Chapter 184: Shopkeeper Xia Li Out of Control
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 184: Shopkeeper Xia Li Out of Control
"Then you’d better go and have a serious talk with the shop that made it, Shopkeeper."
I stared at the Luck Thread in my hand. I had never feared a concrete, visualized object as much as I did in this moment—except, perhaps, for Spirit Vision.
It could manipulate a person's behavior and thoughts to such an extent. Was it all just to serve a Script?
If so, would this strand of Luck Thread on me become a tether that binds me at some critical moment? It was hard to imagine such a scene, even though these thin threads currently lay in my hand, quiet and harmless.
If I were to proactively tie it onto someone else, would it act as it had before?
No, Teacher Lina said before that others shouldn't be able to easily take this strand of Luck that belongs to me. It seems I need to find an opportunity to ask more about these Luck Threads.
"Xiao Han, there’s no loose thread in your hand. Are you pulling my leg?"
"Eh? Really? Maybe I saw wrong." I scratched my head and spoke with a hint of embarrassment. Although my behavior just now was indeed strange, Xia Li hadn't actually seen what I did. In the end, the matter was simply dropped.
"Um, Shopkeeper, about that proposal from just now... aren't you going to let me take a look?"
"I’d have to be out of my mind to let you see it. Who told you I had [Transcendent Knowledge] in my private stash? Was it Ying Shiqian or Tang Yihan?"
"Eh?"
I looked at Shopkeeper Xia Li, who was now acting like a protective hen guarding her chicks. She felt like a completely different person from a moment ago. Was her head clear now that the Luck Thread had been removed?
But thinking it through... was [Transcendent Knowledge] really that important? She didn't even want her precious Tan Han anymore?
"But didn't you just say you'd let me see it, Shopkeeper?"
I followed the flow of the previous conversation without mentioning who told me. After all, I had forgotten who said it anyway. Regardless, shifting the topic was the right move at this moment.
Furthermore, this sense of a cognitive gap left both me and Shopkeeper Xia Li in a very awkward position.
I had been inexplicably dragged here by Xia Li, and Xia Li had been so hoodwinked by me that she almost gave away her lifeblood. Now that the external interference was gone, Xia Li felt as if she had been possessed.
I could practically feel Shopkeeper Xia Li’s awkwardness and embarrassment. Even though she masked it well, some things simply couldn't be hidden. I could even see her toes curling so hard in her shoes that she could have excavated a whole apartment complex.
"I... I regret it. Xiao Han, I feel like I was played just now, like someone put a hex on me. Don't take what I said seriously. Really! Don't take it seriously. Whether Little Tan takes first place or not has nothing to do with me, but don't you dare touch my [Transcendent Knowledge]."
"Eh? But Shopkeeper, didn't you say the [Transcendent Knowledge] was reserved for Little Tan?" I continued to press her.
"That... when you're hexed, you really will say anything!" Xia Li was screaming at herself internally as she said this, but she also realized something.
No one would cast such a brain-rotting curse on her for no reason—unless it benefited someone.
Everything she had said earlier was in defense of Tan Han, which was highly suspicious in itself. She needed to find an opportunity to use a lie-detecting alchemy item on Tan Han. Although she didn't want to believe Tan Han was behind this, people's hearts are hard to read. She wasn't a naive child who would trust someone blindly.
"Is that so? Well, Shopkeeper, you must have had a reason for calling me here. Pushing everything onto a curse feels a bit irresponsible."
"Sorry, Xiao Han. This is on me. Phew... I'll compensate you. Also... congratulations on making it into the Top 10 of the Freshman Competition. Sigh, I’ve been overlooking this. I should have given this to you before the match. I hope you don't mind. You and Little Tan are both members of my Baking House. A Mana Source, a spellbook... no, wait, you don't seem to lack those anymore..."
Xia Li’s tone was apologetic and her expression sincere. Her words were cautious, watching me with a hint of trepidation to see if I would blame her.
But the moment she mentioned compensation, she looked at what she held and remembered my words.
I was already past the stage of lacking Mana Sources and spellbooks.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to add flowers to a bouquet, but hard to provide charcoal in a snowstorm. This left Xia Li holding a spellbook, unsure of how to give it away.
"Look, um... Xiao Han, this is my private stash. Take whatever catches your eye as compensation. But... but, you can't touch the [Transcendent Knowledge]."
Standing in her massive private stash, Xia Li shielded the safe behind her. Everywhere else was seemingly open for the taking.
