Chapter 142: Are Shadows Actually a Kind of Artifact?

Even before meeting with the Grand Witch, Magna started to think about how cunning and well-planned she was.

She was apparently the type to know both her enemies and allies well, as she had planned something like this for him.

"Since there is no expected outcome from the trial, I don’t think it would be anything dangerous. Just do your best," Celeste said with a smile, trying to reassure him.

Magna still had his doubts about that, but he nodded. There was nothing he could do about it anyway except accept it.

All that remained was to wait and see what the future would bring.

—

After speaking with Celeste and Titus for a while, listening to their advice and planning his days ahead, Magna returned to his room.

He decided that he had trained hard enough, so he could spend the rest of the day reading a little more.

Thinking that the power of knowledge was just as important as physical strength, he took a few more books, planning to finish all of them during the day.

As Faye was nowhere to be seen, probably training her spells somewhere, he decided to use this rare moment of peace. He opened the book about Shadows and Witch Contracts and started reading.

He quickly went through the parts he already knew, such as the general information that only someone specialized in the Matriarch of Order path of spells could create a contract, and that they had to be at least 13th Trial.

When he finally reached the section about the Shadow Movement ability that Shadows gained, he stopped and began reading more carefully.

The first thing that shocked him was that it was classified as a spell that did not require mana.

’So this is why I haven’t been able to sense any mana patterns when they use it.’

The Shadow Movement ability wasn’t an actual spell, as there was no spell pattern for it.

While Magna continued reading, he returned to the previous pages after another detail about the contract caught his attention.

According to the book, the contract was some kind of spell, but it had several differences compared to ordinary spells.

For example, when a Witch performed the contract spell, they also needed certain materials, such as the shell of a Ghost Turtle, dried and powdered Night Worm, and the root of a Man-Eating Plant.

’Isn’t this like artifact crafting?’

He wasn’t very knowledgeable about the subject, but he knew enough to know that materials like these were used in artifact crafting.

Putting everything together, he realized that the Shadow-Witch contract was somewhat similar to creating an artifact. It was almost like creating a living artifact by turning a human body into a magical object.

Magna even started wondering if he could apply the same procedure and turn his own body into an artifact, which would allow him to use the Shadow Movement ability as well.

Of course, it was only an idea. He wasn’t crazy enough to try such an experiment on his own body.

Still, the concept was very intriguing. He kept reading to learn more about the contract and its crafting procedure, but the next instant, his door suddenly opened.

"Magnaaa!"

Faye rushed inside and immediately hopped onto the bed, making the books scattered across it fly everywhere.

She was wearing the blue robe she usually wore while training, but recently, there had been a new addition to her outfit.

On her head was a wide-brimmed, pointy blue hat, indicating that she was now a full-fledged Witch.

Ever since she got her Witch Hat, Magna had never seen her take it off. She even slept with it on, like a child who had just gotten a new pair of shoes.

The hat wasn’t the only thing she had gained, either. The golden light in her abdomen was now much more vibrant and brighter than before, at least twice as strong.

It was the result of the Tower sending her a special potion that increased her mana capacity.

So far, Magna had only seen pills that helped with mana regeneration. This was the first time he had seen one that directly increased mana capacity.

He also learned that such potions were extremely valuable and could only be obtained from the Tower, as they couldn’t be bought with money and were only awarded in exchange for completing Trials.

The fact that only a handful of Witches in the entire world could brew such potions was another proof of just how valuable they were.

"What?" he asked with a sigh, closing the book as he realized that his plan to spend the entire day reading had apparently come to an end.

Faye sat up on the bed and lifted her head, revealing her sad eyes as she looked at Magna like a puppy.

Magna knew exactly what that look meant and immediately said, "No."

Faye immediately began to plead. "Pleaseeee. I can’t train by myself."

Her eyes even started to redden as they filled with tears.

"Can’t you ask your father? I’m reading a book."

He opened the book in his hand again, trying to show her how busy he was.

When he raised the book to block her from his view, she simply ducked her head underneath it and looked at him.

"He’s too slow. He can’t even evade any spells."

Magna couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ’Titus is slow? You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Although the man looked like a mountain of muscle, he was actually several times faster than Magna.

Still, he could understand why Faye thought of him as slow.

These days, Faye’s training consisted of hitting moving targets with her spells.

So whenever she trained with Titus, the man would intentionally let himself get hit just to make his daughter feel better.

He would even walk around proudly with ice spears stuck into his body, bleeding all over himself, just to show everyone how good Faye’s aim was.

"Pleaseee," Faye insisted, now on the verge of tears. "I’m going to the Tower soon anyway, so it’s my last request. Pleaseeeeee."

Knowing she would never stop once she started, Magna helplessly gave in in the end.

At least he could increase his agility and reflex stats while training with her, so it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time anyway.