Chapter 736: Magic and Sorcery

Dorothy switched her possession target, shifting from the Demon King girl into the body of the Lie girl.

Well, she simply wanted to come over and take a look at the magic tricks.

Back when she was still a mortal in her previous life, she had always enjoyed watching magic tricks, but after mastering sorcery in this life, mortal magic tricks held no attraction for her.

After all, a witch who could take flight at any moment naturally couldn't find much wonder in the magic tricks of mortals, which at most could only make things hover for a little while.

As for the so-called magic tricks of the Witch World?

Just as mentioned before, magic is merely a form of deception; this deceptive effect can only hold up when a high-level performer faces a low-level audience.

But unfortunately, as a Master of Sorcery, Dorothy had yet to encounter a performer capable of deceiving her.

Come to think of it, a moderately famous wandering troupe once held a performance in the Haiyue Territory. The homebody Witch naturally was too lazy to go out and watch, but after Alice returned from that show, she had excitedly told her how magical and amazing the troupe's magician was.

Yet, Dorothy only needed to hear the little witch's description of the magic form to easily replicate the so-called "miraculous skill" that was "more amazing than sorcery" right there in her room for this sister of hers who wouldn't study properly.

That so-called magic was actually nothing more than a few relatively complex composite sorceries, a special skill that only witches with high-precision talents could master.

Therefore, the effect it displayed to ordinary witches was simply like seeing a true high-level player in a normal game; they were stunned by the boss's unimaginable maneuvers, and then, looking at their own grayed-out death screen, they silently opened the report function.

How could a normal person be that flashy? That must be a cheater.

Yeah, the principle of a witch's magic tricks is pretty much utilizing this kind of mentality.

And once the principle is understood, then the so-called magic trick is just something anyone can do with their hands.

In short, Dorothy had clearly analyzed the principles of those magic tricks for Alice to hear back then. After all, the essence of so-called witch magic tricks is deception, so under these premises, those audiences who could still be bewitched and fascinated by witch magic performances were undoubtedly the type easily deceived.

In order to ensure her silly sister wouldn't be swindled away by some small tricks in the future, the homebody Witch had truly put in a lot of painstaking effort.

Mmhmm, it was absolutely not because she wanted to see the expression on the little witch's face when her dreams were shattered; absolutely not.

And Dorothy's education was very successful. Realizing that the magic tricks she liked were actually just a type of sorcery, Alice's girlhood dream was directly shattered. The little witch had widened her eyes at that time, looking as if her worldview had collapsed.

A recording of that cute scene is still treasured by Dorothy in the "Sister's Growth Diary" sub-hall of her Memory Palace.

Yeah, this sub-hall is filled entirely with Alice's dark history.

No, pfft, it's not dark history at all; this is clearly a sister's love for her sister.

However, the little witch was definitely not just any ordinary child. Clearly, the night before, Alice had been in a state of worldview collapse, vowing never to believe in magic tricks again, but the very next day, upon hearing that the wandering troupe was still performing, she went out early in the morning to watch them again, all happy and eager.

It was completely a "Sister, I understand all the logic you've told me, but I just like watching it" attitude of giving up.

Regarding this, even the scum sister couldn't do much about this sister of hers whose head was full of nothing but muscles.

However, she secretly threw a Tracking Magic Eye to observe Alice's reaction that day. Seeing that the little witch was actually just enjoying the splendor and beauty of the magic performance, rather than the previous "magic is more powerful than sorcery" mindset, she felt relieved.

And seeing Alice directly refuse the magician witch's invitation for a private performance after the show ended, she nodded with even more satisfaction.

Yeah, although this stupid sister's head was full of muscles and she was easily deceived, there was one good thing: she was very obedient to her sister.

Because Dorothy had said yesterday that magicians were all liars and to be careful, she firmly only watched the performance today and absolutely did not have any further interaction with this lying magician.

Regarding this, the homebody Witch was truly moved.

Then, she backhanded a report of this wandering troupe to the Stepmother, and subsequently, this troupe was directly ground to dust by the furious Stepmother.

