Chapter 837 – Giving Back to the Clan

“I now declare that the Witch’s Home inauguration banquet has officially begun! Please enjoy the fine food, drink to your heart’s content, and savor this wonderful evening!”

As her words fell, the gourmet cards on the dining tables were activated one after another.

Steaming hot, fragrant, and exquisitely presented dishes materialized before everyone in an instant. Rich aromas immediately spread through the air, mingling with the fresh scents of grass and pond water, stirring everyone’s appetite.

Music that had been prepared in advance began to play softly, its melodious notes drifting beneath the night sky.

The witches made their way toward the dining tables.

Iris was a thorough carnivore, and the moment she arrived, she was drawn to the dazzling array of meat dishes on the table.

She picked up a skewer of meat that was grilled to a sizzling, oil-dripping, aromatic perfection. After just one bite and a few careful chews, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

“Moira, what kind of meat is this?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Nowadays, the Card Shop carried virtually every known edible meat in Valen, making purchases extremely convenient.

Iris was devoted to studying meat cookery and knew Valen’s edible meats like the back of her hand.

But this meat — firm in texture, subtly sweet — was something she had never tasted before. And moreover: “…After eating this meat, why does it feel like there’s a warm current flowing from my stomach into every part of my body?”

Beside her, Cheryl was attacking a perfectly pan-seared steak, but after only a few bites, she set down her knife and fork with a look of regret:

“What am I going to do? I’ve barely eaten anything, and I already feel a bit full… I even used a Dietary Fortification Card before coming today!”

She had originally counted on the Dietary Fortification Card’s appetite-boosting effect to let her feast to her heart’s content. She hadn’t expected this meat’s satiating power to be so strong that it rendered even the Dietary Fortification Card somewhat ineffective.

Alba, who had been focusing heavily on physical training lately, felt the effects even more clearly. She savored the meat broth soup in her mouth carefully, a flash of delighted surprise crossing her eyes:

“These meats have extremely high nutritional value!

Eaten on their own, the nourishing and gentle strengthening effects on the body are nearly comparable to using a single Dietary Fortification Card.

And if combined with a Dietary Fortification Card, the effects stack remarkably!”

For someone like her who had been consistently using Dietary Fortification Cards to strengthen her body, this was like discovering a treasure.

Lady Traci was immediately drawn to the steamed Ice-Patterned Trout on the table the moment she arrived. She carefully tasted a piece of the steamed fish — its flesh semi-translucent with delicate patterns, emanating wisps of cool air — and a look of satisfaction spread across her face:

“This is exactly that flavor!”

It had been many years ago, during her travels through the Three Thousand Mirror Ruins, that she had the fortunate chance to taste Ice-Patterned Trout once.

Its unique blend of fresh sweetness and icy-smooth texture had left her thoroughly amazed, and ever since, every other fish she ate always felt like it was missing something.

She hadn’t expected to taste it again here, today.

While the other witches were enjoying the feast, Amisha’s thoughts had already drifted far away.

She had not only noticed the extraordinary nourishing properties of these meats but also discovered that the magical plants served as side dishes contained gentle energy of their own, complementing the meats perfectly.

This made her think of the young witches at the Witch Academy.

The young witches were in the golden period of building their foundations, but their total magical power was limited. They couldn’t study too much Sorceress Magic, and they certainly couldn’t afford to consistently use consumables like Dietary Fortification Cards. The Academy already had its own farms and plantations, and the cafeteria had always purchased ingredients from the Card Shop.

If they could introduce these otherworldly ingredients — with their higher nutritional value and ability to gently nourish the constitution — and supply them to the young witches on a long-term basis, wouldn’t that be far better than ordinary ingredients?

With that thought, Amisha could no longer sit still.

She carried her wine glass over to Mo Lan’s side and asked:

“Moira, these extraordinary ingredients — is their supply stable? Can they be made into cards? And what would the pricing be?”

“I’m already planning to turn them all into corresponding ingredient cards and list them in our witches’ internal Card Shop.”

Mo Lan said with a smile, “When the time comes, everyone can purchase them directly using disposable Mana or by converting ordinary mana crystals into Gem Coins.

Considering the production costs, the prices will be about twenty percent higher than magical beast meat and ordinary magical plants of equivalent grade, but they’ll absolutely be worth every coin.”

She also mentioned another plan of hers: “Headmistress, afterward, I’ll proactively reach out to the Witch Council to propose formally including these nutritionally rich mirror beast meat ingredients, as well as the magical plants suitable for making body-tempering tonics, into the resource lists for both the ‘Witch Mother Pregnancy Subsidy’ and the ‘Young Witch Rearing Subsidy.’

As for the Academy, I also strongly recommend systematically introducing these ingredients and body-tempering medicinal herbs.

Ideally, we could establish dedicated body-tempering courses so that young witches can continuously improve their physical constitution from an early age.

The body is the best vessel for magical power — once the foundation is properly built, it can also indirectly promote faster growth of magical power.

When the time comes, I will grant a special permission to both the Witch Council’s and your Management Card, Headmistress, allowing you to claim these ingredient cards and medicinal herb cards for free, to be used for subsidy distribution and the Academy’s daily supply.”

Mo Lan had once deeply felt the warmth and support from both the Witch Council and the Academy. Now that she had the ability to give back, she instinctively wanted to nurture the entire clan — especially to protect the growth and health of the young witches who represented the future. To Amisha, this was only natural.

She had always been well aware of this child’s character.

Still, Amisha couldn’t help but advise: “It’s wonderful that you have this kind of heart. But you’re still young — this is the time when you should be channeling all your resources into improving yourself. You don’t always need to be thinking about others.”

“Headmistress, I understand what you mean.”

Mo Lan’s gaze was resolute. “Normally, everyone focuses on taking care of themselves while they’re alive, and only when they reach the end of their lives do they leave their accumulated wealth to the Witch Council as an inheritance.

But these are extraordinary times.

The birth rate of witches has increased. I suspect that the inheritances left behind by our predecessors, after so many years of expenditure, have long since been insufficient to cover the costs, haven’t they?”

Many witches now no longer personally bore young witches. Instead, they used the Hybrid Magic method of planting Witch’s Trees, then used their own magical energy to incubate the fruit. No longer bound by the racial limitation of one witch bearing only one young witch, the number of newborn young witches had grown significantly compared to the past — even the Witch Academy’s Dormitory district had been expanded.

The vision she had seen in her earlier prophecy had already become reality.

And correspondingly, with the help of Sorceress Magic, the mortality rate among witches was decreasing, and the number of witches breaking through to Peak level was growing.

Witch inheritances were coming in less and less frequently, while the number of young witches kept increasing. Were it not for the substantial reserves accumulated in the past, the Witch Council would likely have already fallen into a financial crisis.

(End of Chapter)