Is It Weird for a Guy to Apply to a Witch School?

Chapter 245: Prototype Spells and Derivative Spells

I originally wanted to spend more time with Big Sis Bai, but Big Sis Bai also had her own things to do, and I was also sent a few private messages by Teacher Ji Niang.

So, in the end, I had to part with Big Sis Bai first.

After all, it was Big Sis Bai’s last year of formal study at the academy.

Although Big Sis Bai said something like there was no rush, and she could continue at the academy after graduation, you could still see that Big Sis Bai was very serious about it.

A research project, huh… I really don’t know what that is.

But compared to that, I was more concerned about what Teacher Ji Niang wanted to see me for.

Could the rewards be distributed so quickly?

This speed was a bit too fast.

“You’re here. Just in time. Have a seat,” Ji Niang said casually as she saw me push the door open and enter her office.

“Okay. Teacher Ji Niang, is there something you called me over for?”

I asked.

“Of course, it’s about further matters regarding the exchange competition. It wasn’t convenient to talk about it at the arena just now, but it’s a bit more convenient now.”

As Teacher Ji Niang spoke, she activated an isolation spell.

When Teacher Ji Niang made this move, it was highly likely that it was related to the so-called destiny script.

“Before we start the official topic, let’s chat about some other things. In the exchange competition, I seem to have seen you using a brand-new technique for Spellbooks. It has completely exceeded the scope of what a Spellbook can do. What are your thoughts on these techniques?”

“Th… thoughts?”

I asked in confusion, not knowing why Teacher Ji Niang was asking me this.

It couldn’t be that this also had to be compiled and published as a qualification, right?

It probably shouldn’t be.

“Just say whatever comes to mind. I see that you don’t have a systematic progression in this area. I’m just curious what you call this ability, how you think about it, and what you plan to do next?”

“Um… I was just thinking of modding Spellbooks to achieve more effects and be suitable for various environments… After all, although my Spellbooks look numerous, they are complicated, and in many situations, they don’t have much effect…”

“Go on, it’s fine. Just treat me as a listener and talk about your mental journey in completing them. I have to say, you’ve accomplished something amazing, but I need to guide you in the right direction and concept. Before that, I need to understand your thoughts.”

“This… is that so… then I’ll be direct. The few techniques I’ve mastered now are all general mods for basic Spellbooks. There are three in total. The first one I named Floating… it’s the kind of spell effect that follows and casts spells. The second one is Resonance, relying on the Spellbook to resonate with pure elements, and then relying on the element to resonate with things on the material level. The third one is Focus Point, a means of compressing Evocation Spells into a single point for a concentrated burst. It’s for armor penetration, and at that time, it was targeted at the dwarves’ Holy Relic shield.”

“You call these three techniques general techniques for basic Evocation Spells, right?”

Ji Niang asked again to confirm.

“Yes, theoretically, they should all be applicable, but I haven’t had time to try them all yet… and, these techniques can also be used in combination.”

“I’ve seen that. Floating and Focus Point, very creative ideas.”

Ji Niang gave a pertinent answer.

“Do you have anything else to add?”

“Um… I found that the Resonance method can play a big role in the Fire Rain Domain spell. I want to know, is it that the higher the consumption of a Spellbook, the higher its upper limit, and the more techniques like mine it can withstand?”

“It seems I’ve underestimated you. You’ve even studied the Fire Rain Domain? It seems your research is really jumping around. But I have to correct you on one point. Strictly speaking, it’s not that. It’s that the higher the level of the Spellbook, the higher its usage limit, not the higher the consumption, the higher the limit. People usually link the level of a Spellbook with its consumption limit, but this only applies to a part of them.”

Teacher Ji Niang shook her head as she continued.

“When Spellbooks were first created at the Witch Academy, there were no divisions like basic consumption, medium consumption, or super consumption. These divisions were simple classifications made by the first batch of students to facilitate distinguishing the value of Spellbooks and have been passed down to this day. Because they are convenient and easy to understand, and are applicable most of the time, they have been temporarily recognized by us. Because students are not transcendent, nor do they have your level of Spirit Vision, what truly distinguishes the strength of a Spellbook is its internal structure and runes, which they cannot distinguish very well.”

