Chapter 11 – The Astrology Ritual

The Magical Feast was over, and the evening banquet naturally came to an end.

The first-year little witches followed behind their upperclassmen out of the Great Hall.

Past the Great Hall, a short corridor led to a small antechamber.

On one end of the antechamber was a staircase; the other end connected to the castle’s east gate.

Beyond the east gate lay a small plaza.

Standing in the plaza and looking back, the entire castle was ablaze with light.

The Academy Castle was built atop a mountain ridge, and beyond the plaza’s edge were sheer cliffs.

Given the shed-like structures on either side of the castle gate, each lined with rows of broomsticks, this plaza was likely used for takeoffs and landings.

To the left of the plaza, a narrow path led down the mountain. Magical lanterns along its sides cast a warm glow, forming a winding ribbon of golden light that snaked its way downward.

Once outside the castle, the third-year and fifth-year upperclassmen headed straight for the broomstick sheds, retrieved their brooms, and flew off from the castle.

The first-year newcomers watched enviously as the upperclassmen soared into the sky.

Turning to look at the second-year and fourth-year upperclassmen, who were also gazing skyward but making no move to leave, a considerate little blonde witch spoke up:

“Upperclassmen, please go ahead! Don’t worry about us—the 《Newcomer’s Guide》 has a map, and we can find the dormitories on our own!”

After an awkward silence, Tracey stepped forward and declared with great solemnity:

“It is a tradition of the Witch Academy that, starting from the first night of the school year, fourth-years hold an astrology ritual lasting several days here in the plaza to divine their fortunes for the coming term. We will all be staying here tonight.”

The other fourth-years were momentarily stunned, then seemed to catch on and hastily chimed in.

“Yes, yes, yes! The astrology ritual! Younger witches from other years aren’t allowed to participate, so off you go!”

“And remember, no peeking! If we’re disturbed, the ritual will fail and bring bad luck!”

…

The second-year witches corroborated this as well:

“It’s true, there is such a tradition. The fifth-years held an astrology ritual here last year too—it lasted an entire week, I think!”

“I see! Well then, we won’t disturb the upperclassmen’s stargazing.”

The little witches bid their upperclassmen farewell and set off together down the mountain path.

Only after the younger students had disappeared from sight did the fourth-years finally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Now I finally understand why the upperclassmen always hold an astrology ritual here at the start of fourth year!”

“Who could have imagined that on the very first day of school, we’d be homeless?”

“We’ve only just finished exploring the inner zone, and we haven’t even decided where to build our shelters yet. Please, please don’t let it rain these next few days!”

“Once the fifth-years move into the outer zone, we can inherit some of the good spots—though unfortunately the dwellings themselves get cleared and can’t be inherited.”

“Don’t you dare compete with me for that tree hollow east of the Beast Jungle! I’ve already made an arrangement with Senior Yuni!”

“Damn it! I had my eye on that tree hollow too!”

…

Though the mountain path had magical lanterns every few meters, the terrain was rugged and far from easy to traverse.

Mo Lan, Vasida, and Sylph were all walking alongside Lilith at the very back of the group.

“Lilith, if fourth-years can’t live in the dormitories anymore, where do the upperclassmen stay?” Mo Lan asked curiously.

“Usually they build simple shelters in the academy’s inner zone, outside the core area,” Lilith said.

“They’ve already built shelters this quickly?” Sylph asked in surprise.

“A witch’s home must be really hard to build—the upperclassmen are so impressive!” Vasida said.

“As if!”

Lilith glanced ahead, and once she was sure no one was paying attention, she beckoned the three of them closer and whispered:

“Everyone builds makeshift shelters. Caves and tree hollows are the best options. Only those who specialize in architectural magic actually construct little cabins, and even those are just ordinary huts—nothing compared to a proper witch’s home with a full defensive system.

Besides, you can’t even explore the inner zone until third year, and the inner zone has some ordinary wild beasts that are a bit more dangerous than what’s in the core area.

Between exploring the inner zone, building a shelter sturdy enough to withstand ordinary beasts, and keeping up with coursework—all within a single year—there’s simply not enough time.

The upperclassmen haven’t finished building their shelters yet! And they can’t stay overnight inside the castle, so tonight they’ll probably just sleep in the plaza.

