The Witch's Anatomical Notes

Chapter 6

First Academic Deduction

Putting aside her inner unease, Lucy sat down at the desk.

The parchment and the crystal ball on the table were slightly disorganized, but she did not bother to tidy them up. Instead, she silently recited in her mind, "System."

When the blue characters appeared before her eyes once again, a faint smile finally surfaced on Lucy’s face.

If this world she had crossed into was filled with shocks to her soul, then this blue interface was her only solace.

[Name: Lucy Felicia]

[Level: Apprentice trainee (Mental Strength: 5.8)]

[Meditation: Bramble Loop Meditation]

[Witchcraft: Basic Magical Trick (Tier-0), Basic Ring of Resistance (Tier-0)]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

[Contamination Value: 55%]

[Academic Points: 12]

As the attribute interface popped up, Lucy began to study it carefully.

Among them, the two most useful values were undoubtedly: Mental Strength and Academic Points.

A normal adult had a Mental Strength of 1. After two years at the Tower, Lucy’s Mental Strength had reached 5.8. Although this appeared to be six times that of an ordinary person, there was still a considerable gap compared to an official apprentice.

It was also evident that Lucy’s talent in witchcraft was not particularly outstanding calling it mediocre would not be an exaggeration.

If she continued to cultivate in the usual manner, it would be impossible for her to advance to the rank of witch in this lifetime.

Then there were the Academic Points.

Academic Points could be earned through Anatomy, which was also the main reason Lucy had proactively joined the Anatomy Laboratory.

The current 12 Academic Points were what the original owner had accumulated over the past two years.

If this system truly was the kind of "point allocation system" she suspected, then where should she spend these Academic Points?

Her gaze swept over all the characters and finally rested on [Meditation: Bramble Loop Meditation].

This was the inherited meditation method of the Tower of the Four Sages and also the very foundation of the Tower.

Not only could it enhance Mental Strength and restore magic energy, but most importantly, it could also reduce the Contamination Value. It was clearly the best choice.

She did not know whether the remaining 12 Academic Points would be enough to meet the standard for advancement, but there were only three days left before she would join the Anatomy Laboratory.

If Lucy were still that silver-haired girl from the countryside, perhaps she would hesitate and overthink.

But now, within this delicate body resided the soul of a young man from another world. Since there was neither time nor capital for trial and error, she could only take a leap of faith.

With this thought, Lucy bit her silver teeth tightly and resolved in her heart:

"System, help me deduce the Bramble Loop Meditation."

Buzz! ~

As Lucy’s thoughts moved, the blue characters before her eyes twisted for a moment, and then new Chinese characters appeared.

[After two years of study at the Tower, you realized that at your current pace, it would be impossible to advance to an official apprentice within your lifetime.]

[Thus, you conceived the idea of improving the "Bramble Loop Meditation."]

[You repeatedly reviewed the meditation method recorded in the Tower’s black tome and attempted to use your existing knowledge to refine it to better suit yourself.]

[Through tireless effort, after expending a great deal of energy and learning, you finally succeeded in the preliminary improvement of the "Bramble Loop Meditation."]

[The success of this experiment brought you new insights. Just as you were about to continue refining the meditation, you found your mind completely blank...]

[Meditation: Bramble Loop Meditation I]

[Mental Strength: 5.8 → 6.8]

[Academic Points: 2]

The moment the blue characters returned to the attribute interface, a flood of knowledge and memories surged into Lucy’s mind.

These were the memories of her endlessly refining the meditation method while hunched over this very desk, day and night.

"This is... a success?"

Not only did the meditation method now have the suffix "I", but her Mental Strength had also increased by a full point.

She immediately closed her eyes.

Accompanied by the illusory pain of thorns piercing her flesh, her Mental Strength gradually began to boil.

This shiver, radiating from the depths of her soul, mixed pain with pleasure, making both her body and mind sink into intoxication.

When she opened her eyes again, the turning hourglass clock on the wall used for keeping time had already pointed to the early hours of the morning.

Unknowingly, she had meditated for seven hourglass cycles, and her spiritual world had reached a state of saturation.

Before improving the meditation method, it had taken her eight hourglass cycles each day to reach saturation, but now she could save one cycle for other things.

But this was not the most important part.

"System."

She spoke softly.