“You should have noticed, right? Some Spellbooks have low consumption but are extremely practical, while some have high consumption but can only do very ordinary things.”

“Yes, indeed,” I nodded.

For example, Illusory Clone and Teleportation Summoning Spell were indeed very powerful, but spells like Flesh and Blood Healing and Protection of the Elemental Spirit had mediocre effects but extremely high consumption.

Perhaps this high consumption could be said to have special effects, but no matter how special, it was essentially only an effect to a certain extent, while the consumption was real.

“It’s best if you can understand. If you want to understand the specific level classification of Spellbooks, you need to master Runology first, because only with knowledge in this area can you understand how to classify the levels of Spellbooks composed of ritual runes.”

“Anything else? If not, then it’s my teaching and popularization time for you.”

“Um… not for the time being.”

I shook my head and said.

In fact, I still had many small, trivial questions, but they were not very urgent.

I hadn’t even realized that I wouldn’t understand them until I encountered a specific situation.

But since Teacher Ji Niang was teaching me, it must be new knowledge that I hadn’t come into contact with before, so naturally, this was the priority.

Maybe after understanding this new knowledge, I could become self-taught?

Of course, it might also lead to new and more questions.

“Alright,” Ji Niang shook her head and continued.

“Regarding the topic we just talked about, the techniques you’ve mastered, whether it’s modding or others, at this moment, I need to add a concept for you, which is prototype spells and derivative spells. Most of the spells in the world can be divided into these two types of spells. It’s very easy to understand, right?”

“Yes, indeed,” I nodded.

“These two types of spells have further developed into prototype Spellbooks and derivative Spellbooks.”

“This is easy to understand. A prototype Spellbook is a Spellbook constructed using a prototype spell. The definition of a prototype spell is actually a bit confusing, meaning that a stable conclusion has not yet been reached, but the general meaning is the original prototype of a spell that was first created, such as Fireball.”

“And a derivative spell is a spell derived from a prototype spell. It is born from the prototype spell, but also comes from the prototype spell, and is independent of the prototype spell. For example, your Floating technique’s Fireball can be called a Floating Fireball spell, which is a derivative spell of Fireball. That’s why I said the technique you’ve mastered has already detached from the scope of the original Spellbook. If you master True Editing technology, then you can directly create a powerful derivative spell that is independent of Fireball.”

“I see…”

After Teacher Ji Niang’s easy-to-understand explanation, I also had a corresponding concept.

But then I thought of something else.

“Then the spells I modded before can all be made into derivative spells?”

“That’s not the right way to think about it. Your previous mods were just minor tweaks. Things like modding Fireball to improve magic power conversion efficiency, or multiple Fireballs, these are all techniques. This brings up another concept, extension spells. Extension spells originate from prototype spells, but are not independent of prototype spells. Therefore, extension spells are included within prototype spells.”

“So, extension spells are also prototype spells, right? It’s just a different expression of the prototype spell,” I said after my realization.

“Yes. For example, Fireball, Fire Blade Spell, and Explosion Flame Spell are all the same type of prototype spells. I remember you have Fireball and Explosion Flame Spell, right? Although they are made into two different Spellbooks with different consumptions, they are both prototype spells. That’s why I said the definition of a prototype spell is a bit vague. Just understand it.”

Teacher Ji Niang patiently explained with examples.

“So the techniques I figured out by accident just happened to touch upon the effect of spell derivation, right? It’s just that I haven’t mastered the ability of True Editing, so I can’t make the derived spells independent, right?”

“That’s the meaning,” Ji Niang nodded.

“Also, I have one more thing to say. You should have more than just these three techniques. You’re trying to figure out a fourth one, right?”

“Huh? You could tell…”

I scratched my head and asked with a smile.

