Chapter 96 – Exam “Good News”

It was getting late and time for class. Mo Lan grabbed her satchel and left the dormitory.

The moment she stepped out, she spotted the first-year young witches lingering near her room, along with some second-year seniors who had heard the news about the Energy Storage Card.

Senior Lilith was among them.

Facing their expectant gazes, Mo Lan shook her head apologetically.

“I managed to make it, but it can only achieve roughly the same effect as a Magic Gold Coin. The cost is exorbitant—it can’t be used as a daily mana supplement.”

“Huh? It’s single-use?” Lilith asked.

“Yes,” Mo Lan nodded.

“Expensive?” Lilith asked again.

“Very, very expensive.” Mo Lan nodded once more.

Lilith sighed in disappointment. “Ah, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy! Energy can’t be created from nothing. Everything has a price.”

If you wanted to instantly replenish 1,000 Mana worth of magical power, that mana had to come from somewhere—somewhere that would lose 1,000 Mana in the process.

The cost was inevitably steep.

“Being able to match the effect of a Magic Gold Coin is already pretty good!” Lilith looked on the bright side.

Vasida chimed in as well. “Exactly! If it’s comparable to a Magic Gold Coin, doesn’t that mean we can exchange mana for money? Then couldn’t we save up our excess magical power before graduation, convert it into Energy Storage Cards, and not graduate completely broke, starting from zero?”

“Yes, yes!” The young witches grew excited again.

Who could resist the temptation of building up a nest egg before even graduating?

After all, magical power recovered after being spent. Round it off, and it was basically getting Magic Gold Coins for free.

But Mo Lan shook her head yet again. “The Headmistress has forbidden me from selling high-priced cards within the Academy. It would cause everyone to deplete their magical power and neglect their magic practice.”

“!!!”

In that moment, the young witches’ expressions turned absolutely ferocious.

That damned Headmistress! Can’t do this, can’t do that!

If they didn’t know the Headmistress was watching them at all times, they might not have been able to hold back from cursing aloud.

Wasn’t this blocking their path to fortune?

Every young witch’s Amisha: “???”

Which headmistress forbade it? She hadn’t heard anything about this!

A certain Amisha, now taking the blame: “…”

Although what Mo Lan said made perfect sense—expensive cards really would cause the young witches to over-exhaust their magical power and neglect their practice.

But she truly had never said any such thing!

Of course, if Mo Lan had actually asked, she would certainly have forbidden it.

“Vasida, now we can only count on you!” Sylph grabbed Vasida’s hand and said earnestly.

For the young witches, whose total magical power wasn’t very high, there were still recovery potions to rely on. While they couldn’t match the instant recovery of Magic Gold Coins, they were much faster than natural recovery.

But Apprentice-level recovery potions weren’t nearly as effective for the young Sorceresses.

And so Vasida became the young Sorceresses’ last hope.

Her ability to restore mana through eating—while not instantaneous, requiring the process of actually consuming food—had a recovery rate far superior to Apprentice-level or low-grade recovery potions.

This was an effect that even Mo Lan’s cards couldn’t replicate.

She couldn’t imbue her cards with abilities she neither understood nor possessed.

Even with a sample provided, she couldn’t exceed the sample’s capabilities.

The fact that she’d been able to design an infinitely reusable Energy Storage Card at all was thanks to the Book of Cards’ Purple Gemstone.

The Book of Cards was the manifestation of her Sorceress Talent—an ability inherently her own.

With the Energy Storage Card matter settled for now, the young witches obediently headed off to cooking class.

After two weeks without touching Culinary Magic, Mo Lan discovered that her control over it had declined.

She had previously been able to steadily levitate the pots, bowls, and utensils in the kitchen, but during today’s class, things were slightly unsteady again, and she nearly dropped something.

It took some readjustment before she returned to her previous level.

The other young witches also found that their cooking skills had regressed somewhat.

“Magic is like any other skill—use it or lose it. Unless you’ve practiced to the point of absolute mastery, where your mana has formed habitual patterns, extended periods without practice will lead to regression.”

Lady Amisha offered this timely warning.

*

When the noon bell struck twelve on Friday, the first-year theory classroom erupted in wails.

The young witches had struggled mightily against their workbooks for an entire week under their looming shadow, yet still hadn’t managed to finish all the workbook exercises for previously covered chapters before Continental History class ended.

“I still have three chapters of review exercises left!”

“I still have two!”

“How are you all so fast? I still have five!”

…

“Those who haven’t finished may continue over the weekend. Don’t forget about Monday’s monthly exam. You all know the exam scope already, so remember to use the weekend to prepare and review.

There are three subjects in total, with a perfect score of 100 per subject. Those scoring 95 or above will be rated as excellent and rewarded with one Magic Gold Coin. Those scoring below 70 will be deemed as having failed and rewarded with a personalized workbook.

Whether you take home a Magic Gold Coin or a personalized workbook depends entirely on your performance!”

After Amisha announced the exam “good news,” she left.

The young witches were left counting in horror: “70, 71, 72…”

Mo Lan sighed when she heard the young witches all counting the same way.

They had adopted the reading textbook, but what about a mathematics textbook?

These young witches desperately needed some mathematical education!

“…94, 95—the difference is only 25 points! C-can we really pass if we study hard enough?”

“Spend the weekend carefully reviewing the textbook content that corresponds to the workbook sections. Memorize all the important knowledge points, and you’ll definitely be fine!” Mo Lan said.

“What counts as an important knowledge point?” The young witches, facing an exam for the very first time, had absolutely no clue.

“Would you like me to highlight the key points for you?” Mo Lan offered.

Though she didn’t know exactly what would be on the test, she was perfectly clear on what the key points were.

“Yes, yes, yes!” The young witches nodded eagerly.

Mo Lan opened the textbook.

She spoke while the young witches marked their books accordingly.

On the way down the mountain, she went through all the key knowledge points for the exam chapters in both Fundamentals of Magic Theory and 《History of Witches》.

When it came to Continental History, however, she stopped giving direct answers. “Have you noticed what kinds of knowledge points are considered key?”

After all those days battling workbooks, the young witches hadn’t fought in vain. “It seems like they’re all content that appeared in the workbook questions!”

“Exactly!” Mo Lan said. “So for any content in your workbooks that you haven’t mastered, make sure to reinforce it. Also, you won’t be allowed to consult your textbooks during the exam, so you’d better memorize everything.

I won’t go through Continental History for you—try selecting the key points on your own!”

This wasn’t really about test-prep education, after all. What mattered was mastering the knowledge and developing the ability to read and filter information—not just chasing high scores.

Give a witch a fish, and she eats for a day. Teach a witch to fish, and she eats for a lifetime.