Chapter 83 – The Light of Illumination

Mo Lan had already finished reading this book last weekend, so now she was just doing a quick review.

In the book 《Fire, Light, and Water》, water referred to the Spring Water spell, which Mo Lan had already learned.

Fire referred to the Flame spell, which could produce a cluster of fire to ignite or heat other materials.

Its magical properties were similar to the Spring Water spell — the fire it created was real fire. As long as there was combustible material, even without sustained mana support, it could continue to spread.

Unlike the Spring Water spell, the Flame spell didn’t actually cost more than other fire magic, which only produced magical flames that would instantly extinguish once mana support was cut off, never continuing to spread even with combustible material present.

And, obviously, Light referred to the Light spell, which could use magic to release a glowing orb for lighting purposes.

Compared to flames, a light orb was far more harmless.

Mo Lan decided to try the Light spell first.

“Preparations before learning the Light spell: a stable, bright light source (magical lamp recommended). A suitable wand.”

There was a magical lamp in the dormitory. Mo Lan took her wand and stood near it.

“Step one: observe and feel the light source, forming an accurate impression of it.

Step two: holding your wand, concentrate and issue a clear, precise command to your magical power, directing it to condense into a light source.”

Mo Lan silently recited the casting steps.

Similar to when she learned the Spring Water spell, the first step was observation and perception, and the second was channeling magical power to issue a command.

This was the first time she had observed the magical lamp in the dormitory so carefully.

Its light was bright yet soft, milky white in color, capable of illuminating every corner of the dormitory without being harsh on the eyes.

Even after staring directly at the magical lamp for so long, when she looked away, no dark spots appeared in her vision.

She looked and looked, imprinting the image of the magical lamp’s orb deep into her mind. Then she lowered her head, gripped her wand tightly, and channeled her magical power while picturing the orb.

The tip of the wand flashed alight with a whoosh, and a glowing orb remarkably similar to the magical lamp’s appeared at its tip.

She didn’t even need to deliberately maintain her mana output or stay in a focused casting state — the orb remained stable on its own.

She waved her wand, and it didn’t even fall off.

Mo Lan recalled the method described in the book. She flicked her wand and thought: “Out!”

The orb that had popped into existence vanished instantly.

Picturing the lamp orb again, she gave the wand a shake and channeled a tiny bit of magical power.

The orb reappeared, its illumination no worse than the magical lamp’s!

“It’s that easy?” Mo Lan played with it many times — on, off, on, off — without a single failure.

This spell itself seemed far more stable than the Spring Water spell.

As she kept playing with it, she couldn’t help but have other ideas.

When she thought of the magical lamp, the Light spell produced an orb that looked just like the magical lamp’s. So if she thought of a different lamp, would it produce a corresponding light?

Star-shaped lights, disco lights, high-beam spotlights, UV sterilization lamps, infrared therapy lamps…

She had clear memories of all of them.

In theory, it should be possible to replicate them.

The book only said it was recommended to use a magical lamp as reference — it never said using other lamps wouldn’t work!

Mo Lan wanted to try immediately, but remembering the consequences of her past recklessness, she exercised some caution.

She flipped through the elective reading list and found the book specifically about the Light spell.

The book was simply titled “Light.”

“…The Light spell is a form of magic that creates light. It can simulate any natural or artificial light source that exists in reality, but the light produced by the Light spell possesses only the most basic function of light: illumination.

Therefore, while the Light spell can simulate something resembling sunlight, it cannot replace sunlight…

Before the Light spell extinguishes, mana can be channeled into it to extend its duration.

The color, shape, and brightness of the Light spell are determined by the caster’s will. Success depends on the clarity of the caster’s intention, proficiency with magic, and the amount of mana invested…

An Apprentice-level Light spell can only remain on the wand.

A Beginner-level Light spell can leave the wand and hover at any position within half a meter of the caster.

An Intermediate-level Light spell can hover at any position within one meter of the caster.

…

The higher the level of the Light spell, the less magical power is required to maintain it…”

After reading this book, Mo Lan understood — UV sterilization lamps, infrared therapy lamps, none of that would work.

At most, she could produce a purple light or a red light.

Changing the color, brightness, and shape of the Light spell was achievable, though.

Mo Lan pictured a star-shaped lamp and cast the Light spell.

A five-pointed star emitting a warm yellow glow appeared at the tip of her wand.

With a star lamp perched on top, the wand looked rather like a fairy wand.

She gave it a shake, and it went out.

Next, a disco light.

A flowing, multicolored circular light appeared above the wand, turning the entire dormitory into a kaleidoscope of colors.

I wonder if Valen has any bars? This light would be perfect for one!

Just as she was thinking that, the light went out.

This multicolored light clearly consumed much more energy than a plain white one.

Mo Lan tried many more Light spells of different shapes and brightness levels.

Sure enough, just as the book “Light” had stated, regardless of what form the Light spell took, it only ever possessed the function of illumination.

Even when she pictured a super-bright spotlight in her mind, the Light spell she released was merely bright — it couldn’t affect vision, let alone cause temporary blindness.

That level of brightness, suddenly appearing in one’s field of vision, should theoretically cause momentary blindness. Yet for some reason, it had absolutely no effect on eyesight.

Staring directly at the sun would make your eyes swim, but staring directly at an intense Light spell caused no problems whatsoever.

Not only was this basic light spell was limited solely to the visible spectrum, but it was constrained metaphysically by its very concept—it could only illuminate.

Mo Lan could only chalk it up to the nature of magical light sources, at least beginner level ones.

After all her experimentation, the magical-lamp-style Light spell orb remained the most practical for daily use and the most mana-efficient.

The book’s recommendation to use a magical lamp as reference when casting the Light spell was not without reason.

That afternoon, Mo Lan turned off the dormitory’s magical lamp and stuck her wand, lit with the Light spell, into a crack in the wall beside her desk.

While the Apprentice-level Light spell couldn’t leave the wand, there was nothing stopping the wand from leaving her hand.

Wedged into the wall crack, it lit up her desk perfectly.

The orb lasted from around six in the evening until past eleven at night — nearly five hours before extinguishing.

Mo Lan had only channeled a total of 1 Mana into it.

It seemed that even with the highest energy consumption at the Apprentice level, this amount was mere pocket change for a Sorceress.

If she prepared a second wand specifically for bearing the Light spell, it would essentially be a perpetually lit, portable magical lamp.

No wonder Lilith had once said that using the Light spell didn’t hurt the mana budget!

That said, what needed practice still needed practice, and what needed leveling up still needed leveling up.

A light orb that could float around her body was far more convenient than one stuck on a wand.