The moment the white light engulfed Cen Yao, her first reaction wasn't fear.
Instead, she closed her eyes, covered her head, and squatted down.
This was the survival pose she had perfected after watching a whole year of horror livestreams.
When in doubt, protect your head first. If a ghost popped up right in front of her face the moment she teleported in, at least she would take one less hit.
Three seconds later, Cen Yao cautiously opened one eye.
Then, she froze in disbelief.
She was standing inside a massive library so tall that its ceiling was out of sight.
Countless bookshelves floated in mid-air all around her, with ribbon-like bands of light flowing slowly between them like rivers of stars.
Thick, heavy spellbooks flipped through their pages automatically in the air. Silver characters swam out of the pages like living little fish, darting into other volumes.
In the distance was a potion laboratory, where glass vials flowed with liquids of eerie, strange colors.
Further away, there were floating magic circles, alchemy tables, summoning arrays, healing rooms, a forbidden arts training ground shrouded in black mist, and a vast, empty combat zone that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Cen Yao swallowed hard.
“Sys.”
The orb popped up beside her. “Hmm?”
Cen Yao's eyes lit up. “Does this mean I've gotten into Hogwarts?”
The orb went silent for two seconds. “Host, please do not make cheap comparisons. This is the All-Planar Learning Space. It is far more official, comprehensive, and high-end than any magic academy you can imagine.”
Cen Yao immediately nodded obediently.
Understood.
It wasn't Hogwarts.
It was a place Hogwarts would have to write an application overnight just to visit.
The orb cleared its throat and began its introduction.
“The Host has currently unlocked the Starter Pack privileges, meaning you can only access the Elementary Witch Courses.”
“The elementary courses include conventional magic and unconventional magic.”
“Conventional magic includes daily life magic, offensive magic, defensive magic, summoning magic, stealth magic, tracking magic, and so on.”
“Daily life magic allows you to clean, ignite, illuminate, move, and repair simple objects.
Offensive magic includes basic spells like fire, frost, lightning, wind, and vines.
At the elementary stage, summoning magic can only summon low-level magical creatures or temporary spiritual entities for scouting, messaging, and pathfinding.”
As Cen Yao listened, her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Cleaning magic could handle bloodstains, illumination magic could keep her from fumbling in the dark, summoned creatures could scout, and offensive magic could fight ghosts.
Roughly speaking, this was like securing several extra safety ropes for her life.
The orb continued, “Unconventional magic includes healing magic and dark magic.”
Cen Yao instantly perked up her ears.
“At its peak, healing magic can bring back the dead and regrow flesh on bones, but the Host can currently only learn Elementary Healing. Elementary Healing can stop bleeding, heal common physical injuries, and alleviate mild contamination and mental shock.”
“Dark magic possesses properties like curses, deprivation, corrosion, and soul attacks. High-level dark magic can kill in a single strike, but at the elementary stage, the Host can only learn the most basic curse marks, black mist binding, and weakening curses.”
Cen Yao listened while frantically taking mental notes.
Healing magic for survival.
Dark magic for counter-killing.
Summoning magic for scouting.
Offensive magic for direct damage.
Daily life magic might seem ordinary, but in a dungeon, every single one of them could save her life.
It was just like taking an exam; she couldn't just focus on the high-point questions at the end. Even the minor questions could determine life or death.
“In addition, there are potions and alchemy.”
The orb led her toward the potion laboratory.
“Potions can be used for healing, enhancement, stealth, detoxification, anti-contamination, and mental stabilization. Alchemy, which is what the Host understands as crafting equipment, can produce magic items, protective amulets, single-use cursed tools, containers, and formation plates.”
Cen Yao looked at the rows of potion bottles on the workbench, her fingers itching with excitement.
The orb promptly threw cold water on her. “However, Host, do not celebrate too early. All materials in the Learning Space are simulated and do not actually exist.”
Cen Yao: “Ah?”
“In other words, the potions and items you successfully craft in the space only prove that you have mastered the method. If you want to craft them for real in reality, you must have actual materials.”
