After three years of training, the magic power of the third-year witches was much stronger than that of the first-years, with most of them easily exceeding 50 mana. The opportunity to see their exact magic power and understand how far they were from advancing to the level of a junior witch was an irresistible temptation.
After all, they didn't have regular access to a Witch's Book to test their magic power, so Lyra's '{Character Card}' was a rare opportunity.
Although the third-year witches could afford to pay the 50 mana upfront, they still opted for the five-installment plan, as they had magic lessons that day and needed to conserve their reserves.
By the end of her sales spree, thirty-one third-grade witches had bought cards, raising Lyra's magic power reserves to 237 mana.
"What a shame the second, fourth, and fifth graders aren't coming to the castle today!" Lyra said with a tinge of regret. But she was confident the news of her '{Character Card}' would spread, and soon witches from other grades would come looking for her.
Despite being the last to leave the dormitory, Lyra was the first to arrive at the alchemy classroom in the west tower. The rush to sell her cards had left her drenched in sweat, her hair clinging to her face in damp strands, but the effort had been more than worth it.
She quickly did a mental calculation. At midnight the night before, her magic reserves were at 143 mana, meaning she would naturally recover 143 mana today. And after midnight tonight, the first installment payments from the little witches would arrive.
Amy and Alba would contribute 2 mana each, and the 53 witches from the third and first grades would add 11 mana each, totaling 587 mana. Along with the 143 mana she would recover naturally, she'd not only fully restore her magic power but would even have extra to store in the purple gem of her 'Book of Cards'.
'This is how a card witch like me recovers magic power! Much faster than gnawing on breadfruit!' she thought with satisfaction.
Lyra quickly dashed to the bathroom to wash her face, returning to the classroom refreshed.
Amisha, dressed in her flowing black witch robe, entered the room and immediately noticed the little witches with dim energy halos, munching on breadfruit to replenish their magic power. She smiled to herself, deeply comforted. She had no idea what had happened on the way to class and simply assumed they had spent the morning practicing magic infection.
'How much magic practice did it take to drain this much power?' she wondered.
Concerned for their focus, she reminded them, "Everyone, be careful not to overdo it with practice before class. Make sure you stay in good condition!"
As soon as she spoke, Lyra knew that this Amisha wasn't the same as the one who had answered her questions the night before. There were likely many versions of Ms. Amisha, each with her own unique duties.
'How many Amishas are there?' Lyra wondered silently.
"Alright!" Amisha clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Today, we'll be moving to the penultimate step in creating your Witch's Book; magical infection!"
She gestured for the students to take out the books they had crafted the previous day. "You'll need to use the magic you've learned to infect your books. In the energy field of vision, your book should have a glowing energy sheen that matches the color of your energy halo."
"These books are made from common materials, which makes them easy to infect. If you use magic that can turn the color-developing paper green, it should take about an hour to complete the infection process. Be gentle though; too much force can damage the book."
Amisha continued, "You need to infect every part of the book: the cover, the inner pages, and even the corners. Only when your magic has fully infused the book will it truly belong to you, and the Witch's Book will accept it. Now, let's get started! Feel free to ask if you have any questions."
With that, the little witches eagerly began their work, ready to take the next step toward completing their very own Witch's Books.
The little witches, having practiced the magic over the past few days, wasted no time when Ms. Amisha gave the signal. The spell for magical infection, which turned the developing paper green, could last for over ten minutes without consuming even a single point of mana. Even after spending a lot of their magic power on Lyra's cards earlier that morning, they still had enough to perform the task.
By the time the break ended and with ten minutes left in class, the last little witch successfully completed the magical infection of her book.
Lyra held her own animal skin book, which had only three inner pages. The texture felt unchanged from before, yet there was a new sense of intimacy, an invisible connection. Under the energy vision, the book emitted a soft, colorful light that matched her energy halo perfectly.
Following Ms. Amisha's guidance, the witches used 'witch book magic', carefully placing their books into the shadow of the 'Witch's Book'. As soon as the book touched the shadow, it solidified and fell into their hands.
"The Witch's Book is now ready," Ms. Amisha announced. "Now, let's practice retrieving and storing your Witch's Book. Follow my instructions…"
The little witches quickly realized that 'witch book magic' became the key to summoning and storing their Witch's Book. With a simple spell, the book appeared. Casting it again returned the book back into their bodies.
The magic consumption felt similar to the effort needed for the magical infection spell used earlier.
However, the witches were still puzzled about the Witch's Book's purpose and its unique features. One of them voiced the question on everyone's mind, and Ms. Amisha provided further explanation.
"Each page in your Witch's Book can hold an entire book," she explained. "The more powerful your 'witch book magic' becomes, the more books you can store. At the novice level, you can add up to 100 pages, meaning your Witch's Book can hold the contents of 100 books."
Ms. Amisha continued, "At the primary level, you'll be able to store 1,000 books. At the intermediate level, 10,000. And the capacity continues to grow as your magic progresses."
"You can replace the cover and inner pages anytime, following the same infection process I taught you. However, if you remove the original pages, they'll be destroyed. But don't worryb the book's contents will remain stored in the Witch's Book's virtual shadow and will reappear when you add new blank pages."
"Only the witch who owns the book can open it and see its contents. If anyone tries to open it by force, the Witch's Book will self-destruct."
Ms. Amisha then cautioned, "The more books you store, the more magic it will consume each time you summon or return the Witch's Book. That's why many witches prefer to keep their books outside when not in use, though this increases the risk of losing them."
"But," she reassured them, "if your Witch's Book ever gets lost, don't panic. You can use 'witch book magic' to track it down and call it back. And if the physical book is damaged, you can create a new one, as its contents are saved in the shadow. Even if you don't have new paper, you can still craft a new Witch's Book with the materials I taught you to use yesterday."
Ms. Amisha concluded, "The techniques for using your Witch's Book and upgrading 'witch book magic' are all detailed in the book 'Lifelong Learning Companion: Witch Book'. Study it carefully! That concludes the morning class. Dismissed!"
She finished speaking just as the clock struck twelve, leaving the little witches stunned by the torrent of new information.
Despite the clear instructions, many of the witches were still confused. The rough, handmade bark, slate, and animal skin books they held seemed worlds away from the grand Witch's Book that the dean had described, one capable of storing thousands of books.