Yeah, ground to dust in the literal sense.

Who told this wandering troupe to truly deserve it? They were all a bunch of liars and scum. Their favorite thing to do was to use various performances to bewitch little witches with immature minds into becoming their fans, and then, under the guise of private performances, lure the little fans into bypassing their parents and secretly going to their base to play.

And then, it was just some demons in the human world.

Calling them a wandering troupe, in reality, they were just a bunch of wandering bandits.

In short, die, you lolicon.

However, although they were scum, these guys did have some skills and were quite strong. Moreover, they never caused trouble in big cities, preferring to commit crimes in 18th-tier rural backwaters like the Haiyue Territory.

Therefore, they had been able to remain at large, and there wasn't even much news circulating about them.

It's just a pity that they were careless. They probably never expected, even until their deaths, to encounter a wild Master of Sorcery in this inconspicuous rural backwater, who saw through their deception in an instant.

From Alice's unusually obsessed appearance last night to the magic forms the little witch described, Dorothy saw through the fact that these guys were not good people at a glance.

After all, would a good person cast a charm spell on a little witch? And whose proper magician's magic core is actually various pink magic spells that little witches can't learn?

Things like hypnosis, time-stop, tentacles, rope art, and so on.

Sigh, Dorothy couldn't even bear to look.

Of course, she was actually just guessing; there was no substantive evidence. However, reporting to a parent doesn't require evidence.

Anyway, the homebody Witch said it casually, the Stepmother investigated it without a shred of doubt, and then there was no then.

One can only say that good and evil will eventually be rewarded. This Haiyue Territory was clearly an 18th-tier small city, but besides a low-key Master of Sorcery, it also had a retired former Armed Witch and Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition.

Daring to lay a hand on a Grand Inquisitor's daughter, one can only say these scum were truly brave.

Oh, the Inquisitor's identity is a secret; they really didn't know, it wasn't intentional. Then it's fine, anyway, just Dimen (let it be) and that's it.

Although, after the fact, when Annie returned and gave Dorothy a large sum of pocket money as a reward and thanks, she also casually mentioned a soul-searching question.

"Alice said that you can perfectly replicate the magic tricks of those scum, and even make them more mature and beautiful, and you saw through their deception at a glance. What is going on?"

Dorothy: "."

Yeah, someone who can replicate a sorcery expert's signature skill just by hearing a description must be an even more powerful Master of Sorcery. Similarly, someone who can see through a liar's deception at a glance must be a...

"Because good children never lie."

At that time, the homebody Witch had blinked her sincere, large eyes and answered like this.

And the Stepmother didn't ask again, just rolled her eyes, clicked her tongue, and then couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this mysterious stepdaughter.

However, although mysterious, she was indeed a good child; that point was correct.

"Ladies, I know you have grown tired of those ordinary performances during this time, so next, let's have something exciting."

On stage, the magician Miss, wearing an elegant black tailcoat, was bowing to the dense crowd of audience members below, her innocent face carrying a friendly smile.

And below the stage, those audience members who had long been conquered by the wonderful performances of this magic master during this recent period immediately began to cheer.

"Magician Miss, your performances are never tiring to watch; they are truly, truly too magical. I am a student majoring in sorcery, but even my mentor's sorcery is not as wonderful as your magic tricks."

"Magician Miss, in my view, your magic tricks have already surpassed sorcery; this can only be described as a miracle."

"Magician Miss, start quickly, I can't wait anymore."

"Sorcery is dead, long live magic tricks."

Dorothy listened to those cheers below that were not magical at all and couldn't help but sigh.

Sigh, it's one thing for people in a sci-fi world to be superstitious and be fooled into believing in metaphysics, but how come you group of transcendent beings who have mastered the true miracle power of sorcery have now also started to become superstitious?

For these audience members who had been deceived by the Lie girl to the point of losing their reason and falling into a semi-manic state, the homebody Witch only felt both hateful and pathetic.

The heart that believes is your sorcery.

This sentence is clearly written on the cover of the little witch's sorcery enlightenment textbook, but why is it that although all witches have studied this sentence, very few can truly comprehend this point?

