The Witch Invitational really did have replays. You could call a number and pay 15 yuan to get a one-way TV frequency number. Enter it with the remote, and you could watch the replay you wanted.
Come to think of it, Du Ningzhuang seemed to come from a well-off family. She even had a cellphone...
The witches in the shop immediately gathered up the remaining snacks and drinks and carried them over to the long sofa, then squeezed together. Surrounded by all these lovely witches, Jiang Han was practically in heaven, enjoying every moment—if only her tools of the trade hadn't been confiscated, leaving her the victim instead. They'd pinched her cheeks several times from both sides.
Packed together on the long sofa, watching the Witch Invitational, the witches transformed into professional commentators and started explaining things to the bewildered Jiang Han and Chen Ligu.
Some people thought the wondrous profession of Bullet Screen Master had only emerged with the rise of livestreaming.
But in fact! Even hundreds of years ago, people in both the East and West had already been offering their opinions on how the world should be run.
Take the people who could hardly wait to personally direct the French Revolution, for example... Which brings us to the French Bullet Screen Masters. They really weren't just good at making snide, passive-aggressive remarks. They were genuinely passionate.
You say, "If you think you can do better, then get up there and do it. Don't just talk big." So I'll really go and do it.
Unfortunately, the French Bullet Screen Masters only proved one thing: "I went and did it, but I really couldn't." They went to the guillotine in a truly tragic, heroic spectacle...
Listening to the witches critique the contestants' moves in the Witch Invitational, Jiang Han started to feel as if she were working alongside a group of Archwitches among Archwitches. Chu Yujun especially sounded as if she knew what she was talking about:
"Yu Sitong's Lesser Steel Guard was such a weird choice. This spell... I can't figure out why Teacher Yu likes to bring it along so much. Other than hunting or expeditions to other worlds, is there anywhere else in the world where this spell is useful? Immunity to nonmagical physical weapons sounds scary, but practically every person in the world is a witch. Who's she trying to scare with this spell?"
Chu Yujun was exaggerating a little, but Jiang Han felt she still had a point.
After she'd looked into the fifth-level spell Lesser Steel Guard, Jiang Han had found it a little ridiculous too:
It granted immunity to nonmagical physical weapons, but practically everyone in this world was a witch. Unless a witch brought firearms, this specialized spell wouldn't be of any use.
As Chu Yujun went on, she ended up recommending a rare spell:
"I recommend that contestants with plenty of magic prepare the fifth-level abjuration spell Anti-Curse Field. It gives you high magic resistance, lets you tank all kinds of Evocation School spells, and best of all, you can cast it instantly at the cost of extra mana. As long as you react quickly, you can't be taken out in one hit..."
Anti-Curse Field... As a witch, I'm at least a decade behind them... Jiang Han searched her memories, but couldn't recall anything about the spell.
No matter how hard she tried, she'd only memorized the more common spells.
She didn't know much about spells like this, which had been created specifically for duels... And there wasn't even Baidu or Google yet. Lost in thought, Jiang Han took another sip of wine and pricked up her ears to listen to the witches' conversation.
Apparently, the online tournament had an irresistible charm. Even Du Ningzhuang put down her book and asked curiously,
"But... Anti-Curse Field is expensive to begin with. Casting it instantly costs at least three times as much mana."
Chu Yujun nodded in agreement.
"That's true. But you shouldn't skimp where it counts. At a tournament like the Invitational, you have to save enough mana to cast a powerful defensive spell instantly."
"By the way, how much mana do you all have?" Tang Wen asked, voicing a question Jiang Han was very interested in.
Good question. I want to know how much mana the online witches have too! Jiang Han immediately perked up.
Chu Yujun fell into an oddly awkward silence, her hand resting beneath her chin.
Du Ningzhuang turned away, looking very nervous, and said nothing.
Chen Ligu looked from one person to another, then finally fixed her gaze on Tang Wen, the culprit who'd caused the silence.
Seeing everyone fall silent, Tang Wen looked a little confused. What was going on? Why had everyone gone quiet as soon as they started talking about mana...? Miss Jiang Han seemed to want nothing to do with her, Miss Du Ningzhuang looked nervous, and Miss Chu Yujun clearly didn't want to discuss the subject... Um, perhaps Miss Chen Ligu hadn't had her mana measured yet?
