Chapter 386 : Chapter 386

Chapter 386: The Rune with Spell Characteristics

After a long period of disassembly by Teacher Ji Niang and me, we confirmed that the rune had only established a fragile connection with me, and there seemed to be no other issues, which finally allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It seems to be a very normal Transcendent-level link. This relationship is somewhat similar to the connection between a spell effect and the casting target—it's very fragile. Spells like Dispel or Purify can break this connection. Don't you have a spell like that?"

Teacher Ji Niang was also a bit confused after confirming this relationship.

It was like a false alarm, which was frustrating.

However, Ji Niang discovered another point that concerned her: this Compound Rune, without being a complete spell, spontaneously exhibited a spell effect.

This meant that either the single Compound Rune already possessed spell characteristics or that this rune was a self-forming spell.

A single Compound Rune possessing most of the characteristics of a spell concept is a self-forming spell.

This is an extremely rare and uncommon occurrence, but it is not unprecedented.

Looking across the entire Void, even with a small probability, the immense base number means such cases exist.

Therefore, a tiny subdivision in the classification of spells, the "self-forming spell," was established.

The reason for this classification is that there was once a case in the Void where an entire [Transcendent Knowledge] entity was a spell itself.

Obtaining that [Transcendent Knowledge] meant directly acquiring a Grand Spellbook!

Because of this case of a Grand Spellbook, which could not be ignored, the concept of a self-forming spell gained a place, although it is often not separated out as a distinct category.

Ji Niang briefly explained this concept to me.

Furthermore, the concept of [Transcendent Knowledge] is not limited to miracles like self-forming spells.

Some [Transcendent Knowledge] is born as a "Transcendent Item," meaning it fulfills all the definitions of a Transcendent Item: you pay a price, and an effect is generated.

"Dispel Spell... I think I do..."

I scratched my head awkwardly, not expecting this situation.

I certainly had a Dispel Spell among the Spellbooks Tan Han gave me, but who would have thought of this?

"Then... what is this rune? A spell? A spell that can create nasty dreams for me?"

"Theoretically, it only has spell characteristics; it's not a complete spell. It's somewhat similar to the Nightmare Spell you created earlier, but the spell completion rate of this rune is even lower than your Nightmare Spell," Teacher Ji Niang explained.

"Then... is this what is meant by a spell that might be derived during the research of [Transcendent Knowledge]?"

"Mhm, that's roughly the idea."

Ji Niang nodded in affirmation.

"That's too easy, isn't it?"

"Easy? You're a blind cat that stumbled upon a dead mouse, do you understand? Self-forming spells are very rare, even if this rune only has partial spell characteristics. Also... do you think just anyone can transcribe a whole, systemic Compound Rune from [Transcendent Knowledge] like you did? I asked you to collect materials, and this is what you collected?"

Faced with Teacher Ji Niang's barrage of questions, I immediately lowered my head and acted like an ostrich, taking the scolding.

When Teacher Ji Niang was tired from talking herself hoarse, I quickly handed her a cup of water.

"At least you have some conscience."

Ji Niang took the disposable cup and drank.

I, meanwhile, carefully examined the rune.

A single rune... this reminded me of my Illusory Clone Spellbook.

It also uses a "single" rune when casting, but both are Compound Runes.

I wondered if the Illusory Clone spell was the so-called "self-forming spell" that Teacher Ji Niang just explained to me.

However, in Teacher Ji Niang's words, self-forming spells weren't much different from ordinary spells.

Sometimes, self-forming spells could even be more cumbersome to use.

Thinking of my Illusory Clone... it was controlled by the subconscious.

Using it... was indeed very troublesome.

Who could imagine being flirted with by a spell effect?

The effect was simply too outrageous.

"Um... since this is a misunderstanding, I'll just dispel it."

I asked tentatively.

After all, for the link between a spell effect and a casting target, who would have thought you could directly break it with a Dispel Spell without knowing the specifics?

But looking at it this way, Dispel Spells and similar ones, although they don't consume much, can achieve effects I can't.

So, these spells might indeed be useful tools.

