Chapter 97: Reading Magic
“The core of mental domain witchcraft lies in the externalization of spirit power. Everything in the material world can be annotated using characters from the field of mysticism. Magical beasts, witch artifacts, tables, chairs, and even the text written on paper can be rapidly transformed and refined through mystical characters. However, this transformation is limited to entities within the soul's realm of cognition—”
“For instance, the text in this book is written in the common language of witches. Therefore, the caster's soul must possess a certain understanding of the common language to successfully utilize mystical characters to transform the text. Subsequently, by externalizing spirit power, one can swiftly receive the information conveyed through the mystical characters, achieving rapid reading—”
Mary Margaret began by quickly explaining the objective principles of mental domain witchcraft, following the content of Chapter 4 in the textbook.
She then used [Reading Magic] as an example to classify the mental domain and analyze one of its branches, presenting the information in a clear and insightful manner.
“Now, I will demonstrate the incantation and gestures for [Reading Magic]. Pay close attention, even those seated at the back should not be distracted.”
Once she ensured everyone's attention was focused on her, Mary Margaret picked up the textbook with her left hand and began casting the spell.
“Remember, when formally casting [Reading Magic], the incantation is recited silently without making any sound. The focus is on the hand gestures. Until the spell is canceled, the casting motion of the right hand must not cease.”
During her demonstration of [Reading Magic], Mary Margaret performed the incantation audibly.
After completing the casting motion, her right hand remained suspended above the book, unmoving.
“Alright, I will now perform a formal demonstration. Please watch carefully.”
As she silently recited the incantation, a grayish-white aura of spirit power enveloped Mary Margaret's pupils.
Her right palm hovered in the air, and the pages of the book turned rapidly, almost at a rate of one page every three seconds.
The pages of the 《Basic Spellcasting》 textbook flipped swiftly.
“If your spirit power is not yet strong enough, I advise against using [Reading Magic] for extended periods, as it can easily lead to symptoms like migraines. Now, give it a try yourselves.”
With that, the murmurs of apprentices practicing incantations filled the public classroom.
Unlike evocation-type witchcraft like [Witch's Hand], mental domain spells such as [Reading Magic] were rarely practiced in advance, even by apprentices from wizard families.
This was partly because the reading volume in first-year courses wasn't particularly heavy.
Moreover, [Reading Magic] had a certain threshold requirement for spirit power, making it inaccessible to many first-tier apprentices whose spirit power didn't meet the standard.
Even if they spent considerable time learning it, they lacked the abundant spirit power needed for prolonged use.
Therefore, for lower-year apprentices, the cost-effectiveness of learning [Reading Magic] was actually lower than that of the more practical and conveniently damaging [Witch's Hand].
“Ugh, this is so troublesome.”
Frustrated by yet another failed attempt at [Reading Magic], Bell Moonshadow couldn't help but feel irritated.
“Such a boring spell. It would be more practical to teach some combat witchcraft instead.”
Despite her low muttered complaints, Bell Moonshadow didn't slack off.
After repeated failures, she continued to force herself to concentrate, silently reciting the incantation, and persistently attempting to connect her spirit power through mystical characters to penetrate and transform the text within the book.
“Rustle—”
Just as Bell Moonshadow was repeatedly trying, the sound of pages turning rapidly interrupted her spellcasting once again.
Turning her head, she saw Janna, her eyes glowing with a white aura of spirit power, effortlessly casting [Reading Magic].
“You succeeded!?”
“Yes, because I had previously practiced mental domain witchcraft, so this wasn't difficult for me.”
“Not difficult at all,” Bell Moonshadow silently repeated Janna's words in her mind.
Due to frequently going on missions, Bell Moonshadow often took leaves from classes like 《Basic Spellcasting》 and 《Ancient Magic History》.
Therefore, today was almost the first time Bell Moonshadow attended a class closely with Janna.
Rewinding the timeline to when they first enrolled—
At that time, the 《Basic Spellcasting》 course primarily taught [Apprentice Tricks], which apprentices from wizard families had long since mastered, rendering the course content not particularly challenging.
As a result, even some novice apprentices who hadn't learned tricks before could grasp the course content on the spot, but they still couldn't stand out in the class, at most achieving an above-average level. Janna was also at this stage during that time.
Now, as the 《Basic Spellcasting》 course content gradually increased in difficulty, many apprentices with genuine talent in witchcraft began to emerge.
For instance, in the previous lesson on [Witch's Hand], Janna's astonishing speed in mastering the spell quickly drew special attention from other apprentices and even Professor Mary Margaret.
As this attention grew, Janna's reputation as a "newcomer genius" became increasingly prominent.
Therefore, when Janna once again mastered [Reading Magic] at an impressive speed, others, aside from Bell Moonshadow, found it unsurprising.
Although envious, they were no longer as shocked as before.
“Hmm, it seems someone has already mastered it proficiently.”
Observing Janna's demeanor, which didn't resemble someone casting [Reading Magic] for the first time, Professor Mary Margaret nodded. She then located Janna's name in the class roster and silently added five points to the regular performance column.
“Could it be that I mispronounced the incantation?”
Stimulated by this, Bell Moonshadow buried her head and continued to practice [Reading Magic] with unwavering focus.
Meanwhile, after successfully casting the spell, Janna quietly stopped, lowering her gaze to conceal her emotions.
[Today's Quest: Master a new witchcraft (Completed);
Quest Reward: 100 Talent EXP, 500 Skill EXP, Agility +0.1]
“Finally, the moment has arrived—”
Resisting the urge to fully upgrade the 99% progress of the [Soul Projection] talent, Janna refrained from doing so, uncertain whether there would be any special anomalies when a wzard talent advanced to A-level.
After all, Janna was an apprentice who occasionally experienced magical leakage even during deep meditation.
Therefore, to be cautious, Janna had to wait until she returned to the dormitory before attempting to upgrade her talent.
“This time, the reward is an increase in agility—not bad. At least it will enhance my chances of dodging when facing assassin-type apprentices like Bell, who have maxed out their agility—”