Chapter 68: Chapter 68

The other half is blank, for you to fill in as you specialize and learn more. If you run out of pages, you can always add more parchment—the book will just get thicker.

We’ve just completed the first magic lesson: magical infusion. To reach the level you just did, you’ll need lots of practice.

Magical infusion is the foundation of all witch abilities, and the only spell you can easily cast without a wand. Whether you want to focus on alchemy, potion-making, or herbology, you’ll need to master this spell.

For example, the first lesson in alchemy—making wands and flying brooms—requires you to infuse the materials with magic first. Materials not treated with witch magic have no special properties.

The specific methods are all recorded in your Book of Witches, but I suggest you wait until we’ve covered them in class before trying it yourself. Every summer, there are witches who can’t go home for the holidays because they haven’t finished their brooms.

Before you make your wands, we’ll start with herbology and history.

Introductory herbology just requires you to use your brains and memorize the plant illustrations in the book. First-year classes are mostly about recognizing these herbs. As for cultivating or growing them, you’ll have to explore that on your own—after all, very few herbs are as easy for every witch to grow as broom grass.

Green Witches are usually more talented at growing herbs, but other witches sometimes manage to cultivate extraordinary plants too. For example, the famous Firework Tree was bred by a Red Witch.

As for history, that’s a new subject we introduced from the human world in the past century. It covers continental history, human behavior studies, how to disguise yourselves as humans, and other knowledge to help you understand this world and the other races living here.

Now, turn to the first page of herbology. Today, we’ll quickly go over the first ten herbs...""

As she listened, Mu Ying quickly annotated the herb illustrations with her quill. Many of the identification tips and market prices Principal Melani mentioned weren’t in the book.

Lilian didn’t seem very interested in this—Mu Ying noticed she was reading about how to cultivate broom grass, probably still worried about her seed.

""Alright, that’s all for today. You can shrink your Book of Witches to carry it however you like—it makes a great pendant or necklace.

By the way, never try to process more than one broom grass seed or wand wood at a time. As for why, you can ask your dear upperclasswomen, or try it yourself—I’m sure it’ll make for an interesting memory.""

Whatever she was thinking of, Principal Melani left the classroom with a particularly mischievous smile."

"""Phew! Finally done. Herbology is just so boring,"" Lillian slumped into her chair and twisted around as soon as the headmistress left the classroom. ""These chairs are uncomfortable too—way too hard. We need to bring some cushions tomorrow.""

""The illustrations of herbs in the textbook are really pretty, especially the flowers. My favorite is the starflower the headmistress talked about today. I wonder if the fairy in the story was real. Did she ever regret coming down from the stars?"" Windsor said, resting her chin in her hands.

""If it were me, I wouldn't be that foolish,"" Muying said, sensing Windsor was getting a bit too dreamy about romance and deciding to nip it in the bud.

In the human world, the starflower is known as the flower of love. Legend has it that a fairy lived on a star and loved watching the colorful lives of humans on earth.

One day, a man made a wish for a girl as beautiful as the stars above. He swore to always protect her and to plant a hillside full of starflowers for her.

The fairy heard his wish and leapt down from her star to appear before him.

True to his word, the man fell in love with her and began planting starflowers. The flowers, which rarely survived elsewhere, flourished on the hillside beside the fairy, and she was happy every day.

But once the fairy left the stars, she became mortal, with a very short lifespan. A few years later, she died, and that's where the story ends.

""Want to hear another version of the story?"" Muying asked.

Windsor nodded.

""Legend says that the man became the famous Star Baron of the kingdom thanks to the starflowers. But after the fairy died, he could never grow another starflower. So he wished upon the stars again, asking for another fairy as beautiful as the stars. If you were the fairy, would you come down again?""

""...,"" Windsor felt her romantic dreams were dashed before they even began. ""Of course not! I'm not that dumb! But is the story really as... sinister as you say?""

""I think Muying has a point. Otherwise, why are starflowers still only found in the wild, so hard to cultivate, and so rare?"" Lillian chimed in. ""Men—what's the big deal? Nothing's as fun as a good broomstick fight.""

Muying nodded. ""So no matter what, never pin all your happiness on someone else. Always make sure you can stand on your own!""

Windsor nodded mechanically.

""By the way, Muying, what do you think the headmistress meant by her last words? I was thinking of infecting several broomgrass seeds at once—one broom just isn't enough!"" Lillian suddenly said.

""From what I've seen of Headmistress Melany so far, she loves seeing students mess up. Why don't you give it a try?"" Muying said with interest.

""Alright, Muying, you're getting mischievous too!"" Lillian pounced and started tickling her.

After a round of laughter, the group split up for a while.

Muying went to the greenhouse to pick out a pot, Lillian planned to ask her mentor Margarita about infecting multiple broomgrass seeds at once, and Windsor wanted to go back to the dorm to clean the water stains off her Witch's Book.

Muying shrank her own Witch's Book down to palm-size and hung it at her waist.

When she got to the greenhouse, she saw Rosie busy in the herb field.

""Hey, Muying! Finished with class?"" Rosie straightened up and waved.

Muying nodded and ran over. ""Just finished. The headmistress asked me to pick a pot for planting broomgrass.""

""Sprouted already? Looks like our Muying is pretty talented,"" Rosie said, patting her head approvingly. ""The pots are by the greenhouse door—a medium one should be enough.""

Muying helplessly accepted the motherly affection from her senior. Even though Rosie was only a year older, Muying always felt like she was being treated like a child, all thanks to her short stature.

The pots by the greenhouse door came in various sizes, all made of clay. Not much to choose from, so she just picked a sturdy medium-sized round pot and filled it with some moist soil.

Following the instructions in her Witch's Book, she planted the sprouted broomgrass seed about a finger's depth into the soil. No need to water it—just infuse it with magic a few times. Finally, she placed the pot in a sunny spot in the herb field.

After planting the broomgrass, she went to the vegetable patch, picked some greens, washed them by the lake, and sat under a big tree by the shore, snacking while reading the history section in her Witch's Book.

This was important for her to understand the world as a whole.

After a while, Muying realized this section was written from a witch's perspective, mainly for those who wanted to travel or settle outside the forest.

For example, the descriptions of the continent's powers went like this: ""The Rose Kingdom, human territory. Recommended to visit as a fairy; the current queen rose to power with the help of a 'Fairy Godmother.'""

""Briar Kingdom, human territory. Not recommended unless you have enough strength. Green witches who like brambles may give it a try.""

...

""For all the above human territories, do not reveal your identity as a witch. Be sure to bring enough hair dye potions—brown is best for witches wanting to keep a low profile, gold is best for those looking to find a partner and have daughters.""

""Also, the Undersea Mermaid Kingdom is always recruiting witches, especially those skilled in potions. The pay is generous...""

There were also plenty of case studies for reference.

This section really should be called ""The Green Witch's Guide to Survival and Employment in Disguise.""

It seemed witches might have misunderstood the meaning of ""history"" in the human world.

But it also proved that outside the forest, the word ""witch"" was basically synonymous with ""enemy of the people!""

Muying covered her face and smiled wryly. What on earth did her predecessors do out there to cause this? No wonder witches were always the villains in human stories.

She closed the book and restored it to normal size.

She had worried that since there was only one copy, it would disappear after being physically transformed, but after imprinting it with her personal mark, her Witch's Book was special—there was no need to worry.

[Muying's Witch's Book]