Ch. 133 - A Productive Afternoon (Part One)

It was late.

Ji Niang glanced at the clock, realizing we were well past the end of normal school hours.

“Yuehan, do you pull all-nighters often?”

“Huh? Me?” I was caught off guard. I hesitated before giving her a half-truth. “I... I guess I’m okay with it.” I knew witches were basically nocturnal creatures, but I’d always been a stickler for a regular sleep schedule.

“Today, I’m going to teach you a different lesson: sometimes, the best way to learn is to know when to quit. We’re done for the day.”

Ji Niang began organizing the experimental logs and successful analyses we had recorded in chunks throughout the afternoon. The triumphant grin on her face said it all—the session had been a goldmine.

“Oh, okay. So... are we heading out? What about tomorrow?”

“I have a class tomorrow. You can show up if you want, or stay home. If you do come by, keep practicing today’s tests until you’ve mastered the mechanics.”

“Got it, Ma'am,” I said, nodding firmly.

“Wait, let’s register your biometrics before you go. That way you won’t be locked out tomorrow if I’m not here.”

After a few minutes of technical setup, I said my goodbyes. It was incredibly late, and I hadn't eaten a thing. I figured by the time I got back to the dorm, the rest of the girls would already be passed out.

Once I hit the ground floor, I pulled out the flying broom Ji Niang had given me. I had to admit, having this thing was a total game-changer.

It was way faster than catching a ride.

I checked my phone while I walked. My inbox was flooded with DMs from my classmates—some asking for info, others just trying to make small talk and be friends.

I’d been so busy all afternoon that I hadn't replied to a single one. I just hoped they didn't think I was being stuck-up.

Even the Section 14 group chat was sitting at 99+ notifications, as usual. I liked to lurk in there sometimes; watching them banter was always entertaining.

Looking back on the day, I had two major takeaways.

First, I had managed to rack up 32 mana cores. That meant I had fired off nearly 32 Fireballs today. Usually, it takes a full day for a core to recharge, and I hadn't mastered any shortcuts for that yet.

According to Ji Niang, focusing on increasing the number of cores was better than worrying about the recharge rate anyway. If my mental stamina hadn't been so tapped out, I probably could have scammed a few more cores out of the session.

I’d even had to squeeze in some meditation just to keep my head from spinning, which actually seemed to give my mental power a slight boost.

The second takeaway was the Fireball Spell Book itself.

I had already completely trashed one; the one currently inside me was a fresh replacement.

The first one died a noble death in the name of "modding." It was a wild process—tweaking the internal ritual produced results so unpredictable that even Ji Niang couldn't see them coming.

The breaking point happened when I accidentally messed with the limiter. The Spell Book started gorging itself on mana, and the fireball grew until it was as tall as I was!

Ji Niang managed to shut it down before things got ugly, but the forced interruption fried the internal ritual. The book was a total wreck.

Ji Niang didn't let it go to waste, though. Since it was already broken, she had me dismantle it entirely so I could get a better feel for the internal guts. She even turned it into a labeled display model.

By the time we finished, I had mastered several variations of the spell, like Twin-Fireballs and Multi-Shot. If I kept modding it at this rate, I was going to break the very concept of a Fireball.

I’d even learned how to throttle the output so it wouldn't drain an entire core in one go.

I also realized that the conversion rate from raw mana to fire was embarrassingly low. If a single core’s worth of energy was converted with 100% efficiency, a single Fireball would probably level the entire building.

That was an exaggeration, obviously—the place was reinforced with high-level magic. Even my modded Fireballs wouldn't bring the roof down. Probably.

I cruised through the night sky on my broom, the chilly wind whipping past as the world below faded into darkness. I spent the flight messing around with a tiny fireball in the palm of my hand.

I’d managed to completely stabilize the elemental output, meaning it wasn't even hot anymore.

I could actually pinch it between my fingers, despite it not having a physical body. It felt like holding a firework that could go off at any second—perfectly contained, but packed with punch.

Thanks to the broom, the long trek from the central teaching block to the dorms was a breeze. Traveling in a straight line cuts the commute down to almost nothing.

"I'm ho—wait, what?"

The second I stepped inside the villa, a familiar scent hit me.

Incense.

I walked into the living room and found three figures sitting in a row, each perched on a small cushion. A medium-sized burner sat nearby, sending thin trails of fragrant smoke into the air.

Were they actually meditating? That was my first thought. I swallowed my greeting; I knew how much it sucked to be jolted out of a deep trance.

But it had only been half a day. Why the sudden spiritual retreat? I was pretty sure meditation wasn't even on the syllabus for today. And why was Hong Chenyi joining in?

What was this, a synchronized zen session?

If I remembered correctly, this was their first time ever touching Witch Meditation. Did they really think they could pull it off in one afternoon?

I flicked on my Psi-vision to check their progress. I couldn't see any sign of the "mental void" or the meditative space manifesting around them, which meant they hadn't actually crossed the threshold yet.

Still, they looked so focused—or at least, they were trying so hard—that I didn't have the heart to interrupt.

I quietly eased myself onto the couch, wondering why on earth they were sitting on the hard floor when there was a perfectly good couch right there.

Just as I got settled, I caught Hong Chenyi sneaking a peek with one eye. Clearly, she was reaching her limit. The incense in the burner had finally flickered out, and by the looks of it, they’d been at this for a long, long time.

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