"Dean! I've completed the initial infusion!" Lyra called excitedly, her eyes bright with accomplishment.
After a full week of cooking magic classes, Lyra had finally managed to infuse her magic into every item in her mobile kitchen by the end of the Friday afternoon class. Pots, pans, stoves; everything carried a faint but unmistakable glow of magic.
Meanwhile, the other witches were still working on perfecting their white bread recipes. Even Amy, who was usually ahead of the class, had only managed to infuse a small portion of her kitchen.
Ms. Amisha approached, her gaze sweeping over the array of kitchen tools. She gave a slight nod of approval as she observed the faint shimmer of magic enveloping the utensils. "Very good. We can move on to the next step."
Lyra's heart swelled with pride, though she knew this was just the beginning.
Amisha continued, "Now, take your wand and stand where you have a clear view of the entire workspace. You're going to use magic to direct your tools, just as if you were cooking yourself. Start simple, brown bread will do for now. Use magic to guide each item through the steps. No need to rush. Command the tools one at a time. Visualize everything in your mind, and your instructions must be clear; hesitation will disrupt the flow."
Lyra nodded, gripping her wand tightly. "Got it, Dean."
"Remember," Amisha added, "this part has no shortcuts. It's all about practice. The more you practice, the smoother your magic will become."
Drawing on her experience with the Clear Spring Technique from the previous night, Lyra felt a bit more confident. Her success with that spell had taught her the importance of giving precise, deliberate instructions. But this was different. Moving a bag of flour with magic was a far cry from summoning water.
She also recalled Senior Lilith's previous demonstration. Lilith had made it look easy, but Lyra knew better now, everything looked simple until you tried it yourself.
Taking a few steps back, she locked her gaze on the flour bag sitting on the edge of the table. "Okay, let's do this," she whispered.
With a slight pulse of magic, she directed the flour bag to lift. The bag wobbled awkwardly before jerking into the air like a drunken marionette. It swayed, unsteady, for barely two seconds before slamming back onto the table with a heavy 'thud'.
Lyra sighed deeply. "Well… that could've gone worse."
At least the bag was tied shut; thankfully, no flour explosion… yet.
Determined not to give up, Lyra tried again. This time, the bag floated halfway to the chopping board before teetering dangerously. With a sharp breath, she steadied her magic just enough to guide it the rest of the way. The bag plopped onto the board with an unceremonious thump.
"Finally." Lyra wiped her brow. It was a small victory, but she'd take it.
She wanted to move on, but anxiety gnawed at the edges of her confidence. 'What if I can't control the spoon properly?' she thought, imagining the chaos of flour spraying everywhere. Cleaning it all up would take hours, and Amisha wasn't likely to keep helping with every mess outside of class.
"I'll just keep practicing with the flour bag for now," she muttered, determined not to rush things.
For the next half-hour, Lyra focused solely on lifting and moving the bag from one spot to another. Back and forth it went, sometimes tilting, sometimes falling, but she persisted. Each time it landed safely where she wanted, she allowed herself a small moment of satisfaction. Eventually, the bag moved smoothly, as if it had finally accepted her magic's guidance.
By the time she mastered holding it steady, half the class had already slipped by.
"Okay," she whispered to herself. "Time for the next challenge."
She took a deep breath, mobilized her magic, and carefully tugged at the knot securing the flour bag shut. For a moment, it seemed like everything was under control, until the knot slipped loose too quickly.
In an instant, the bag flipped open, and a cloud of white powder exploded into the air like a snowstorm.
Lyra froze in horror as the fine dust settled over the table, the floor, and worst of all, her shoes.
Amisha, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. With a flick of her wrist, she cast a cleaning spell, and the flour vanished as if it had never been there.
"Thank you," Lyra mumbled, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
Amisha gave her a small, amused smile. "That's why we practice, Lyra."
For the next two hours, Lyra struggled through every step, stumbling and correcting herself over and over again. By the time class ended, she hadn't even managed to scoop out the flour without some minor disaster.
As the other witches packed up their things, Amy sauntered over, eyeing the kitchen setup with curiosity. "Is it really that hard?" she asked, tilting her head. "What's it feel like, using magic to cook?"
Lyra slumped onto a stool with a heavy sigh. "It's ridiculously hard," she admitted. "This is the first time I've felt like my hands are way more useful than magic."
Amy chuckled. "So magic isn't always as easy as it looks, huh?"
"Definitely not," Lyra groaned. "Learning cooking magic is way harder than just cooking by hand. I don't know how long it's going to take before I can cook a meal using only magic, let alone something as fancy as a feast."
She imagined Shana's mother, gracefully summoning ingredients and stirring pots with nothing but a flick of her wand, all while tending to other tasks. The thought made Lyra feel even more inadequate.
"I can't even open a bag of flour properly," she muttered. "How am I supposed to make an entire dinner like that?"
Amy gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Well, at least here, the dean can help clean up your messes. If you try practicing on your own, you'll probably spend more time cleaning than cooking."
Lyra sighed. "Exactly. That's why I'm going to stick to practicing during class... I don't want to spend all night scraping flour off the walls."
Amy grinned. "Good plan. No one wants to fight a flour explosion alone."
As the classroom emptied, Lyra glanced back at her mobile kitchen. 'One small step at a time,' she told herself. Mastering cooking magic wasn't going to happen overnight, but she wasn't one to quit. She just needed to keep practicing and maybe buy a little more patience along the way.
