Chapter 13 – Night Expedition to the Breadfruit Grove

Mo Lan wasn’t entirely sure: “Senior Lilith, is that the Light spell?”

The spherical glowing energy body and the color of its radiance both closely resembled the Light spell.

Sometimes when the magic lamps at home ran out of charge, Shana’s mother would use this spell for illumination.

If Shana’s mother’s Light spell was a candle flame, then Senior Lilith’s version was a high-powered LED floodlight. The gap was enormous!

Shana’s mother had even said that her Light spell had already reached the Beginner level!

“It is the Light spell,” Lilith explained. “As Sorceresses, our mana is of much higher quality than witches’ magical power, so we naturally have an advantage when casting spells — the effects are considerably stronger.

For us Sorceresses, maintaining a Light spell of this intensity only requires a tiny bit of mana, and it can last for several hours.

Many Peak-level witches wouldn’t even be willing to spend that much magical power just to maintain a Light spell!”

“The gap is really that big?” Sylph said.

“Of course! Mana is currently the highest quality energy ever discovered — it’s classified as a first-tier energy. Even angels’ holy power, demons’ demonic power, and the dragon race’s dragon power only count as second-tier energy. As for magical power, it only ranks third.

A difference of one tier means a world of difference in quality, let alone a gap of two tiers,” Lilith said.

“So Sorceresses are on a completely dominating level even in terms of energy hierarchy!” Mo Lan now had a much deeper appreciation for the power of Sorceresses.

“That’s exactly right,” Lilith said. “But we still have our innate manifestations to develop, and those are real magic-power-devouring beasts. A minor spell like the Light spell is nothing, but large-scale magic still needs to be used carefully and sparingly.”

Just as she was speaking, several heavy clusters of fruit appeared on the trees ahead, now within the range of the light: “Look — those are breadfruits!”

Mo Lan and the others looked over.

Sure enough, the fruits lived up to their name — long and slender, with five or six hanging from each cluster.

Apart from the green skin, they looked just like baguettes.

“The breadfruit tree is a species that Lady Traci brought back from another world. It gets its name from the fact that ripe fruits give off the aroma of freshly baked bread.

Not only is it highly nutritious and filling, it also has some energy-restoring properties.

Some witches who’ve learned cooking will pick a few while practicing magic to speed up their magical power recovery.

They’re easy to grow and yield abundantly — the only drawback is the taste.

Unfortunately, breadfruit trees can’t adapt to the laws of the Valen continent. They only grow here at the Witch Academy — otherwise, no one in Valen would ever starve again,” Lilith said.

Mo Lan keenly picked up on something unusual in her senior’s words: “Does that mean the Witch Academy doesn’t belong to Valen?”

“That’s right. The Academy exists within a demiplane. Lady Carmela obtained it through a trade with another world’s consciousness during her travels through other realms. The three Sorceress elders combined their power to bring it back to Valen and concealed it near the Wilds.

The entire plane is completely under the Sorceresses’ control.

Supposedly, beyond the outer regions of the Witch Academy lies the residence of the three Sorceress elders — it’s just that no young witch has ever managed to find it,” Lilith said.

This news left Mo Lan and her two companions utterly stunned.

Only the Sorceresses could be so extravagant as to use an entire demiplane to build a Witch Academy!

“Grumble~”

Vasida’s stomach offered a timely reminder, and only then did Lilith rein in her enthusiasm for conversation: “Alright, let’s pick some fruit! There’s only one way to eat breadfruit — raw. Never try to cook it. It explodes when exposed to high heat! It won’t cause injuries, but getting yellow fruit pulp splattered all over your face is still pretty embarrassing.”

The breadfruit trees weren’t particularly tall, but the cluster of breadfruits in front of them wasn’t within reach from the ground either.

Lilith stood to the side holding her wand for illumination, clearly with no intention of helping them.

Mo Lan and the others quickly divided up the tasks.

She and Sylph would climb the tree to pick the breadfruits, while Vasida — already weakened from her state of hunger — would catch them from below.

Fortunately, breadfruit trees were easy to climb. Before long, Mo Lan and Sylph had picked both clusters of breadfruits from the tree.

Eleven in total.

The smallest one was twenty centimeters long, and the largest was half a meter.

“Give it a try!” Mo Lan handed Vasida the biggest one.

Senior Lilith had been keeping them in suspense, never telling them what breadfruit actually tasted like.

Vasida didn’t stand on ceremony either — she was already feeling unbearably hungry.

She took a big bite, and her face immediately scrunched up into a knot.

With a grimace, she forced the mouthful down: “Senior Lilith, is this really ripe? Why is it so sour and astringent?!”

“It’s already giving off the fragrance of bread, so it’s undoubtedly ripe,” Lilith said. “The taste is a bit sour, I’ll admit, but testing has confirmed it causes no harm to teeth or stomach, so you can eat it with peace of mind. You’ll get used to it after eating enough of them.”

The famished Vasida: “…”

Having to fill her stomach with fruit this sour and astringent, and with her enormous appetite — this was practically torture!

Curious about just how bad the breadfruit tasted, Mo Lan and Sylph each picked a small one and took a bite.

Beneath the breadfruit tree, two more grimacing young witches appeared.

Now they felt some sympathy for Vasida.

With breadfruit like this, who knew how many Vasida would need to eat to feel full.

With nothing else available to eat, Vasida steeled herself and began gnawing away, one bite at a time.

Baring her teeth through every bite, she finished one whole breadfruit and then paused to take stock. A pleasant surprise awaited her:

“The satiety from this breadfruit is actually really impressive! I only ate one, but I feel like it’s equivalent to a whole basket of bread!”

“Normally, one breadfruit per day is more than enough for a young witch. The energy-replenishing effect is probably what’s giving you that extra sense of fullness.

It seems my earlier guess was right — your innate manifestation has been continuously absorbing energy from the food you eat. The more energy-rich the food, the better it can satisfy your needs.”

Lilith said.

Vasida nodded repeatedly, looking at the breadfruits with entirely different eyes now. If they were this convenient, she could accept the bad taste.

She gathered her courage and picked up another one. Just as she was about to start eating, Mo Lan spoke up: “Vasida, isn’t your innate manifestation a stomach pouch? Since it’s a stomach pouch, it should be able to digest food directly, right? Can’t you just put the breadfruit straight into the pouch and skip the eating step entirely?”

Vasida froze. The constant bouts of hunger throughout the day had left her so exhausted from coping that she hadn’t had the energy to think more carefully about her innate manifestation.

Now that she thought about it, her stomach pouch could indeed hold things!

“Let me try!” She manifested the stomach pouch again.

The moment it appeared, Vasida felt hunger setting in once more.

“Your mana is being consumed!” Lilith said.

Vasida nodded. The drain on her mana was causing her body to feel hungry. Without a moment to lose, she quickly opened the stomach pouch and shoved the breadfruit in her hand inside.