Chapter 774: Plans and Strategies for Ascending to the Extraordinary
Witch Academy’s large training ground.
Perhaps this was the first time so many people gathered in this training ground.
The enormous venue completed the layout of the competition area in just a few days, with tiered spectator seating arranged along the edges and interspersed areas.
In the upcoming period, this training ground will gather an entire new cohort of students!
The noisy venue and enthusiastic students marked the first time these newcomers had witnessed such a grand scene.
From the instructors’ perspective, this new student combat competition might seem rather shabby.
But for the newcomers, this is their first match fighting with extraordinary power!
As ordinary people experiencing extraordinary power for the first time, how could they not be excited?
When the new students attended their first practical combat class and personally experienced the shock brought by the power network, the latent combative factor hidden beneath the concept of witch transformation was finally triggered.
In this new student combat competition, they finally had their own practical stage!
Of course, not everyone in a class is interested in combat, and the Witch Academy naturally does not aim to train a group of spell-launching powerhouses. The witches simply use this method to awaken everyone’s curiosity about the extraordinary.
Although… not everyone’s curiosity about the extraordinary is directed towards combat.
However, combat often represents the most direct manifestation of extraordinary power; peace without strength to uphold it is merely an illusion, easily broken.
This large competition, encompassing the entire new student body, is immense, so the initial battles can essentially be considered a warm-up for the class, a screening competition organized by class units.
In such matches, you can see those who fall without a fight, those who meet amusing defeats, and unexpected occurrences, and you can also see reciprocal exchanges in real combat.
On the edges of the designated competition area within the training ground, the simplest solidified protection spells were set up to prevent injury to the observing students, while those injured or defeated in the arena were treated on-site by their respective class counselors.
After all, no matter how weak the power network, those skills are still tangible extraordinary powers.
However, because it is a new student competition, the power network settings in this training ground limit the output level to low energy, greatly reducing the likelihood of deaths during the match.
And just as the new student combat class warm-up was in full swing, many senior students gathered above the training ground to watch the competition.
Although this year’s new student competition had fallen to being held here compared to the previous one, the seniors, accustomed to enjoying the novelty of new students every year, would not miss the opportunity to attend in person.
Moreover, there was no blockade by the instructors in this area; they also looked forward to more students coming to watch live.
“I didn’t expect this year’s new student combat competition to have fallen to being held here,” Tan Han sighed as she leaned over the edge of the training ground, looking down at the arena.
“What can we do? The arena is still occupied with the first season’s power network competition ranking matches. No one is willing to give way.”
At the time when the new student combat competition was starting, our laboratory had also gone on break again.
As they say, life is not only about conducting experiments but also about competitions and entertainment.
The excitement from the arena’s ranking matches had been fervently circulating within the Witch Academy. Strong duels and surprising upsets had been frequently trending on the academy’s network, to the point that the buzz around the new student combat competition had been significantly overshadowed.
Now, the academy’s network was filled with discussions about who’s combat power was how strong, who was flaunting with an excessive spellbook, displaying their true colors once they stepped onto the power network competition stage.
It seemed that those seniors who had once shone brightly in the arena were now all roasting on the fire.
This was a brand new competition, an opportunity for those with real capability to overcome obstacles like the magic source and spellbooks, and to completely rise.
While many were focused on the arena, I took the opposite route and chose to watch the new student combat competition at the training ground.
This vast training ground was a place I had never visited before. Passing by, it appeared as a sunken field.
Looking down, the depth was nearly equivalent to several floors, and the overall cross-section seemed like an inverted trapezoid, with the edge walls converging downward at a certain angle.
The downward-expanding training ground primarily facilitated the depth requirement during combat and provided three-dimensional maneuverability, preventing participants from accidentally running outside the training ground while fighting.
The entrance to this training ground relied mainly on the large lift platforms located at the corners of the venue.
Of course, this was only for lower-year students; those seniors who had passed their flying license and mastered flight spells could fly straight down.