For now, she could only wait for the next cooking magic class.
The slow progress in cooking magic didn't dampen the little witches' excitement for the weekend. As Friday's class came to a close, the room buzzed with cheers and laughter, their exhaustion melting away at the thought of two whole days without classes.
Everyone could feel how heavy the week had been; nonstop classes, endless assignments, and so many papers they'd lost count. The five-day grind left them with barely enough time to do anything beyond study and sleep.
Now, with the weekend finally within reach, those precious two days of freedom felt like a treasure.
"Finally, some time to work on my witch book!" one witch cried, stretching her arms in relief.
"I'm not doing 'anything'," another groaned. "That mountain's going to kill me if I climb it one more time."
"I'm going to find the best ingredients and cook myself a feast," another witch declared, her voice full of determination. "If I don't treat myself, I might not survive another week."
"Forget that, I'm just going to go back to the dorm and 'lie down' until Monday!"
"Let's go!" a voice shouted, and in an instant, the witches scattered, racing off toward the castle, the dorms, or the gardens; each with their own idea of what weekend bliss looked like.
Lyra stood quietly for a moment, watching them with a small smile. For a second, the sight took her back to her days on Blue Star. The lively chatter, the excitement for a hard-earned weekend, it was all so familiar.
Even she couldn't resist the excitement. "Two whole days..." she whispered to herself, a hint of joy in her voice.
"Lyra!" Vasida called, jogging over to her, her hair still a bit wild from class. "So, what's your plan for the weekend?"
Lyra thought for a moment, her smile widening as she listed everything she wanted to do. "I'll finish the paper from today's class, practice the Clear Spring Technique, and read 'What Is Magic?', 'A History of Witches', 'The Changes of Time in the Continent of Valen', and 'The Dingdong of the Qingquan'. If I have time, I might dive into 'Ignition, Lighting, and Watermaking'."
Vasida stared at her, eyes wide. "That's... ambitious."
"Oh, and don't forget!" Lyra added brightly, "Come over to my dorm on Sunday night for dinner. I made a mess with magic last time, so no spells this week; I'll cook something special from my past life instead."
Sylph, who had wandered over just in time to catch the conversation, gave Lyra a playful nudge. "Real food this time? No magic mishaps?"
Lyra laughed. "Promise! No breadfruit cakes. Just good, home-cooked food."
"Deal!" Vasida grinned. "We'll be there!"
As they chatted, Vasida and Sylph started talking excitedly about their own plans.
"We need to make our new witch books this weekend!" Vasida said, her voice full of resolve. "We'll meet at 6:30 sharp in the alchemy classroom. No excuses!"
"Agreed," Sylph nodded. "Once we've made the new books, I'm not carrying that old tattered thing around anymore."
Lyra gave them a wave as they walked off together, already making plans for the morning. Feeling motivated, she hurried back to her dorm to get a head start on her paper.
The subject was as daunting as the title of the book: 'The Changes of Time in the Continent of Valen'. It covered the history of Valen from the ancient era, through the era of the gods, and into the modern era of magic.
"Better start now if I want this weekend to be mine," Lyra muttered, setting her parchment in place and dipping her quill in ink.
The lesson today had covered the earliest part of Valen's history; the 'Ancient Era'.
Back then, the continent had been a harsh, untamed wilderness. Humanity was the only intelligent race, living in small, scattered tribes, struggling to survive. There were no angels, demons, or dragons yet, and the world was still ruled by the plants and animals that roamed freely.
In those early days, witches weren't feared or misunderstood. They were revered as shamans, using their abilities to protect their tribes from wild creatures and natural disasters. They held a place of honor in the community.
Lyra's quill scratched against the parchment as she wrote down her thoughts. 'When did things change?' she wondered. 'How did witches fall from being respected to being feared and hated?'
She recalled the questions the class had raised earlier and quickly jotted them down, piecing together the framework for her paper.
By the time she set her quill aside, the paper was complete. With a satisfied sigh, she leaned back in her chair. Now, with the assignment out of the way, the weekend was truly hers.
A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Time to read," she whispered to herself.
Feeling curious about the rest of Valen's history, Lyra flipped ahead in 'The Changes of Time in the Continent of Valen'.
The 'Ancient Era' only took up a few pages, barely three chapters. She skimmed through it quickly. Nothing in it surprised her much; it felt eerily similar to the ancient times on Blue Star. Small communities. Constant struggle. Survival above all else.
But the next section was where things got interesting. The book described the transition from the 'Ancient Era' into the 'Era of God's Descent'.
Lyra's eyes sparkled with excitement as she read.
This was when the world truly began to change. Various powerful beings: angels, demons, dragons, and other magical creatures, began to appear across the continent. It was an age of both wonder and chaos, as these new races altered the balance of power and reshaped the land with their arrival.
"So this is where it all began," Lyra whispered, deeply engrossed.
She couldn't help but feel curious; what had triggered the descent of these beings? And how had their arrival affected humanity, especially the witches?
'The Era of God's Descent' was just the beginning of a long and complicated history, but Lyra already knew she was hooked. There was so much more to learn, and the thought made her heart race with excitement.
She glanced at the other books on her desk, her excitement building. Two days stretched out before her, filled with nothing but possibilities.
"Books, magic, and dinner with friends," Lyra whispered to herself with a smile. "This weekend is going to be perfect."