Chapter 9 – The Witch’s Contract

After the blood on her arm was wiped clean, the large needle hole on Senior Lilith’s arm was still visible, but it had stopped bleeding.

“Lilith!” The senior was clearly displeased. “Afternoon tea!”

“Fine, Senior Tracey, for the sake of afternoon tea!” Lilith surrendered.

The next moment, the ghastly needle hole on her arm simply closed and healed over, leaving not a single trace.

Mo Lan even suspected that the reason such a large needle hole had been left in the first place was because Senior Lilith had deliberately torn it open. After all, while the Bloodthirst Needle wasn’t small, a single puncture shouldn’t have left behind a hole like that.

This healing ability was nothing like what a witch should possess.

And she could freely control her body’s healing at that.

Even a Sorceress shouldn’t be able to do this.

“This is an ability I gained after my first attempt at using the Bloodthirst Needle to inject some vampire blood. Right now, I can only control the healing of wounds about the size of a coin.”

Lilith explained, “Analyzing and fusing foreign blood to beneficially modify my own body—that’s the ability of the Bloodthirst Needle as I’ve discovered it so far.

But my magic power is currently insufficient, so I’ll need to wait a while before I can attempt a second fusion.”

Setting aside the somewhat gory demonstration, this ability was incredibly useful!

No wonder everyone said that a Sorceress’s talent manifestation was formidable!

The young witches all wore expressions of envy.

Even Mo Lan and Sylph were no exception.

The two of them still didn’t know what abilities their own talent manifestations possessed!

“So? Pretty impressive, my talent manifestation, right?” Lilith asked with a beaming smile.

The young witches all nodded.

“Want to have abilities like this too?” Lilith asked again.

The young witches nodded once more.

“Then once I’ve developed my first sorceress magic, remember to sign a contract with me, okay? That way, you can also enhance your own strength through blood fusion!

It only costs a tiny bit of magical power, or mana.”

Lilith coaxed them with a persuasive tone.

That dangerous air about her had surfaced again—she really didn’t seem like a good person.

Every young witch present who had read the 《Young Witch’s Primer》 knew what sorceress magic was.

Sorceress magic did not belong to any conventional school of magic.

It was a special type of magic that Sorceresses developed through exploring the abilities of their talent manifestations.

At its core was the Sorceress herself.

Book Magic, Contract Magic, and Fireworks Magic, for example, were sorceress magics that the three Sorceress elders had each developed on their own.

Originally, Sorceresses had no way to share their special magic, and no one else could learn it either.

That changed when the first Sorceress developed Contract Magic.

From then on, Sorceresses could share their special magic directly with others through contracts, while also collecting a portion of the contractor’s power for their own use.

A Sorceress’s mana was inherently the most primordial form of power—it could transform into any type of energy, and other forms of power could likewise be condensed into mana.

Contracts were one of the ways for a Sorceress to earn additional mana.

However, only the witch race had a complete pathway for signing contracts with Sorceresses.

Although the sorceress magic abilities gained through contracts were significantly weaker when used compared to when the Sorceress herself used them, they were still endlessly useful. Witches had greatly increased their individual combat strength thanks to sorceress magic.

Senior Lilith was probably running low on mana, which was why she was so eager to promote her sorceress magic.

It had to be said—her sales pitch was quite effective.

Just the ability to control bodily healing alone had Mo Lan’s heart stirring.

Once fully developed, it would certainly be an excellent lifesaving tool!

Moreover, when a Sorceress used another Sorceress’s sorceress magic, the reduction in power was much smaller—she could bring out seventy to eighty percent of the full effect.

She wondered what kinds of abilities her Book of Cards could develop!

Having finished her pitch, Lilith returned to the main topic:

“Actually, the appearance of a talent manifestation can reflect some of its basic abilities. Like my Bloodthirst Needle—it looks like a syringe, so it can draw blood.

Vasida’s talent manifestation is a stomach pouch, so her ability is probably related to that.

Right after she manifested the stomach pouch, her mana started depleting rapidly. When mana drops to a certain level, you start feeling physically weak.

That might be why she got hungry so quickly.

When she ate, her mana gradually replenished.

I’d estimate that Vasida’s stomach pouch probably involves abilities related to digestion or energy conversion. She’ll have to experiment and explore the specifics herself.

You should also think about whether there’s been anything unusual in your own lives—that might help guide you in exploring your talent manifestation’s abilities.”

Mo Lan and Sylph looked at each other, carefully recalling their experiences growing up, trying to find some connection to their talent manifestations.

Sylph raised her hand and said with some hesitation:

“Does being really good at growing things count? Everything I’ve ever planted has never died. But my mother is a Green Witch who specializes in plant magic, and my father is a wood elf, so I always assumed it was just the influence of my bloodline.

And my talent manifestation is a small box containing seeds, with only a single bellflower seed inside.”

“Then your talent manifestation’s ability is most likely related to plants!” Lilith said.

Sylph was inspired. “I’ll try planting this bellflower seed and see what happens!”

Compared to Sylph, Mo Lan was feeling rather troubled.

If you were talking about anomalies, she had far too many.

Did being sent away by Earth count? Did crossing over to another world count? Did carrying a planet’s worth of memories and having an exceptionally good memory count?

They all seemed like anomalies, but none of them could be connected to the Book of Cards.

She had played poker and tarot cards in her previous life, and she’d read plenty of card-themed novels too.

But none of that provided her with any inspiration.

Just as Mo Lan was at her wit’s end, Vasida finally felt full:

“It seems like I really do get hungry faster than before.

Good thing the Witch Academy has plenty of food, and no matter how much you eat, it never runs out! Otherwise, I might actually starve to death.”

“That might not be the case for long. It says here that after the enrollment banquet, the academy won’t be providing three meals a day anymore—they’ll only supply raw ingredients.”

By now, the other first-year witches had all finished eating. Some had gathered around to watch the discussion between Vasida, Mo Lan, and the others, while some had already started reading the 《Newcomer’s Guide》 that Lady Amisha had distributed.

The one who had spoken was a young witch sitting diagonally across from Mo Lan.

Mo Lan remembered her—her name was Cheryl, and her height formed a stark contrast with Vasida’s.

Vasida was too short, looking as though she were several years younger than the rest of them, while Cheryl had long arms and long legs, standing about as tall as the fifth-year seniors.

Because of the height difference, Vasida had remembered her name too, and now hurriedly asked Cheryl, “What do you mean? The academy won’t be providing three meals a day anymore?”

“To be precise, they won’t be providing any cooked or prepared food. Raw ingredients will still be available,” Cheryl said.