Chapter 450: The Overlapping Effects of Appraisal and the Tree of Knowledge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 450: The Overlapping Effects of Appraisal and the Tree of Knowledge
"Hmm? Hello, Teacher."
After knocking on the office door, I gave it a light push, and it swung open.
As I stepped inside, my gaze instinctively swept the room. The first person I saw was a mentor sitting nearest to the door, someone I wasn't particularly well-acquainted with.
Still, I offered a polite greeting. She looked up at me, a flicker of surprise crossing her eyes, but she merely gave a cold, curt nod in response before returning to her work.
I took a moment to look around the office.
The space was considerably larger than Teacher Ji Niang’s private office. Much of the decor was brand new, and the room was arranged to accommodate four teachers.
According to what Sister Bai had told me, she shared an office with Teacher Miao and Teacher He. That meant this woman was likely the fourth mentor, the one I didn't really know.
"Xiao Han, over here."
"Coming~" I looked up toward the back of the room where Sister Bai was seated. The twins, Miao and He, were nowhere to be seen—likely out on some business.
Since they had come here from outside the Main World, it was only natural for them to be curious about their new surroundings. I didn't see any reason to dwell on their whereabouts.
"These are the key knowledge points I’ve compiled for your teaching assistant written exam. Even after I streamlined them, it’s still quite a lot. You’re going to have a tough couple of days, Xiao Han." As soon as I reached her, Bai Yu handed over the materials she had been preparing.
It was a device resembling a USB drive. Judging by the connector, it looked like a plug-in for the Ley Line System. This was the "knowledge" Sister Bai had prepared for me.
"Just this?" I picked up the small gadget, looking at her curiously.
"Don't let its size fool you," Sister Bai warned, her tone carrying a hint of urgency. "Once you plug it into the Ley Line System, you'll see there's a massive amount of content. If you start now, you might not even finish it all before the exam begins."
"Don't worry~ It's not like I'm going in unprepared." I held the little device and immediately activated my Identification Art.
* * *
Name: Mobile Ley Line Storage Device
Description: An information storage device designed to work with the Ley Line System. It utilizes the bearing capacity of ley lines to store data, which can be read and displayed through specific methods on a Ley Line System terminal.
Stored Information: Contains all foundational knowledge points for the fixed curriculum of grades one through three at the Witch Academy. Some sections include extended knowledge points (Click to expand).
Remarks: These are the knowledge points Sister Bai prepared for me. It seems she prepared them in advance but didn't have the chance to give them to me to fill the gaps in my knowledge until now. Her heartfelt intentions have been delivered.
* * *
I glanced at the brief appraisal summary, most of the content being collapsed into sub-menus.
However, I knew exactly what I was doing. I wasn't appraising this thing just to read its description. I was using the information extracted by the Identification Art to bypass the manual reading process entirely. By treating the data as Ley Line Information, I could transfer everything directly into my Tree of Knowledge.
Of course, if I encountered content I couldn't comprehend—information the Tree of Knowledge couldn't yet parse—I still wouldn't "understand" it. The Tree of Knowledge wouldn't be able to index it properly and would simply "copy" it verbatim. But that was fine; difficult problems were meant to be puzzled out and learned through my own effort later.
In essence, in that brief moment of appraisal, I had already "finished reading" all the knowledge points, as all that information was contained within those "collapsed" data sets.
Naturally, I would still need to organize the information afterward, but the process of sorting was infinitely faster than reading it all from scratch.
One could say that the Ley Line Information Identification Art had perfectly completed the final step of my original three-step plan for the Memory Bookshelf Spellbook. It allowed me to instantaneously record knowledge from a source into my spell without even using my eyes.
Back when I first obtained the Memory Bookshelf Spellbook, I wouldn't have even dared to dream of this. I didn't even have a clue how to achieve it. Now, thanks to a sudden spark of inspiration, I had pulled it off. It made me feel a bit sentimental, but mostly, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction—the kind that comes from achieving a goal through an unexpected breakthrough.
"You know how to use it, right? Are you going to use your portable Ley Line System or the one here at my desk?"
"If you're not too busy, Sister Bai, I'll use yours." I held the storage device, flipping open the cap and waving it toward the interface of the desktop Ley Line System on her desk.
"Alright, go ahead and plug it in."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony." With her permission, I didn't hesitate to slide it into the port. It went in on the first try!
Usually, with things like USB drives, you have to flip them back and forth two or three times before they'll actually go in. To this day, no one has been able to explain that bizarre phenomenon.
However, after appraising Sister Bai's Ley Line System, I realized it was a brand-new configuration. No wonder the connection felt so tight when I plugged the device in.
