Morning Chat

The Witch Invitational actually has replays. For 15 credits, you can get a one-way TV frequency code; once you input it into your remote, you can watch the customized replay.

Come to think of it, Du Ningzhuang seems to come from a well-off family, she even has a mobile phone...

The witches in the shop immediately gathered the remaining snacks and drinks, huddled onto the large sofa, and squeezed in together. Surrounded by the chirping and fluttering of girls, Jiang Han felt incredibly happy and pampered—it was just a pity that her "tools of the trade" had been confiscated, and she had become the victim, having her cheeks pinched from left and right.

Squeezed into the large sofa watching the Witch Invitational, the witches instantly transformed into professional commentators, explaining the match to the bewildered Jiang Han and Chen Ligu.

Some believe that the magical profession of "Bullet Screen Master" only emerged after the rise of the live-streaming industry.

But in fact! Even hundreds of years ago, both the East and the West had people who loved to point fingers and dictate the course of events.

For example, those who wished they could personally direct the French Revolution... though one must mention the French Bullet Screen Masters; they weren't just good at snide, sarcastic remarks, they were truly passionate.

If you said, "If you're so good, you do it, don't just talk trash," they would actually do it.

Unfortunately, the French Bullet Screen Masters only proved one thing: "I did it, but I really am incompetent," leading to their tragic and heroic end at the guillotine...

Listening to these witches critique the moves of the Witch Invitational contestants, Jiang Han had the illusion that she might be working alongside a group of Archwitches among Archwitches. Especially Chu Yujun, who talked as if she were the real deal:

"Yu Sitong's use of Lesser Steel Guard was so strange. This spell... I can't imagine why Teacher Yu likes to carry it so much. Aside from hunting or expeditions to other worlds, is there any other place where this spell is useful? Immunizing against non-magical physical weapons sounds scary, but in reality, the whole world is full of witches. Who is this spell supposed to scare?"

Although it was a bit of an exaggeration, Jiang Han felt that what Chu Yujun said made some sense.

Because after she looked up the Level 5 spell "Lesser Steel Guard," she also found it a bit ridiculous:

It immunizes against non-magical physical weapons, but everyone in this world is a witch. Unless a witch prepares gunpowder weapons, this targeted spell is useless.

Finally, as she kept talking, Chu Yujun promoted a rare spell:

"I suggest that contestants with sufficient mana prepare a Level 5 Abjuration spell, Anti-Curse Field. It has high magic resistance and can tank various Evocation School moves. Most importantly, it consumes mana but can be cast instantly. As long as your reaction is fast, it's impossible to be killed in one hit..."

Anti-Curse Field... In terms of witch status, I'm at least a dozen years behind them... Jiang Han searched her memory, but had no impression of this spell.

No matter how hard she tried to memorize, she had only managed to learn the more common spells.

She wasn't very familiar with spells born specifically for duels... And since there was no Baidu or Google yet, amidst her swirling thoughts, Jiang Han took another sip of her drink and pricked up her ears to listen to the witches' conversation.

It seemed that "cloud-watching" a match was an irresistible pleasure. Even Du Ningzhuang put down her book and said inquisitively:

"But... the cost of Anti-Curse Field itself is very high. To cast it instantly requires at least triple the mana cost."

Chu Yujun nodded in agreement: "Yes. But there are places where you shouldn't cut corners. In a tournament of this level, you must reserve enough mana to instantly cast powerful defensive magic."

"Speaking of which, how much mana do you all have?" Tang Wen asked a question that Jiang Han was very interested in.

Good question, I also want to know the mana levels of these "cloud-witches"! Jiang Han instantly perked up.

Chu Yujun fell into an eerie silence, her hand cupping her chin.

Du Ningzhuang turned her head away nervously, saying nothing.

Chen Ligu looked here, then at Jiang Han, and finally her gaze rested on Tang Wen, the culprit who had created the silence.

Seeing everyone fall silent, Miss Tang Wen was a bit confused—what's going on? Why does everyone go silent whenever mana is mentioned... Miss Jiang Han looks like she doesn't want to talk to me, Miss Du Ningzhuang looks very nervous, and Miss Chu Yujun seems very reluctant to discuss this matter... Uh, Miss Chen Ligu probably hasn't measured her mana yet, right?

