Chapter 17: The Arsonist
The purchase of the textbooks went smoothly. Not long after, Dorothy contentedly held her spellbook and went to the front desk to pay.
Beside her, Alice's face was dark with dejection, while the blue-haired young lady Isabella, on the other hand, looked triumphant.
During the book-buying process, Isabella, as a top student, completely overwhelmed the academic slacker Alice with her professional opinions. The golden-haired Little Witch was now utterly defeated and unable to recover.
After paying, the group directly left the bookstore. Outside, Dorothy looked back at the bookstore's sign, feeling a bit regretful that she hadn't seen the owner, the retired Sage, this time.
However, it wasn't a big deal. Her disappointment was merely on the level of a tourist missing a local landmark due to bad weather. Dorothy quickly composed herself, ready to complete the final part of this shopping mission:
Spellcasting materials.
Mages always need to consume some spiritual materials when casting spells. This is why most mages are either rich or noble, and the poor are not fit to be spellcasters. After all, every spell requires the consumption of certain spiritual materials, and spiritual materials have always been expensive. This isn't casting spells; it's clearly burning money.
For example, the famous Gem Magic uses various high-purity gems as spellcasting materials. The higher the purity of the gem, the stronger the magic's power. Therefore, a Gem Mage can burn an astronomical amount of money in a single battle. If one's family fortune isn't deep enough, learning Gem Magic is a path to ruin; the young lady might soon be busy with household finances.
Of course, the necessity of spellcasting materials for casting only applies to ordinary mages of other races. Their magic power is too scarce, and its quality is not pure enough. To better unleash the power of magic, they compensate for their lack of magic power by consuming spiritual materials.
But for Demonesses, the high-quality magic power flowing within them is an all-purpose force. The presence or absence of spellcasting materials does not affect Demonesses' spellcasting. However, even so, spiritual materials can still effectively reduce the magic power consumed by Demonesses during spellcasting, and the properties of some precious materials can significantly enhance the power of corresponding spells.
Therefore, if conditions permit, buying more high-spiritual spellcasting materials is also a 'pay-to-win' path for Demonesses to become stronger. Paying to win truly works.
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However, for Dorothy, who was focused on saving money to buy a house, paying to win was out of the question. Free magic power was not to be wasted. It wasn't a non-renewable resource; it could quickly replenish after use.
Only those Armed Demonesses on the battlefield, who are always ready for combat, would use various methods to conserve magic power, fearing that their magic power wouldn't be enough for the next battle. But Dorothy wasn't going to the battlefield; she would rather spend more magic power casting spells than waste spiritual materials.
However, this doesn't mean Dorothy was ignorant about spellcasting materials. On the contrary, she was an expert in this area. After all, her reluctance to use them in reality didn't mean she was reluctant to use them on the Magic Net. In the Magic Net space, spellcasting materials were just data, basically dirt cheap. Therefore, her online spellcasting was always extravagant.
One could say that in reality, she was timid and a pauper, but online, she was aggressive and spent money like water, a true epitome of a high-quality shut-in Demoness.
"Dorothy, I also have some research into spellcasting materials. I'll help you choose later. I promise to pick out the best and most spiritual materials for you."
Isabella confidently volunteered.
"Mmm-hmm, then I'll trouble you, Little Bella. I don't know much about these things. You know so much. If only Alice were as studious as you."
Dorothy nodded in agreement, feigning a novice look, giving the blue-haired young lady plenty of face.
Then she subtly glanced at her own sister, whose face was so dark it was almost radiating killing intent, and a pleased curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Hehe, if she remembered correctly, the materials market of the Witch Specialty Store was usually on the top floor, and right next to it was the Gladiator Arena. To get to the materials market, one would first pass through the Gladiator Arena.
It was a very classic design, just like there's always a convenience store at the school gate. Every day, a large number of Demonesses or combative other races duel and compete in the Gladiator Arena, and to reduce consumption during combat, spellcasting materials are essential. Thus, the demand for materials was created.
Indeed, when the group took the magic-powered elevator (Magic-lift?) to the top floor of the mall, the first thing that came into view was the massive Gladiator Arena in the center, occupying most of the entire floor. Numerous material shops were set up around the Gladiator Arena.
The Gladiator Arena was clearly also equipped with a spatial extension spell. Just standing outside and looking in, the densely packed, shrunken spectators looked like residents of a Lilliputian land. The battles in the arena's center were also quite difficult to see without using spells to enhance vision. Fortunately, there was a large screen above the arena broadcasting the gladiator matches in real-time.
And from the surging cheers of the arena spectators, one could tell the popularity of gladiator matches in this world.
No wonder, this was, after all, the Witch World, a War race where everyone revered martial arts and the folk customs were fierce.
The status of the Gladiator Arena in this world was like a stadium in Dorothy's previous life... emmmm, no, it was like movie theaters, found everywhere.
The classic dating process for Demoness couples seemed to be having a meal, then watching a few duel matches. If they were in the mood, they might even step into the arena themselves for a round. And if the fight got passionate, they might spend a wonderful night together.
In addition, various duel competitions were frequently held in the Witch World, such as the Academy Cup, Sage Cup, World Cup, etc. Each of these large-scale competitions was very popular and drew huge crowds, even giving rise to professional Gladiator Demonesses, whose status was somewhat similar to celebrities in Dorothy's previous life.
In short, in this world, gladiator combat was a sport everyone loved.
No matter the reason, one could always have a gladiator match. Feeling good? Go fight a gladiator match to celebrate. Feeling bad? Go fight a gladiator match to vent. Made an enemy? Go fight a gladiator match to resolve the dispute. If a gladiator match couldn't solve it, then fight another one.
Although this sounds a bit exaggerated, the reality was indeed like this. As long as it wasn't a life-and-death feud, most issues could be resolved through gladiator combat. Even if it was a life-and-death feud, wasn't there still a death match?
And now that they had come to the Gladiator Arena...
"Isabella, it's time for a decisive battle! I've tolerated you for too long!"
Alice, who had accumulated anger all the way, finally couldn't bear it when she saw the Gladiator Arena. She immediately pulled out a pair of white gloves from her pocket and threw them at Isabella.
And the blue-haired young lady, of course, was not a coward.
"Let's fight! Who's afraid of whom? You two go get me a room."
She instructed the two follower Demonesses behind her.
Dorothy: "."
The corner of the mischievous Demoness's mouth, hidden beneath her scarf, couldn't help but curl into a smile.
Yay, they're fighting! Time to watch the show.