Chapter 586: The First Spellbook I Want to Make by Hand
Morning.
“Hmm… Hmm? Ahh~”
After letting out a soft groan, I yawned slightly, stretching lazily on the bed amid a residual haze of sleep. My consciousness gradually awoke beneath the covers.
With a few sounds of my hands patting the side of the bedding, I sensed nothing but a trace of warmth left from last night, and no other presence was there.
“Hmm? Why is Sister Bai up so early?” Realizing that Sister Bai was no longer in bed, I rubbed the corners of my eyes and sat up gently, my awareness gradually sharpening as I softly pulled back the blanket.
My fair thigh moved to the edge of the bed, bare feet lightly tapping on the soft carpet.
My hands clasped in front of my chest, a set of casual clothes materialized, fitting snugly against my body. I tidied my collar and then slightly bent down, a leather leg ring encircling the root of my thigh, which I gently tied.
Finally, I pushed myself up from the bed, a thin magic mirror appearing before me.
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I reached out with one hand to gently sweep back my long hair from my forehead; today is going to be a lively day~
Then I turned to look at the battlefield from last night. With a snap of my fingers, everything became clean and tidy.
A new day has begun!
“Sister Bai~ up so early?”
As soon as I opened the door, I heard the sounds of activity from the kitchen downstairs, so I hurried down and saw Sister Bai preparing breakfast.
“Xiao Han woke up so early?”
“Of course~ What else?” I replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“If it were in the past… you wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed.”
“Hehe, if Sister Bai likes it this way, I can pretend to be unable to get out of bed next time to cooperate with you~” I sat at one end of the dining table, eagerly watching Sister Bai. “Today’s breakfast looks pretty good.”
“Yeah, after all, it’s to help Xiao Han replenish her strength.” Sister Bai said, bringing the meal in front of me.
“It’s just an occasional thing~” I picked up a spoon, looking at the now very thick nutritious meat porridge. I gently scraped a layer of porridge skin and rice oil into my mouth. I must say, this tastes really good!
As the first bite filled my stomach, I felt my whole body warm up.
“So delicious~ After just one bite, my lower abdomen feels warm. Sister Bai, you didn’t add anything strange in there, did you?”
“I did add some medicine~” Sister Bai said with a triumphant smile, then explained, “It’s all about nourishing the body, helping you recover well, so… this is also a kind of medicinal porridge.”
“I think Sister Bai should eat more! You need to replenish as well, really think about why I can get out of bed today. Is it because I didn’t exert myself too much last night? You were always the one who couldn’t get out of bed before~” I joked, watching her reaction, believing that Sister Bai would take this quite seriously.
“Is that so?” Sister Bai sat down to prepare a large bowl for herself, “Then there will be no chance of mercy next time~”
“Next time? I’m looking forward to it~” I provocatively replied word by word.
“Xiao Han, I discovered a trait of yours.” In the face of my provocation, Sister Bai remained unfazed.
“What trait?”
“Forget the pain after the wound has healed!”
“Hehe~ That’s a good trait, right?”
As we exchanged banter, breakfast time passed bit by bit.
“Xiao Han, do you have any plans for today… or rather, what about afterwards?” Sister Bai asked after washing the dishes in the kitchen and coming over to me.
After all, Bai Yu knows that since Xiao Han was willing to spend a wonderful night with her last night, it means that Xiao Han’s busy project of perfecting the Great Knowledge Tree has been completed, indicating that she will have more free time for a while.
However, from her understanding of Xiao Han, it wouldn’t be long before she finds something to keep herself busy again. Last night’s moment might just be a reward for the workload during this period.
“Hmm… it feels like there are many things to do, but if I were to say something urgent, it doesn’t seem to be that much… oh! Almost forgot, I need to find Sister Natalie to adjust my Box of Books!”
After all, the adjustment of the Box of Books had been put aside because I was busy with the Great Knowledge Tree.
I initially thought to wait until I had a deeper understanding of the Knowledge Power from the Great Knowledge Tree before completing the Box of Books’ debugging, but I didn’t expect it to be delayed for so long.
However, I indeed have many ideas now.
“Box of Books… oh, hasn’t that weapon been completed yet? I’ve seen you use it a good few times, right?”
“The previous uses were just for the sake of adjusting it~ It worked pretty smoothly, but as the Great Knowledge Tree gets perfected, my Box of Books may need a significant overhaul.”
