Chapter 815: The Sensation of Self-Generated Mana in the Academy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 815: The Sensation of Self-Generated Mana in the Academy
The witch Danielle seemed quite interested in my experiences since I first entered the Witch Academy.
In fact, she insisted on keeping me there to chat for quite a while.
Although I already had a solid understanding of how passionate and familiar witches could be, encountering someone like Danielle—who dove into such deep topics during our very first meeting—still felt a bit uncomfortable.
It was that awkward sensation where I didn't know her at all, yet she seemed to know everything about me. It felt strange.
This also confirmed once again that I, as a little witch, seemed to be a frequent topic of conversation within the circles of Transcendent Witches.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but anyone would feel a bit uneasy being constantly gossiped about by others.
Just when I thought this situation would drag on indefinitely, Sister Bai’s sudden appearance finally bailed me out.
Though I was a bit curious as to why Sister Bai was here, I could take an educated guess. I had mentioned this matter to her not long ago; she likely came over to check on me.
Since Danielle and Sister Bai were both Transcendent Witches, they immediately struck up a conversation upon meeting.
I was incredibly grateful for Sister Bai’s arrival. Otherwise, I would have been so embarrassed that I wouldn't have known what to say next. If we kept talking about my past... it really would have turned into a tedious laundry list of events.
Besides, it wasn't as if I had nothing to do. I had plenty of my own business to attend to, such as notifying my roommates about the location and start time of our experiment.
Then there was the matter of coordinating with Millian.
After all, trying to gather Mana Sources by the tens of thousands was no small feat. It required trading with many different clubs.
Furthermore, I heard from Millian that because our experimental site was public knowledge, many clubs and groups had been constantly contacting her, hoping to get more specific information regarding the Self-Generated Mana experiment.
Now that the concept of Self-Generated Mana had been introduced, more students and teaching assistants were being forced to realize just what kind of "terrifying monster" this was.
But once they understood what it actually entailed...
It had to be said, the ability to break past the 10,000 Mana Source limit made them green with envy!
They desperately wished they were among the group selected for this small-scale experiment.
And when they learned the criteria used to screen these "experimental volunteers," it made them feel even worse.
Millian, who was handling the experiment's logistics, had screened participants directly from the Fan Club and had deliberately avoided students from famous family lineages.
This immediately sparked dissatisfaction among many. Condemning voices began to pop up on the Academy Network, though most were suppressed by the Fan Club members.
Only the ordinary students, who were left completely in the dark, remained bewildered on the forums. They felt like certain sections of the Academy Network were discussing things they couldn't understand—something incredibly impressive that they simply couldn't participate in...
However, the families were also quite wary of this experiment.
While they coveted the effects brought by a Self-Generated Mana constitution, the fact that this technique was held in the hands of "Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan" gave them a massive headache.
A crisis of trust rooted in family interests was something they had to face.
What if, after being optimized by this technique, their members actually succeeded in promoting to Transcendent Witches?
Moreover, the timing of this experiment overlapped significantly with the April incident. In their state of ignorance, they might fall under the illusion that April had promoted to Transcendent status precisely because of this technique.
Even if that wasn't the case, the fear of the unknown made the families hesitate.
They had no confidence that those who swallowed this "sugar-coated trap" would be able to spit the hook back out.
But if they didn't follow this trend... then compared to ordinary students, those in the Witch Academy with the talent for a Self-Generated Mana body would be like modern humans compared to cavemen!
Furthermore, that Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan, whom they had always been wary of, possessed exactly this kind of talent.
If this talent were promoted on a large scale... there was no guarantee the Academy wouldn't see a second or third such existence.
Currently, having one such teaching assistant in the Witch Academy was already difficult enough to handle. If more people like her appeared, the mere thought of it made their skin crawl!
If that happened, the families would completely lose their influence over the Academy!
However, those were problems for the families to worry about.
As long as things were promoted smoothly and the momentum built up, no one would be able to reverse the tide.