The one who'd tied the knot had to untie it! Tang Wen sat up straight and decided to start with herself. She spoke frankly:
"I have 5,400 Coulombs of mana."
Once she'd said it, she noticed that everyone looked rather solemn, so she added quietly, "It's not bad. I had a physical last month..."
What a coincidence... I had a physical last month too, and my result was almost 19,000... How can I say it without hurting Miss Tang Wen's feelings...? Jiang Han kept quiet. Mana was a little like exam scores. If yours was too high, it could make your friends feel inferior. She hadn't known Tang Wen for long, but Tang Wen had gone with her to the poetry collection shop and helped her buy all the potion ingredients. That was more than enough for Jiang Han to consider her a friend.
Underage Chen Ligu was silent for a moment, then cleared her throat and said,
"About... um, about 8,100."
Jiang Han noticed that the girl wasn't looking anyone in the eye and seemed a little embarrassed. She guessed Chen Ligu's mana was quite a bit higher than the 8,100 she'd reported... If she'd rounded up, she'd sound guilty, but Chen Ligu sounded more apologetic. She'd probably rounded down by quite a lot.
Maybe she was worried Miss Tang Wen would feel inferior?
"That's almost 3,000 more than me. You're amazing!" Tang Wen smiled like a child.
"I... think I have 11,000..." Du Ningzhuang's voice was full of guilt. After speaking, she glanced furtively at Tang Wen and added, "It might only be 9,000, though. I could be misremembering."
I think I've figured out where Miss Tang Wen's inferiority threshold is... Under 10,000, she thinks, "They're quite a bit stronger than me." Over 10,000, it's "I feel inferior, I'm jealous"... Jiang Han had watched Tang Wen's expression from beginning to end and thought she'd found the right rhythm.
"I think I have 9,000 too," Chu Yujun said uncertainly.
These three were so insincere. Jiang Han couldn't sense their exact values, but her magic radar told her that all three had reported numbers well below their actual mana levels. Chu Yujun in particular had at least three times as much mana as her mentor, Cheng Yu...
They were seriously so insincere... Jiang Han said earnestly,
"What a coincidence. I have 9,000 too."
Tang Wen looked a little envious. "That's amazing! I wonder how long it'll take for my family to develop that much mana. Oh, since all three of you have over 9,000, why not sign up for the Junior Witch Tournament together? If you win, you can get a rare spell for free!"
Jiang Han glanced at the other two witches with "9,000" mana, her expression peculiar.
That Junior Witch Tournament... She remembered that witches with an average mana level of 8,000 to 10,000 competed in it...
A witch's mana didn't work like simple addition, like "1 + 1 = 2." Three witches with 10,000 Coulombs each didn't add up to one Archwitch with 30,000 Coulombs. That wasn't how it worked.
12,000 Coulombs was a threshold. For example, a witch with 12,000 Coulombs had a mana value of 4,000, meaning that 3 Coulombs equaled 1 mana point. But a witch with 20,000 Coulombs had a mana value of 4,000 + 4,000, for a total of 8,000, because beyond 12,000 Coulombs, the conversion rate for extra mana changed to 2 Coulombs per mana point. At even higher levels, the conversion rate became 1 to 1...
In other words, the more mana a witch had, the higher her "quality," "recovery speed," and "conversion rate" became. There was no such thing as "this witch has 200 units of pure mana and can defeat a witch with 2,000 units of mana by punching above her weight." Archwitches were powerful because their mana increased across the board.
So three witches with 10,000 mana each would definitely be crushed by an Archwitch with 30,000 mana, even if she used only one hand. The Archwitch could put up an incredibly tough eighth- or ninth-level shield, and the low-mana witches would need Greater Dispel Magic or a variant spell to break through it.
Jiang Han didn't know how much mana Chu Yujun and Du Ningzhuang really had, but she could tell it was at least 10,000. If the three of them teamed up for the Junior Tournament... wouldn't they slaughter the league contestants like pigs? They might not know many spells, but with that much mana, they could win just by flinging fireballs around.
"Maybe another time."
"Let's do it some other day."
The two high-mana witches waved the idea away, and Jiang Han followed their lead with a vague laugh. "Maybe next time."
After hearing three refusals in a row, Tang Wen frowned, looking a little doubtful.
"Right, I guess you have work and cram school too. You're not like me, an adult with nothing to do."
Before you continue