“Chapter 11: Does increasing intelligence come at such a painful cost?”

"Chapter 11: Does increasing intelligence come at such a painful cost?"

"The plan was sound, but there were classes to attend tomorrow."

"The Magical Manifestation textbook was packed with text, leaving Fei Yi feeling as if she was reading an incomprehensible scripture."

"So, upon returning to the dormitory, she didn't hesitate to down an entire bottle of Quality Grade intelligence potion."

"Then, her face contorted."

"Previously, Fei Yi had only drunk red bloodgrass juice, a basic health potion in the game with the lowest level."

"Its taste wasn’t great, but the mild earthy and slightly sweet flavor wasn’t too bad."

"But the intelligence potion was different."

"The moment she drank it, Fei Yi felt as if she was submerged in rotting, stinking aloe vera gel."

With all her strength, she managed not to vomit on the spot... Such a painful price to pay for increased intelligence!

Fii muffled her mouth with her blanket, her eyes tightly shut. She could feel a change occurring in her body.

It wasn't a dull, direct change like "Intelligence +20," but rather a different kind, as if countless hands were gently caressing her brain.

Drenched in sweat and feeling dizzy, she fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, as the first cry of the Abyss's dawn birds rang out, Fii abruptly opened her eyes.

She saw the black and gold canopy and curtains of her bed, the bedding and mattress as if washed by water, and the disagreeable smell of her plain dress. The "Fundamentals of Magical Manifestation" lay haphazardly by her hand.

Huh? Wait?

Slowly turning her head, she found herself pillowed next to the textbook.

She... could understand the title now?

"Damn it... one of these days, I'll have the Knight Commander shoot that noisy bird down!"

Muffled cursing came from the opposite bed, followed by the sound of her roommate, the count's daughter, grumbling and turning over to sleep again.

Fii blinked silently, burying her face into the pillow.

Ahhhh!

She had understood everything!

Every word, every term spoken by her roommate was clear. It no longer felt like struggling with an English listening test, but as smooth as her native language!

Damn it, she was finally not an idiot anymore!

Worthy of a high-quality intelligence potion!

To test the extent of the potion's effects, Fii quickly sat up and flipped through the new textbook.

It turned out she hadn't spontaneously understood all the text. Instead, everything she had seen and heard before from the detailed illustrations and texts was now imprinted in her mind.

Whenever she saw or heard something, it would automatically translate in her mind, correlating with the corresponding memory.

She had never felt her mind as clear as now. Both her learning ability and memory had significantly improved by several levels.

But not everything was good this morning.

The necrotic entity around her neck had become heavier and colder.

Perhaps because she had delayed a whole day, the Singer was angry. Now Fii felt as if she was carrying a frozen corpse, making every step excruciatingly difficult.

She climbed out of bed with a wooden expression, shuffled to wash up, and painfully changed into a fresh set of bedding.

Breakfast was ordered the night before: Helmeted Frog Leg Mushroom Pie (what in the world was that, now that she understood?), two Screaming Bird Eggs, and a cup of hot milk.

The Screaming Bird Eggs, about the size of goose eggs, were boiled. Fii devoured one and pocketed the other as a snack for class.

Helmeted Frog... well, as long as it tasted good.

The Death Singer's influence made Fii look extremely pale. She moved towards the classroom at a snail's pace, her actions comical, drawing quite a few laughs.

"Look at how she walks, so silly! My toddler brother walks better than her."

"Forgive her! After all, her brain doesn't work very well! It's only natural her limbs are twisted, right? Hahaha..."

Fii, now more intelligent, coldly glanced at the laughing group, tripping and falling towards them in an instant.

The girls mocking her had no idea what was coming until Fii had already crashed into them!

That was a body carrying a necrotic entity! Not only extremely cold but also dead heavy!

The girls screamed in shock, two even getting trampled in the chaos, their black skirts dirtied with footprints, their meticulously done hair disheveled.

Eventually, Fii was pushed off them like a plank from a coffin, leaving the trembling girls to curse, "Why is she so heavy! Like a bathtub!" "Crazy... lunatic!" before they ran off without looking back.

Only Fii stood up, leaning against the wall, a smirk curling on her lips.

Amid the chaos, the instructor for Magical Manifestation entered the classroom.

She was a sharply dressed woman, not in the dragging, lengthy black robes typical of witches, but in a sleek pantsuit, reminiscent of medieval equestrian attire from the Blue Star.

Fiery phoenix tail feathers wrapped around her waist and hat brim, making hearts race at just a glance.

The freshmen couldn't help but whisper among themselves. In their days at the academy, they had only seen witches in subdued attire. Why was the instructor for Magical Manifestation so... flamboyant?

"And by the way the instructor furrowed her brows tightly, it seemed her temperament wasn’t too pleasant either."

"Sure enough, the new witch instructor strode in authoritatively, surveying all the freshmen."

"'Alright, you little dwarfs, from now on, you’ve finally stepped into the world of witches.'"

"'As everyone knows, Magical Manifestation is the most difficult subject of all. To learn it, you must be fully alert. I despise stupidity and dullness the most, so don’t make me repeat those damned theoretical knowledge.'"

"The freshmen shuddered."

"Instructor Gaia was mysterious and unquestionable, but as long as her rules weren’t broken, anything was fair game."

"But the instructor of the Magical Manifestation class was different; everyone could feel she was not to be trifled with."

"Only Susie sneakily looked forward, casting a sinister smile at the back of Fei Yi Luo's head in the front row."

