Chapter 39 – The Dim Halo

She had finished the last of her breadfruit juice, so before bed, Mo Lan could only gnaw on a few bites of breadfruit to speed up her magic power recovery a little.

She still didn’t know when she’d be able to learn Culinary Magic and use magic to help with juicing.

Maybe she should make a manual juicer ahead of time?

Could it be turned into a card?

If so, could Honey Breadfruit Juice be made directly into a card too?

No, wait—if she could make a Honey Breadfruit Juice card, why not just make a magic power recovery card instead!

And what about magic itself—could she create spell cards?

Mo Lan lay in bed, her thoughts gradually drifting further and further afield. It was a long time before she finally fell asleep.

In her dreams, card games, board games, and written works from her Earth memories all flashed through her mind, sparking countless ideas.

So much so that the very first thing Mo Lan did when the Academy Castle’s bells woke her the next morning was rush to her desk, grab a pen, and write down all the inspirations from her dreams before she forgot them.

When she finished writing, she summoned the Book of Cards. The two cards she had created yesterday were both stored neatly inside.

She took out {character card – Intermediate – Mo Lan} and looked at the magic power field.

【Magic Power: 180/989 Mana】

After a night’s rest—roughly six hours—her magic power had recovered from 143 mana to 180.

Lilith had once told her that the rate of magic power recovery was proportional to one’s remaining magic power.

However much mana you had left before midnight, that was how much you could recover over the next twenty-four hours.

The maximum recovery was half of your total magic power.

If your magic power was completely exhausted—not a single drop left—then going from zero to one alone would take a full seven days and nights.

Looking at it this way, the breadfruit she’d eaten before bed last night had only helped her recover less than two extra mana.

It seemed she not only needed to find a way to keep magic power replenishment items on hand at all times, but also needed to avoid letting her magic power drop below fifty percent.

That was the only way to ensure that whatever magic power she spent each day could be fully recovered by the next.

There was no time to make breadfruit juice in the morning, so Mo Lan grabbed a breadfruit and headed out to class.

“Moira! Why are you eating plain breadfruit again?!” Sylph was shocked when she saw what was in her hand.

She had already developed Honey Breadfruit Juice and Breadfruit Cake—why torture her own taste buds with this?

Mo Lan sighed. “I didn’t have time to make juice. I can only eat this to replenish my magic power.”

Compared to waiting two or three days for her magic power to recover naturally, she’d rather put her taste buds through some suffering.

After all, she’d already endured all those days of eating plain breadfruit before.

When she got back in the evening, she could make more breadfruit juice then.

Hearing this, Vasida activated her Witch Sight. What she saw gave her a start.

“Moira, why is your energy halo so dim again? Wasn’t it bright yesterday? Weren’t you almost fully recovered?”

“I was researching the Book of Cards last night, and then…”

“And then it drained you dry again?” The memory of Mo Lan collapsing a few days ago made Vasida’s heart leap into her throat. “Don’t tell me you fainted again last night!”

Vasida herself would casually wander into the Breadfruit Grove to pick breadfruit, stuffing bunch after bunch into her Devouring Stomach. Her magic power was perpetually full, her energy halo perpetually bright—she had absolutely no concept of what brightness level corresponded to how much mana.

Mo Lan shook her head and instead shared her news with them excitedly. “Don’t worry, I’m fine! I figured out how to use my Manifested Gift!”

She produced two cards as she spoke. “Look! I spent all my magic power on these two.”

“Wow! They’re so pretty! But what are they?” Sylph and Vasida gazed at the two exquisite cards with curiosity.

They could make out the patterns and designs, but couldn’t read the text on the cards.

“These are cards I created using the Book of Cards, though since it was my first time making them, I instinctively used Chinese characters from Earth.

“This one, {Book of Cards}, helps me develop my Manifested Gift. When I’m designing and creating cards, any issues or gaps that need to be addressed are clearly indicated on it.

“And this one is for helping me improve my own abilities.

“Then there’s this {character card}—once bound, it can accurately display my race, level, mana capacity, and what magic I’ve mastered.

“According to this, my maximum magic power is 989 mana, and I currently have 180 mana remaining. It’s more convenient and precise than reading energy halos…”

Mo Lan pointed at the text on the cards, explaining each detail to them.

“That convenient?” Though Vasida and Sylph couldn’t read the text, they were deeply impressed.

“Of course!” Mo Lan grinned with giddy excitement. “I finally know how to develop my Manifested Gift!”

“That’s wonderful!” This time it was Vasida’s turn to be envious. “My Devouring Stomach only knows ‘hungry’ and ‘eat’—it can’t give me any clearer inspiration! All I can do is eat as much as possible to satisfy it and see if I can unlock more functions!”

“Just your ability to convert food into magic power is enough to make every Sorceress jealous, you know?”

Mo Lan still had so many ideas, all limited by her magic power, that she couldn’t try out.

She now shared Lilith’s hope—that Vasida would quickly develop her corresponding Sorceress Magic, giving Mo Lan another avenue for rapid mana replenishment.

“Would you two stop with the mutual envy already! I’m the one making the least progress here!

I just planted the wind chime flower in a pot, and it still hasn’t even sprouted. I don’t know what special functions the Box of Ten Thousand Seeds has, and I have no idea how to develop it further…”

Sylph said with a wry smile.

Unlike Vasida, who had been driven by unbearable hunger to quickly discover her Manifested Gift’s energy conversion ability.

And unlike Mo Lan, who had been quietly working away, not only finding her Manifested Gift’s purpose but immediately developing two incredibly useful cards.

Even with her easygoing, unhurried temperament, Sylph was starting to worry about her own Manifested Gift’s development progress.

And once that worry set in, she couldn’t help but pin her hopes on Mo Lan.

“Moira, if only you could create some kind of card magic that guides the development of Manifested Gifts!”

Compared to her own directionless efforts, Mo Lan’s card magic at least offered something to look forward to.

Vasida shared that hope, but she also knew it wouldn’t be easy.

“Sorceress Magic requires sufficient research and understanding of one’s Manifested Gift. The Sorceress Magic of our predecessors all took many years of study to mature.”

At the very least, she herself still had no idea how to formalize her own Sorceress Magic.

“Sigh!” Sylph let out a breath. She knew that was the reality of things.

“Actually, it might not necessarily take that long…” Mo Lan touched her nose, looking slightly uncertain as she said:

“My cards, once created, have a physical form and can exist independently from the Book of Cards. Strictly speaking, each card is like… a magical item crafted by the Book of Cards.”

(End of Chapter)