The one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it! Tang Wen sat up straight and decided to start with herself, saying candidly:

"My mana is 5400 Coulomb."

After she said it, she noticed that everyone's expressions were a bit heavy, so she added in a low voice: "It's not bad, that was from the physical exam last month..."

What a coincidence... I also had a physical exam last month, and the final result was nearly 19,000... How should I say it without hurting Miss Tang Wen's feelings... Jiang Han remained silent. Mana levels are a bit like college entrance exam scores; if they are too high, it's easy to make friends feel inferior. Although she hadn't known Tang Wen for long, the fact that she had accompanied her to the poetry collection to buy all the potion materials was enough for her to consider her a friend.

The underage Miss Chen Ligu was silent for a moment, then cleared her throat and said:

"About, uh, about 8100."

Jiang Han saw that the girl wasn't looking at anyone and was blushing a bit, so she guessed that her mana was likely much higher than the 8100 she reported... If she were lying about a higher number, she would feel guilty, but Chen Ligu sounded apologetic, fearing she had significantly understated it.

Probably afraid of making Miss Tang Wen feel inferior?

"That's nearly 3000 higher than me, that's amazing." Miss Tang Wen smiled like a child.

"I, I think it's 11,000..." Du Ningzhuang's voice revealed obvious guilt. After saying that, she secretly glanced at Tang Wen and added: "It might also be only 9000, I remembered wrong."

I feel like I've found Miss Tang Wen's inferiority threshold... Below 10,000, she thinks "they are much better than me," and above 10,000, she thinks "I'm inferior and jealous"... Jiang Han had observed Miss Tang Wen's expressions from start to finish and felt she had found the rhythm.

"I think I'm also 9000," Chu Yujun said in an uncertain tone.

These three people are too hypocritical. Although she couldn't sense the exact values with her mana perception, Jiang Han could feel from her mana radar that the numbers these three reported were likely much lower than their true mana levels, especially Chu Yujun, who was at least three times stronger than her mentor, Cheng Yu...

It's really too hypocritical... Jiang Han said sincerely:

"What a coincidence, I'm also 9000."

Tang Wen looked envious: "That's amazing. I don't know how long it will take for my family to evolve such high mana. By the way, since all three of you are over 9000, why don't you sign up for the Junior Witch Tournament together? If you win the championship, you can even get a free rare spell!"

Jiang Han turned her head to look at the other two "9000" mana witches, her expression strange.

That Junior Witch Tournament... she remembered that the average mana for contestants was between 8000 and 10,000...

A witch's mana isn't a simple "1+1=2" addition. It's not that three witches with 10,000 Coulomb of mana equal one Archwitch with 30,000 Coulomb. That's not how it works.

12,000 Coulomb is a threshold. For example, a witch with 12,000 Coulomb has a mana value of 4,000, meaning 3 Coulomb = 1 mana point. But a witch with 20,000 Coulomb has a mana value of 4,000 + 4,000, totaling 8,000, because after exceeding 12,000 Coulomb, the conversion of additional mana becomes 2 Coulomb = 1 mana point, and after even more Coulomb, there is a 1=1 conversion rate...

In other words, the more mana you have, the higher your "quality," "recovery speed," and "conversion rate" become. There is no such thing as "this witch has 200 pure mana and can kill a witch with 2000 mana." An Archwitch is powerful precisely because the increase in their mana is comprehensive.

In other words, three witches with 10,000 mana would definitely be slaughtered by a single hand of an Archwitch with 30,000 mana. Once she puts up an eighth or ninth-tier super-thick shield, low-mana witches would only be able to break through her defenses by using Dispel Magic or its variants.

Jiang Han did not know the true mana levels of Chu Yujun and Du Ningzhuang, but she could feel that they were at least 10,000 and up. If the three of them teamed up to play in the beginner league... wouldn't that be like slaughtering league contestants like pigs? Although they didn't know many spells, having such a high amount of mana meant they could just blindly throw fireballs to end the battle.

"We'll see."

"Another day."

Both high-mana witches waved their hands, brushing the matter aside, and Jiang Han followed suit with a laugh: "Next time."

This triple-threat of excuses made Tang Wen frown in suspicion:

"That's true, you all still have work and cram school to attend, unlike an idle adult like me."