The smile on Cen Yao's face froze.
“Where do actual materials come from?”
“Two channels.” The orb extended two tiny points of light. “First, purchase them from the System Mall. Second, obtain them yourself.”
Cen Yao fell silent.
In her mind, an image immediately popped up of her crouching in a corner of a dungeon, secretly plucking herbs from the Boss's garden while hiding from ghosts.
Excellent.
Before she had even become a Witch, her shopkeeper mentality had already awakened.
Seeing her expression, the orb knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Host, the System Mall requires emotion points for exchanges.”
“Emotion points?”
“When other living entities experience emotional fluctuations because of the Host, the System will automatically convert them into emotion points. Shock, fear, anger, admiration, wariness, resentment, psychological breakdowns—anything works.”
Cen Yao's eyes flickered slightly.
“In other words, the more intense other people's emotions are because of me, the more I earn?”
“Exactly. The greater the emotional fluctuation, the higher the emotion points.
Emotion points can be exchanged for higher-level courses, longer access to the Learning Space, and also spellbooks, potions, magical items, recipes, materials, and more.
As long as it's in the mall and the Host can afford it, theoretically, anything can be exchanged.”
Cen Yao understood.
On the surface, this system was a learning system, but in reality, it was forcing her to show off in front of people in the dungeons.
No, show off in front of ghosts.
Shock the ghosts, make the Bosses break down, and make the viewers outside the livestream question their lives. Then, she would have the money to buy books and materials to continue growing stronger.
Cen Yao took a deep breath.
“Sys, I get it.”
The orb felt gratified. “It's good that the Host understands.”
Cen Yao said earnestly, “In the future, I will not only survive, but I will also live in a way that makes everyone else emotionally unstable.”
The orb: “...”
That was an excellent summary. Please don't summarize again.
Once the courses officially began, Cen Yao realized that the "high-intensity" the System spoke of was no joke.
Every day consisted of twelve hours of theory, six hours of practical application, and three hours of review. The remaining time was for eating, sleeping, and recovering her energy.
At first, she thought she would break down.
After all, her academic performance in reality was only average. She could only ever write "Solution" for the final problem of a math exam, and her English reading comprehension was always in a long-distance relationship with the correct answers.
But strangely, magic was different.
She could memorize those tongue-twisting incantations after chanting them just a few times.
As for the complex hand gestures required for spellcasting, she could find the rhythm after practicing for a little while.
When magic flowed through her body, it didn't feel like unfamiliar knowledge. Instead, it felt like a long-dormant river finally being awakened.
At the very beginning, she learned the Illumination Spell and the Cleaning Spell.
The orb had her clean up the bloodstains on the floor of the simulated combat zone.
With a wave of Cen Yao's hand, the ground became so clean it looked as if it had just been mopped three times.
Looking at the floor, she was suddenly deeply moved.
In the future, if her face got splattered with blood in a dungeon, at least she wouldn't have to run around with blood all over her face.
Offensive magic, however, was not nearly as friendly.
The first time she cast the Flame Spell, the spark that rose from her palm was only slightly larger than a lighter's flame.
Cen Yao stared at the trembling little spark, falling silent for a long moment.
“Sys, this looks more suitable for lighting birthday candles.”
The orb replied mercilessly, “Which is why the Host must continue practicing.”
Cen Yao continued to practice.
She practiced until the spark became a fireball, and the fireball became a fire dragon.
She practiced until her wind blades could slice through simulated wooden stakes, her vines could bind fast-moving ghost shadows, and her shields could firmly block simulated monsters when they lunged at her face.
Until one time, when a ghostly shadow hung upside down from the ceiling, she finally didn't close her eyes and cover her head. Instead, she raised her hand and cast a shield.
Cen Yao looked at the distorted ghostly face crashing against the shield and nodded seriously.
Excellent.
Her survival pose had finally evolved from crouching with her head covered to raising her hand to block.
One month later, she successfully cast a summoning spell for the first time.
Rate on N.U.
