Chapter 347 – Bloodline Origins

Mo Lan had no intention of touring the golden-armed ape territory. Given the old monkey king’s desperate craving for Cat Carry Wine, there was probably nothing novel in the entire territory that he wouldn’t willingly trade for a drink.

After a quick word with the white-haired giant ape, she ducked into her tent.

She set Zhizhi down on a blanket on the living room sofa, then sat beside it and began flipping through her Grimoire.

Before having a familiar, she’d read relatively little on the subject of Familiar Summoning. When choosing between books of the same tier, she’d always prioritized other magic texts first.

At present, Mo Lan only knew that familiars could grow in a breakthrough-potential manner alongside their witch’s increasing strength.

A witch’s familiar, even if it were the most ordinary wild beast or barnyard fowl, could surpass its innate limits during this process and undergo certain transformations.

A newly contracted familiar receiving its first enhancement from the power of contract always needed some time to digest the change.

What she wasn’t clear on was exactly how long Zhizhi would need to sleep like this. She’d have to look into it further.

After poring over a good number of books related to Familiar Summoning, Mo Lan finally understood that a witch’s familiar growth potential was related to the witch’s magical power tier, the familiar’s own innate potential, and the gap in strength between witch and familiar.

A witch’s magical power was the fundamental source influencing familiar growth. The higher the magical power tier, the greater the benefit to the familiar.

A Sorceress’s Mana would provide even greater benefits.

The familiar’s own potential, in a certain sense, determined both the familiar’s floor and ceiling.

Even with the influence of a witch’s magical power elevating the familiar’s potential beyond what it once was, the enhancement still built upon the original foundation.

This kind of enhancement was more like deep development of existing potential, not something conjured from nothing.

Meanwhile, the strength gap between witch and familiar determined the magnitude of enhancement.

An Intermediate witch with a wild beast familiar versus an Advanced witch with an Advanced familiar — the former would produce a far greater boost to familiar growth, while the latter leaned more toward gradual, cumulative improvement.

If the boost was too intense, the familiar would typically be forced into a dormant state to protect it while it digested the power.

Zhizhi was in exactly this situation.

Judging by Mana tier, Mo Lan was already considered a Peak level Sorceress.

Zhizhi was currently a juvenile low-level magical beast. As for its race…

It was the white-haired giant ape’s granddaughter, so it should also be a white-haired giant ape.

But white-haired giant apes were just ordinary wild beasts. Only with some stroke of fortune would one become a magical beast.

Yet Zhizhi was already a low-level magical beast in its juvenile stage.

Then again, it wasn’t a golden-armed ape either — it was far too small.

Mo Lan furrowed her brow, stepped out of the tent, and went to find the white-haired giant ape to ask.

Only then did she learn that the white-haired giant ape itself wasn’t a purebred white-haired giant ape.

It was born from a golden-armed ape and a white-haired giant ape. It had inherited only the white-haired giant ape’s appearance and abilities, with the sole exception of combining the high intelligence of both races.

The white-haired giant ape had then mated with golden-armed apes, producing a whole group of golden-armed apes.

That was why, in the Tall Peach Tree Grove of the Inner Region, there had only ever been a single giant ape — the white-haired one — leading a troop of golden-armed apes.

All his descendants were right here!

Zhizhi’s parents had both died when the golden-armed ape clan fought neighboring magical beasts over territory.

It still had two older brothers, but both were normal golden-armed apes.

Zhizhi was the only white-furred one among the white-haired giant ape’s grandchildren.

It resembled the white-haired giant ape, and yet it didn’t.

“Zhizhi is as smart as me, and it can grow big and small just like the other little golden-armed apes. It just can’t turn its arms golden… But after drinking, it’s an incredible fighter — it can beat every single little golden-armed ape into the ground!”

The white-haired giant ape, worried that Mo Lan might think Zhizhi was useless, carefully enumerated all of Zhizhi’s special qualities.

“Incredible fighter after drinking?” Mo Lan was puzzled. What kind of ability was that?

“Does it have any other abilities?”

Magical beasts — besides having inherently higher potential than wild beasts — all possessed a certain degree of magical ability, capable of harnessing various forms of magical energy.

Most just had rather singular abilities, relying more on their physical strength.

Using Witch Sight, one could see the energy aura surrounding a magical beast.

Magical beast ranks were also determined by their energy aura.

Zhizhi was indeed a low-level magical beast, no question about that, but it should also have corresponding magical abilities.

Since when did “incredible fighter after drinking” count as a magical ability?

Oh right — being able to grow big and small like the golden-armed apes, switching between combat mode and everyday mode, that should count as a magical ability.

The white-haired giant ape was still carefully mulling over Mo Lan’s question. Finally, unable to think of anything else:

“Does being an incredible drinker count? Other little monkeys can survive just eating fruit, but Zhizhi — the moment it was weaned, it demanded alcohol. Fruit and such gave it stomachaches.

But the clan’s alcohol is carefully stored for drinking through winter. How could we let her eat it like fruit!

She’s smaller than the other little monkeys because she was starved.

Even so, she could still outfight all the other little monkeys — and with alcohol, she’d be even fiercer!”

“…” The more Mo Lan asked, the more confused she became. “I see!”

She had finished reading every book about magical beasts in the Academy Library before the survival trial.

But in her memory, there truly was no monkey-type magical beast like Zhizhi.

Even if it wasn’t purebred and might carry the bloodlines of several beast species, not every race was like witches — able to reproduce with any race.

Reproductive isolation still existed in Valen.

Yet in Mo Lan’s memory, there was no species of monkey that fed on alcohol and whose combat abilities were stimulated by drinking!

Sometimes magical beasts did experience atavistic bloodline reversions, but no monkey bloodline could produce abilities like Zhizhi’s.

Mo Lan even consulted the Headmistress about this.

The Guardian Headmistress didn’t know. The teaching Headmistresses, who had inherited more of the original’s knowledge, didn’t know either.

They were all quite curious about it too.

In the end, the Guardian Headmistress brought in the Headmistress’s true body:

“You know that this demiplane, before the Sorceresses brought it back and built the Witch Academy, was from another world, right?

At the time, there were a small number of native creatures in this demiplane, but later, under the pressure of magical beasts, essentially none of them survived.

The familiar you’ve taken on may carry the bloodline of otherworldly magical beasts.

The Academy Library has no records of flora, fauna, or specialties from other worlds.

After all, many witches go their entire lives without ever encountering another world.

Once you surpass the Peak level and gain permission to enter the Well of the Sky, you can check the library room at the Witch Council’s Well of the Sky. Though the chances of finding anything aren’t great.

In any case, from what we can see now, its abilities are quite good. It’s a very promising familiar.

Following you — that’s its good fortune!

You don’t need to worry about its condition either. Being a witch’s familiar will only amplify its potential in every way. It’s nothing but beneficial.”

Only then did Mo Lan give up searching for Zhizhi’s bloodline origins.

In the days ahead, through spending time together, she would gradually come to understand all of Zhizhi’s abilities.

For now, she just had to wait for Zhizhi to wake up.

And that wait lasted half a month.

The golden-armed ape territory had been turned upside down, every last magical material piled before Mo Lan and traded for drinks — and still, Zhizhi hadn’t woken.