Chapter 629: Electives and Specializations in Witch Subjects
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 629: Electives and Specializations in Witch Subjects
Dean Mei Lind’s office.
"A rare guest indeed, Xiao Han~ I don't usually see you running to my office. Have you run into another problem?" Mei Lind looked up the moment she sensed a visitor entering.
Upon seeing who it was, a kind smile spread across her face. After all, who would maintain a stiff, formal expression when faced with a star student?
However, after greeting him, Mei Lind’s attention remained fixed on the three Fool's Dream cradled in his arms... and the three illusory figures following closely behind him.
As the creator of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, her understanding of the Fool's Dream was crystal clear.
It was precisely because of this that her expression turned so solemn.
According to her established knowledge, certain things simply should not exist in this manner.
"Sister Mei~ please, help me save the Fool's Dream," I pleaded the moment I arrived.
Because I had to bring the Fool's Dream along, it wasn't convenient to use teleportation spells, so I had flown the entire way on my broom.
"Don't be in such a rush. Tell me exactly what happened first." Mei Lind stood up and approached me. Her gaze fell upon the Fool's Dream in their Mimicry Soul state, deciding it was best to understand the situation first.
The commotion also drew over several other witches who were in the office.
Logically, the Dean’s office should have only been Mei Lind’s workspace. However, for various reasons—including the presence of precision instruments used for the Qi Observation Art—the office frequently served as a gathering spot for witches to hold meetings or tea parties.
"It’s like this... I had some ideas and tried them out on the Fool's Dream. Now, their consciousnesses can't return to their bodies."
I gathered my thoughts and explained the predicament I was facing as concisely as possible.
"The Fool's Dream's consciousness..." Mei Lind reached out and touched one of the Fool's Dream—not their physical bodies, but the consciousness body of the Mimicry Soul. Soon, a flash of realization crossed her eyes. "The Fool's Dream's current state is very strange. What exactly did you do to them? Tell me everything. Their current state is stable, so there's no need to be so anxious."
"I... alright." I nodded.
Earlier, because I hadn't observed them closely enough, my first instinct had been to rush to the Dean for a solution.
But during the journey here, I had realized that the Fool's Dream were quite stable; they simply couldn't return to their original shells.
Moreover, as the Fool's Dream gradually adapted to this Mimicry Soul state, they no longer seemed as "listless" as they had initially.
I instinctively leaned against the chair Mei Lind had temporarily conjured for me, placing the three Fool's Dream bodies on a side bench.
Their physical forms looked as though they were merely asleep, perfectly still.
"Um... well, here goes. I used a technique on the Fool's Dream called Mimicry Soul. It’s a technique derived from the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art."
"Mimicry Soul..." Dean Mei repeated the term, then looked at me, signaling for me to continue.
"Yes, Mimicry Soul. This technique started as a hypothesis of mine. Since the Fool's Dream want to become true life forms, I decided to grant them the essence of life. Since the soul is the bridge between reality and dreams, I used the concept of the soul as a breakthrough point to pull their dream consciousness into reality."
"..."
"Later, I found I couldn't make them possess a true soul essence directly. So, I had to compromise. I first let them break away from their dream essence to become an objective concept existing in reality. From that, the idea of the Mimicry Soul was born—a technique that simulates the form of a soul."
"Continue," Mei Lind said.
"Er... the experiment was a success. I even experienced it myself once, which is why I felt comfortable using it on the Fool's Dream. When I applied it to them, I used Soul Crystals as casting materials to complete the Mimicry Soul for them. Actually, I could turn them back to the way they were, but... they refused."
"Mimicry Soul... you say this technique was derived from the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, right? It wasn't a Sequence Derivation?" Mei Lind pressed.
She had created the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art with her own hands, meticulously analyzing that fragment of [Transcendent Knowledge] to bring it into existence.
By all rights, she should be the witch who understood this Great Spellbook better than anyone.
And that was the crux of the problem. Because she theoretically possessed a complete understanding of that [Transcendent Knowledge], she knew exactly what the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art was capable of.