She thought in her heart, feeling a sense of "hate that iron won't become steel."

"Ladies, it is truly your believing hearts that have achieved my magic tricks. Then, let us begin tonight's magic show."

He Moye looked at the fanatical audience below, but her smile was even more brilliant, and she shouted this with an exceptionally enthusiastic voice.

Only, Dorothy, who was possessing her, also heard her disdainful inner voice.

"Pathetic fools, only knowing how to indulge in the fake illusions before their eyes, yet they so easily discarded the true miracles."

"The heart that believes is my sorcery."

After shouting this arrogantly and confidently in her heart, the magician Miss also began her performance for tonight.

She raised the staff in her hand.

First, a point of light rose from the top of the staff. That point of light was very faint, as if it could be swallowed by the darkness of the night at any moment.

Well, after all, this is just a zero-ring cantrip, a Starlight Art that even kindergarten little witches know.

Only, the next moment, this point of light suddenly expanded, then exploded, and those points of starlight dragged long tails as they flew toward the audience below the stage.

A single point of starlight evolved into a gorgeous meteor shower.

Dorothy was stunned, then fell into deep thought.

It must be said that this kind of zero-ring sorcery suddenly escalating into such a gorgeous large-scale sorcery is indeed very difficult.

Just with this one hand, Miss He Moye had already surpassed the scum magician who had amazed Alice back then.

Even the miracle metaphysical power of sorcery sometimes has to follow some basic laws, such as the fact that spellcasting failure will result in magical backlash.

A witch's sorcery is not just a delicate accumulation like mathematical formulas, even if the development of those magic patterns indeed looks as rigorous and delicate as mathematics, with traces to follow.

Someone once compared sorcery to a delicately structured building, thinking that as long as one keeps learning, one can always build the most beautiful building in one's heart.

But in fact, that is not the case.

In Dorothy's view, that has already deviated from the essence of sorcery.

That is committing the materialistic error of superstitious dogma.

Sorcery is undoubtedly idealistic, and it is an absolutely idealistic power.

What has rules to follow is merely the operation of mana; those magic pattern arrays only carry the flow of mana, but this is not sorcery.

True sorcery is actually the new miracle produced after the collision between the power of the heart and the miracle power of mana.

It is a miracle driven by human intention, capable of doing whatever one wants.

Therefore, if you treat using sorcery as building a house, then your sorcery is destined to be unfree.

Because when building a house, you cannot not lay a foundation and directly build a castle in the air; therefore, you need to pay attention to basic laws.

Casting spells according to this line of thinking, a tiny error in a magic pattern array could lead to spellcasting failure, followed by the rampaging, out-of-control mana backlash.

Moreover, this line of thinking for spellcasting has become a job where an architect holds a drawn design and works on construction. As time goes by, it will turn people into drawing-reading machines who only know how to look at drawings. Without blueprints, they might not even be able to build a thatched hut.

This is obviously putting the cart before the horse.

This world had sorcery first, and then had sorcery spells, magic pattern circuits, and other new-era sorcery knowledge.

In the beginning, sorcery was a miracle that only a few talented people could master. Later, for the popularization of sorcery, there were sorcery spells and magic pattern circuits, these tools for those whose talents were insufficient.

True natural spellcasters actually don't need these things at all. A single look, a single word, a single action from them can all trigger the power of miracles.

They don't need to care about any sorcery spells or circuits at all. Where the heart moves, the power follows; that is truly free power.

Therefore, there is no possibility of spellcasting failure, and there are no fixed formulas.

You start with a Fireball spell, but when you need it, this Fireball spell can directly change into a fire bird, a phoenix, or even a fire dragon.

Everything depends on your mood.

But obviously, today's witches are too obsessed with the research of sorcery spells and magic pattern circuits; they have forgotten that sorcery is a miracle of the heart.

And now, when this miracle of the heart reappears, this group of fools can no longer recognize that this is what sorcery truly looks like.

Hehe, magic tricks, huh.

The homebody Witch sneered.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 737 =====