[Name: Lucy Felicia]

[Level: Apprentice trainee (Mental Strength: 6.8 → 6.9)]

[Meditation: Bramble Loop Meditation I]

[Witchcraft: Basic Magical Trick (Tier-0), Basic Ring of Resistance (Tier-0)]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

[Contamination Value: 55% → 52%]

[Academic Points: 2]

"One day of meditation, and Mental Strength increased by 0.1, while the Contamination Value decreased by 3%!"

Comparing the attribute list, Lucy quickly noticed the changes.

It should be noted that before upgrading the meditation method, the original owner could only reduce the Contamination Value by 1% after meditating for eight hourglass cycles.

It had taken three to five days to increase Mental Strength by 0.1. Combined with the initial learning period and occasional interruptions, it had taken a full two years to reach a Mental Strength of 5.8.

Now, with just one academic deduction, not only had her Mental Strength increased by one point if she meditated for another 31 days, her Mental Strength would surpass the level of an official apprentice.

And this was only after a single improvement. If she could upgrade the meditation method a few more times with enough Academic Points, reaching the level of an official witch would no longer be out of reach.

In a sense, the cultivation of a witch was the process of enhancing Mental Strength.

By constructing witchcraft models to guide the release of magical energy into witchcraft, though the level of witchcraft also affected the power of the spell, the core factor determining its potency remained the strength of one’s Mental Strength.

After the excitement faded, Lucy slumped into the old wooden-backed chair and gazed at the sky through the tall porthole in the wall.

Because of the angle and size, she could see only a few faint stars.

Since there was no way back, she resolved to live well in this world. To the real Lucy, she silently said: rest in peace, your body will be well protected by me.

Lucy pondered for a long time. It was not until a pitch-black iron crow flew past the window that she withdrew her gaze.

Having not eaten all day, Lucy felt hungry, but mealtime had already passed, and there were still a few hourglass cycles left until dawn.

Moreover, her meditation for the day had already reached saturation; she would need to wait another fourteen hourglass cycles before she could meditate again.

Bored and idle, Lucy finally had time to explore her new body.

She removed the oversized, bulky dark gray wizard robe. Underneath, she wore a white undershirt dress that reached just to her knees, and her lower half was covered by light gray stockings.

Lucy reached out and touched them. The stockings were thick and elastic, providing warmth, comfort, and an alluring appearance that accentuated the perfect shape of her legs.

Beneath that was a small set of pure white underwear.

Perhaps due to her Caucasian genes, though she had just turned fifteen, Lucy’s figure was surprisingly well-developed at least more than she could easily hold with one hand.

Combined with her ascetic silver hair and fair skin... it was no wonder that Nure had developed feelings for Lucy.

She thoroughly familiarized herself with her new body, inside and out, until the hourglass clock pointed to six. Overcome with hunger, Lucy put on her gray wizard’s robe again and pushed open the door to head downstairs to the wizard dining hall.

In this era, only nobles and witches had the privilege of enjoying breakfast.

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Before sunrise, a group of gray-robed apprentices had already gathered beneath the eerie and terrifying West Tower, which housed the Anatomy Laboratory the most dangerous place in the entire Tower of the Four Sages.

The courtyard of the tower was overgrown with withered weeds, and a few charred tree trunks stood in the distance. Bones and writhing maggots were scattered everywhere.

Aside from the apprentices belonging to the laboratory, few others dared to set foot here. The servants avoided this place entirely.

Lucy arrived neither late nor early.

Draped in her apprentice gray robe, she stood inconspicuously among the crowd.

Over the past three days, her Mental Strength had reached 7.1, and her Contamination Value had dropped to 47%. The hallucinations had ceased, which brought Lucy great relief.

"But..." Lucy glanced around and muttered to herself, "there seem to be too few people."

A total of twenty-one people had been assigned to the Anatomy Laboratory, but now, with the sun about to rise, there were only about fifteen or sixteen people on the clearing in front of the West Tower.

At that moment, a plump figure approached her.

"Good morning, Miss Lucy."

"Good morning, Nure... You don’t look like you slept well."

Nure Hutchinson lifted his cloak, revealing a haggard, chubby face with deep dark circles like a walking national treasure.

Nure gave a bitter smile. "I haven’t slept in three days..."