After finishing the handover of the current experimental materials with Millian, I realized that many of the supplies in this batch were actually supported by the Witch Academy itself.
This included the Mana Sources we needed in high volume at the start; most were provided by the Academy.
When the club members realized that the Self-Generated Mana talent allowed one to condense Mana Sources independently after learning the Mana Source Condensation Technique, they felt like the sky was falling.
This meant that the value of Mana Sources within the Witch Academy would plummet in the near future, only to recover after some time.
The crash would happen because the monopoly held by the Academy's Transcendent Witches over condensing Mana Sources would be broken. Information taken out of context would create panic.
As for the recovery in value... that would require more people to accept the reality and realize that Mana Sources were far from becoming "common." In fact, for a long time afterward, they would become even scarcer.
Because once a person possessed Self-Generated Mana, the upper limit of Mana Sources they could carry would approach 100 million!
Therefore, theoretically speaking, the stockpiles of Mana Sources in the Witch Academy were nowhere near "overflowing."
In fact, it would only take one or two people with this talent to drain all the idle Mana Sources stored in the entire Academy.
Thus, the value of Mana Sources would be re-evaluated and might even appreciate significantly.
However, not everyone could see this coming. One needed a very thorough understanding to seize that fleeting opportunity.
After all, one had to understand two concepts.
The first was that "Self-Generated Mana + Mana Source Condensation Technique" allowed for the autonomous creation of Mana Sources.
The second was that "Self-Generated Mana can carry a limit of 100 million Mana Sources."
Either piece of news would cause a massive shock to the value of Mana Sources. After all, the Witch Academy wasn't the vast world outside the Void; this was a market game played within a single world.
And this was just the fluctuation in the value of Mana Sources; many other market trends would be affected as well.
For this Self-Generated Mana experiment, Millian had approached many clubs stating she needed a large number of Mana Sources, but the results were negligible. Many even wanted to trade Mana Sources for intelligence, but they were flatly rejected.
In the end, it was the Academy that provided a large amount of material support. After all, this was a laboratory project officially approved by the Academy; its importance went without saying.
So, Millian was currently feeling light as a feather. She was naturally happy that she didn't have to bicker with those clubs.
Although that was what she was originally best at, it didn't mean she enjoyed playing those games with those people. After all, one wrong move could lead to a bottomless abyss—who knew if the next person would set a trap for her?
Bringing the focus back to the present.
Besides the Mana Sources and other materials, Millian had specifically reorganized the list of personnel participating in this experiment for me.
The final number was confirmed at this moment and entered into the Root Network.
A total of 147 people.
Among them were many I recognized, such as my four roommates, as well as Teaching Assistant Lin Yi and Teaching Assistant Lifaeya, whom I had met during the final exam proctoring.
I remembered there was a third person back then, an alchemist named Adalin, but I wasn't as familiar with her as I was with that pseudo-cat-girl Lifaeya.
I asked Millian why Adalin wasn't on the list, and the response was that she apparently didn't have the time and had politely declined.
The vast majority of the participants were senior sisters, so my four roommates stood out quite a bit among the crowd.
But who could blame them when their connections were so unconventional?
One could only say it was a stroke of good luck.
Furthermore, I discovered that quite a few of these people were actually teaching assistants!
Scanning the list briefly, many were the types I had no impression of.
However, if Millian had ultimately selected them, she surely had her reasons.
Moreover, if anyone was unwilling to cooperate, or if I felt someone was unsuitable for the experiment, we reserved the right to unconditionally strip them of their status as experimental personnel.
"Xiao Han, by the way, do you usually not go on the Academy Network much? You don't seem to manage your teaching assistant account either," Millian suddenly asked me after we finished the business at hand.
"Pretty much," I nodded in admission. "The Academy Network is too toxic. I don't want to look at irresponsible words posted by people who are swayed by emotion and don't use their brains to think."
"Actually, the current Academy Network isn't like before; no one dares to casually smear you anymore. There's no need to keep focusing on the negative side," Millian quickly tried to persuade me.