“Didn’t you throw away all the Spellbooks at that time just to try and figure out that technique in that situation? Maybe ordinary students couldn’t tell, but the teachers were all watching. Do you have any ideas about that kind of extension spell?”

“Um… uh, no, I don’t have a clue yet, but I feel it involves runes… so I can’t be too hasty.”

“You really can’t be hasty. It doesn’t just involve runes. Let me ask you, for your fourth derivative, are you planning to try a domain? Was your inspiration from the Fire Rain Domain spell?”

“Huh? You could tell that too?”

I asked in surprise.

“Of course. Your thoughts are completely reflected in your actions. I have to discourage you in advance now. The concept of a domain is not something that a non-transcendent level can touch. Or rather, the source of your inspiration, the Fire Rain Domain, is not a real domain. If you keep trying, you’ll just be making a poor imitation, and it will give you a preconceived notion that will hinder your path after you step into the transcendent.”

“Huh? Is it that serious?”

I was frightened by Teacher Ji Niang’s words, but also shocked that the Fire Rain Domain spell was not a domain?

Then… the concept of a domain might be more advanced than I imagined.

But thinking about it, if something like raining fire is also a domain, then if I create countless fireballs and make it rain fireballs, wouldn’t I be able to call it a domain as well?

“The matter is a bit more serious than you expected. In short, put aside your exploration of domains for now. If you’re just exploring means similar to domains, or derivatives, I won’t object, because the existence of the Fire Rain Domain spell proves the feasibility of derivative domains. The Fire Rain Domain spell is also a derivative spell, a derivative inspired by the concept of a Fire Rain Spell’s domain.”

And it was precisely because domain spells were stuck between real domains and non-domains that they had great reference and exploration value for promotion to a real domain.

Therefore, the value of domain-type spells was extremely high.

This was what Lina meant when she said it was not a toy for newcomers to play with.

But Ji Niang did not intend to tell Xiao Han about this.

She felt that Xiao Han did not need such an revelation.

When she reached that level herself, she would also be able to figure it out.

Besides, if she told her now, wouldn’t it just be telling her about her own efforts?

This would only add pressure on the other party and have no effect, so she was too lazy to say it.

“Oh… got it.”

I nodded.

In short, she hoped I wouldn’t go astray in my own to ponder, but I could continue to explore.

It was like giving me a warning, but I would be responsible for the consequences.

“It’s good that you understand. Then, the next is the official topic. You know what that means, right?”

“Hmm… the script? Destiny?”

I looked at the destiny entwined around my body.

I seemed to have accidentally given one away to that little cat girl.

The sliver from Yao Beijuan was forcibly blocked by me.

And Aqier seemed to have obtained it himself, but the method of obtaining it was currently unknown…

“That’s right. This exchange competition is a competition to gather destiny, condense destiny, and fight for destiny. I’ve told you this before.”

“Yes.”

“You still ended up in this vortex, but your performance was very outstanding!”

“Yes, I promised you I would be ruthless,” I nodded.

Although during this process, I still softened and let go of many people, such as those cute cat girls, and the elves that one time, and many other opportunities for slaughter were just let go.

But overall, my behavior was still in line with the logic of being ruthless.

“You still remember. That’s right. You are indeed very powerful. In this exchange competition, every academy has newcomers, and the power that newcomers master is not very strong. Slaughter and crushing are inevitable situations. I am very satisfied with your performance,” Ji Niang said with a smile.

How was this just satisfaction?

This was simply too witch-like.

If this were to be viewed on the scale of the void, when Xiao Han entered the void, then the myriad races of the void would suffer, and the reputation of the witches in the void might sink even lower.

“Then… do you know what consequences you need to bear after being the first place?”

“Um… I don’t know… wait? First? Am I not second?”

“Tan Han was deeply affected after you left and didn’t rack up any more points. You can see that she’s still in second place if you open the live stream.”

“Deeply… deeply affected? Wait, what?”

I looked at Teacher Ji Niang in disbelief.

Was Tan Han the type to be deeply affected?

Or did Tan Han not take my words to heart?

