Chapter 143 – The Sorceress’s Mana

There were only three chapters in total, and the content wasn’t actually that much. Each was written by one of the three Sorceress predecessors in her own voice.

Once Mo Lan started reading, she was completely absorbed.

From the very first sentence, her understanding of things began to shift.

“A Sorceress’s power comes from Mana. To understand Mana is to understand yourself.

The Mana commonly spoken of—the kind used to cast Magic—I prefer to call universal Mana.

Universal Mana is the known energy with the highest compatibility and potency. It can freely convert to and from other energies, infinitely approaching the primordial force of the world itself.

To possess universal Mana is equivalent to possessing all energies—this is the reason we Sorceresses have no upper limit on any school of Magic.

And this Magic isn’t limited to just Witch Magic, either.

I once tried converting my own Mana into psychic power to learn human mage spells—and succeeded.

I also tried converting my Mana into angel force.

So-called angel force is actually a special type of light elemental force. The light-element magic cast with this energy carries holy light properties, dealing extra damage to dark elements. It’s also more effective than ordinary light-element energy for healing and blessings—which is why angelic holy light magic differs from that of light-element mages and White Witch light-element magic.

After I converted my own Mana into this holy light force, I was also able to cast the holy light magic unique to angels. The same applied to demonic dark magic.

Likewise, converting to dragon force and casting dragon-tongue magic posed no problems.

While exploring other worlds through the Well of the Sky, I’ve also used this method to imitate the casting techniques of many otherworldly civilizations. As of the time I write these words, I have never once failed.

There are many different systems of magic—different casting methods, different energy sources, and the effects produced may vary somewhat—but in truth, the effects of many spells are quite similar.

As Sorceresses, we should carefully discern the differences between various magics to fill gaps in our knowledge, while also making full use of universal Mana’s properties, never confining ourselves to the magic of any single Race or world…”

According to Sorceress Traci, what Mo Lan had previously thought of as Mana was merely universal Mana.

Moreover, the limitless aptitude for all schools of Magic didn’t just mean all schools of Witch Magic—it meant the magic of any people, any world, because universal Mana could be converted into any energy for spellcasting.

Anything that consumed a certain type of energy to achieve a certain effect could be called Magic!

Even if many spells from different systems ultimately achieved similar results, there were always some that were unique!

And Sorceresses could learn and master them all effortlessly.

That was rather terrifying.

With the Well of the Sky at their disposal, the potential for growth was virtually limitless!

No wonder there existed an “Omnipotent Witch,” but never an “Omnipotent Sorceress”! Even Lady Traci’s title was merely the “Omniscient Sorceress.”

A Witch’s omnipotence meant omnipotence within Witch Magic.

The magic a Sorceress could learn had no upper limit at all—how could one even speak of omnipotence?

With such growth potential, Mo Lan felt that possessing what Earth called the power to save the world was merely a matter of time. She couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

Unfortunately, her alarm went off. It was nearly one in the morning—her bedtime.

Mo Lan was reluctant to put the book down. She’d only read one short section of the first chapter, and the impact had already been this immense. What other explosive revelations lay ahead?

Just a little more! She had no classes tomorrow—worst case, she’d sleep in a bit longer in the morning. Besides, she was too excited to fall asleep right now anyway.

With that thought, she decided to finish the entire chapter before going to sleep.

“…In addition to universal Mana, a Sorceress also possesses a power unique to herself, which I call exclusive Mana.

The reason I make this distinction is that only exclusive Mana is truly unique to us Sorceresses, and every Sorceress’s exclusive Mana is different.

However, many Races have mastered universal Mana.

In the world of Valen, only Sorceresses are born with the ability to control universal Mana, but all living beings can obtain the right to use universal Mana from the Well of the Sky.

In other worlds, I’ve even encountered Races that, like Sorceresses, are born with innate control over universal Mana.

Only exclusive Mana belongs solely to Sorceresses.

Compared to universal Mana, which approaches the primordial force of the world, exclusive Mana is closer to the power of laws. It cannot be used as an energy source for spellcasting, but it possesses a certain special authority.

For example, mine pertains to the authority of knowledge acquisition, Anita’s pertains to the authority of energy detonation, and Carmela’s pertains to the authority of contracts.

Our Manifested Gifts as Sorceresses are the physical manifestation of our exclusive Mana.

The reason we need universal Mana as an energy source when using our Manifested Gifts is precisely because exclusive Mana is not any form of energy—it is merely our authority.

In fact, Mana isn’t the only thing that can serve as an energy source for our Manifested Gifts—any energy will do.

The process by which we share Sorceress Magic with other witches is, in truth, the process of sharing our exclusive Mana…”

After finishing the first chapter, Mo Lan closed the Grimoire with lingering reluctance.

Now she understood how Lady Amisha could use the Speed-Reading Spell without a care for her Mana consumption—it turned out that exploring the Well of the Sky also yielded universal Mana!

The Well of the Sky connected to other worlds. Among the myriad worlds, all manner of Races existed—including those that, like Sorceresses, were born with mastery of universal Mana. But a Race that possessed the same exclusive Mana and the same Manifested Gifts as Sorceresses? Lady Traci had never encountered one.

That night, Mo Lan slept lightly, but she still forced herself to sleep for five hours before getting up.

After waking, she didn’t even change her clothes or tie her hair. She simply freshened up with a Cleaning spell, and wearing her nightgown and slippers, headed downstairs.

A glass of Breadfruit juice, a plate of Breadfruit Cake, and she sat at her desk for the entire day.

The second chapter of Mo Lan’s copy of Mo 《The Path of the Sorceress》, titled “Developing Yourself,” discussed how a Sorceress should develop her own gifts.

“Our power as Sorceresses comes from the universal Mana and exclusive Mana we command, so developing our abilities must also proceed from these two aspects.

Let me start with developing universal Mana. I recommend two approaches: basic and advanced.

The basic approach is to study Witch Magic. If you’re an underage young Sorceress, Witch Magic is the magical tradition most accessible to you and is well-suited for building your strength.

The Witch Magic system is also the system most compatible with Sorceresses—do not miss out on it.

Building on that foundation of Witch Magic, if you have additional needs, you can choose the advanced approach: learn what energies other Races command, and then steal their magic.

This approach carries risks in execution. After all, not every Race shares knowledge and traditions as freely as witches and Sorceresses do. Even within other Races, obtaining magical knowledge is no easy feat—so we need to make some preparations…”

Mo Lan read up to this point: “???”

Surely it wasn’t what she was thinking?