Chapter 32: Spellbook and Spell Slots
In the end, this farce came to a conclusion.
Ying Shiqian and the Store Manager reached an agreement, allowing me, who was watching the show, to have quite a feast for the eyes. In the end, it was all about snatching someone away.
And the target was this year’s perfect-scoring academic genius.
Once I realized this core aspect, the rest of the situation suddenly made sense.
It turned out that this bakery was just pretending to operate a business, but in reality, it was selling power to others?
The medium was the red velvet cake, with the content being the specific requirements.
In the end, the staff would come to confirm or fulfill the requests.
Thinking about it this way, my role as a cashier here didn’t seem to have much of a threshold, considering it wasn’t the main source of income.
I can’t believe such services were offered in a bakery here!
Then isn’t it possible that any inconspicuous little shop in the academy could be like this as well?
Isn’t that a bit too terrifying?
However, Tang Yihan explained that it was about providing differentiated services and creating its own unique characteristics.
According to what Tang Yihan described, the Store Manager’s idea was to make the red velvet cake a symbol of the bakery, so whenever people thought of it, they would associate it with the high-quality service derived from the bakery.
With the Store Manager and Ying Shiqian leaving, only Tang Yihan and I remained in this bakery.
Although there weren’t many customers, I still diligently played my role as a staff member, especially since the pay was quite decent.
“Xiao Han, do you want to try becoming a baking apprentice? I noticed during the interview that you seemed somewhat interested in baking.”
“Eh? Is it really possible?”
I was a bit taken aback by the sudden question from my senior.
After all, I had intended to learn a craft, and it would be great to acquire a skill. However, after officially becoming a staff member, I discovered that all the pastries, biscuits, and breads in the store were made by Tang Yihan, and I had nothing to do.
Moreover, she hadn’t shown any intention to teach me back then, and not having experience made me hesitant to jump in and help.
Now that I had this offer, I certainly wouldn’t refuse.
“Of course, you can give it a try. If you don’t have the talent, just give up.”
“Hmm! I do want to give it a shot.”
“Great!” Upon hearing my response, Tang Yihan smiled lightly. “Since you want to learn baking, let’s start from the basics!”
“Basics? Is it memorizing the recipes?” I eagerly followed Tang Yihan into the kitchen.
“No, no, no, let’s start with washing the dishes!” Tang Yihan turned around and pointed to a pile of various equipment beside us.
There were trays, shaping molds, and many oddly shaped tools.
“Ah?”
“I’ll leave these to you. Oh, right, I just remembered you’re a new student and don’t know how to use magic yet, so let’s wash them by hand for now. If you can’t finish, you can leave them aside, but they must be cleaned thoroughly. I don’t want these things to be greasy when I handle them.”
I was pushed to the sink by Tang Yihan, and for a moment I couldn’t react. Wasn’t this supposed to be an easy job?
How did it turn into physical labor all of a sudden?
“Sorry, but since Ying Shiqian ran off, there’s no one else in the shop, so we have to make do.” Tang Yihan rarely displayed such a pleading attitude, making it hard for me to refuse.
“But I don’t have much experience…”
“I’ll take responsibility and give you more pay!”
“Experience isn’t something one is born with. I think one should try new things. I’ve done similar work before; just leave it to me!”
Hearing about the extra pay, I switched my expression immediately. There’s no manual labor that extra pay can’t solve! If it can’t be solved, then it’s definitely not double!
Tang Yihan was momentarily stunned by my turnaround, but seeing how motivated I was, she felt reassured.
“You’re really thoughtful, Xiao Han. You’re much better than that Ying Shiqian. Making her wash these things is almost like asking for her life, and she knows Cleaning Spell but wouldn’t lift a finger.”
“Hmm! Hmm!”
I nodded eagerly, putting in even more effort.
“Xiao Han, keep it up! If you perform well, I’ll request a Cleaning Spell spellbook from the Store Manager for you.”
“Hmm…” I subconsciously nodded but quickly reacted, “Wait, what spellbook?”
“Right, what’s wrong with the spellbook? Don’t you know what this is? Oh, I forgot, you’re still a new student and haven’t officially started school yet. The teacher hasn’t explained this to you. A spellbook is a tool that allows you to use magic; just understand it that way.”
“Really? But my mental power isn’t sufficient to interfere with magic power, so a spellbook wouldn’t be of use, right?”
Moreover, there’s still some time before school starts, and who knows when the teacher will teach me to use magic. Is this senior just stringing me along?
“Ah? You’re worried about this? Interfering with magic power through mental power is quite difficult; that’s not something a new student can handle. Normal students at Witch Academy probably can’t even manage to invoke magic power with mental power in their first three years, so don’t think too much about it.”
“But a spellbook is different. By the way, have you activated your personal data yet?”
“Is it the personal information generated after binding the student card to my phone?” I thought about that when asked.
“Yes, that’s it! I can’t believe the senior who guided you even told you this. I only found out about this when the teacher explained it at the beginning of class. Basically, it’s the data that appears on your phone, and there’s something called spell slots on it.”
“Is there?”
I didn’t know about that. I remembered I didn’t have such a thing when I checked my phone. Sure enough, there was none.
“Not there?”
Tang Yihan instinctively wanted to help me look for it, but I slightly withdrew, not letting her see. After all, I remembered Sister Bai telling me not to show it to others casually.
“Um… sorry, this is personal privacy, and I shouldn’t be looking at it like this.” Tang Yihan quickly realized her mistake and hurriedly apologized. “If it’s not there, then it could be that you haven’t interacted with spell slots, so it didn’t display.”
“What are spell slots? Are they related to the spellbook?” I immediately inquired.
“Of course, they’re related. After you use a spellbook, the corresponding spells and descriptions will appear on your spell slots.” Tang Yihan immediately began to explain.
“That sounds very familiar.” I couldn’t help but retort, but I didn’t stop washing the dishes.
“Indeed, it’s quite strange. It’s just like those low-quality games outside; you obtain a skill book and, boom, the corresponding skill appears on your skill slots.”
“I’ve heard that such games came out after spellbooks, as it’s said that many games borrowed this kind of setting from spellbooks.”
Upon hearing Tang Yihan say this, I was shocked. At first, I thought it was good that this situation resembled a game, but I didn’t expect the games to have borrowed from the extraordinary!
I never imagined such a development.
“So… as long as I have a spellbook, I can directly use spells, ignoring the limitations of mental power interfacing with magic power?”
“Pretty much.”
“Okay.”