She could even rely on her analysis and understanding of that knowledge to complete a Sequence Derivation of the spell without any obstacles.
But... Mimicry Soul? This was a derivation she knew nothing about.
There wasn't even a shred of a link that connected it to the "Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art."
Suddenly, another thought struck Mei Lind.
Knowledge Shadow, Ley Line Identification Art, Qi Observation Art... she couldn't find a connection between those derived techniques and the "Tree of Great Knowledge" Great Spellbook either.
Was it because the name of the Great Spellbook was inaccurate?
No, that wasn't it.
It was simply that the person using it had used conventional means to achieve unconventional results.
"Yes... it’s true that it isn't a Sequence Derivation. But I gained the inspiration from the Fool's Dream's revelation. Since the Fool's Dream are strongly correlated with this [Transcendent Knowledge], I was wondering if I had taken the wrong path."
"No, wait. That line of thinking is wrong. If a technique exists, it must have a reason for existing. You might not have taken the wrong path at all," Mei Lind corrected him hastily.
"Oh, I see."
This seemed to align with my own thoughts. I didn't really feel like I had gone astray; if a technique was useless to me, it was only because it didn't suit me personally, not because it lacked inherent value.
Meanwhile, the witches listening on the side were stunned. They weren't exactly shocked, but they were genuinely surprised and impressed.
"Xiao Han, do you realize what you are doing right now?"
After processing what I had said, Mei Lind had gained a rough understanding of my actions.
"Um... I’m trying to create a brand-new life form." That had been my original intention, so I answered honestly.
It was also part of the agreement for the trial—a bargaining chip used to acquire the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
"Xiao Han, you should have some understanding of Witch Subjects by now, right?"
"Er, yes, a little." I nodded, though my knowledge was limited to the subjects I had encountered so far, like Sister Bai’s Ordinary Subject, or the Soul, Spell, Evocation, and Elemental specializations I had heard of.
But why was the Dean suddenly changing the subject?
"What you are doing right now is an attempt to step into the realm of Witch Subjects. And... you’ve stepped into a major one: the Great Soul Subject," Mei Lind told me solemnly.
Even the expressions of the other witch sisters nearby lost their previous casualness.
"Huh? What...?"
"You have unintentionally set foot on the path of the Great Soul Subject, and you did so without any foundational study. To put it in perspective: if you had been born earlier, back before the Great Soul Subject was even proposed, your actions would be considered the pioneering of an entirely new major subject."
"Um... isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? It’s not like I know nothing about souls. I only did it after gaining a basic understanding..."
"You are the only anomaly currently discovered in the Main World. You are a life form with a natural soul essence. This description isn't an exaggeration. However, there are no 'ifs' in reality. The Great Soul Subject has already been established, and countless witches have pushed forward to open new fields within it. Your current actions prove only one thing: you are extremely well-suited to walk the path of the Great Soul Subject."
"Alright..." I couldn't win an argument against Dean Mei, so I decided to just accept the praise for now. "That... can we put the subject matter aside for a moment? Can we solve the Fool's Dream's problem first?"
"Are you sure you don't want to learn about the most critical aspect of ascending to a Transcendent Witch—the Witch Subject?" Mei Lind asked with a smile, in no hurry at all.
"Um... Sister Xiao Han, we’re fine like this for now."
"That’s right, Sister Xiao Han’s important business comes first. Being like this isn't actually that bad."
"Mm-hmm, I don't mind being like this at all."
The Fool's Dream beside me spoke up as soon as the Dean finished.
"Subjects... I only need a basic understanding for now, right? After all, if we go into detail, we’ll never finish," I said.
"True. Subjects are usually a field for upperclassmen, taught by senior mentors. Right now, I might not be able to explain exactly what a 'Subject' is in exhaustive detail, but I believe, Xiao Han, that you don't seem like the type who needs a mentor to guide you through every single detail. Perhaps you only need to know the general concept to realize how you should proceed. After all, you don't strike us as the type to simply follow in others' footsteps."