"You're in a hurry to break this connection? Although deriving a spell from [Transcendent Knowledge] isn't our primary intention, every potential derived spell from [Transcendent Knowledge] must be taken seriously, because this spell is very likely to represent a concept that is a part of the entire [Transcendent Knowledge], providing essential guidance to the whole."

"Um... so, I still can't break the connection?"

I asked tentatively.

"You can break it, but aren't you curious about the nature of this spell? You should know that for a team researching a Grand Spellbook, a scholar team with dozens or even hundreds of people working together, if a potentially derived spell appears, at least several witches, or even over a dozen, would jointly participate in that temporary research."

"Alright, alright, I know what you mean..."

Hearing Teacher Ji Niang's strong hint, wasn't she just trying to use this to understand the characteristics of this [Transcendent Knowledge]?

"Clever. Later, we can compile the process of this rune characteristic derivation into a thesis and publish it, attracting more witches to join our team, even if only as temporary scholars."

"Temporary scholars?"

"They are Transcendent Witches who don't belong to a fixed team in this laboratory base. They are only interested in special things. They will join a team based on their interest and will leave without hesitation once they complete the work that interests them."

"Huh? There are witches like that?"

I asked, a bit incredulously.

"Of course. But you must understand that these temporary scholar witches usually have an extremely vast knowledge reserve and experience. Not everyone is qualified to be one. Rather than joining temporarily, it's more like providing guidance. Because they've witnessed so much, many of the walls and difficulties we face are minor to them. Do you understand that?"

"Oh... I understand."

I quickly nodded, indicating I knew.

According to Teacher Ji Niang, wouldn't such free-spirited scholar witches be highly sought after by everyone?

Would such a witch really be attracted by a single spell derived from [Transcendent Knowledge]?

Wait... there was another question!

"Um, Teacher Ji Niang, I have one more question I'd like to ask."

"What question? Ask away."

"Since there are so many labs, groups, and teams researching [Transcendent Knowledge] here, they must have derived many spells, right? Wouldn't the academy's Academic Section be changing constantly?"

"Do you think deriving a spell from [Transcendent Knowledge] is an easy task? Little Han, are you getting ahead of yourself? Have you forgotten what we were doing a few days ago? That tedious and repetitive process is essential. It lasts for years or even decades or a century, and only then is there a periodic summary. Only from such a summary can the initial form or inspiration for a derived spell emerge. And... not all teams are flamboyant and like to organize and upload their findings as theses or in other forms."

"Oh, oh..."

I quickly nodded.

No wonder when I reconstructed the Spellbook model using Spirit Vision earlier, the thesis Teacher Ji Niang compiled from it could make it onto the academy's thesis section.

It was because the output of major achievements in the academy was extremely slow.

But precisely because of this, those theses rarely showed signs of being "padded."

After understanding all this, my curiosity was satisfied.

With the fear of the unknown gone, the drowsiness of the night showed signs of returning, but thankfully, I had slept for half the afternoon, so I wasn't too tired.

However, the latter half of that sleep was anything but peaceful.

But after cheering myself up slightly, I was ready to continue.

One problem we faced now was... the [Transcendent Knowledge] we were researching earlier had a large number of runes with spatial disturbance properties in the initial stages.

Teacher Ji Niang and I both guessed it might be related to space.

Although Teacher Ji Niang said not to jump to conclusions before knowing the full picture, research is all about making bold assumptions.

But now, the rune I created could affect my dreams and emotions... This greatly impacted our previous judgment and assumption.

This was similar to the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell that the Academy Head created.

During its creation, the Academy Head certainly didn't only derive a "Meditation Method" spell.

There must have been other spells.

After all, the concept of Wisdom's Enlightenment also required a vast number of other concepts to be "pieced together."

While "piecing together" might be an oversimplification, the meaning is correct.

As the sky over the Witch Academy gradually brightened, the night silently passed.

And since we in the lab didn't care about such trivialities, we didn't notice the passage of time.

The whole night passed like this.

I only knew that even though this Compound Rune wasn't a Spellbook, researching it made me feel like I was back in the two days when Teacher Ji Niang and I were modding the Memory Bookshelf Spellbook.

The difficulty was no less than it was back then.

