Chapter 30 – The Bellwether

The same colorful aura, its diameter infinitely close to one and a half meters, yet far dimmer than those of Vasida and Sylph.

A suspicion immediately formed in Mo Lan’s mind. Before any other young witches stepped forward, she asked:

“Headmistress! The color of the energy aura represents the type of talent, and the brightness represents how full one’s energy reserves are — is that correct?”

“Correct!” Amisha confirmed her observation.

“Then what does the size of the aura represent?” Mo Lan asked.

“Rank,” Amisha said. “Each half-meter corresponds to one rank. An aura diameter within half a meter indicates an Apprentice witch, half a meter to one meter indicates a Beginner witch, and so on. Above Peak level, energy converges inward and can no longer be discerned this way.

“However, rank only means one’s power has reached that tier — it does not represent true combat ability. You cannot rely entirely on aura rank to judge someone’s strength.”

Mo Lan’s heart trembled. Did this mean that the other young witches were still normal Apprentice witches, while she, Vasida, and Sylph had already reached a power tier comparable to experienced Intermediate witches?

Was this the gap between an Sorceress and ordinary witches?

“Once your Grimoires are completed, there is a book called 《Traces of Energy》 on the first-year elective reading list that contains detailed explanations. It will answer all your questions.

“Now, perform Magic Infusion on your other eye!” Amisha said.

Mo Lan noted down the book title, gathered her thoughts, and continued performing Magic Infusion on her left eye.

Before long, the vision in both eyes was unified.

“Good! That’s sufficient. The initial saturation is complete. As long as you don’t bombard your eyeballs with a large amount of chaotic magic power all at once, it won’t cause irreversible blindness.”

Amisha continued, “From now on, just activate Witch Sight according to your own tolerance.

“Once you’re proficient, you won’t need to guide your mana with your fingertips — any part of your body can channel magic power.

“When you can saturate your eyeballs with enough magic power to turn resonance paper completely black without feeling any discomfort, your eyes will possess permanent Witch Sight.”

“Thank you, Headmistress!” Mo Lan carefully walked back to her seat with her brand-new vision.

“How was it? What does it feel like?” Vasida asked. “Your eyes look even more profound than before!”

The other young witches perked up their ears as well.

Mo Lan roughly described her sensations and what she could see.

“Energy auras that don’t block your normal vision? That’s incredible!”

Vasida turned to Sylph. “Let’s go try it too!”

“Mm!”

The two of them stood up and walked together toward Madam Amisha.

The other witches were also eager to try, lining up one after another.

After Mo Lan adjusted to her new sight, she began observing her own mana.

Before, she had only known what color a given amount of mana would produce on resonance paper. This time, she wanted to see how much magic power that actually corresponded to under Witch Sight.

After Vasida and Sylph activated their Witch Sight, they not only saw Mo Lan’s energy aura but also noticed she had been continuously channeling mana, doing something they couldn’t quite figure out.

“I want to figure out the relationship between mana output and the color changes on resonance paper. That way, even without resonance paper in the future, I’ll know exactly how much mana to use for Magic Infusion.

“The results from this afternoon’s resonance paper practice can also be further linked to magic power control, improving my ability to regulate my magic power!”

Mo Lan happily shared her thoughts, holding nothing back. “The Headmistress said that aura brightness represents how full your mana reserves are. When we use mana, if we pay close attention to changes in our aura’s brightness, we’ll eventually be able to intuitively and precisely monitor our mana levels — and notice depletion before it affects our physical condition.”

Vasida and Sylph: “…”

After activating their Witch Sight, all they had wanted to do was look around at everyone’s energy auras. It had never occurred to them that they could train like this.

The key thing was, they had to admit — what Mo Lan described genuinely tempted them.

Vasida especially. When her energy was insufficient, her Devouring Stomach would consume her mana.

That was the real reason she always descended into hunger so quickly.

If she could precisely monitor her magic power levels, she could better plan when to eat.

The young witches still waiting in line to activate their Witch Sight also overheard Mo Lan’s passionate speech.

At that moment, they all shared the same thought: “That’s Moira for you!”

Mo Lan paid no mind to her companions’ astonished and complicated gazes. At this moment, the only things in her eyes were learning, and more learning — growing stronger, and stronger still!

After speaking with Vasida and Sylph, she refocused entirely on studying her own magic power. Having Witch Sight was like adding wings to a tiger.

Seeing her like this, could Vasida and Sylph possibly sit idle?

Of course not!

Under Witch Sight, Mo Lan’s aura was a full size larger than both of theirs!

Their magic power reserves already lagged behind Mo Lan’s. If they didn’t put in the effort during magic practice too, were they just going to wait to be left far behind?

The familiar scene replayed itself.

When the young witches who had activated their Witch Sight returned to their seats, they discovered they couldn’t even see Mo Lan and her friends’ energy auras.

This was the gap between energy ranks.

If those stronger than them were already working this hard, what excuse did they have to slack off?

By following in the footsteps of the strong, perhaps they too could grow a little faster?

Although Amisha had been supervising the young witches’ first activation of Witch Sight to prevent any irreversible accidents, she had also noticed what had just transpired with Mo Lan and the others.

Watching as each young witch who successfully activated her Witch Sight returned to her seat and immediately began studying the relationship between aura changes and magic power under Witch Sight —

Amisha finally understood how the scene she had witnessed before this class began had come about.

It was all because this year’s class had produced one extraordinarily diligent little Sorceress, who had swept all the young witches up in her drive.

Amisha looked toward the center of the front row, at that purple-haired little Sorceress with the determined, earnest gaze.

So this was the power of a bellwether!

She felt gratified once again by the young witches’ excellent learning atmosphere.

In previous years, before dismissing class, Amisha would always tell the young witches to practice more of what they had learned that day, that putting in more effort now meant less hardship after graduation, that they needed to take responsibility for their own futures — that sort of motivational urging.

But today, when class ended, she said:

“Practicing magic also requires balance between exertion and rest. In the beginning, activating Witch Sight too frequently may cause eye soreness and headaches.

“Be careful not to deplete your magic power completely. At the very latest, when your aura has dimmed to the point where you can no longer distinguish its original color, you must stop and wait for your magic power to recover!

“Before practicing, make sure to prepare Breadfruit, just in case.

“And finally — take it slow, don’t rush! Stay in good condition. Tomorrow, you’ll be learning how to create your Grimoires.”

In Amisha’s view, this year’s young witches no longer needed her encouragement. If anything, she needed to rein them in a little, lest they push themselves too hard and damage their health.