She naturally knew that the Xiao Han in front of her didn't play around on the Academy Network. That account was unnervingly clean; aside from a few posts or updates she had made randomly back in the beginning, there wasn't a single trace of recent activity.
No one knew what this "Sister Xiao Han" was actually doing day-to-day.
But even so, her account still had a terrifyingly large number of followers.
"So, you're advising me to use the Academy Network a bit?"
"Actually, everyone is very curious about what your daily life is like. And don't you plan to promote Self-Generated Mana? With your current follower count, it's an excellent channel for dissemination. Besides, you have the Fan Club to protect you; no one would dare post malicious or disparaging comments under your account."
"I don't really care about those smearing remarks. I learned to ignore those outdated tactics last year." I opened the Tree of Great Knowledge and scrolled through my sparse account and space.
"But as for what to post... I'm really not sure..."
"There are no set rules for this kind of thing. With your influence, even if you just post in your own style, people will praise you for having a unique personality," Millian explained from the side.
"Is that so? Then how about I post some educational introductions regarding Self-Generated Mana?"
"Uh... that..."
"It's still a no-go, right?"
"It's not exactly a no-go, it's just that given your definition of 'educational,' you might reveal too much vital intelligence. You might even unintentionally affect the value positioning of Mana Sources. After all, your influence is truly significant now..."
Millian recalled when the rumor spread that Xiao Han was in a relationship with a Transcendent Witch and had used that connection to become a teaching assistant. That alone had prompted a mass of love-struck fools to boldly confess to their own mentors... It was truly absurd to think about.
"That's true..." I mused for a moment, then took a photo right there on the spot. "Then I'll just post about my daily routine, okay? Along the way, I'll tell them to stop running over here for no reason. They're just making trouble for us. How many people have come here today to interfere with our work?"
"That... should be fine..." Millian wiped some sweat from her brow. "But if you do that, are you sure it won't attract even more people to come and watch?"
"I suppose... watching the fun and seeking excitement is the nature of a witch..." I searched for a bit and then thought of something. "Then let's do this: tell them not to come near. We've applied for the Root Network in this area and linked it with high-authority Appraisal Spells for experimental data observation. If anyone intrudes maliciously, their identity will be marked, and their privacy might be leaked?"
"That works. After all, when it comes to privacy, no one dares to joke around with that," Millian nodded, agreeing with my approach.
Since they all wanted to watch the show, making them pay a price would ensure they behaved themselves.
Once I finished editing the post, I sent it directly to my updates and stopped worrying about it.
When I had some free time, I'd open it and take a look; maybe it could even cure my low blood pressure or something.
"Millian, by the way, you've notified all these people in a timely manner, right?" I steered the conversation back to the participants of the experiment.
There were 147 of them!
And that didn't even include the sisters from the laboratory, who would be the first batch for testing and demonstration.
"Yes, they've all been notified, including your four roommates," Millian nodded. She was fairly well-acquainted with those four.
She had interacted with them back in the Expansion Realm. After all, they possessed Xiao Han's summoning business card!
Back then, that item was essentially a one-time pass to save their lives!
So, Millian and the four roommates were considered friends, albeit barely.
It had to be said that Millian was quite envious of those girls. Being able to be a former roommate of this person, with Xiao Han still willing to honor that relationship—it was truly a perfect starting hand.
It was a complete reversal compared to that "cheap brother" of hers.
"Is that so? Good." To ensure nothing went wrong, I also personally edited a message and sent it to the dormitory group chat.
"I assume you still have things to do? For the time being, until the experiment is over, we won't be staying at the lab anymore. So, you don't need to handle everything here personally. Right now, the most important thing for me is the Soul Crystals. Just get that done, and I won't ask about the rest."
"Understood. Then I'll have the people from the Intelligence Group assist you here. What do you think, Xiao Han?" Millian asked.
"The Intelligence Group... fine." I nodded, agreeing to the arrangement.