This training ground was incredibly vast.
Covering indoor training areas on the underground level, it was even larger than the arena, inclusive of the viewing area, allowing it to easily accommodate thousands of new students for both observation and competition.
Moreover, as this place attracted many seniors to watch, they flew on their brooms in the air, showing off and performing various flying tricks, eliciting cheers from the lower-year students.
This added some fresh enjoyment to the one-of-a-kind new student combat competition.
Naturally, I wasn’t the only one who came here.
I arrived here accompanied by Sister Bai and also met Tan Han.
Additionally, several seniors from the baking house had also said they would come to watch the new student combat competition.
Of course, it was mainly because Ying Shiqian, responsible for securing tickets to watch the arena competition, was too slow and couldn’t get a seat, so they had to come here instead.
If luck allowed, they might just run into some newcomers here.
Those few in the dormitory, having exemptions from courses, wanted to take advantage of the academy’s celebration to relax and, by the way, see what level their junior sisters were at.
During the group chat, Hong Chanyi had even shouted about wanting to hear her junior sisters call her “senior” for once.
After all, now that this batch had passed, facing junior sisters who were one level below her, she could also be considered a senior.
A senior who had course exemptions, nonetheless.
“How about we go down and take a look?” I suggested.
After all, the area below is large; although most was planned for competition grounds, there were plenty of empty seats around the temporary spectator stands.
“Sure~” Sister Bai readily agreed, excited about the idea.
Tan Han nodded on the side, but she was also contemplating whether to find an excuse to leave first, not wanting to be a third wheel.
“By the way, I made plans with a friend over there, so… I’ll excuse myself for now.”
“Oh really? I hope you have fun~”
After bidding farewell to Tan Han, who left for special reasons, Sister Bai and I took our brooms down to the competition area.
The sounds of volunteers maintaining order continuously echoed across the arena.
“Uh… please maintain some order… don’t run around like that…”
“Those who haven’t participated in the class warm-up match come forward, follow the order… otherwise, it will be considered a forfeit…”
“Clear the path for the injured! She hurt her arm; someone assist her!”
Of course, amidst this lively atmosphere, these volunteers were the ones voluntarily managing this order for those who wished to forfeit in the training ground.
But amid the enthusiasm of the crowd… what is order?
Sorry, here there is only passion and fervor!
And beneath this fervor, the injuries and bloodshed also provided another lesson to those newcomers; in the extraordinary world, getting hurt is inevitable.
For many ordinary people, combat seems far removed from their reality, leading them to maintain the perception of battle as long as they remain uninjured.
But injuries in the realm of extraordinary combat are merely commonplace; the academy is also cultivating this mindset. When the newcomers attended their first practical combat class, the instructors instilled this concept in them.
The simplest way to cultivate this understanding is to make them acutely aware that injuries are inconsequential in the face of spells.
Pain, wounds, poison, infection—spells can eliminate these concerns.
Breaking through these cognitive barriers is how a true combat experience is opened up.
“I must say, the new students’ combat skills are still somewhat immature,” I casually shared my thoughts while holding onto Sister Bai’s small arm, of course, without any malice.
“Shouldn’t Xiao Han be similar to them at this time last year? Back then, what mindset did you have when you went into battle?”
“Um… I suppose I fought with the mindset of not wanting to lose too badly…” I reminisced about my past self, having been forced into the spotlight and onto the path of self-empowerment under Teacher Ji’s “encouragement.”
Back then, it was also during my self-exploration and Teacher Ji’s guidance that I modified spellbooks, becoming my most confident and peak self.
And that time was also the only time I felt overwhelmed by the weight of fate.
Of course, it was also the chance for me to touch the truth of the world—perhaps turning misfortune into fortune?
Looking back, many things seem as if they were preordained.
But now, I no longer want to delve into that truth.
Because I have cast all the blame onto another existence, namely, what is known as the world consciousness.
