Chapter 322 – Creative Magic

“I think we need a type of magic that can see the finer structures of matter!

Think about it carefully—the elemental force that composes matter is completely invisible even under Witch Sight, isn’t it?

What we see is always just the elemental force drifting freely in the air and on the surfaces of objects.

Nobody actually knows whether the elemental force that composes matter is exactly the same as the kind floating freely in the air.”

Mo Lan said: “To be honest, I just tried casting a spell to create a certain gas. The spell didn’t succeed, but my Mana split into three parts, with a tendency to transform into different energies. The feeling it gave me was unlike any energy I’ve ever encountered before.”

“Unknown energies?” Amisha exclaimed in surprise. “The last time an unknown energy was discovered in Valen, it was a Sorceress’s Mana. Try casting that spell again and show me.”

To get a clearer look, she even teleported directly to Mo Lan’s side.

Mo Lan then attempted the failed methane-creation spell several more times.

Amisha opened her Witch Sight to its fullest state and did make some discoveries: “There is indeed a tendency for transformation into three types of energy. One is somewhat similar to earth elemental force, another is somewhat similar to wind elemental force, and the last one resembles both earth and wind elemental force yet is significantly different from either.

It seems you’re right! We really do lack understanding of elemental force.

But during your spellcasting, how is it that your Mana simultaneously splits into different energies?”

“Is there a problem with that?” Mo Lan asked.

“Generally speaking, regardless of race, the energy that everyone wields can only be used directly or undergo a single transformation.

When casting Metal magic, the energy transforms into metallic elemental force. When casting wood-element magic, it transforms into wood elemental force. That’s what single transformation means.

The special types of magic that we witches perform through Magic Infusion—like Household Magic, Culinary Magic, the Art of Flight—these are all magic that directly uses one’s own energy.

Angel force and demon force have similar applications.

But never has anyone been able to simultaneously transform the energy they wield into two or more different types of energy,” Amisha said.

“Could it be an issue with the casting instructions? I’m using the microstructural composition of particles as my casting instructions,” Mo Lan said. “Why don’t you try using the same casting instructions, Headmistress, and see if you get the same result?”

Amisha nodded.

Mo Lan then carefully explained the microscopic molecular composition of methane to her, and to make it more intuitive, she even drew a diagram for her.

Once Amisha felt she had a sufficient understanding, she attempted to create methane using magic.

Mo Lan focused on observing the energy changes near the Wand.

The result was that Lady Amisha’s Mana had barely been mobilized before the attempt failed.

That’s right—she was using Mana. Even though she was a witch, within the Well of the Sky, she had gained temporary access to some Mana.

But she still failed.

However, this was within Amisha’s expectations: “It’s the same as every previous attempt at creation magic—it fails before even reaching the energy transformation stage.”

“So it’s not an issue with the casting instructions,” Mo Lan said.

“It should be an issue with the Mana itself.”

Amisha said: “The Mana we obtain in the Well of the Sky is merely universal Mana, which is quite different from a true Sorceress’s Mana.

Within your Mana, there is also a portion of exclusive Mana that carries the power of laws.

Perhaps your exclusive Mana inherently carries the power of the law of creation.”

Mo Lan was stunned. “That actually seems very likely!”

Thinking it over carefully, wasn’t the fundamental nature of her Book of Cards’ card-making process precisely the transformation of energy into matter? Mana was energy and also the raw material for card-making.

Cards were matter and also the product of card-making.

The Book of Cards was merely her Manifested Gift—something that had evolved from her innate talent in accordance with whatever she understood to most closely match the essence of that talent.

Could the essence of her talent actually be creation?

“But if I have a talent for creation, why did I fail at creating methane?”

“Because you don’t understand the component energies of the substance you’re trying to create.”

Amisha said: “Although we generally say that the keys to casting Witch Magic are simply clear instructions and firm willpower, there’s actually one more requirement—energy transformation.

It’s just that since everyone either doesn’t need to transform energy at all, or only performs single-energy transformations—and subconsciously already knows exactly which energy corresponds to which school of magic—

it’s rarely mentioned anymore.

If you don’t understand the energy you need to transform into, you won’t be able to achieve your goal using Witch Magic.

However, you might try using the Book of Cards to make one instead. The rules governing a Manifested Gift are different from those of Witch Magic.”

Mo Lan gave it a try, and sure enough, she actually produced an {Item Card – A Bottle of Methane}.

It was just that absurd.

What magic couldn’t accomplish, her Book of Cards could.

If that was the case, what was the point of her researching creation magic?

Even if her Mana did possess the foundation for casting creation magic, she would still need to research the energies that composed matter.

Her Book of Cards already had the ability to create. It didn’t need to account for microscopic energy compositions and could create things directly—far more efficient and effortless.

After all that effort, the only thing she had accomplished was providing Lady Amisha with some inspiration for researching creation magic.

And that inspiration, due to the limitations of the energies Amisha could wield, would very likely never be put into practice.

Mo Lan’s sole gain was learning what law her exclusive Mana carried.

All this research into the essence of magic—perhaps it would be better to research the Book of Cards instead.

Perhaps her positioning of magic and the Book of Cards had been slightly off.

Before she had extensive exposure to magic, Mo Lan had thought the Book of Cards was incredibly powerful. She had enthusiastically designed all sorts of cards, many of them wildly imaginative and ingeniously creative.

Later, after discovering that her knowledge and abilities limited the Book of Cards’ card-making capabilities, she had thrown herself into frantically learning all kinds of magic, and her research and design of cards had slowed down instead.

During that period, what she had made the most of were various Earth specialty cards that didn’t involve magic.

Most of the magic cards she had made were simply direct conversions of the spells she had learned into their corresponding cards.

Magic could only mobilize a single type of energy, but her cards weren’t limited to using only a single magical ability per card!

Mo Lan recalled a very common concept from Earth’s web novels—composite magic.

Witches didn’t have composite magic. Everyone relied on Alchemy Magic to create magical items that achieved multi-layered magical effects similar to composite magic.

After all, no one could transform multiple types of energy at once, but they could inscribe alchemical runes with multiple effects in succession.

Could she skip waiting for her Alchemy Magic to improve step by step and instead use the magic she already knew to create magic cards with more complex functions?

She had originally planned to modestly expand her card library during this academic year and make some preparations for graduation. Now she had found her direction.