Chapter 14 – Devouring Stomach

The palm-sized stomach pouch had swallowed a half-meter-long breadfruit, yet it showed no signs of expanding in the slightest.

After consuming the breadfruit, the stomach pouch merely wriggled slightly.

Lilith had been closely monitoring Vasida’s magical energy the entire time, and she immediately noticed the change:

“Your magic power has recovered a bit!”

Vasida could feel it too—her hunger had eased somewhat. “It really can be digested directly by the stomach pouch! This is wonderful!”

With no need for chewing or swallowing, eating breadfruit was no longer any trouble for her at all.

She crouched down, stretched the opening of the stomach pouch a bit wider, and in just a few swift motions, stuffed all the remaining breadfruit on the ground into it.

The next moment, she was back to full strength—she could even feel surplus energy being stored away inside her body.

“Your magic power is fully replenished.” Even Lilith couldn’t help but look envious. “The energy-restoring effect of breadfruit is remarkably potent on you. There’s no doubt this is the effect of your manifested innate talent.

With an ability like this, as long as you have enough food, you’ll never have to worry about running low on magic power!

Vasida, promise me—the moment your Sorceress Magic is sufficiently developed, you’ll notify me first, and I’ll sign a contract with you immediately!”

Lilith often suffered headaches from insufficient magic power, and Vasida’s gift was perfectly suited for replenishing it.

Vasida was utterly flattered.

It was the first time she realized that the ability tied to her constant hunger was actually this useful.

Mo Lan and Sylph were happy for her too. “Since breadfruit is this useful, let’s pick some more to keep in reserve, just in case!”

“Mm!” said Vasida, radiant with energy now that her strength had returned.

This time, Lilith stayed below to provide light.

Three little “monkeys” scrambled up the trees to pick fruit.

The deeper they went into the grove, the more breadfruit hung from the branches.

Bunches of breadfruit thudded to the ground one after another.

Seeing that they’d picked a considerable amount, Mo Lan worried about waste and looked down from the tree. “Senior, how long do breadfruit keep?”

“They’ll last about a week at room temperature,” Lilith said. “Normally, one bunch is enough to last a week—but that’s for an ordinary young witch.”

Vasida’s appetite, of course, couldn’t be measured by ordinary standards.

Even she herself couldn’t say for certain how much food she needed in a day just to sustain her consumption.

“Then let’s pick as many as we can and store them in Vasida’s dorm room. If we can’t carry them all in one trip, we’ll just make a couple more—we don’t live far anyway,” Sylph suggested.

She was actually exhausted by this point, but considering Vasida’s still-unstable condition, she decided to push through.

“Alright!” Mo Lan agreed.

Hearing their conversation, Vasida pushed aside the leaves blocking her face and poked her head out from another tree. “Um, I can just store them directly in my stomach pouch! The excess energy will be saved up and won’t go to waste.”

“Even better! Let’s try filling your stomach pouch to the brim!” Mo Lan said.

The three young witches picked an enormous pile of breadfruit—twelve bunches in total, sixty or seventy individual fruits.

For an ordinary young witch, this would be more than enough for two months. Figuring that should be sufficient, they had Vasida start loading up.

She fed them in one after another without pause, and before long, every last breadfruit on the ground had vanished.

Yet the stomach pouch in her hand still showed not the slightest sign of being full.

“How is it? Can it hold more?” Lilith asked.

Vasida took a moment to gauge it, then held up her hands to gesture. “Roughly… about five times this much more.”

“Five times?” Lilith was stunned. “It can hold that much?”

Vasida nodded. They resumed picking, and didn’t stop until they’d gathered sixty-three more bunches.

This time, as they neared the end, Mo Lan and the others finally saw the stomach pouch slowly begin to swell.

By the time the sixtieth bunch was stuffed in, the pouch was stretched taut without a single wrinkle left.

Vasida let out a satisfied burp. “Can’t fit any more.”

“That means you can store roughly a year’s worth of food for an ordinary young witch in one go!” Mo Lan exclaimed in amazement.

Lilith had been monitoring Vasida’s condition the whole time. “Your stomach pouch has been out this entire time, yet I haven’t seen your magic power decrease. It must be replenishing itself as fast as it’s being consumed, right?”

“Mm! I feel like I won’t be hungry again for quite a while.”

Vasida patted her bulging, stuffed stomach pouch, feeling a sense of satisfaction she’d never experienced before. “Thank you all so much for tonight!”

“Don’t mention it! We witches may value independence, but we’re always willing to lend a hand to our companions!” Lilith said with a wave of her hand.

“We could hardly let you wander into the breadfruit grove alone at night and pass out in the woods!” Sylph added.

“Besides, it’s not like the three of us came away empty-handed!” Mo Lan pointed at the three remaining bunches of breadfruit. “These are ours now. That means we won’t need to come back and pick more for at least a week.”

Touched by her companions’ kindness, Vasida volunteered eagerly. “Let me carry them!”

The three bunches of breadfruit together weighed dozens of jin and looked even bigger than she was, yet Vasida scooped them up with ease.

When Mo Lan and Sylph tried to help, she wouldn’t let them, clutching the breadfruit tight and breaking into a run toward the edge of the grove. “I’m full now—I’ve got energy to spare!” she called back as she ran.

Lilith, who had been about to offer a levitation spell to lighten the load, quietly put her wand away.

Better to let the little calf of a junior show off a bit.

Mo Lan and Sylph had no choice but to follow after her.

A well-fed Vasida was bursting with vitality—practically a different witch from the starving Vasida.

By the time they reached the dormitory area, Mo Lan and the others had finally caught up to her.

Before they parted ways, Lilith remembered something and reminded Sylph and Vasida, “Don’t forget to give your manifested gifts a cool name!”

“A name?” Sylph and Vasida looked puzzled.

Lilith glanced at Mo Lan.

Mo Lan understood instantly.

“Mine is called the Bloodthirst Needle!” Lilith held up her syringe with a wicked grin, baring her dangerous fangs.

Mo Lan played along, summoning her own manifested gift and striking a signature pose inspired by her senior.

The gilded book hovered before her, its pages turning on their own without any wind. “Mine is called the Book of Cards!”

Sylph: “…”

Why is this so awkward?

“Wow! So cool!” Vasida’s eyes sparkled as she clapped enthusiastically. “Compared to those, my ‘stomach pouch’ sounds way too plain! Hmm… what should I call it? Let me think… A stomach pouch, and its function is digesting food… ‘Digestion’ doesn’t sound very good…”

It didn’t take long before inspiration struck. “I’ve got it! From today onward, my manifested gift shall be called the ‘Devouring Stomach’!”

“Devouring Stomach? Not bad at all—it sounds fearsome right off the bat. In terms of intimidation, it’s right up there with my Bloodthirst Needle!” Lilith praised.

“It really suits your stomach pouch’s abilities!” Mo Lan agreed.

That left only Sylph.

“Sylph, what about you? Any ideas?”