"This... Shopkeeper, how could I be so bold?" Although my mouth said one thing, my body was very honest.
It was just as I thought—Xia Li hadn't been truly unfair to me, but being treated differently still created a sense of imbalance, even if there was no reason for those things to belong to me in the first place.
"Um... Xiao Han... it’s not easy for me to maintain such a large club. If we could discuss this... please show a little mercy. After all... after all..." Hearing my words and seeing my decisive movements, Xia Li realized she might have exaggerated. What if I actually tried to empty the place?
"Shopkeeper, I know where to draw the line. Actually, if you're asking what I want, I already have a goal. It's a spellbook. Is it okay if I just take one?" I asked with a smile.
"A spellbook? Just one... okay, that's great. Xiao Han, you're so considerate. I'll definitely look after you in the future. If you run into any problems, just come to me. I'll help you however I can!"
Xia Li breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing my request. She was truly afraid I would open a "lion's maw" and demand everything except the [Transcendent Knowledge]. That would have been too much!
How had she not noticed how sensible Xiao Han was before? She really shouldn't have!
"Um... Xiao Han, what kind of spellbook are you looking for? Even... even if it's an Over-consumption Spellbook, I... it's not impossible... haha..."
Recalling my performance in the arena, Xia Li knew I possessed a spellbook with a hundred-point consumption. If I wanted to settle this with just one spellbook, she expected to bleed a little and give up an Over-consumption Spellbook. Those were foundation-level resources for any club in the academy.
But for the sake of the [Transcendent Knowledge], giving up such a spellbook was fine. Besides, Xiao Han was talented; she could view it as an investment. It wasn't a loss.
And she did feel she owed the girl, especially when she remembered how she had favored Little Tan over Xiao Han. The guilt intensified.
Thinking deeper, if Xiao Han had possessed more Mana Sources and more powerful spellbooks in the first round, the favorite to win the championship right now might have been Yang Yuehan instead of Tan Han!
At that thought, Xia Li subconsciously swallowed, then looked at me, waiting for my decision.
"I want a spell that can improve learning efficiency—something that boosts memory, or allows for rapid memorization, improves comprehension, or even just stimulates an interest in learning." I explained and described it briefly. I truly needed such a spell, and the sooner the better. Although I had plenty of potions now, potions had side effects! If Senior Sister Xia Li had such a spell here, that would be perfect!
"Eh? That kind of spell? Those are hot commodities. Compared to other spellbooks of the same level, their value is much higher!" Xia Li hadn't expected this request. It poked at her sore spot again.
It wasn't that she didn't have one; it was that she did, and it was a very high-grade spellbook. Although most spells of this type were non-restricted with no fixed consumption, they still had a maximum consumption limit. Generally, the value of a non-restricted spellbook was evaluated by its consumption ceiling.
Xia Li had a spellbook with a consumption limit in the hundreds. Its value was even more precious than an Over-consumption Spellbook!
I certainly knew how to pick...
"Xiao Han, why do you want this type of spellbook?"
"Well... I've hit a bottleneck recently. I originally thought I could pick a Non-restricted Spellbook like this from the rewards after the Freshman Competition tomorrow, but for obvious reasons, that... fell through. If you don't have one here, Senior Sister, I won't force it."
I waved my hand, putting on a pitiful act. In truth, seeing Shopkeeper Xia Li’s expression, I knew she had one. If she didn't, she wouldn't look so pained.
It seemed I had underestimated the value of this type of spellbook.
"But if possible, can I buy it? I can trade with Orichalcum." Trading Orichalcum for a spellbook should be a show of great sincerity, right? I had plenty of Orichalcum anyway; I didn't mind spending a bit.
"What are you saying? I'll give it to you. It's just a spellbook, isn't it? It's just gathering dust here anyway." Hearing my offer, Xia Li gritted her teeth and agreed. She would treat it as an investment in Xiao Han—or even if it wasn't an investment, at least they wouldn't become enemies.
In the Witch Academy, making enemies was a miserable experience. You couldn't kill them, and you couldn't get rid of them; they would just exist to spite you. And if the other party ever became a Transcendent Witch, they would look down on you even more.
Prospective Witches and Transcendent Witches were two entirely different concepts.
Running the Baking House as her main business, she had offended quite a few people, so she knew this well. Of course, she had her own connections and backers; otherwise, how could she protect her [Transcendent Knowledge]?
