Chapter 70: Chapter 70

She’d come up with this after encountering will-o’-the-wisps, as a way to counter high-agility, low-defense enemies.

Spider Climb, on the other hand, was inspired by her new aiming skill and growing proficiency with the bow. In the forest, it was much easier and safer to shoot from the trees than from the ground, where the undergrowth got in the way.

This spell helped her quickly climb trees and move about in them.

It let her move on vertical surfaces as easily as on flat ground—even walking on the ceiling was as simple as strolling.

With her other buff spells, Muying was now truly at home in the woods, even able to race through the treetops at high speed. Aside from a slight lack of jumping power, she was almost as agile as if she had lightfoot martial arts.

One day, as usual, after finishing her work in the plantation, she went to Sera’s Eatery for a meal.

To her surprise, Yuan Gungun—who had practically made the place his cafeteria—wasn’t there.

Muying grabbed a quick bite and went back to the treehouse, only to find Yuan Gungun in the living room gnawing on black bread.

“What’s going on?” Black bread had always been Yuan Gungun’s chew toy, but she’d never seen him eat it as a meal.

Yuan Gungun raised his chin—though with his current physique, you could barely make out its shape.

He tapped a piece of black bread lightly on his head, and it broke into four pieces.

“When did Marlene’s black bread get so soft?” Muying muttered in surprise, then suddenly thought of something and hurried to check her animal companion’s stats."

"【Nickname: Chubby】

【Species: Iron-eating Beast】

【Stage: Juvenile】

【HP: 100%】

【Talent: Eating】

【Attributes: Strength 13, Constitution 15, Agility 9, Intelligence 7, Perception 7, Charisma 15】

【Abilities: Emotional Bond, Loyalty, Fruit Pitcher, Enemy of Black Bread】

Her constitution had increased by one point, and as expected, she’d gained another strange skill—this time, it really was related to black bread.

【Enemy of Black Bread: Every black bread you eat transforms into sturdy armor on your body, increasing your defense for the next 24 hours.】

Mu Ying stared at this skill with a weird expression. Was it still in time for her to start eating black bread now?

With the whole basket of black bread Chubby had just eaten, it could probably roll around on a chopping board and still be fine.

Why wasn’t her Barkskin spell something like “Enemy of Tree Bark”? If she had that kind of defense, she’d be happy to gnaw on tree bark all day.

Just what kind of treasure animal companion had she summoned? Are all national treasures this tough?

Feeling conflicted, Mu Ying stroked Chubby’s fur. “You’ve got real tank potential now. Tomorrow, let’s go out and test it—you can throw fruit in front to draw aggro, and I’ll hide on the side and snipe from a distance! It’s perfect!”

This fluffy little thing that did nothing but eat and sleep all day was finally fattened up and ready for—no, not slaughter—ready for battle.

Mu Ying had to admit Chubby’s innate abilities were impressive; its skill effects seemed to depend on what it ate.

She decided to plan out some new snacks for Chubby. It was a pity it was still a juvenile and couldn’t eat iron yet, despite its species name.

Mu Ying ran to the Oak General Store.

Recently, Wu Yaya had been looking at Mu Ying more and more favorably. As soon as it saw her, it asked why she hadn’t been coming to the store as often.

But Mu Ying always felt its gaze was a little strange, as if it was calculating how many more gold coins it could shake out of this walking piggy bank.

She shivered, calling out as she hurried toward the back room, “I’m here to see Grandpa Shaum!”

Watching her quickly disappear behind the door, Wu Yaya snorted. Some humans just needed to be treated a little meanly or they wouldn’t feel comfortable.

“Grandpa Shaum, I want to buy some iron bamboo seeds for Chubby to eat,” Mu Ying said, finding Grandpa Shaum lying on the grass with his eyes closed, resting.

“For Chubby, huh? Go dig some up yourself, no charge. If you find any interesting plants, just bring me a sample,” Shaum waved her off, not minding at all.

Mu Ying thought for a moment and said, “Grandpa Shaum, if you’re interested, you can come by my plantation tomorrow morning. I got lucky this time—the trial world really suits me. I should be able to convert a rather special seed tomorrow…”

She gave a brief introduction to the properties of the broom grass.

“A plant that’s ordinary by itself, but can change based on the planter’s bloodline?” Grandpa Shaum was indeed interested.

With his skills, he wouldn’t covet her little treasures.

Mu Ying even suspected he’d noticed her Spring of Restoration.

Besides, he was probably a trial-taker too—she even guessed that his plantation space came from the trial world.

She went to the bamboo grove, dug up a bunch of small bamboo shoots, and gathered some iron bamboo seeds. After leaving the general store, she and Chubby teleported to the plantation, planted the iron bamboo that very night, and even watered them extra with Spring of Restoration.

“From now on, this bamboo grove is your new food supply. Try to eat enough to unlock ‘Enemy of Iron Bamboo’ next,” Mu Ying encouraged Chubby.

That’s still hundreds of black breads away from the bamboo grove!

Chubby sighed. Iron bamboo! Sure, it had strong teeth, but sometimes it just wanted to eat something soft. So unfair…

“Hmm, everyone’s especially energetic today—I can practically smell the magic bubbling in the air. So, to help you all calm down, let’s start with a lesson on a few herbs.”

Headmistress Melani finished speaking, and the three witches below the podium couldn’t help but groan. But the headmistress ignored their longing looks and stubbornly began the herbology lesson.

Mu Ying quickly adjusted her mood and started taking notes. They really had been a bit restless lately, which wasn’t good for making brooms or wands.

Fortunately, the headmistress only covered five herbs. Once everyone had settled down, she didn’t keep them in suspense any longer.

She handed each of them a small wooden chip.

“Introductory alchemy includes three basic magic patterns: personal sigils, linear sigils, and dot sigils.

Personal sigils are also called magic marks. They’re unique—every witch has her own, and they have all sorts of uses. You’ll need them for making brooms and wands.

These chips are made from the heartwood of the revealing tree. Infuse them with your magic, and you’ll see what your personal sigil looks like.”

A few minutes later, the chips in Mu Ying and the others’ hands changed.

Mu Ying’s chip showed a leaf pattern with wavy veins.

Lilian’s was a small red triangle, and Windsor’s had ten crystal-blue droplets.

“Take a good look at your personal sigil and memorize it clearly. Then, use your magic to carve it onto your prepared wand wood. That’s all it takes to finish making your wand. Don’t worry about making mistakes—if you focus, your magic will guide you.”

Mu Ying stared at her little leaf for a long time, even closing her eyes to recall it before starting.