Chapter 508 – Lunch Invitation

Whether it was their true identities or their disguised ones, having others accept the Dawn Society Invitation was nothing but beneficial for them—yet at the experience-sharing session, these invitations were being handed out as gifts.

For Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph, this was even more bewildering than earning Mana by selling Sorceress Magic and completing various trials and extra tasks.

After all, the things Mo Lan had talked about at this experience-sharing session were purely a money-making scheme.

What she hadn’t expected was the overwhelming response after the invitations were handed out.

At first, many mages didn’t understand what they were, until several mages from the Lance Mage Tower recognized them.

“Aren’t these the invitations that Grand Duke Clara sent to all the beginner mages in the Tower?”

“I’ve already signed one! I just completed trial task one and earned a redemption voucher for a {Fragment Card – Beginner Spell Structure Mystery Box}!”

“What? Yours was a Beginner Spell Structure Mystery Box?”

“It’s just a Fragment Card! You need twelve to synthesize one complete card, and it’s only a redemption voucher, not a direct card reward.”

“That’s still very valuable. The beginner mage I know only got one Magic Gold Coin.”

“So Lady Moira is also a member of the Dawn Society! No wonder she has no visible backing from any faction yet became an advanced mage at such a young age!”

……

In the eyes of the city’s mages, mages from the Lance Mage Tower were the elite among mages—talented, well-resourced, well-connected, and with bright futures.

Whatever they said or did, other mages could only follow suit and learn from them.

They all signed with great enthusiasm. Several beginner mages had even received invitations before this, which only made the other mages more afraid that this opportunity would slip through their fingers.

Before Lilith and the others had even finished distributing all the invitations, they felt a change in their trial cards—their trial task two had been completed.

After all the invitations were handed out, Mo Lan announced the end of the experience-sharing session. As Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph followed their “Instructor” away from the venue, they could still hear the grateful voices of other mages.

Climbing into the magic carriage outside the theater, Vasida set up a one-way sound-dampening magic circle.

“Moira, when did you convince Alicia to help boost the atmosphere?”

Vasida, Sylph, and Lilith all looked at Mo Lan curiously.

“…” Mo Lan said irritably, “Who convinced her to boost anything? She genuinely believed what I said was right!”

“You were right? Wasn’t all of that just made up?” Lilith said.

The three of them had watched Mo Lan fabricate every bit of it with their own eyes.

“I’ll say it again—it wasn’t made up, it was a hypothesis! A hypothesis! 《Unsolved Mysteries of Witches》 is full of hypotheses, and they’re presented as if they were real too. Who knows how much of it actually is true! Between truth and hypothesis, there’s only one step—verification.” Mo Lan said.

“So it’s also true that the Imperial Magic Academy recruits students with exceptional magical talent and trains them according to the ancient mage curriculum?” Sylph asked.

“Of course!” Mo Lan stroked her chin. “I only just learned about this myself. Ancient mages were developed in an all-around manner. If the Imperial Magic Academy really does have this training track, it would actually be quite suitable for me!”

Only an all-around curriculum would make it convenient for her to observe and study the Imperial Magic Academy’s magical texts in every discipline!

With that thought, Mo Lan turned to her three apprentices. “Lilith, tomorrow go to Number 22, Apprentice Lane and deliver an invitation for me. I want to invite Alicia next door to have lunch together, and ask her about the admissions details for the Imperial Magic Academy.”

“Got it! But if you really can get into the Imperial Magic Academy, are you actually planning to go through schooling at a human academy all over again?” Lilith asked.

“Of course,” Mo Lan said. “With all my psychic power, it would be a waste not to learn some Magic!”

“Count us out,” Lilith said. “Converting Mana into psychic power for spellcasting is less efficient than just casting with Mana directly. If you go off to study, the three of us will set up a little business outside the Academy and experience the daily life of real mage apprentices!”

The three of them weren’t particularly interested in learning human Magic.

Mainly because they couldn’t achieve Mo Lan’s photographic memory, and what they had to learn about witchcraft was already more than enough.

Mo Lan had no intention of asking them to attend the magic academy with her either. This time she was going to steal human magical texts, not actually attend school. Going alone meant a smaller target and an easier escape.

At this point, they had reached a consensus: there was no need to stay in the Duchy of Lance much longer.

Once the Dawn Society Invitations had spread sufficiently through the Lance Mage Tower, it would be time to go.

They had always planned to move on to the Mage Empire, where there were more mages, in order to invite more spellcasters.

Now they simply had the additional goal of studying there.

However, the Dawn Society news was still fermenting among the beginner mages in the Mage Tower. Most of them were still in the phase of studying the materials and completing trial task one, so it hadn’t spread widely yet.

Once they had all completed trial task one, tasted the rewards, and started working on trial task two—that would be the time.

A day later, Alicia accepted the invitation and came to Number 21, Apprentice Lane.

Mo Lan was home alone. Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph had already gone out to set up a street stall selling spicy hot pot soup, earning travel money for the trip to the Mage Empire.

They wouldn’t be staying in Lance City much longer.

Since it was a lunch invitation, Mo Lan had prepared a stack of finished Food Cards within the tier-one resource range for Alicia to choose from.

Alicia had just completed trial task one and had pored over the 《Dawn Society Resource Catalog》 many times, so she naturally knew what these cards were.

“There are a lot of these I haven’t tried either. Since you’re here today, let’s try them together!” Mo Lan said.

“This is too generous!” Alicia was both flattered and flustered.

The esteemed advanced mage had suddenly invited her to lunch, with so many gourmet cards to choose from—what price would she have to pay for this meal!

Without understanding Mo Lan’s intentions, she didn’t dare eat even if her mouth was watering!

Mo Lan was also well aware of the unspoken rules among mages.

If witches believed in fair trade and friendly relations, then mages believed in pure exchange of interests.

Competition for magical knowledge and resources among mages was too fierce. Every single one of them was a competitor, so genuine goodwill extended to others was rare.

And even when it existed, there was always a price tag attached in secret.

Mo Lan knew that unless she stated the purpose of today’s meal clearly, Alicia would never eat in peace. So she got straight to the point:

“Don’t be shy. I invited you here today because I wanted to ask about what you mentioned at the experience-sharing session the day before yesterday.”