"Maybe..." I didn't want to commit to anything.
Compared to witches—a race where the threshold for publishing a thesis was simply being less than 100% repetitive—blazing a brand-new trail was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
I didn't want to shackle myself with the requirement that I must open a new path or must do what others couldn't. That would just be self-inflicted stress.
While pressure can spur growth... did I really need that pressure?
No.
"Since you don't want to delve into it now... perhaps you can find some time to attend the relevant lectures. I won't waste any more of your time with idle talk." Seeing that I wasn't in the mood to learn, Mei Lind sighed and dropped the topic.
She actually quite enjoyed discussing these things with Xiao Han.
"I didn't mention much about Subjects to you before mainly because I was afraid you’d touch upon concepts that weren't suitable for your stage of development. Back then, you were curious about everything..."
"I know the mentors and the Dean have my best interests at heart, so I don't mind."
"It’s good that you understand. Let’s get back to the Fool's Dream. Looking at you, you really do care for them deeply," Mei Lind said with a smile, reaching out to playfully poke the Fool's Dream in their Mimicry Soul state.
"I suppose... but... before that, I have a question I’d like to ask, if I may?"
"A question? Sure, go ahead." Mei Lind agreed with great interest.
"Sister Mei, has the community of Transcendent Witches already mastered techniques like Mimicry Soul?" I asked curiously.
Since the Dean said my actions were treading on the Great Soul Subject, and considering that every witch ascending to Transcendent status must undergo a metamorphosis of their soul essence into a true soul, it stood to reason that almost all Transcendent Witches must have dabbled in the Great Soul Subject.
"Oh? Curious about that, are you? Why do you ask?"
"I learned before that every sister who ascends to a Transcendent Witch needs their soul essence to undergo metamorphosis into a soul, right? Doesn't that mean that after ascending, everyone has to study the Great Soul Subject?"
"So that’s what you were thinking. It’s true... Transcendent Witches who undergo soul metamorphosis generally do so by engaging with the Great Soul Subject. However, subjects have electives and specializations. You understand, right? Many witches don't specialize in the Great Soul Subject. They take certain subjects as electives for specific purposes. For instance... ascending to Transcendent and ascending to a Transcendent Witch are two different concepts."
At this point, Dean Mei Lind began to educate me. "One of the prerequisites for becoming a Transcendent Witch is... completing a racial metamorphosis by walking the 'Witch' Great Subject."
"The Witch and Soul Great Subjects are hurdles that cannot be avoided if one wishes to become a Transcendent Witch. But they are merely thresholds. Once you cross them, the Primal Witch won't care what you do."
"I am not a witch who specialized in the Soul Subject, so I don't know techniques like Mimicry Soul, nor anything similar. The knowledge and techniques I learned from the Soul Subject were all focused on using the Transcendent life level to trigger a self-metamorphosis into a soul essence."
"Exciting, isn't it? Xiao Han, you’ve achieved something that even I, as a Dean, cannot do."
"It’s alright... I assume witches who specialize in the Soul Subject would know how, right?"
"I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. The Great Soul Subject is a relatively new major subject for the witch race—the newest, in fact." Mei Lind paused and looked at me. "Are you satisfied with my answer to your question? I don't understand what a Mimicry Soul is, but... I think I can help you understand why the Fool's Dream can't return to their bodies."
"I am, very satisfied. Please... tell me why," I requested quickly, realizing I had almost drifted away from the main point again.
"Because the Fool's Dream themselves have no concept of a 'physical body' in reality. The shells I created for them were custom-made using the Metamorphic Incubation spellbook. They were intended as anchors for their dream consciousness—but they were also cages, shackles," Mei Lind explained.
"Now, because of the Mimicry Soul, the Fool's Dream have a foundation in reality. Naturally, those cages no longer fit them. Do you understand the metaphor? Those bodies were never 'living' bodies in the true sense; they were merely realistic creations that looked the part, designed to be piloted by a dream consciousness."