I will reshape this main world in my own way and mold it into my form!
But for now, there’s no rush.
I’ll discuss promotion to the extraordinary after I have amassed sufficient power.
For instance… plan for advancement to the extraordinary?
After I grasped the intricate mechanisms of ascending to the extraordinary witch, my future arrangements and life plans gradually became clearer.
After the Self-Generated Magic topic concluded, I gained a deeper understanding and foundation regarding self-generated magic, and the byproduct of this topic, “the art of generating a Self-Generated Magic Physique,” would help me reshape the atmosphere within the Witch Academy, creating a stable environment for myself within the academy.
I will entrust this heavy duty to Millien.
Following that, I should prepare for the promotion to the extraordinary as Sister Bai expects.
The reason for the need for topics when ascending to the extraordinary witch is that witch topics form the basis for the development of extraordinary power.
It is the path practiced by life once it touches the extraordinary essence.
Promotion in strength levels relies on specific extraordinary systems and extraordinary paths.
Taking the elemental classification of the basic shaping spell system, specializing in fire elements as an example, the path this witch takes in the future would be that of flames.
As for the details, specialization, difficulty, goals, and tendencies of the chosen topic, these need to be considered comprehensively.
Each witch may make trade-offs based on personal preferences, comprehension abilities, and learning capabilities.
Being a fully specialized elemental spellcaster in shaping spells does not necessarily mean being stronger than a single specialization in fire.
It is also possible that dispersed research focus leads to power much inferior to that of a single specialization topic.
As the saying goes, what suits you best is the best—what kind of abilities match what kind of topics, overestimating oneself is merely irresponsibility to oneself.
Thus, I also need to make my own choices and define the positioning of my future topics.
My preliminary self-positioning is the Soul Great Topic, and then I will develop my own subtopics, using the Great Knowledge Tree as the core of my abilities to build my own power system.
The two Great Spellbooks I currently possess, the body cultivation power system, and the numerous spellbooks I have mastered, are indeed too “bulky.” But once I distinguish importance from triviality, I will realize that all these things are merely means to achieve the concept I desire.
Including the Great Knowledge Tree, which I have long considered the core system, was originally created to help me memorize things.
What I am currently pursuing is too broad, to the point where the concept of “Witch of All Laws” is insufficient to encompass my ambition.
Thus, the problem must return to its essence.
How did I view the extraordinary initially?
Extraordinariness was a brand new concept when I first encountered it.
I once arrogantly denied the concept of spellbooks, believing that the extraordinary shouldn’t be confined to such predetermined forms, but rather something freer.
Although in retrospect, this notion was rather childish and incorrect, it was limited by my cognitive constraints; however, the core idea expressed by this view holds significant meaning.
Back then, before encountering the extraordinary, I placed my own definition on it.
According to Teacher Ji, the concept of the extraordinary responds to an individual’s exploration from whatever angle one approaches it.
Any definition of the extraordinary concept itself carries bias against it, yet everyone recognizes the extraordinary through their own biases.
This was what I had envisioned before.
Overthinking many things leads to imperfect choices, as I linked topics with my perfect ideals.
However, witch topics are essentially merely a support structure that allows witches to continue exploring after ascending to the extraordinary.
Thus, it can also be used by me as… a tool for exploring the extraordinary, rather than a framework defining my lifelong pursuit.
Therefore, my topic will still focus on the Great Knowledge Tree as the core framework, ultimately aiming for ascension to the extraordinary witch, after which I will construct a platform that perfectly aligns with my expectations.
The issues that troubled me before regarding witch topics have ultimately been resolved in this manner, indeed… unexpected.
Only by broadening my vision and elevating my level can I perceive the essence of things with clarity.
d*ath is the same; topics are the same.
“Xiao Han~ Are you thinking of something happy? You’re smiling so widely!”
“Of course~ I figured some things out, and afterwards… a witch is going to enjoy her rewards!”
