Chapter 50 – Energy Storage Card?

“Breadfruit juice is so hard to squeeze out that the younger witches would never think to juice it. But if they had a juicer, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t try it with the most readily available Breadfruit…” Sylph said.

At the very least, if she got her hands on a juicer, she would absolutely try Breadfruit first.

Mo Lan understood this reasoning too, but that didn’t stop her from double-checking:

“Headmistress, Headmistress! Can I sell the juicer card to the younger witches?”

Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph: “???”

A certain Lady Amisha who had been watching Mo Lan: “Absolutely not!”

“Alright then! Guess I’ll just have to slowly find fourth and fifth-year seniors to sell to and recoup my costs,” Mo Lan said obediently.

“Wait, Moira, is this how you normally summon the Headmistress?” It was Lilith’s first time seeing a young witch use the Headmistress like this.

“The Headmistress is secretly watching our every move anyway, so why not just ask directly when something comes up? She doesn’t answer every question, but it doesn’t cost anything to ask!” Mo Lan said.

The three of them actually found her logic quite sound, and all expressed in unison: “Learned something new!”

“Let me tell you something… I suspect there’s a hidden place somewhere in the Academy with a hundred and forty-eight Lady Amishas crammed inside. Each Lady Amisha watches one young witch to prevent accidents. Why else would the Headmistress always show up right on time?” Mo Lan said with utmost seriousness.

“Really?” Sylph’s ear tips perked up in shock. “A hundred and forty-eight Lady Amishas?”

“That’s way too exaggerated!” Lilith thought it was unlikely. “What kind of magic could create a hundred and forty-eight clones? And maintain them all indefinitely?”

“Whether it’s true or not, why don’t we just ask the Headmistress?”

Vasida was quick to put her new lesson into practice: “Headmistress, Headmistress! Is it true? Do you really have a hundred and forty-eight clones?”

“…”

An indescribable silence fell.

“See! I told you the Headmistress doesn’t answer every question,” Mo Lan spread her hands.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t still only be suspicious about it.

“Alright, alright, let’s set aside the matter of teasing—er, I mean, asking the Headmistress.”

Lilith was afraid the Headmistress would pop out and give them all a beating.

There was no Academy rule saying the Headmistress couldn’t hit young witches!

She changed the subject:

“Moira!

Of all the cards you could have researched, you picked one that’s so easily replaceable, and poured so many resources into it.

I think the energy storage function on your automatic juicer is actually quite impressive. You’d be better off researching a card specifically for energy storage!

When you have excess energy, charge it into the card. When you need it, take it out.”

Mo Lan thought it over carefully. “You’re absolutely right!”

She had the Purple Gemstone in her Book of Cards to store energy, so it had never occurred to her to make a card like that.

The juicer card was destined to have lackluster sales among the young witches.

She was still operating at a loss, and it would be lucky if she could barely break even in the future.

But an energy storage card was different!

Not every young witch was like them, constantly fretting over not having enough Magic Power because they were researching their Manifested Gifts.

If they could save up their surplus Magic Power each day, wouldn’t their purchasing power grow over time?

And then they’d be more generous when buying cards.

By that logic, wouldn’t she end up earning even more?

“I need to research this card thoroughly…”

Seeing Mo Lan sink into deep thought, Lilith shot Vasida and Sylph a look. The three young sorceresses stood up together:

“You keep researching. We’re heading out! We’ll be waiting for good news!”

“Mm! Okay!”

After her companions left, Mo Lan remembered that she still hadn’t designed the spatial card! But this time, she had learned her lesson and asked the Headmistress first whether she could sell it:

“Headmistress, can I sell spatial storage cards?”

“Not before fourth year!”

So it overlapped with some kind of magic ability that young witches were required to learn.

Well, Mo Lan gave up on that idea entirely. The spatial card probably wouldn’t recoup its costs either. She should just focus on researching the energy storage card for now!

Once she had surplus Magic Power, making a spatial card for her own convenience shouldn’t be a problem.

“A card that stores Magic Power… Its function is to deposit and withdraw Magic Power? No, no, no—not all young witches are Sorceresses. It should also have an energy conversion function.

What should it look like? A simple card design would probably use the least Magic Power.”

Mo Lan began editing the card’s functionality and appearance.

【Card Design: Energy Storage Card】

【Estimated Cost: Infinite Mana】

【Estimated Appearance: Appearance Template 1】

【Estimated Function: The user can convert their own energy into Magic Power through the Energy Storage Card for storage. They can also convert the Magic Power within the card into any form of energy to absorb into their body for use. Maximum storage capacity: 10 Mana.】

“Huh?”

Seeing the estimated cost, Mo Lan froze. “How is it infinite Magic Power again? Where’s the problem?”

It was only 10 Mana of storage capacity!

She loaded the card design into a Slot to examine the difficulties.

【Current Difficulty 1: Severely insufficient card-making energy. Suggestion: replenish card-making energy, reduce planned card functions, or set an upper limit on card functions.】

【Current Difficulty 2: Lack of knowledge regarding absorbing ownerless energy into the body for use. Suggestion: supplement relevant knowledge.】

Seeing “Difficulty 2,” Mo Lan had a sudden realization.

Come to think of it, even the Magic Power she charged into her Book of Cards’ Purple Gemstone couldn’t be reabsorbed into her body for use—it could only be used for card-making.

The Golden Pen Technique’s contract could directly convert someone else’s Magic Power into her own, but she didn’t understand the underlying principles of the Golden Pen Technique’s contract.

Her Golden Pen Technique was merely a usage right obtained from the Sorceress Carmela—it wasn’t truly her own ability.

That must be why she couldn’t conjure such an effect from nothing when making cards!

At her current level, she could probably only create an energy storage card that stored Magic Power for use in card consumption.

But what other young witch had so many cards to power?

Perhaps in the future, once she had created more varieties of cards, a card-exclusive energy storage card like this would have some value to other young witches.

But “some value” meant it wouldn’t sell for much! She’d take a loss!

Unless she could turn the Magic Power in the card back into energy that any witch could channel and use.

Clinging to one last shred of hope, Mo Lan changed “can convert the Magic Power within the card into any form of energy to absorb into their body for use” to “can convert the Magic Power within the card into any form of energy to directly use for spellcasting.” She gave it a try, but it still showed insufficient energy, and she still lacked the knowledge for using stored energy in spellcasting.

She truly could only make a card-exclusive energy storage card. Energy stored inside could never be reused by a witch.

Mo Lan had a sudden awakening:

“If I don’t know any magic at all, if I don’t understand any magical knowledge whatsoever, does that mean I can’t create any magical cards with special effects?”

Including spatial cards—perhaps she could use the Book of Cards to create a spatial card capable of storing other cards, but without any knowledge of Spatial Magic, she probably couldn’t make a storage-type spatial card either!

She even designed a simple storage-type card to test it, and the result was exactly as she had expected.