Chapter 31 – The Abnormal Grind
by spirapiraChapter 31 – The Abnormal Grind
“How was your first day of class?”
On the way down the mountain back to the dormitory, the second-year young witches asked their first-year juniors with concern.
“It was great!”
“We all successfully activated Witch Sight today!”
“I’ve used Witch Sight several times already. Everything looks so colorful through it, and not only doesn’t it interfere with my vision, I actually feel like I can see more clearly!”
…
The second-year witches: “???”
This was not at all what they had expected!
Even Lilith couldn’t help asking: “You didn’t get headaches? Eye pain?”
The first-year witches: “No!”
“My eyes are a little sore, but that’s my own fault for thinking the greener the resonance paper turned, the better. The lightest shade of green I managed was only slightly lighter than medium green,” Cheryl said with frustration.
“Wait—the lightest? How many levels of Magic Infusion have you all mastered?” Lilith noticed something was off.
“Three for me!”
“Me too, three!”
“I only got two. If I’d known, I would’ve gone back to the classroom to practice earlier at lunch.”
“Five for me, haha!”
…
The first-year witches chattered on excitedly.
The second-year witches were utterly dumbfounded.
“Seriously, are first-years this talented nowadays?”
How long had it taken them to master multiple levels of Magic Infusion back in their day? It was definitely not on the first day of school.
Back then, because the intensity of Magic Infusion had somewhat exceeded what their eyes could handle, they’d endured headaches and eye pain for several days before finally adapting.
How was it so easy for the juniors?
“We’re nothing special. Moira, Vasida, and Sylph are the really impressive ones! They’ve mastered every level of Magic Infusion that turns the resonance paper green. Especially Moira—she can freely draw on the resonance paper with Magic Power!” Iris said.
The second-year witches stared in shock at Mo Lan and the other two, especially Mo Lan.
Even now, not a single one of them was confident they could draw on resonance paper.
Of course, that was also because no witch had ever thought to practice that.
Although those three were Sorceresses, wasn’t Lilith an Sorceress too? Back then, she’d only adapted a little faster than the rest of them—just a few fewer days of suffering.
“By the way, where’s your resonance paper? Didn’t the Headmistress tell you to bring it along and keep practicing outside of class?” another senior asked.
“No! Didn’t we already figure out the general relationship between resonance paper color changes and Magic Power output during class?”
“Exactly! The Headmistress just told us to pace ourselves with our magic practice and not to rush! Wasn’t it like that for you too, seniors?”
The second-year witches: “…”
They were starting to suspect the Headmistress had been replaced by an impostor!
One senior even asked: “The one teaching you is Headmistress Amisha? The one in the black robe?”
“Yes! Didn’t the Headmistress say that every version of her is still her? It’s probably some impressive magic! Too bad she won’t tell us what it is until we graduate.”
“I suspect each Headmistress is different! Otherwise, why would there be such a huge gap? Tell us exactly what happened in class today!”
…
“What? You spent the two hours at lunch practicing on your own?” “Don’t you people explore the Castle?”
“Wait, I saw you all exploring the Castle!”
“What? You started practicing as soon as you got back to the classroom? Why?! It was your first time in the Academy Castle—you didn’t even chat about it when you got back?”
The second-year witches were even more bewildered.
What normal witch would grind away during break time? Especially on the first day of school, when there was no academic pressure and barely anything to study yet.
“I saw everyone else practicing, so I started too!” Cheryl said. “If I’d known they were all so diligent, I would’ve spent less time exploring the Castle. I didn’t practice enough, didn’t master enough levels, and now my eyes are a little sore.”
“Same here!”
“Me too!”
“So who started first?”
“I know this one! Alba and I came back early, and as soon as we walked in, we saw Moira, Vasida, and Sylph practicing. They were so focused. If even the Sorceresses were working that hard, we obviously couldn’t slack off!” Iris raised her hand and said.
The spotlight returned to Mo Lan and the other two.
“Moira was the first to start. By the time Sylph and I came back, she could already draw on the resonance paper with Magic Power,” Vasida said.
Sylph nodded as well: “She went to the washroom right after class, and when she came back, she started practicing. At first, Vasida and I didn’t understand what the point of practicing like that was. But once we saw the results, we couldn’t sit still either.”
The first-year witches weren’t surprised at all. After all, during the afternoon lesson, they’d already witnessed just how hard Mo Lan worked, and they’d been swept up in it themselves.
They hadn’t expected it would startle the seniors so much, though.
The second-year witches looked at Mo Lan with sudden realization: “So it’s not that the Headmistress is different—it’s because you all have Moira!”
Mo Lan: (╯°□°)╯
“Moira! Are you sure your Manifested Gift is called the Book of Cards? And not the Book of the Grind?” Lilith asked.
Who said there was nothing abnormal about Moira? She thought Moira was plenty abnormal—abnormally hardworking!
Mo Lan: “…”
“Let’s go, let’s go! Hurry up! We need to get back and review today’s lessons!”
“You all go ahead! I just remembered I haven’t been to the library yet to collect the books on the second-year required reading list!”
…
The second-year witches lost all interest in idle chatter. Whether heading back to the dormitory or returning to the Academy Castle, they all quickened their pace.
There was no way they’d let themselves be outdone by a bunch of first-years!
What do you mean, this is the most hardworking class the Headmistress has ever taught? They had to show the Headmistress that they were just as hardworking, thank you very much!
“Hey! Seniors! Slow down, wait for us!” The first-year witches snapped out of it and picked up their pace too.
The second-years only ran faster when they heard that.
Vasida and Sylph had already started jogging along, when they suddenly noticed a certain someone hadn’t moved. They stopped and called back to her: “Moira, what are you doing? Come on!”
Mo Lan shook her head. “All we learned was how to activate Witch Sight through Magic Infusion. What’s the rush to run back? Let’s walk slowly and take in the Witch Sight along the way—isn’t that better? The view from the mountain is wide open. We can see so much more of the spectacular natural energy from up here!”
Vasida and Sylph thought about it and agreed. Unlike the seniors, they didn’t have that much material to study anyway. What was the point of rushing back in a frenzy?
They wanted to call the other young witches, but they’d all already run out of sight.
So the two of them activated their Witch Sight and gazed into the distance together with Mo Lan.
“Wow! The natural energy around the Herb Garden is so dense! There must be so many magical plants there!”
“And over there—it’s so far away, that must be the inner perimeter, or maybe even the outer perimeter!”
“Quick, look behind us! There are so many energy traces inside the Academy Castle too!”
…
(End of Chapter)