“Perfecting the Great Knowledge Tree… a major overhaul of the Box of Books? Are you connecting the Box of Books with the Great Knowledge Tree?”
“Exactly~ Sister Bai should know about the Knowledge Power, right? It is a dual tree structure composed of the Great Knowledge Seed and the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell’s magical effects, deriving an order representation similar to my field. The Knowledge Power is quite marvelous.”
As I spoke, the Knowledge Power surged in my hands, and then the Annotation Techniques transformed the Knowledge Power into the derivation of the Runes Ceremony.
“See~ it’s like this, amazing, right? The Knowledge Power transforms into annotations, forming runes, allowing for evolution and deduction, similar to temporary enchanting.”
“Enchanting isn’t that simple; it’s a very delicate high-end technique.” Sister Bai looked at the swirling Knowledge Power and evolving Runes Ceremony in my hands, her eyes sparkling because my Xiao Han is really impressive!
“Similar techniques all have their strengths and each exists for a reason. This technique originated from the annotation techniques built by Sister Natalie on the Box of Books, but now that I’ve learned it… Hehe~”
Initially, the technique created by Natalie was meant to be compatible with the Box of Books, but once I integrated it into the Knowledge Power system, everything flipped, transforming the Box of Books into a vessel for my Knowledge Power’s evolving annotations.
Once I confirmed this, the Box of Books was destined for a major overhaul.
“What about you, Sister Bai? Do you have any plans? Or will you continue learning about the Real Editing Techniques?” I curiously asked.
“Yeah, the difficulty of getting into Real Editing Techniques is really high, and the entry threshold is the same. Creating a spellbook could take several days or even longer. The learning cost is enormous.”
“Several days? That does seem long. But… hasn’t Sister Bai adapted to the time perception of an Extraordinary Witch yet? Time shouldn’t hold much meaning for you, right?”
“That’s true…” Sister Bai chuckled softly, then shook her head. “Let’s change the topic… Do you have any favorite spellbooks, Xiao Han? I feel like I’ve recently mastered a bit of a knack; I’m not far from success. How about I make one for you by hand?”
“Really? Then I want the Fireball Spell!” I chose the Fireball Spell without hesitation!
After all, the basic spellbook is the starting point for all spells; I can derive similar spells from it, even for high-cost flashy ones. Perhaps this doesn’t comply with the derivative sequence of the original spell, but spells are like this—the user of the spell is the master of the spell, not the master passively choosing spells.
“The Fireball Spell? The most basic one. Most people who haven’t been in contact with magic for long practice with this classic spell. Are you sure you don’t need something more powerful? I can take my time.”
“No! I just want the first finished product made by you, Sister Bai! Even if it’s not the Fireball Spell, I’d like it just the same!”
“So you only want my successful first product, huh?”
“Yup! Right! That has a lot of commemorative significance, doesn’t it?” I nodded firmly.
“Alright, then it’s settled!” Sister Bai responded with a smile, as a promise. “Then I’ll head out first.”
“You’re leaving so early, Sister Bai?”
“Of course, just thinking about making a spellbook for you gets me all fired up.”
“Take care then~ Oh, wait, Sister Bai, do you remember that proposal I mentioned last night?”
“Hmm? Last night? Proposal?”
“You didn’t forget, did you? If you feel lonely sleeping by yourself at night in the future… then just summon me into your bed~ This kind of thing shouldn’t always be on me to initiate, right?”
“Oh~ about that, let’s talk about it next time.” Sister Bai vaguely recalled the proposal made during last night’s heated moment. It must be said… that proposal is indeed very tempting, oh no, I mean, very tempting for a witch.
“Alright, alright… sigh, take care~”
After bidding farewell to Sister Bai, I was left alone in the villa.
However, I quickly adapted. Love perhaps is never about constantly sticking together; it is in that moment of affirmation, the most intense instant. The subsequent tranquility is the truth. Maybe this is one representation of the ordinary meaning Sister Bai pursues?
I won’t feel unhappy about this; in fact, I will actively cooperate with Sister Bai to help her seek the topics she is chasing.
Love is like a button tying the feelings of both sides together; perhaps this is what love is?
Thinking of this, I didn’t delve any deeper. Overanalyzing would turn romantic sentiment into rational thought, and I am willing to be the fool between us.
Be that person whose feelings are secured by the button.
……
Time passed quickly.
After contacting Sister Natalie and confirming she was in the Alchemy Room, I set off.
