Chapter 237 – The Magical Clock

“If she just learned how to make golden bird stationery, then she should have only recently finished the introductory magic course! With so many types of magic, how on earth did little Mo Lan manage to learn them all?”

Shana couldn’t figure it out.

Although her own specialty was Psychic Magic—something little Mo Lan hadn’t really studied yet—in every other type of magic, her daughter had already surpassed her.

As a mother, the fact that her magical abilities couldn’t even compare to a daughter who had been in school for less than two years left her feeling restless and uneasy.

If her daughter ever asked her about magic, how could she even face her?

“No, no, this won’t do!” Shana refused to sit around and wait for defeat. She steeled herself: “It’s time to leave Moon Harbor!”

Moon Harbor had those bothersome Merfolk, and the shop was never peaceful—she couldn’t focus on studying magic or make good money there.

The new magic that little Mo Lan had mentioned—she could look into it during this trip back to the Witch Council.

Besides Psychic Magic, she really did need some other types of magic at her disposal.

After burning the letter, she immediately began packing her belongings.

*

Witch Academy.

After sending off her letter, Mo Lan could finally continue her studies in peace.

Last month, she had finished reading the water magic textbook and mastered all the water magic spells.

This month, she had finished the fire-element magic textbook, and now it was time to test out fire-element magic in practice.

Fire-element magic was quite destructive to the environment, so it was better to practice at the training grounds.

Mo Lan ate lunch, then headed for the training grounds.

Although each branch of Elemental Magic had its own unique characteristics, they were all elements that composed matter and thus shared certain commonalities.

Especially in the methods of casting spells and controlling elemental force—there were definite similarities.

So as Mo Lan studied more branches of Elemental Magic, she found it increasingly easy.

The wood-element magic and water magic she had learned afterward progressed faster in practice than Metal magic had.

Now, the fire-element magic she was testing posed no difficulty whatsoever for Mo Lan to master.

Fireball—with its explosive elemental force damage. Fire Arrow—for precision strikes. Fire Ring—capable of trapping enemies while protecting the caster…

Mo Lan cast them all with ease.

After trying each one, she incorporated all the fire-element magic spells into her daily magical training.

If she divided her daily magical training into ten portions, fire-element magic occupied four, water magic three, wood-element magic two, and Metal magic one.

Reading the earth-element magic textbook was also added to her schedule.

During Monday’s Alchemy class, while the other young witches were still learning to make golden bird stationery, Mo Lan had already moved ahead to crafting other magical items.

After golden bird stationery came the alchemy blueprint for the magical clock.

The learning method was similar to before—she still needed to practice rune inscription first.

However, this time she only needed to practice carving runes and then filling them with runic force. There was no need to further practice drawing runes with pen and ink.

For Mo Lan, this was no longer a challenge.

Even with new rune combinations, she could carve them smoothly in no time.

Next came the actual crafting of the magical clock.

Mo Lan had seen many magical clock blueprints when reading 《The Witch’s Complete Alchemy Compendium》.

There were ones that could automatically announce the time, ones that could predict the weather, and even ones that could forecast the day’s fortune—timekeeping was merely the most basic function among them.

The designs came in many forms as well—wall clocks, mantel clocks, pocket watches—every variety imaginable.

Materials ranged from wood to metal, and even crystal.

The magical clock taught in the textbook was naturally the most ordinary kind.

A simple round wooden clock with only a timekeeping function. A circular or square piece of wood, and a few twigs fixed at the center of the board that could rotate freely.

That was the sum total of materials needed to make the most basic log clock.

If one wanted to make it more refined and aesthetically pleasing, one could sand down the wood and twigs, or draw some decorative patterns on the clock face.

Of course, none of that was taught in this textbook—you’d have to read up on it yourself.

Mo Lan had no need for this log clock to tell time anyway. The clock card she had made with her cards was far more useful, so she didn’t bother putting in extra effort.

She levitated the short wooden stump from the ground—bark and all still intact—onto her desk. Without using any of the saws or tools that Amisha had provided, she cast a Wood-Shaping Spell directly on the stump.

With a soft “click,” a round wooden board about two centimeters thick separated cleanly from the wood.

The cut was neat and smooth, eliminating even the need for sanding.

For the clock hands, she didn’t choose twigs either, but continued working on the same stump, separating out several thin wooden strips.

“Magic really is so convenient!” Mo Lan couldn’t help but marvel.

What would have originally required sawing with a saw and sanding with sandpaper was now accomplished with a single Wood-Shaping Spell.

Her enthusiasm sparked, and she had a sudden idea—could she directly carve out a complete log clock from the wood, complete with time markings, a central wooden axle, and clock hands?

That would save all the trouble of assembly, carving, and fixing parts together.

The Wood-Shaping Spell was fundamentally an auxiliary wood-element magic that could freely mold wood into any shape. In theory, as long as the shaping instructions she gave were clear enough, it should be able to produce the result.

Clear instructions—that was the easiest thing in the world for Mo Lan.

After glancing at the comprehensive diagram of the log clock in the textbook, Mo Lan had it all figured out.

She cast the Wood-Shaping Spell on the short stump once more.

Under the influence of wood elemental force, the thick piece of wood became like modeling clay that could be shaped at will.

In no time, a log clock that looked like a copy-and-paste replica of the textbook diagram was separated and shaped from the wood.

Mo Lan flicked the wooden hands—the tension was just right, allowing them to rotate freely. She then checked the time markings on the clock face—no issues there either.

“It actually worked!”

Mo Lan felt as though she had opened up a whole new world. Her thoughts began to diverge again: “Could I use the Wood-Shaping Spell to carve runes directly?”

She wasn’t sure, so she’d better ask Amisha.

She looked up to find Amisha, only to discover that the instructor was standing right in front of her desk, watching her—though she hadn’t stepped within the boundary of the blue-patterned bricks.

Mo Lan quickly raised her hand to signal that she had a question.

“It is feasible. However, very few witches attempt this from the start. The shaping capability of the Wood-Shaping Spell is determined by the caster’s instructions—the clearer the instructions, the more refined the resulting woodwork.

But for a normal witch, it’s virtually impossible to achieve perfectly clear instructions. Most only reach a very clear effect after repeated practice, where their magical power forms a habitual pattern.

For other spells, this isn’t much of an issue.

But with the Wood-Shaping Spell, there’s still a significant difference between clarity achieved through habitual repetition and truly perfect clarity.

Many Green Witches who have attained deep mastery of the Wood-Shaping Spell are only skilled at crafting certain specific types of woodwork.

However, for you, this isn’t a problem at all.”

Amisha looked at Mo Lan with a complicated expression as she spoke.

Mo Lan was simply not a normal witch. Her instructions could be as thorough and crystal clear as a Transcription Spell.

This was something that even Amisha couldn’t help but envy.

If she possessed this kind of ability, would she really need to send so many clones to the lounge to memorize books?

Would she really need to spend so much Mana on the Speed-Memorization Spell?

Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes!