17. Archfire Master

The purchase of textbooks went quite smoothly, and before long Dorothy held her spellbook contently as she went to the front desk to swipe her card and pay.

At her side, Alice hung her head dejectedly with a sullen face, while Miss Blue Hair Isabella appeared utterly smug.

During the recent book-buying process, Isabella, the academic star, had completely crushed the academically challenged Alice with her variety of professional opinions, leaving the blonde little witch utterly despondent, unable to recover her spirits.

After paying, the group left the bookstore directly. Once outside, Dorothy looked back at the bookstore's sign with a tinge of regret, feeling like she had missed seeing the owner of the bookstore, the retired Sage.

But it was no big deal, her disappointment resembled that of a tourist unable to see a local landmark due to bad weather—a fleeting letdown. Dorothy quickly gathered her emotions, ready to tackle the last leg of her shopping mission.

Casting Materials.

For mages to cast spells, they always need to consume some spiritual materials, which is why most spellcasters are either wealthy or noble—casting spells is not affordable for the poor, as each spell requires a certain amount of spiritual materials, and these materials are never cheap. It's not casting spells; it's burning money.

Take the famous Gem Series magic, for example. The casting materials are various high-purity gems. The purer the gem, the more powerful the magic, so after a battle, the money spent by Gem Series mages can be astronomical. If your finances aren't solid, learning Gem Magic is a quick way to squander a family fortune, and soon the young lady might be preoccupied with household financial issues.

Of course, the necessity of casting materials for spellcasting applies only to ordinary mages from otherworldly races. Their magic power is too scarce and not pure enough. To effectively bring out the strength of magic, they use these spiritual materials to compensate for their deficiencies in magic power.

But for witches, the high-quality magic power coursing through their veins is an omnipotent power, and their spellcasting isn't impacted by the availability of casting materials. However, even so, spiritual materials can significantly reduce the magic power consumed during casting, and the unique properties of some precious materials can greatly enhance the potency of corresponding spells.

Therefore, if circumstances allow, stocking up on high-spirituality casting materials is also a path to strength for witches, one where spending money indeed leads to power increases.

But for Dorothy, who was intent on saving money for a house, spending extravagantly on such things was out of the question. Free magic power not used is wasted, and it's not as if it isn't a renewable resource; it replenishes quickly enough, anyway.

Only those Armed Witches on the battlefield, always ready for combat, would use various methods to conserve their magic power, fearing they wouldn't have enough for the next fight. But Dorothy wasn't heading into battle; she preferred to expend more of her magic power than waste spiritual materials.

However, this didn't mean that Dorothy was clueless about casting materials. On the contrary, she was quite the expert since, in reality, being unwilling to use them didn't mean she held back in the Magic Web Space. There, casting materials were nothing more than data, basically dirt-cheap, so her online spellcasting was always lavish.

In real life, she was timid and poor, but online, she threw punches with the weight of gold, becoming the epitome of a high-quality witch homebody.

"Sister Dorothy, I'm somewhat knowledgeable about casting materials too. Let me help you choose later. I guarantee I'll select the best and most spirited materials for you," Isabella confidently volunteered.

"Mhm mhm, I'd really appreciate that, little Bella. I don't know much about these things, and you're so knowledgeable. It would be nice if Alice were as studious as you."

Dorothy agreed with a novice's enthusiasm, giving Miss Blue Hair plenty of face.

She then cast a glance at her sister Alice, whose face was so overcast with anger that she seemed on the verge of emitting a killing aura, and the corner of Dorothy's mouth lifted with a hint of pleasure.

Hehe... If she remembered correctly, the Witches' Specialty Store's material market was usually on the top floor, and right next to it was an Arena. To get to the material market, one would first have to pass by the Arena.

It was the classic design, like there's always a snack stand at the school gates. In the arena, there were daily duels and combative otherworldly races clashing, and to reduce consumption during these battles, casting materials were a must. Thus, there was a demand for these materials.

Indeed, once the group took the Mana Elevator (Magic Elevator?) to the top floor of the marketplace, the first thing that caught their eye was the massive arena occupying almost the entire floor, with many supply shops set around it.

The arena was clearly enhanced with a Space Extension Spell. From the outside, the tiny spectators seemed like residents of a miniature country, and it was quite hard to see the duels in the center without using a spell to enhance one's vision. Fortunately, a huge screen overhead was broadcasting the live dueling action.

And from the swell of cheers coming from the audience, one could tell just how popular dueling competitions were in this world.

There was no helping it; after all, this was Witch World, a warlike race with a culture that revered martial prowess and a rugged spirit.

The arenas in this world were as prevalent as gyms... emmmm, that's not right, more like movie theaters were in Dorothy's previous life.

The classic date routine for witch couples seemed to be to grab a meal and then watch a few duels, and if the mood struck, they might even join the fray themselves. And if they fought with enough passion, they might just spend a wonderful night together.

Besides that, in Witch World, various dueling competitions were often held, like Academy Cup, Sage Cup, World Cup, etc. Each of these major events was incredibly popular, bursting with fans, and even spawned a specialized profession of dueling witches, somewhat akin to the stars of Dorothy's past life.

In short, in this world, dueling was a competitive sport loved by everyone.

Whatever the reason, you could have a duel: feeling good, go for a duel to celebrate; feeling down, go for a duel to vent; have a feud, go for a duel to resolve the dispute; and if the duel doesn't settle it, well, have another one.

Although this sounds exaggerated, it is the reality. As long as it wasn't a matter of life or death, most issues could be resolved with a duel, and even for matters of life or death, there were still fights to the death.

And now that they were at the arena, well...

"Isabella, it's time for a duel to the death. I've tolerated you for a long time now," Alice said furiously, no longer able to suppress her anger upon seeing the arena. She immediately pulled out a pair of white gloves from her pocket and threw them at Isabella.

And Miss Blue Hair was naturally unyielding.

"Bring it on, who's afraid? You guys go book a room for me," she ordered the two witch henchwomen behind her.

Dorothy: "....."

The Trashy Witch concealed a smile beneath her scarf.

Awesome, the fight's on, time to grab some popcorn and enjoy the show.