Chapter 648 – Prophecy and the Future

“Grown?”

Though Sylph’s words came in fits and starts, the information fragmented, Carmela immediately seized upon the most critical detail. Her pale golden eyes narrowed slightly, her tone carrying a hint of incredulous confirmation:

“‘Grown’ as in the way I think you mean?”

Sylph nodded and reached out to point toward the two solitary trees standing at either end of the meadow:

“Each of those two trees bore a single fruit. One hatched Flora, and the other is Tiana.”

As she spoke, as if worried the senior Sorceresses might not understand, she gently patted the large white egg in the crib:

“This is Tiana, my second daughter.”

Carmela’s gaze swept back and forth between Flora and the egg, her brows furrowing slightly.

She could clearly sense the witch bloodline flowing through Flora, but facing the still-unhatched Tiana, she felt none of the kinship one would feel toward a fellow witch:

“Are you certain they’re both witches?”

“We verified Tiana’s bloodline through Divination Magic,” Mo Lan interjected, her fingertip lightly tapping the crystal ball. Flowing images immediately surfaced within the sphere.

They showed the changes in witch population over the next century that she had foreseen, as well as clear images of Flora’s talent test upon entering the Academy.

She explained her interpretation of the prophecy in detail.

Though Carmela was no expert in the field of divination, she nonetheless agreed with Mo Lan’s prophecy and interpretation:

“It seems the witch trees Sylph cultivated really will bring about a massive increase in witch numbers.”

However, when the second prophetic vision finished playing, Flora’s abnormal talent test results drew from Carmela a rare flicker of puzzlement.

She turned her head to look at Traci beside her. The silver-haired Sorceress was quietly turning the pages of the Omniscient Book in her hands.

“Traci, when you designed the Chapter of Talents test in the Mo Lan Clan Book Mo Lan, doesn’t it work like this — once it detects All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level, it confirms the subject as a Sorceress, then displays 【Magical Power Test Terminated】, and proceeds to test mana and summon the Manifested Gift? Are there other possible outcomes? What are ‘First-Generation Sorceress’ and ‘Second-Generation Sorceress’?”

Traci’s silver-grey eyes lifted slightly, her gaze calm and focused. She gently closed the Omniscient Book, her voice soft yet resolute:

“I don’t know either. I can say with certainty that, up to this point, the Chapter of Talents in the Mo Lan Witch Clan Book Mo Lan has never produced test results like ‘First-Generation Sorceress’ or ‘Second-Generation Sorceress.’ Once All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level is detected, the subject is recognized as a Sorceress. If the subsequent mana test and Manifested Gift summoning both fail, it does restart the magical power test, but the final ‘Sorceress’ classification ends up in a state of confusion.”

“Could Flora’s test results be an error?” Vasida tilted her head, cutting in with curiosity.

Traci shook her head: “That shouldn’t be it. Mo Lan’s prophetic vision is remarkably clear, which means her prophecy was very successful. The test results within the prophecy are also quite orderly — the Chapter of Talents doesn’t appear to have experienced any testing confusion or errors.”

Her voice was soft, yet carried an unquestionable certainty, as though she were stating a truth that had already been verified hundreds upon hundreds of times.

Mo Lan then told the two senior Sorceresses about the strange sense of familiarity she felt toward the terms ‘First-Generation Sorceress’ and ‘Second-Generation Sorceress.’

Traci looked thoughtful: “In that case… You’ve heard the saying ‘once a prophecy succeeds, the future can no longer be changed,’ haven’t you?”

Mo Lan nodded: “You wrote it in Volume 7 of Mo Lan The Witch’s Complete Magic Compendium Mo Lan, Mo Lan The Divination Magic Comperta Mo Lan: ‘The more important a matter is, the less one should attempt precise divination, for only an unprophesied future brims with infinite possibilities. Once a prophecy succeeds, the future can no longer be changed.'”

Seeing that she had recited it without a single word off, Traci nodded approvingly: “Future events appearing in our prophecies are themselves part of fate. The emergence of a prophecy also causes the future to gravitate toward what was foretold. The reason you feel familiar with those two terms may be because, in the future, they are inherently connected to you.”

Mo Lan’s mind was usually razor-sharp, yet even she couldn’t immediately grasp the meaning behind Traci’s words. Sylph, Vasida, and Lilith, meanwhile, were already feeling their eyes glaze over.

As the founder of the Witch Academy, Traci was not only deeply knowledgeable but also an excellent teacher. She immediately noticed their confusion and elaborated further:

“You haven’t yet prophesied Tiana’s talent test results, have you?

If I had to guess, their results should be quite similar.

If you discovered that little witches grown by Sorceresses all exhibited the All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level characteristic of Sorceresses, yet possessed neither a Sorceress’s mana nor a Manifested Gift — only an initial magical power significantly higher than an ordinary witch’s — what would you do?”

Mo Lan had indeed been planning to prophesy Tiana’s talent test results thirteen years from now.

If Tiana’s results were the same as Flora’s — detected as having All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level, recognized as a Sorceress, yet possessing neither mana nor a Manifested Gift — imagine what a devastating blow that would be for them during the test!

The best solution would be to distinguish between Sorceresses who possessed All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level along with mana and a Manifested Gift, and Sorceresses who had grown from witch trees.

To let all witches know that there existed a type of Sorceress who had neither mana nor a Manifested Gift.

If she were to make this distinction, the first terms that came to mind for differentiating between Sorceresses and the Sorceresses they had grown were precisely ‘First-Generation Sorceress’ and ‘Second-Generation Sorceress.’

First-Generation Sorceresses — naturally awakened among witches — were complete Sorceresses with All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level, possessing both mana and a unique Manifested Gift.

Second-Generation Sorceresses — grown from witch trees by First-Generation Sorceresses — possessed only All-Element Magic talent at Unlimited level and an initial magical power far exceeding that of ordinary witches, but lacked mana and a Manifested Gift.

Witch trees, these mutant plants capable of growing little witches, would certainly need to be documented in the Mo Lan Young Witch’s Primer Mo Lan. If the concepts of First-Generation and Second-Generation Sorceresses were added as well, then when Flora and Tiana took their entrance tests, they wouldn’t be disappointed by bearing the title of Sorceress yet possessing neither mana nor a Manifested Gift.

After all, every witch would already know the difference between First-Generation and Second-Generation Sorceresses, and would be mentally prepared.

Thinking it through, Mo Lan understood what Traci had meant: “‘First-Generation Sorceress’ and ‘Second-Generation Sorceress’ — those are probably terms I’ll coin to distinguish between naturally awakened Sorceresses and Sorceresses grown by other Sorceresses! That inexplicable sense of familiarity was the prophecy’s result giving me a hint.”

Traci regarded her with appreciation: “I imagine right now you’re thinking about prophesying the Sorceress chapter of the Mo Lan Young Witch’s Primer Mo Lan ten years from now? And perhaps… you’d also like to ask me to help prophesy whether it’s possible to grow a First-Generation Sorceress from a witch tree, am I right?”

(End of Chapter)