She just became listless?

That can’t be, right?

She was a Child of Destiny, the protagonist of the script.

Even if she wasn’t the only one now, she shouldn’t have become so pathetic, right?

“Just kidding. That one blow from you completely defeated Tan Han. She thinks she’s not worthy of being the first, so you are the first. Do you understand?”

“Um… that Tan Han…”

“I don’t care what you think. They are probably still having a tea party right now. Maybe it’s already over, but the exchange competition isn’t over yet. In short, after everything is over, you will be the well-deserved first. Do you know what this means?”

“What?”

I asked subconsciously.

“Let me ask you again, what was this exchange competition for?”

“To fight for destiny,” I said, but then I quickly reacted.

“Wait, will the destiny be counted on my head then?”

“You got it right. The destiny will be counted on the first place, not only the individual first place, but also the academy first place. At that time, those academies were afraid that only the individual rankings would be dominated by Tan Han, so they created the academy rankings to divert the destiny. Even if Tan Han dominated alone, the academy rankings could still divert a part of the destiny.”

“But the first place for both individual and academy are both from the Witch Academy?”

I interjected.

“That’s right. The Witch Academy is the first in the academy rankings. That portion of destiny will be counted on the Witch Academy. As long as we operate it, we can count it on Tan Han. The problem now is that the individual destiny will be counted on you. You are a specific person, and it cannot be operated and transferred to another person. Do you understand? And the most important point is that you are not yet a Child of Destiny. Without a seed of destiny to carry the power of destiny, you will be the center of contention for all the Children of Destiny! You’ve gotten yourself into big trouble! Xiao Han.”

“This… I… what?”

At this moment, I was completely confused by this situation.

I was backstabbed by Tan Han like this, and then I encountered big trouble?

Sure enough, being with Tan Han is just constant trouble!

“But it’s fine. You are an official member of the Witch Academy. Be glad. Other academies won’t dare to do anything to you. So, from a huge disaster, you’ve now become a hot commodity that everyone wants to fight for. Do you understand?”

“I don’t understand,” I said, looking at Teacher Ji Niang in a daze.

“It’s fine if you don’t understand, but for now, you are at most just a carrier of destiny. You should know that your destiny has been taken away before, right? That cat girl, and that little ex-girlfriend of yours. But you are really heartless. She didn’t manage to get it and you pulled it back.”

“Um… so you all know about it…”

I scratched my head in embarrassment.

“Of course, we know, but it’s not your fault. In short, you need to know that although your own destiny cannot be operated and given to a specific person like the destiny counted on the academy, it can be taken away. Do you understand?”

“I know.”

“Since you know, then you should understand what you need to do next, right?”

“Um… what do I do?”

I stared at Teacher Ji Niang with wide, blank eyes.

In Ji Niang’s eyes, this gaze revealed a clear stupidity.

“It just depends on whether you want to continue to carry this big trouble or get rid of it. Destiny is not something that ordinary people can bear. Although it can bring many benefits, it also requires corresponding or even more costs.”

“Then how do I give it up?”

I pressed.

“There are many ways. Losing, compromising, giving up, failing… but these all require a form, a form similar to a competition or an exchange competition. You can think of this behavior as a ritual required to transfer destiny.”

“Um… I should hold a competition? That sounds like a lot of trouble!”

“Don’t be limited to these. But the scale must be large, the popularity must be high, the participation rate must be high. After these are met, as long as you fail, then all your previous efforts will be in vain, and your goal will be achieved. The destiny will be taken away, and the form of the competition is not limited.”

“No limits?”

I asked doubtfully.

“To give you a ridiculous example, we, the Witch Academy, will help you. We will hold a rock-paper-scissors exchange competition in your name. It will be very popular, have a great gimmick, many academies will participate, the influence will be wide, and many Children of Destiny will participate. Although they will subconsciously gather for the destiny, or their teachers will let them participate, in short, even a ridiculous form like a rock-paper-scissors competition is possible. So you know how ridiculous it can be, right?”

“Huh?”