Chapter 98: Reading Magic
“The core of mental domain Witchcraft is actually the externalization of mental power. Everything in the material world can be annotated using characters from the domain of Mysticism. Magical beasts, Witchcraft tools, tables, chairs, benches, and even text written on paper can be quickly transmitted and refined through Mysticism characters. And this kind of transformation can only be applied to things within the scope of soul cognition—””
“For example, if the text in this book is written in common Wizard language, then the caster's soul thought must have a certain understanding of the common language to successfully use Mysticism characters to transform the text within it, and then, through the externalization of mental power, quickly receive the information transmitted by the Mysticism characters, completing rapid reading———”
Professor Mary-Margaret first quickly explained the objective principles of mental domain Witchcraft according to the content of the fourth chapter of the textbook. Immediately afterwards, she used Reading Magic as an example to classify the mental domain and analyze one of its branches, explaining it in a simple yet profound manner, getting straight to the point.
“Now, here is the incantation and gesture demonstration for Reading Magic. Pay close attention; apprentices sitting in the back shouldn't zone out either.”
Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on herself, Mary-Margaret picked up the textbook with her left hand and began casting.
“Remember, when formally casting Reading Magic, the incantation is silent; no sound should be made. The focus is on the hand gestures,
The casting motion of the right hand cannot stop until the casting is canceled.”
When demonstrating Reading Magic, Mary-Margaret provided an audible example. After completing the casting motion, her right hand remained suspended above the book throughout, without moving.
“Alright, I will give a formal demonstration this time. Watch carefully.”
As the incantation was silently recited, Mary-Margaret's pupils were covered with a layer of grayish-white mental power halo. Her right palm was suspended in the air, and the pages of the book turned quickly, at a speed of almost one page every three seconds. The pages of the Basic Spells textbook flipped rapidly.
“If your mental power is not strong enough, I advise against using Reading Magic for extended periods, otherwise,
Symptoms like migraines can easily appear. You should all give it a try as well.”
After she finished speaking, the murmuring sounds of apprentices practicing incantations continuously echoed in the public classroom. Unlike conjuration-type Witchcraft like Wizard's Hand, mental domain Witchcraft like Reading Magic is rarely practiced in advance, even by apprentices from Wizard families.
Besides the reason that the reading volume for first-year courses isn't particularly large, the restriction of Reading Magic having a certain threshold requirement for mental power also prevents many first-year apprentices whose mental power doesn't meet the standard from learning it in advance. Even if they spend a lot of time learning it, they don't have enough mental power for prolonged use.
Therefore, for lower-grade apprentices, the cost-effectiveness of learning Reading Magic is actually less practical than the somewhat damaging and very convenient Wizard's Hand.
“Hmph, what a hassle.”
Looking at the failed Reading Magic attempt yet again, Bell-Moonshadow couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed.
“What boring Witchcraft. It would be more practical to teach a few combat Witchcraft spells instead.”
Although she was complaining softly, Bell-Moonshadow didn't relax for a moment. After repeated failures, she still forced herself to concentrate her mind, silently recite the incantation, and continue to try connecting her mental power with the Mysticism incantation to penetrate and transform the text content in the book.
“Rustle—”
Just as Bell-Moonshadow was repeatedly trying, a rapid sound of flipping pages interrupted her casting again. Turning her head, she found that Jia Na, whose eyes were covered with a white mental power glow, was actually able to easily cast Reading Magic.
“You succeeded!?”
“Yes, because I have practiced mental domain Witchcraft before, it's not difficult for me.”
It's not difficult... Bell-Moonshadow silently repeated Jia Na's words in her heart. Because she had been frequently going on missions before, she often took leave from classes like Basic Spells and Ancient Magic History.
Therefore, today could almost be considered the first time Bell-Moonshadow attended class with Jia Na at close proximity.
Pushing the timeline further back, to when they first enrolled.
At that time, the Basic Spells course mostly taught Apprentice Tricks that apprentices from families had already mastered long ago, which could not be considered difficult at all.
Precisely because of this, even some apprentice commoners who hadn't learned tricks mastered the course content on the spot, but still couldn't stand out in the class, at best reaching a slightly above-average level. Jia Na was also at this stage at that time.
Until now, as the content of the Basic Spells course gradually increased in difficulty, many apprentices who indeed had a certain talent for learning Witchcraft gradually stood out.
Just like in the previous class teaching Wizard's Hand, Jia Na's truly astonishing mastery speed quickly earned her special attention from other apprentices, and even Professor Mary-Margaret.
As this level of attention grew higher, Jia Na's reputation as a 'newcomer genius' also became increasingly prominent.
Precisely because of this, when Jia Na once again skillfully mastered Reading Magic at an astonishing speed, everyone else, except for Bell-Moonshadow, felt it was only natural.
Although they were envious, they were no longer as particularly surprised as before.
“Hmm, it seems someone has already been able to master it skillfully.”
Seeing that Jia Na didn't look like she was casting Reading Magic for the first time at all, Professor Mary-Margaret on the platform nodded. She then found Jia Na's name in the class roll call book and silently added five points behind the regular performance column.
“Could it be that I misread the incantation?”
Stimulated by this, Bell-Moonshadow continued to bury her head and single-mindedly practice Reading Magic repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Jia Na, who was beside her, silently stopped after successfully releasing the Witchcraft, lowering her eyes so that one couldn't discern her emotions.
【Today's Mission: Master a new Witchcraft (Completed);
Mission Reward: 100 Talent Experience Points, 500 Skill Experience Points, Agility +0.1】
“Finally, this moment has arrived—”
Resisting the urge to max out the Soul Projection talent progress at 99%, because Jia Na currently didn't know if there would be any special anomalies when a Wizard Talent was promoted to A-grade.
After all, Jia Na was an apprentice who would occasionally trigger mana leakage even when entering deep meditation.
Therefore, to be safe, Jia Na had to wait until she returned to her dormitory before she could formally attempt to promote her talent.
“Is the point rewarded this time Agility? That's not bad. At least it can increase my dodge chance when encountering assassin-type apprentices like Bell, who have maxed out their Agility——