The astrology ritual is just an excuse… I only figured out what was really going on because I know Tracey’s situation. Keep this a secret, okay? For the upperclassmen’s sake!”

Mo Lan and the other two nodded obediently.

To protect their upperclassmen’s pride, they would pretend they knew nothing.

“When do we get to take flying lessons?” Sylph asked. “Even though the dormitory area is right at the foot of the mountain, climbing up to the castle every day for classes would be pretty exhausting!”

“Who doesn’t want to fly as soon as possible?” Lilith said wistfully. “Flying lessons don’t start until second year, after you’ve crafted your own broomstick.”

Were the second-years staying behind out of concern for the younger students, unwilling to fly off and leave them?

Of course not! The mountain path truly was treacherous, and every year there were little witches who broke their legs on it.

However, the entire academy was under Lady Amisha’s control, so even the most serious injuries could be treated promptly.

Witches liked helping one another, but they would never consider looking after others to be their responsibility.

The reason they didn’t fly was genuinely because they couldn’t yet!

“So we’ll have to climb this mountain for over a year?” Sylph felt exhausted just thinking about it.

She had never walked this far in her entire life.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine walking this distance to class every single day.

Mo Lan was slightly better off than Sylph. When she was young, she had no opportunity to study, so she could only do physical exercise—strengthening her body was the one area where she could improve herself.

Climbing this mountain wasn’t much of a problem for her; it was only slightly more strenuous than her usual training.

But commuting this distance to and from the Academy Castle would eat up several hours each day just on walking.

For her, that was no small waste.

Still, since the academy had arranged things this way, there was nothing they could do but adapt.

More than that, though, she was curious about something else—why the mountain where the Academy Castle stood was called Mount Sanqing on the map!

The name practically transported her back to the sacred site of Daoist culture on Earth. It was far too strange to encounter it here.

Yet none of the other little witches seemed to find it odd at all. No one had even noticed.

Mo Lan couldn’t help but ask Lilith about it.

“Is the name ‘Mount Sanqing’ strange? I think it sounds rather nice! The great bell in the academy’s clock tower is called the Sanqing Bell, you know. These names were all chosen by the three Sorceress elders when they founded the school,” Lilith said.

“Do you know why they chose that name?” Mo Lan asked.

“I read about it in the 《Chronicles of the Witch Academy’s Founding》. They said the inspiration came from an otherworld called the Cangyuan World.

In that world, Mount Sanqing was the birthplace and sacred ground of a school of transcendent practitioners. The ‘Three Pure Ones’ represented the three supreme masters of that school. Since the Witch Academy was also founded by three Sorceress elders—who are likewise the supreme masters of the witch race—and Mount Sanqing carried a similar meaning of legacy and heritage, the connection felt fitting.

The Sorceress elders drew some inspiration for founding the school from the otherworlders of Mount Sanqing, so they named the central mountain of the academy Mount Sanqing. The Sanqing Bell in the clock tower was named for the same reason.

At the very top of the Academy Castle, there’s a platform called the Jade Terrace—the highest point in the entire academy. In the later stages of flying lessons, that’s where they practice high-altitude flight.

And by the well in the dormitory area, there’s a stone tablet inscribed with the name Ancient Elixir Well.

All of these were inspired by Mount Sanqing in the Cangyuan World.”

Lilith added, “If you’re interested, you should read the 《Chronicles of the Witch Academy’s Founding》 later. It goes into much more detail.”

Mo Lan made a mental note of the title.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, it was already past midnight.

Even going downhill, many of the first-year witches were completely worn out.

Among the crowd of panting, sweat-drenched little witches, Vasida stood out the most.

She looked almost exactly the same as when they had set out—not a single drop of sweat, and seemingly not tired in the least.

Faced with the other witches’ astonished stares, Vasida explained with some embarrassment:

“Maybe it’s because I eat a lot, but my stamina is a bit better than most witches. The thing is, once I start feeling hungry, my energy drops off a cliff… Luckily, I ate plenty at dinner, so I don’t feel anything right now.”

Recalling the spectacle of her eating earlier, everyone found this perfectly understandable.

Not far from the base of the mountain was the dormitory area.

They reached it after passing through a small grove of oak trees.

But the dormitory was somewhat different from what everyone had imagined.

(End of Chapter)