Chapter 44 – Suffusing the Books

The third-year seniors, having accumulated three years of experience, had considerably stronger magic power than the first-years, with most exceeding 50 Mana.

Being able to see their own magic power as a numerical Mana value and know how far they were from becoming Beginner Sorceresses was a temptation no little witch could resist.

After all, they had no access to the 《Witch Clan Book》 and couldn’t test their magic power whenever they pleased.

Though they could all afford a one-time payment equivalent to 50 Mana of magic power, they still had magic class today, so they all chose the five-installment payment plan as well.

Thirty-one third-year little witches brought Mo Lan’s mana reserves to 237 Mana.

“What a shame that the second-years and the fourth and fifth-year little witches aren’t coming to the Castle today!”

Mo Lan said with some regret.

But she was sure word about the Status Cards would spread quickly, and when it did, little witches would definitely come knocking!

Having been the last to leave the Dormitory, Mo Lan ended up being the first to arrive at the West Tower alchemy classroom.

All that running and salesmanship along the way had left her drenched in sweat, her hair clinging together in damp strands, but the rewards were absolutely worth it!

She did some rough calculations.

At midnight yesterday, her mana reserves had been 143 Mana, meaning she would naturally recover 143 Mana over the course of today.

After midnight tonight, the little witches’ new daily payments would also come through.

Iris and Alba would each pay 2 Mana, and the other fifty-three little witches across the two year groups would each pay 11 Mana—a total of 587 Mana.

Combined with her natural recovery of 143 Mana today, she would not only fully restore her magic power but even have surplus mana to store in the Book of Cards’ Purple Gemstone.

Now this was the proper way for a Card Sorceress to recover her magic power!

It was so much faster than laboriously gnawing on Breadfruits!

Mo Lan ran to the washroom to splash some water on her face, then returned to the classroom feeling refreshed.

Amisha, dressed in her black witch’s robe, arrived at the classroom and noticed that every little witch’s energy Halo was slightly dimmed, and they were all eating Breadfruits to restore their magic power.

Still unaware of what had happened on the way there, she felt deeply gratified—no doubt about it, they must have been practicing Magic Infusion first thing in the morning!

How many times must they have practiced to use up this much magic power!

She couldn’t help but remind them: “Everyone, please exercise some restraint when practicing. Try to maintain your best condition for class!”

The moment she said this, Mo Lan knew that the Lady Amisha who had answered her questions last night—the Lady Amisha who kept constant watch over the little witches—was not the same Amisha who taught their classes.

She wondered just how many Amishas there actually were.

“Alright! Today we’ll be doing the second-to-last step in creating your Grimoires! Magic Infusion!”

Amisha clapped her hands and had them take out the books they’d made yesterday.

“Use the Magic Infusion you’ve already learned to suffuse your books. Continue until, through Witch Sight, the books take on an energy luster similar in color to your own energy Halos.”

“These books are made from the most ordinary materials, so they’re very easy to suffuse. Using Magic Infusion at the intensity that turns resonance paper green, it should take a little over an hour.”

“Be careful not to use too much force, as it could damage the materials.”

“The cover, the inner pages—every corner of the book must be suffused.”

“Only after being suffused with your own magic power does this book truly become yours, and only then will the Grimoire accept it!”

“If there are no questions, let’s begin!”

The little witches had mastered Magic Infusion on their very first day and had practiced to varying degrees over the past few days. Upon hearing the instructions, they all got to work.

At the intensity of Magic Infusion that turned resonance paper green, ten-plus minutes of suffusion consumed less than 1 Mana of magic power.

Even though they had spent quite a bit buying Mo Lan’s Cards that morning, they could still sustain this with ease!

Including rest breaks in between, by the time there were ten minutes left before class ended, even the last little witch had successfully suffused her book.

Mo Lan ran her hands over the hide-bound book in her grasp, which had only three inner pages. It felt no different from before the suffusion, except for an indescribable sense of intimacy.

Through Witch Sight, the hide book emanated a peculiar, colorful glow. The glow wasn’t intense, but it was identical to her own energy Halo.

Under Lady Amisha’s guidance, they cast the Grimoire magic, then placed the books in their hands into the spectral outline of the Grimoire.

The moment the spectral outline touched the books, it solidified completely and dropped into their hands.

“Your Grimoires are now complete,” Amisha said. “Now try recalling and retrieving your Grimoire. Do as I say…”

The little witches discovered that the Grimoire magic had become the medium for storing and retrieving their Grimoires.

When they cast the Grimoire magic, the Grimoire appeared.

When they cast it again, the Grimoire was recalled into their bodies.

The consumption felt about the same as Magic Infusion at the intensity that turned resonance paper green.

But as for how the Grimoire was actually used and what made it special, they were still completely in the dark.

When a little witch asked this question, Lady Amisha replied:

“Each page within the Grimoire can hold the contents of an entire book.”

“The higher the level of your Grimoire magic, the greater the capacity of your Grimoire.”

“At the Apprentice level, you can add up to 100 inner pages, holding the contents of 100 books.”

“At the Beginner level, it can hold up to 1,000 books. At Intermediate, up to 10,000 books, and so on.”

“You may freely replace or add covers and inner pages to your book. The standards are the same as what I taught you before—suffuse them and they’re ready.”

“However, once the original covers and inner pages are removed, they will be destroyed. But the book contents recorded on those pages will be preserved within the Grimoire’s spectral form, and will reappear once new blank pages are added.”

“A Grimoire can only be opened by its witch, and only she can see its contents.”

“If someone forces it open, the physical vessel of the Grimoire will self-destruct.”

“That said, the more books stored within it, the greater the magic power consumed each time you use Grimoire magic to retrieve or store it.”

“So much so that many witches keep their Grimoire at hand rather than recalling it when not in use.”

“Because of this, there is also a risk of losing your Grimoire.”

“If in the future your Grimoire is lost, don’t panic. You can use the Grimoire magic to locate and recall it.”

“If the physical vessel has been destroyed, simply craft a new one. The book contents are stored within the spectral form of the Grimoire.”

“Even in a place where you can’t buy paper, using what I taught you yesterday, you can still create a new Grimoire!”

“For specific techniques on using the Grimoire, as well as methods for upgrading the Grimoire magic, it’s all recorded in the book ‘Lifelong Learning Companion: The Grimoire.’ Give it a good read and you’ll understand!”

“That’s all for this morning’s class. Dismissed!”

Lady Amisha spoke at breakneck speed, and after bombarding them with a massive amount of information, she left the classroom right on cue as the twelve o’clock bell rang.

The little witches were still dazed.

Honestly, no matter how they tried, they simply could not reconcile the crude, rough bark-bound books, stone-slab books, and hide-bound books in their hands with the Grimoires the Headmistress had described—ones capable of holding hundreds or thousands of books.