However, upon arrival, I was directly stunned by the situation before me!
“Hello, Teacher Xiao Han!”
“Uh… hello, hello.”
Looking at the three students following behind Sister Natalie, each of them was much older than me as “Seniors,” yet they were calling me teacher directly, which was quite hard to bear.
Yet they seemed eager to call me that.
“Teacher Xiao Han, do you know me? I participated in that preview as well. If it weren’t for you in the end…”
“Oh!” I nodded and didn’t let them continue, “It’s all in the past; as long as you’re fine now.”
“Fine… well, I was called back to be revived, a bit awkward haha… But if it weren’t for Teacher Xiao Han, I wouldn’t have even had the chance to be revived…” at that moment, another one awkwardly laughed.
Hearing them bring up revival, I can’t help but say the management of the Witch Academy towards students… indeed leaves much to be desired.
As long as they are still students, revival is definitely possible.
“I told you at that auction that it was best not to get involved; you’re out there earning side income again?” Sister Natalie lectured from the side.
After all, these three were students under Sister Natalie. Since they were following her, they were likely good at alchemy, and the so-called side income likely referred to the auction of alchemical items.
Their initiative to bring this up was probably to get closer to me, but they ended up getting lectured by Sister Natalie.
Afterward, Sister Natalie assigned them tasks to send them away.
Once only one witch and one little witch were left, it was time for me to discuss the adjustments of my Box of Books.
I shared some of my more concrete ideas with Sister Natalie regarding the concept of Annotation Techniques integrating with the Box of Books, and I didn’t hold anything back.
After all, this was a weapon tailored for me, so there was no need to hide anything.
“If that’s the case… it might be doable, but it requires your cooperation. After all, you know what the essence of the Knowledge Power is. The rest isn’t too troublesome—this showcases the usefulness of those precious materials. If any of the materials used were ordinary, it would need to be completely redone from scratch.”
“Is it that troublesome?”
“Of course. However, I don’t know your Knowledge Power very well yet; I need to familiarize myself with the annotation techniques that you optimized under my annotation techniques… sigh~ it’s been a long time since I’ve had to learn so many new things before daring to alter a weapon.” Sister Natalie exclaimed.
“So this time I’ll be bothering you, Sister Natalie.”
“Not a bother; the need to learn also means potential progress. I just lament that I seem to have returned to the past. Nowadays, when I craft weapons, the requirements they propose hold no challenge; it’s simply tedious. Gradually, I’ve taken fewer commissions unless the weapon contains precious materials that interest me.”
“So Sister Natalie is so fixated on those precious materials for a reason, huh?”
“Of course! Do you really think I’m such a superficial witch? Only materials that can genuinely pique my interest mean I can learn new things!” At that moment, Sister Natalie seemed to have found someone who understands her; she opened up and started talking non-stop.
I continued to chime in, using this opportunity to steer the topic in another direction I was very interested in.
“Sister Natalie, you are so proficient in sealing techniques, so you must be well-versed in many fields of sealing, right?”
“Of course! Has Xiao Han developed an interest in sealing techniques since using the Box of Books?”
“Hmm, but from another perspective. Sister Natalie, have you heard of sealing techniques related to consciousness and memory?” I asked curiously.
After all, I still remember the content from the conversation with the Knowledge Shadow when I was at the hotel.
Sealing techniques related to consciousness and memory not only help one cross some inner barriers or thresholds but could also likely constitute a part of the firewall of Great Knowledge, which is why I guided the conversation here.
“Sealing consciousness and memory? There are indeed sealing techniques like that, and there’s a big category! I’ve heard that a significant subclass of it is contributed by the Truth Witch of the Soul, called the Self-Consciousness Sealing Technique.”
“Actually, it makes sense when you think about it, doesn’t it? Soul, consciousness, memory, and the like are all quite similar… Oh, by the way, Xiao Han, are you planning to use it for yourself or against someone? If it’s for combat… forget I mentioned the self-sealing technique. In fact, sealing techniques concerned with consciousness and memory are quite obscure and even rather sinister. If you really want to find one, I doubt there are many records of this at the Witch Academy; you’re right to seek me out!”
“Uh… the self-sealing technique? There’s such a peculiar spell?” It seems to be on par with the Reverse Summoning Spell. “However, I’m indeed planning to use it for myself. Can Sister Natalie introduce the self-consciousness sealing technique to me?”