Through my Spirit Vision, I watched as the storage device interfaced with the ley line energy. The information it carried poured into the system at an incredible speed.
A semi-transparent light screen of condensed ley line energy flickered into existence. Sister Bai skillfully opened the external file, and suddenly, a dense, overwhelming flood of knowledge points cascaded across the screen.
The display screen stretched significantly, and it took a bit of adjustment before it reached a size that was easy to read.
"Xiao Han, how much of this do you already know? I'll help you check for any gaps."
"Hmm... basically all of it?" I said after a moment's thought.
Even though I was only a first-year, the curriculum for the first three years of the Witch Academy focused mostly on foundations. Many of the knowledge points could even be derived from one another.
At that moment, I gained a deeper realization of my own learning capacity. Transcendence... it really is a miraculous thing. It could turn an ordinary person like me into an existence that my peers couldn't even hope to catch up to.
"Really? This covers all the foundational and extended knowledge points for the first three years of the academy. Don't try to trick your Sister Bai."
"Mhm~ Sister Bai can quiz me. If there's anything I don't know, I'll do whatever you want," I said confidently.
"You said it, Xiao Han. If I find out you're lying to me, I'll make sure you suffer a little," Bai Yu said, her interest piqued by my confidence.
It wasn't that she cared about making me do "whatever she wanted"; she just wanted to test me to see if I had truly mastered the material. After all, if I had started learning how to lie, she felt it was her duty to use firm measures to set me back on the right path.
"Then let's start with something simple. This is about the Theory of Elements in Basic Evocation..."
Sister Bai began her formal interrogation. I pulled over an empty chair and sat down comfortably.
Bai Yu had studied these points herself. Back when she first encountered Transcendent knowledge, she had been so excited that she remembered everything vividly. Although years had passed and some details had faded, a single glance at the screen was enough to bring it all back.
As her questions grew more in-depth, we reached points marked as "high priority," yet I found them effortless. My responses were crisp and relaxed.
Eventually, Sister Bai started jumping around the material to test me at random. The more she did, the more shocked she became.
Xiao Han was only a first-year!
And he had a course exemption! How could he have mastered these knowledge points so thoroughly?
Yet, a smile instinctively tugged at the corners of her lips. At the very least, this meant he would have no trouble passing the written exam. She hadn't realized he had grown to this level right under her nose.
Inevitably, she began to compare him to her past self. She had never seen such a monster... even now, she felt she couldn't compare to him.
Ever since she had confessed to Xiao Han, it was as if her mind had been unlocked. She had become incredibly sharp, and her performance while studying at the Great Library of the Witch World had even caught the eye of a Primal Witch.
And yet, there was still an insurmountable gap between her and Xiao Han. She felt no jealousy, though. If Xiao Han was that incredible, then she, who "had" Xiao Han, must be even more incredible, right?
"Phew..."
After a long while, Bai Yu paused and let out a small sigh.
"Why did you stop, Sister Bai? Are you worn out already~?"
"There's no need to continue," Bai Yu said, sounding exasperated. "If you've mastered it to this level, do you even need me to tutor you?"
"But I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to review. I was afraid I'd forgotten things~"
"Busy... Xiao Han, what exactly have you been up to? You're being so mysterious, not telling me anything."
"Hehe~ I've been working on something good, of course. Remember that Memory Bookshelf Spellbook you gave me?"
"Oh, I almost forgot. Did you record all these knowledge points in there? That must have been a massive undertaking." Hearing the name of the spellbook, Bai Yu quickly connected the dots. If that were the case, his "freakish" performance wasn't so surprising.
"Recording them one by one would be too much trouble. I'm working on a derivation of the Memory Bookshelf..."
"A derivation?! A spell derivation?"
Before I could even finish my sentence, a voice from the side interrupted me.
"Eh?" I turned my head, looking suspiciously at the other teacher—the one who had been sitting quietly the whole time. I didn't even know her name yet.
"Forgive my excitement. You're still a student, right? Do you understand what a 'Spellbook Derivation' actually implies?"
"I do. Teacher Ji Niang once explained the concept of Spell Sequence Derivation to me."
"Is that so..." The mentor stared at me with a piercing gaze, but she couldn't find a single trace of a lie.
At that thought... even she instinctively swallowed hard.
What kind of monster was this kid? Deriving a spellbook? She hadn't heard of the "Memory Bookshelf," but she was familiar with that category of magic. She could guess its function just from the name. This was the depth of knowledge she possessed as a Transcendent Witch, which was exactly why she knew how difficult a derivation of that type would be.
Even among Transcendent Witches, the ratio of those who could merely use spellbooks to those who could create them was wildly disproportionate—let alone those who could perform derivations.