"That fool is doomed."

"The witch introduced herself as Belrona Deborah, the Witch of War."

"Fei Yi was stunned."

"She recognized that face – War Witch Belrona, a level 100 max-level boss in the game, guarding a hidden solo title challenge."

"That level was notoriously brutal, tormenting players to tears. It was labeled as the 'Death Level' on forums, with scarcely any strategy posts due to its difficulty."

"Fei Yi had struggled for half a year, spending both effort and resources, barely managing to pass and earn [The Legacy of the War Witch]."

"Yes, in that instance, the War Witch was already dead. The boss was her final curse, left by a soul sacrifice."

"It was a curse born from deep-seated hatred."

"Fei Yi lowered her eyelids, pondering what could have happened in the game world’s future."

"She recalled Sallyra, relegated to guiding novices in the newbie hall, and the Twisted Forest, swamped with minor creatures."

"And then there was Instructor Gaia, whom she had never seen in the game, along with all her classmates. Could it be that they, like Belrona… were all dead?"

"Could it be? Could the game system's invasion mean the removal of many non-essential NPCs?"

This sudden speculation made her heart constrict violently. If it were true, no, even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, she couldn’t gamble with her [1/1] life.

She needed to become stronger as soon as possible.

Instructor Belrona began to explain the history and theory of Magical Manifestation.

The history was brief, but the theory was fascinating.

"Feel the magic inherent in your bodies, guide it to manifest the power you desire. That is Magical Manifestation."

"Remember the incantations; they are the refined legacy of witches over centuries. They will help you manifest your magic more safely and efficiently."

An eager student raised a hand: "Respected instructor, is it possible to manifest magic without incantations? I previewed the textbook last night and, to be honest, the incantations are all quite..."

"Obscure and difficult to understand?" Belrona glanced over, "Because they are written in the most ancient language. If you can't accept even this little challenge, Lunien, I suggest you apply for a stake now."

Lunien shivered and sheepishly lowered her hand.

"Don't aim too high," Belrona scoffed coldly, sweeping her gaze over everyone. "Only intermediate witches and above, with abundant magic and proficiency in Magical Manifestation, can cast without incantations. You lot, who haven’t even reached the level of a low witch, only have one path: memorize! Did everyone get that?!"

"Yes… yes, instructor!"

Fii opened her textbook, thoughtful.

Low witches, intermediate witches - these were the classifications of the witch profession. In the game "Land of Gods and Demons," levels 1-30 were considered low witches, 30-60 high witches, and above 60 were witch nobility, with special titles at level 100.

According to what Belrona said, Fii realized, their new class hadn’t even reached the low witch level yet.

In game terms, they hadn’t even reached the level of a newly created account.

No wonder those who fail the end-of-term exam would be burned at the stake. How could someone not qualified to create an account deserve to live and level up in the game world?

Only those who successfully pass this term would gain their own “witch account”… How is this even harder than playing a game? Starting from scratch just to earn the right to register?

Belrona demonstrated a few incantations.

"Invasion of the black mist, all souls shall sleep once more."

Familiar black mist emanated from her, instantly engulfing the first two rows of students. Those caught in it immediately fell to the ground, only waking up after the mist dissipated a few seconds later.

The freshmen: “!”

"With the wind as my blade, I curse you to be shattered to pieces by the wind."

A sudden whirlwind erupted in the classroom, splitting the blackboard into several pieces!

The freshmen: “!!”

"Fly, let me ride the winds into the sky."

A fiery red broomstick suddenly flew in from the corridor, and Belrona mounted it, circling around the classroom.

The freshmen went completely wild.

Hil, excited to the point of nearly snapping her quill, thought if she could also learn Magical Manifestation, would she then have a voice in front of her father to speak for her mother?

And the potions too... If she could concoct high-quality potions, would her father revoke that absurd will?

She must learn it.

Clenching her teeth, Hil remembered this was why she had forsaken everything to accept the academy's invitation.

They were then given a new textbook: “Classification and Detailed Explanation of Ancient Incantation Scripts.”

Belrona: “By the end of this term, you must memorize it entirely. Today's assignment is to successfully perform a Magical Manifestation.”

She slightly tilted her chin up, and the broken blackboard was sliced by the wind with several lines of text.

Fii looked over; these were the most basic incantations, such as making a fingertip glow or enhancing night vision. The purpose was likely just to teach the freshmen to feel the magic within their bodies.

When magic manifests physically, there will be noticeable changes.

Belrona's point was, any change, no matter what, counted.

No one wanted to be the underachiever in their first class, so everyone began studying the ancient incantation scripts.

Just a few days ago, they were mocking Fii for her need of detailed explanations, but now everyone was doing the same due to the difficulty of the ancient script.

Suzie wished she could bury her face in the book.

Yet, she couldn't help but console herself - if they were finding it so hard, wouldn't Fii, with her challenged intellect, go insane?

"In fact, what she didn’t realize was that after drinking the Quality Grade intelligence potion, Fei Yi was no longer her former self."

"Although not quite photographic, her learning and comprehension abilities had skyrocketed."

"Just by calmly and earnestly studying a few times, the obscure ancient text was clearly imprinted in her mind."

"She put down the book, closed her eyes, and tried hard to feel the magic within her body, as the instructor had instructed."

"A few minutes later, Fei Yi opened her eyes, her face clouded with frustration... Carrying a necromancer was like stuffing a huge iceberg into her chest, cutting off all sensation."

"Forget about sensing magic; she could barely even feel her own heartbeat!"