"Eh? Really? Then thank you, Shopkeeper!" I said with a look of delight, immediately cutting off any chance for her to back out.
Once I had the spellbook, I accompanied the Shopkeeper back to the front desk of the bakery.
After giving a vague explanation of what had happened as the Shopkeeper requested, I left immediately.
I had already gotten the goods; why stay?
Though obtaining this spellbook was an unexpected windfall.
After leaving, I carefully examined the manual for the spellbook.
Inside were the details of the spell—at least, how to use the spellbook and what effects it would produce.
I wondered if this spellbook could be modified?
The spell didn't have a very clear name. It seemed many spell effects couldn't be described with simple words; often, the effect and the name of a spell would differ significantly. This was a common trait among many small spellbooks.
However, Senior Sister Xia Li had given it a random name based on its effects to make it easier to find.
The note she had written for it was: "Practical Learning Spell."
This was a continuous-consumption spellbook with quite a few effects. It included a certain degree of memory enhancement, improved comprehension, and even provided a level of focus, ensuring one's train of thought wouldn't be broken by external distractions. These were all secondary effects. Its primary function was the linkage between "learning" and "doing"—applying what is learned, boosting brain activity, and enhancing associative thinking.
So, Senior Sister Xia Li calling it the "Practical Learning Spell" was actually quite accurate.
As for the actual results, I would only know after using it myself. I hoped it wouldn't disappoint me; this was a spellbook that even Senior Sister Xia Li was pained to give away.
After a short walk, I returned to the villa.
It wasn't evening yet, but my roommates weren't in the living room. Perhaps they were in their bedrooms or out for a stroll. I didn't care much about what they were doing; everyone has their privacy.
Myself included.
Back in my bedroom, I couldn't wait to test the spell's effects.
After simply activating the spell, I felt the rate of mana consumption. It seemed to consume about one point of mana per minute.
Once the spell was active, my mind indeed felt much clearer.
However, this wasn't the limit of the spellbook, just a standard, regular consumption. The consumption could be increased further. Naturally, I could push it higher; after all, who would complain about faster efficiency?
But I couldn't increase it too much. Otherwise, even with over seven hundred Mana Sources, I might struggle to keep up. Besides, Mana Sources needed time to recover mana.
To speed up recovery, I would need special recovery spells or potions.
Or simply alchemy items that stored mana, like the one Tan Han had used.
But as luck would have it, I had neither.
This time, I didn't continue studying Runes. Instead, I went directly to the online library in the Ley Line System to search for information regarding Elemental Theory.
Since the spell was for practical learning, I wasn't in a hurry to learn Runes. I began to tackle the Basic Evocation Spells; I wanted to completely master those few basic spells.
Then, based on that foundation, I would see if I had spare time to research other spells, like the Illusion Clone Senior Sister gave me—that was very useful. The Silence, Binding, and Blindness spells provided by the academy were also good. I didn't need to research them deeply, just enough to make them useful for me.
For example, could the Blindness spell be turned into an area-of-effect blindness, or something like a flashbang?
As for whether it would succeed, that was a big question mark. Spells were divided into many categories, and without the corresponding professional knowledge, it was difficult to conduct in-depth research.
By the time I walked out of my bedroom again, someone had returned to the villa.
"Oh? Guan Qiuling? Why are you back alone?" I leaned over the second-floor railing and asked Guan Qiuling, who looked slightly exhausted as she entered.
"Eh? Sister Xiao Han, I don't know. I usually... I didn't go out to play with them this time."
"Alright, I was just asking." In my impression, Guan Qiuling was quite introverted. Since she didn't know, I didn't press further.
"By the way, have you been getting along well with your Senior Sister these past two days?"
"Mm? That... Sister Xiao Han, don't ask... that kind of thing..." At my question, Guan Qiuling subconsciously tugged at her clothes, seemingly trying to hide something. It was a bit of a "guilty conscience" move.
"Fine, I won't pry. I'm just checking in on my roommate. If you have any difficulties, remember to tell me. Oh, did Hong Chenyi give you something? A Ley Line Memory, something like a crystal."
"Yes, I have it. Hong Chenyi specifically found me and helped me use it. She said you gave it to her, Sister Xiao Han, and that everyone got one. Um, thank you, Sister Xiao Han. It's very useful to me."
"Well... as long as you like it." Seeing Guan Qiuling like this, I didn't ask further. Of the memories I had given out, if there was one that would satisfy Guan Qiuling... it was probably that one.
Even though it was quite useless to me.