Chapter 14: As Cha Bao gradually got used to the environment, her true nature was revealed.

“It feels… kind of useless.”

The girl shook the small black wooden wand in her hand, her expression subtly critical.

From her perception, the wand only boosted her spellcasting speed by 2% and her mana control by 1% — if you put it into numbers.

Compared to the disadvantage of having one hand occupied, the wand’s benefits were negligible. In fact, it was practically a net loss.

“Basic wands are supposed to be useless — they’re basically just stationery,”
Lina chimed in with a deadpan tone. As she spoke, she casually drew a massive, ornate crimson greatsword from her waist and stabbed it into the ground with a heavy thud.

Had the academy grounds not been reinforced with magic, that one stab might’ve sunk the blade half a meter deep.

And that wasn’t even the end of it — Lina channeled her mana into the sword.

Immediately, blazing crimson flames erupted from it, scorching the ground black.

“This is my wand. Boosts spell power by 50%, mana amplification by 30%, and it has several spell slots engraved in it.”

“Wand…?”
The girl’s eyelids twitched.

She looked down at the small stick in her hand, then at the giant flaming sword in Lina’s.

That thing looked to be at least 500 to 600 pounds — how could it possibly be a wand?

“Lina-chan’s is a long wand,”
He Qin said gently, covering her mouth with a giggle as she explained:

“Wands come in many styles, and their appearance can be customized. It’s actually pretty normal for combat witches to use melee weapons as wands.”

“Overall, though, wands generally come in three types: short, medium, and long. Short wands are the cheapest due to using less material, but since they don’t have much space for inscriptions, they mostly help with mana flow and casting speed.”

“Long wands have a lot of room for engravings, so they’re more flexible — usually designed to boost spell power and hold multiple spells.”

“Medium wands combine both traits, but don’t excel at either. Their engraving process is the most difficult, so they’re also the most expensive to make.”

“As for how they look…”

He Qin looked a little shy, but still waved her hand and summoned her own wand from the air — a sleek, sci-fi-style laser gun, about a meter long.

“The look is up to you, really.”

“So I fought that whole battle… for a piece of stationery?”

Jiang Cha looked at her pitiful wand again, then back at He Qin’s high-tech laser blaster and Lina’s stylish, overpowering flaming sword.

She was clearly unimpressed.

In fact, she’d already finished analyzing the inscriptions on her stick. If she had the materials, she could’ve made the same wand herself — right now.

There was no technical challenge. Just a few basic enchantments — so basic, in fact, that she’d seen them in a beginner’s textbook.

On the other hand, the complex engravings and craftsmanship on Lina and He Qin’s wands were so advanced she couldn’t even begin to understand them. Trying to analyze them would just fry her brain.

“Oh well… as long as it works.”

She sighed quietly.

There was nothing she could do. After all, she was just a poor girl.

“Don’t worry, wands aren’t that expensive. As long as you study hard, Jiang Cha-chan, you’ll be able to save up quickly,”
He Qin comforted her.

She had bought her own wand with money she earned herself.

In a society where mana was highly abundant, buying a wand wasn’t that big of a deal — unless you wanted a really high-end one.

The ones provided by the dueling club were just basic models. Most witches preferred customized wands or even hand-crafted their own, so mass-produced ones were considered throwaways — only really useful for cases like Jiang Cha’s.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Cha almost forgot they’d snuck out during a class break — thankfully, the break was long enough that they could fight, chat, and still make their way back at a leisurely pace.

That brief interaction gave Jiang Cha a better understanding of her two roommates. Their dynamic was beginning to take shape.

Lina was the talkative one.

In just the short walk, Jiang Cha learned that Lina was the youngest daughter of a very traditional magical family — the Nois family, one of the top dragon-blood witch clans.

All her older sisters had either graduated and were fighting on the front lines, or were in their sixth year and rarely showed up on campus.

Lina, being the youngest, had a relatively relaxed life. Aside from loving duels, she didn’t have any grand ambitions.

He Qin, meanwhile, was just as gentle and angelic as she looked — always patient when explaining things Jiang Cha didn’t know, and quietly listening when she and Lina chatted.

She didn’t say much about her background, but it was clear she’d had a hard life. No financial support, working part-time while studying, and saving for a year after mastering golemcraft just to afford tuition. She was also the oldest of the three.

• He Qin: 16

• Jiang Cha: 15

• Lina: 14

The Eslen Witch Academy only required students to be under 18 and pass the entrance test, so it wasn’t strange for them to be in the same year. In fact, there was even a 4th-year senior who was only 11 years old — basically a little kid.

