary Witch!
I always thought it was some graduating senior opening a business at the Witch Academy, but unexpectedly, it’s the work of an Extraordinary Witch.
I haven’t communicated much with that Extraordinary Witch, but it’s clear that she can help me with the placement issue for Fool Dream.
The condition is that Fool Dream’s body must at least have characteristics resembling a cat, which coincides perfectly with my thoughts.
When I asked why she came to me, she simply said that the Academy Head mentioned me to her… well, this is also part of the Academy Head’s arrangements.
Originally, I was troubled about how to establish communication with the Witch Cat Café or to determine cooperation; now, they have come directly to me.
