Chapter 53 – The Wand Lesson

Thinking about today’s lesson, the black-robed Amisha flew a little faster.

This class was the most interesting one of the first week.

She walked into the Alchemy classroom in a wonderful mood and looked at the young witches sitting upright and proper.

But she didn’t see the branches and sticks of varying thickness and length she had expected beside them.

Her steps faltered. “Where are the fresh branches I asked you to prepare yesterday? Are they ready?”

“Ready!” the young witches answered in unison.

Seeing several of them struggling to hold back laughter, Amisha knew that today’s entertainment was likely going to take an unexpected turn.

She didn’t let it show on her face and merely asked, “Where are they?”

The young witches drew short, slender sticks from their sleeves.

The longest was only slightly longer than half a forearm, and the shortest was about two palm-lengths.

All were conveniently portable sizes that could be waved without effort.

The thickness was also within a suitable range—not too thick to grip comfortably, nor too thin to snap easily.

Even the forks had already been trimmed away.

It was as if… they already knew what the fresh branches were for.

“Headmistress, how are they? Do ours pass inspection?” Vasida asked with undisguised amusement.

“The trees in the Castle Gardens must have suffered quite a bit at your hands!” Amisha countered instead of answering.

In the entire Academy Core Area, only the Castle Gardens had this many different types of wood.

Where they had gotten their branches was self-evident.

The young witches instantly wilted.

Although they had been careful not to break branches recklessly, twenty-seven young witches meant at least twenty-seven branches had met their fate.

Amisha was only giving them a scare. “I’ll let it go this time, but you can’t just go damaging the garden’s plants in the future. There may not be any magical plants in there, but they were all carefully selected by me for everyone to enjoy during breaks.”

“Yes, ma’am!” the young witches agreed.

Mo Lan, the ringleader of the garden raid, quietly let out a sigh of relief.

She had only thought about how the Castle Gardens were close to the West Tower, making it easy to grab branches and bring them over. She hadn’t considered that they were all Lady Amisha’s prized plants.

“Alright then! Tell me—where did you find out about today’s lesson content?”

With no fun to be had, Amisha sat down in the armchair on the podium with a look of disappointment.

The young witches all turned to look at Mo Lan.

Amisha understood. The source of the problem was this little sorceress.

The child seemed energetic enough, but something about her looked like she hadn’t slept well.

“It was the book *Wands and Wands*!” Moira said. “On page 237, second paragraph, it mentions: ‘The earliest wands were made by suffusing fresh branches with magic’!”

She had read the book last night with such intense focus that the entire contents had been deeply imprinted in her mind, becoming a “database” she could access at any time, just like her memories of Earth.

“What an unexpected result! But coming from you, Moira, it somehow makes perfect sense,” Amisha said.

After all, this was the little sorceress who had voluntarily practiced during breaks on the very first day of classes.

“Alright! Since you’ve all guessed what this lesson is about, let’s begin!

It’s exactly as Moira said—the most primitive form of a wand is simply a fresh branch plus Magic Infusion.

You’ve already prepared your fresh branches, and you already know how to perform Magic Infusion.

Go ahead and try it yourselves!”

“Huh?” The young witches were immediately flustered. “Headmistress, aren’t you going to tell us what to watch out for?”

Though they knew the method, being told to just go ahead with absolutely no guidance left many of them feeling uncertain and lacking confidence.

“You should all gradually get used to the process of exploring and learning on your own. After all, five years at the Academy isn’t enough to learn everything.

What the Academy can teach you is only the essential foundational knowledge and the methods of learning.

Most young witches are only Beginner-level Sorceresses when they graduate, with a rare few reaching the Intermediate level.

The magical path beyond that will depend on you—studying texts and improving through self-directed learning.

Today is an excellent opportunity. The failure rate for wand crafting is extremely low, and even if you do fail, you can grab another branch at lunch and start over.”

With that, Amisha produced a tea set and began elegantly brewing tea.

The young witches knew there was no room for negotiation.

Fortunately, they had listened to Moira talk about *Wands and Wands* all the way here that morning, so they had a rough idea of what to do.

But without the Headmistress’s guidance, they would need to be extra careful.

They didn’t go asking Moira either—after all, they already knew the method.

The Headmistress was right. They needed to learn to research and study independently.

One by one, following their own understanding, they began to try.

Most of them did a bit of trimming and then went straight into Magic Infusion.

Mo Lan’s progress was slower.

This first wand would likely be used for a long time, so she wanted to make it with care.

After Magic Infusion, a wand would become hard and resistant to breaking, so the shaping had to be done before suffusing it.

She first used the tools from when she had made her Grimoire to strip the bark from the green sandalwood stick in her hand.

Then she carefully sanded and polished the shaft smooth.

The handle took her considerably more time. She not only carved dense cloud patterns to prevent slipping, but also inscribed her name in Witch Script.

She even hollowed out the end of the handle, leaving a setting for a gemstone.

Once she learned Alchemy Magic, she could give the wand some modifications.

After everything was finished, Mo Lan brushed on a thin layer of olive oil.

The wand’s shaft immediately took on a lustrous sheen.

Only then did she begin suffusing the wand.

She started with a gentle intensity, and only after her Witch Sight showed the entire shaft had taken on a thin layer of faint glow did she increase the power.

In truth, the shaft taking on that faint glow already meant the suffusion was successful—the branch had become a wand capable of constraining and stabilizing the output of Magic Power.

However, the longer a wand was used, the higher the compatibility between wand and owner.

This process could also be accelerated through Magic Infusion.

When class ended at noon, Lady Amisha finally rose and stepped down from the podium, made a round among the young witches, and announced that every single one of them had succeeded.

A cheer erupted in the classroom.

“This is wonderful! I can’t believe it actually worked!”

“Nobody guided me—I didn’t even look at how anyone else was doing it!”

“We made them just from the bits and pieces Moira told us this morning! That’s incredible!”

This was the first time they had crafted a magical item entirely on their own, without any guidance.

Succeeding on the very first attempt gave them an unparalleled sense of accomplishment and far more confidence than before.

If they ever faced a situation requiring independent effort again, they would no longer hesitate.

Amisha nodded with satisfaction. “Class dismissed!”

Though this lesson hadn’t provided the entertainment she’d hoped for, the young witches had gained a great deal—which was, in its own way, a perfect outcome.