“Mana is the foundation of modern witch society. Everything we have is built on mana technology… Jiang Cha, what’s the fundamental property of mana?”

“Mana is omnipotent. It is the power of miracles — capable of anything.”

The Magic Theory teacher — a great witch who looked 20-something but was actually over 70 — was far more energetic than the history teacher Elivia. She often cracked jokes during class.

“You may sit.”

“Mana is indeed omnipotent, but only under one condition: you must have enough of it.”

“If you have enough mana, reversing fate or turning back time isn’t some unreachable fantasy — those are just forbidden spells. Even creating a world isn’t off the table — if you have the mana for it.”

“However, efficiency is a problem. So is utilization. Just brute-forcing spells will burn through absurd amounts of mana — even a single ‘Dragon Transformation’ spell would drain a Sage. But optimize the spell model, and it becomes accessible to high-level witches.”

“That’s why we work on developing mana technology — to improve efficiency.”

“Still, the foundational principle of ‘Mana is Omnipotent’ is important. Don’t forget it, my dear students.”

“Mana is everything — and without mana, you’re nothing.”

That last line was a meme among witches online — a darkly humorous take on the “First Law of Mana” vs. their usual lack of mana reserves.

So when Professor Diana said it aloud, the classroom was filled with soft laughter.

Foundational Mana Studies seemed like a dry course — full of basic theory you’d never use. That much was obvious from how peacefully Lina was napping.

But in reality, what Diana was trying to teach was confidence.

The belief in yourself — and in mana.

Maybe the first-years wouldn’t understand it now. To them, it probably felt like:

“Mana is omnipotent… but in a very limited way.”

But when they one day hit rock bottom, they’d realize how true the law was.

At a regular school, with witches who only had around 1,000–2,000 mana, this course wouldn’t matter much. But to get into Eslen, your base mana had to be at least 8,000.

—And deep reserves of mana are the foundation for creating miracles.

“I see…”

After class, the girl sat at her desk, muttering softly, seemingly deep in thought.

“Did you have some insight, Jiang Cha?”
He Qin asked curiously.

Compared to Professor Elivia’s course, Diana’s felt much lighter and easier.

“I figured out why Lina thinks this class is pointless.”

The girl held up a finger and began poking Lina’s soft, chubby cheek, a wry smile on her lips.

“Why? I thought Professor Diana was great.”

“Because she already has that kind of confidence — the belief that ‘as long as I have mana, I can do anything.’”

“…”

He Qin didn’t understand.

But that was okay — she didn’t need to.

Witches had all sorts of development paths. He Qin leaned more toward strict theory and precision — probably why she liked sci-fi so much.

“Lina~ Lina~ time to wake up.”

Jiang Cha didn’t explain further. She simply tapped the golden-haired loli’s forehead with her finger, gently nudging her.

“Huh? Class is over!?”

She’d looked ready to doze off a moment ago, but seeing everyone leaving the classroom, Lina suddenly came to life — eyes sparkling bright blue.

“Yep, class is over.”

The girl lay across her desk, turning to glance at her with gem-like red eyes — gentle and doting.

“Then let’s go duel!”

“I’m going to the library.”

Still smiling — mischievously — the girl’s lips shimmered in the sunlight outside the window.

“Guh! W-Well… that’s fine too.”

Lina gulped and turned her head away, ears tinged red.

‘Oh my god! Tea-bao’s flirting is off the charts! My poor heart!’

“Your ears are super red.”

Jiang Cha wasn’t done. Taking advantage of her opening, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms gently around Lina’s neck, her warm breath brushing against sensitive skin as she spoke softly.

Her entire body leaned onto Lina’s, her soft chest pressing against her back through the magic robes.

A stray lock of hair brushed across Lina’s cheek, tickling slightly.

The subtle rustle of fabric pushed the tension in the air to its limit.

“N-No they’re not! I’m totally fine! Hahaha—Let’s go to the library already!”

A flash of light — Lina activated her Dragon Skin and immediately shrunk back, crawling under the desk and scurrying away.

“You two hurry up too! We still have to eat!”

She tossed a sentence behind her and bolted.

“What happened to Lina-chan all of a sudden?”
He Qin blinked in confusion.

“No idea~”

The girl was still smiling — that mischievous, cat-like smile of someone who just pulled a successful prank.

Then she casually leaned against He Qin’s shoulder, grinning:

“Maybe just a little kid’s sudden mood swing?”

“I see.”

He Qin nodded. Since she couldn’t figure it out, she just decided to believe Jiang Cha.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria too — don’t want Lina running off too far.”

“Sure~”