Creating a spellbook only required mastering Real Editing Technology, but derivation required a profound, fundamental understanding of the spell itself.
Furthermore, she had entered the Main World as an Academic Witch, so she understood the sheer weight of what he was saying.
She had come to the Main World for one reason: she had heard that the Main World Witch Academy had several research groups dedicated to [Transcendent Knowledge]. She was particularly interested in the creation of Great Spellbooks.
"Xiao Han, let me introduce you," Sister Bai said. "This is Stacy. She's an Academic Witch who entered the Main World Witch Academy in the same batch as me. She'll be a fellow mentor working alongside me from now on."
"Hello, Mentor Stacy," I said politely.
I thought about it for a moment and a memory surfaced. I seemed to recall seeing her briefly when I went to welcome Sister Bai, but it had only been a glance. At the time, I hadn't seen any reason to commit her to memory.
"Yes... your name is Xiao Han, right? Are you... a Little Witch? Does the Main World Witch Academy accept Little Witches as students?" she asked, her tone uncertain.
"Uh... Mentor Stacy, I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not a Little Witch. I'm just an ordinary junior student," I explained, waving my hands awkwardly.
It seemed the Dean hadn't been lying. Witches from outside the Main World really did mistake me for a Little Witch.
"Huh? How... did I see it wrong?"
"I know it's confusing, Mentor Stacy, but you can ask Dean Mei Lind about it. It's mostly the Dean's handiwork. The academy's academic section should have records of the related experiments—it's research regarding Self-Awakened Body Cultivation and Corporeal Witch Transformation."
"What? Self-Awakened Body Cultivation and Corporeal Witch Transformation? And you have Self-Generated Mana... how miraculous..." In that instant, the Academic Witch seemed to construct an entire narrative in her head. She stood frozen for a moment before finally whispering the word "miraculous" to herself.
"Yes. If you're curious, Mentor Stacy, you can discuss it with the Dean. I don't actually know that much about the specifics..." I said humbly. I decided to push all the credit onto the Dean and let her deal with any potential headaches. Otherwise, I had a feeling this Academic Witch named Stacy would never stop pestering me with questions.
"I see..." Stacy looked a bit embarrassed. Discuss this with the Dean? She doubted the Dean had that kind of free time.
However, she made a mental note to check the academy's academic forums. She still had much to learn about the Main World.
She hadn't interacted with many students yet, but the one standing before her had already left a profound impression. Spellbook derivation... Self-Awakened Body Cultivation... possessing the talent of a Witch without having ascended to a Transcendent Witch... just how many monsters were hidden in the Main World?
She also knew that the Main World was currently in a period where a Script was active. It was inevitable that geniuses would appear. Even if this boy wasn't a Child of Destiny, he had to be a major supporting character at the very least.
Stacy returned to her seat but couldn't help looking up curiously once more.
...No Luck Seed, and no Ley Line Shackles?
Wait, how did he sever his Ley Line Shackles without ascending to Transcendence?!
No... without Ley Line Shackles, how was he supporting so many Mana Sources and spellbooks?
She felt as though her heart had been struck by a series of massive shocks in a very short span of time.
I didn't pay much mind to the mentor's internal crisis; to me, all of this was perfectly normal.
I turned my attention back to Sister Bai. Aside from the Great Spellbook, there were very few secrets I wouldn't share with her, including things related to the Tree of Knowledge.
I never intended to hide it, nor was there any real need to.
My original reason for being secretive was to avoid trouble and to maintain a lead over others—it's always best to get rich in silence.
But sometimes, sharing and exchanging ideas can provide breakthroughs in inspiration. Besides, this was a spell I had derived myself. The only way for anyone else to learn it was through me.
If a derived spell could be replicated just by knowing the general idea, then derivations wouldn't be valuable.
Even if someone were to steal my spellbook, they couldn't steal the Tree of Knowledge. Even if they did, it would just be a mangled version of the Memory Bookshelf. Without the linkage of the Illusion Clone, Practical Learning, and other spells—and without the revelations obtained from the Plant Network—it would be impossible. Without those revelations, runes, and the framework used to build it, the derived spellbook would be nothing more than a pile of loose sand.
It’s like technology; you can't build something just because you have the blueprints. Without the relevant techniques, theoretical guidance, and a host of other requirements, you'll never get a finished product.
Furthermore, the academy wouldn't allow such blatant theft. If it were a struggle between students, I was confident I wouldn't lose. If it were a Transcendent Witch... well, such a witch would be incredibly classless. Besides, the Dean would likely step in for me, so I had nothing to worry about.
"Hey... I call the spell derived from the Memory Bookshelf the 'Tree of Knowledge.' It's really convenient to use," I whispered to Sister Bai with a smile.