"Hmm... that's strange. This also contains a bottom-layer rune for stirring space, but what does that have to do with me having nightmares?"

"Perhaps you weren't having nightmares?"

Teacher Ji Niang said.

"If it wasn't a nightmare, then was someone else having a nightmare?"

"Maybe?"

Teacher Ji Niang smiled and operated the instrument.

Then, the information generated by the instrument was printed out as a report.

Ji Niang stood up and took the report.

The smile on her face gradually faded, and her expression slowly turned strange.

"What's wrong?"

I was also curious now.

This instrument was actually a type of spell classification tester.

Because the classification of spell types was too complex, and with the development of spells, this refinement would continuously extend.

With this, one could know the composition and leaning of an unknown rune or spell, facilitating targeted operations.

"This is a rune structure... that leans toward a Summoning Spell."

"Summoning Spell?"

Hearing this answer, even I found it incredible.

How could a Summoning Spell make me have nightmares?

"Did the Summoning Spell summon someone else's nightmare into my dream?"

"Do you mean a Dream State Summoning Spell? That's interesting. There are similar spells like Dream State Link, Shared Dream State, etc., which are much more efficient than this. But we can't jump to conclusions so quickly. This rune has many other strange features," Teacher Ji Niang said, while burning the data.

After all, this was only for reference; it wasn't meant for guidance.

"How about we try to construct it into a complete spell and test it?"

I suggested.

After all, nothing is more intuitive than directly releasing the spell effect.

"Easier said than done. Constructing it into a complete spell is much harder than combining the few runes I had you try earlier. Besides, your unconventional method of hand-crafting spells... is indeed efficient, but that's based on foundational runes. The difficulty of crafting this spell is no less than that of the High Consumption Spellbooks you normally use."

"High Consumption Spellbooks?"

This reminded me of the time I was trying to mod the Protection of the Elemental Spirit spell, running into one obstacle after another, which nearly made me depressed.

But I was no longer the person I was then.

I couldn't let past mistakes put pressure on myself.

"Doesn't that make it even more necessary to attempt it?"

I said with a smile.

"Crafting is not modding. Right now, you don't even have a sample template to reference. You have to figure out many things yourself, do you understand?"

"I know... Um... Teacher Ji Niang... one more favor, please."

I rubbed my hands together, asking somewhat embarrassedly.

"What is it? Speak quickly."

Ji Niang pulled a long face.

Seeing me like this, she knew I was up to no good.

For a moment, Ji Niang was nostalgic for the Little Han who used to refuse even a Fireball spell, but... the current Little Han was also good.

"Can I borrow your data literature query permission. And can I lead the modification of this rune into a spell? I want to try it myself. If I can't figure it out, I'll come to you for help, Teacher Ji Niang. How does that sound?"

"You have quite the ambition, don't you?"

A look of understanding flashed in Ji Niang's eyes.

She was eyeing her data permission.

Did she feel the permission she currently held wasn't enough?

"Haha... How can my ambition be as grand as yours, Teacher Ji Niang? You're planning to create a Grand Spellbook."

"Brat, so you know how to tease me now? The Permission can only be used here. I'll share it with you later, but you can't take it outside, understood?"

Teacher Ji Niang said with a playful scold, but she still agreed.

"Understood, understood."

I nodded repeatedly, indicating I knew.

But Teacher Ji Niang's comment about "taking it outside" made me subconsciously look at the time.

Now... it was already morning!

"Um... Teacher Ji Niang, can you wait a moment?"

"What's wrong? Do you regret it?"

"No... it's already morning. I think my alarm was set to vibrate. I still have to meditate and Body Forge..."

"Hurry up and go. That's something you must persist in. I'll continue waiting for you here."

"Mhm mhm!"

I nodded, tidied up my belongings, checked the incense for meditation and the sportswear for Body Forging, and only left after confirming everything.

And not long after I left, a powerful knock sounded on the lab door.

The sound pierced through the lab's isolation spell and the segregated space, reaching the interior.

This anomaly instantly changed Ji Niang's expression!

But Ji Niang quickly calmed down, thinking that since this was Witch Academy, nothing unexpected should happen.