Chapter 180 – New Student Enrollment

Even though the School Robe Sylph had made herself wasn’t as neat in craftsmanship and detail as the ones issued by the Academy, that single lilac button emanating a sweet fragrance was special enough.

Vasida felt more and more that her outfit today was too plain, and urgently searched for decorations to spruce up her all-black robe.

But no matter how hard she thought, there weren’t any good options.

However… once she saw the other little witches in their year, she calmed down completely.

Everyone else was dressed about the same.

Having clothes that fit was already no easy feat. In terms of style, there was virtually no difference at all — everyone wore the basic School Robe ensemble taught in Sewing Magic class, paired with a magical badge. Some robes even had visible loose threads.

Only Alba, who had a talent for Sewing Magic, had sewn a golden trim along her robe’s cuffs and hem.

“At least my trousers aren’t showing a bit of ankle, and my robe doesn’t have any loose threads!” Vasida consoled herself.

By the time they reached the Castle’s Great Hall and all the little witches had assembled, Vasida felt even more at ease.

The second-years were fine, but the third and fourth-year upperclassmen’s School Robes looked rough in fabric — even worse than theirs!

A few witches had extra decorations and accessories, but the vast majority were simply dressed neatly, nothing more.

Lady Amisha, clad in a black formal dress, walked into the Great Hall:

“Everyone, stand back a bit!”

Mo Lan stepped backward while observing this Lady Amisha.

In different clothes, she was completely unrecognizable.

She couldn’t tell if this was the Lady Amisha who taught first-years, Lady Amisha’s true form, or yet another Lady Amisha specifically assigned to host the enrollment ceremony.

Once the center of the Great Hall was cleared, an enormous waterbed appeared in the space.

“The Magic Waterbed!”

The familiar waterbed instantly transported all the little witches back to the night of their own enrollment.

“Seriously, can’t our enrollment ceremony be held on the waterbed?” Vasida said. “I want to go lie on it so badly!”

“Who doesn’t!” Sylph said.

Lilith sidled up to Mo Lan: “Has Lady Amisha ever turned the Magic Waterbed into a card?”

“She has, but they’re all limited-edition magic cards,” Mo Lan said. “If you like it, Senior, just buy a Magic Waterbed inheritance! I bought one myself.”

“How much Mana?” Lilith was a little tempted, and the other little witches perked up their ears to listen too.

Mo Lan: “500 Mana in permanent Mana.”

Lilith was instantly disenchanted with the Magic Waterbed.

The other little witches: “…”

Confirmed — that was something they absolutely could not afford!

“They’re coming!” Iris let out a gasp of surprise, pulling everyone’s attention back to the enrollment ceremony.

Above the waterbed, a black hole suddenly appeared, and from it tumbled a figure with silver hair.

She fell face-first into the waterbed’s embrace.

“Did you see what she looked like?”

“No.”

“But this new girl’s hair color is really rare!”

“Here comes another one!”

Less than a second after the first little witch arrived, new black holes appeared one after another in rapid succession.

“Two, three, four…” the little witches counted heads. “I wonder how many there are in this year’s class!”

…

Mo Lan stared at the black holes hovering two or three meters above the waterbed, rubbing her chin in thought:

“They really do look exactly like the teleportation portals the Headmistress opens! Can’t the portal exit be placed at ground level?”

“Moira, what did you say?” Vasida caught her muttering.

“I’m wondering why the Headmistress placed the teleportation exit so high up, when she could clearly open it right at ground level,” Mo Lan said.

This high up — could it really be on purpose, making the little witches teleport in and faceplant right onto the waterbed?

“That’s right! The Headmistress doesn’t do it like that when she teleports herself!” Vasida looked toward Lady Amisha on the stage and nudged Mo Lan: “Look at the Headmistress!”

Mo Lan looked over. On stage, Lady Amisha was watching the little witches tumbling onto her waterbed like dumplings being dropped into a pot, her face full of amusement.

Mo Lan: “…”

Case closed — it really was on purpose!

“Maybe she’s also trying to promote the Magic Waterbed!” Lilith said. “If I were the Headmistress, I definitely wouldn’t pass up such a golden opportunity!”

Mo Lan really wanted to summon Headmistress No. 69 right then and there and ask if that was the case!

“Huh? How come I can’t see the new students’ energy auras? Can you all see them?” Sylph blinked.

At first when she couldn’t see them, she thought her eyes hadn’t been Attuned properly yet, and her Witch Sight wasn’t working well.

But she had just re-Attuned, and the new students in her vision still showed absolutely no Energy traces around them at all — as if they were ordinary people with no magical power whatsoever.

“I can’t see them either!” Vasida only now noticed this. “How can that be?”

“It’s the Young Witch Blessing,” Lilith said.

“About two hundred and fifty years ago, Lady Traci, in order to protect young witches, used the 《Witch Clan Book》 as a medium to bestow a blessing upon all young witches.

From then on, the Energy traces on young witches were completely concealed. The blessing’s effects don’t fade until they undergo their aptitude test at the Witch Academy.”

Mo Lan nodded slightly. She knew about this too, and even had some additional information:

“This blessing was actually designed more to protect naturally awakened little witches.

As everyone knows, ‘young witch’ specifically refers to little witches who haven’t attended the Witch Academy yet, regardless of age.

The blessing covers them precisely so that after they awaken, before they’ve mastered their own power, they won’t be discovered by surrounding extraordinary beings due to their Energy traces.

After all, even though the various races don’t dare openly hunt witches anymore, in private, there are still those who target them.

Especially freshly awakened young witches who aren’t yet fully aware of their witch identity — they are in even greater danger.”

“Lilith, Moira, where did you two learn all this?” Sylph asked.

The 《Young Witch’s Primer》 didn’t contain any of this.

“From 《Energy Traces》! Haven’t you all finished the elective reading list for first-years yet? Just because it’s elective doesn’t mean you should neglect it!” Lilith admonished.

The first-year little witches felt a pang of guilt.

As for the elective reading list — very few of them had finished it. They had basically prioritized the magic-related books.

《Energy Traces》 was clearly not among their top choices.

But since the new students hadn’t all arrived yet, they still had time to flip through the books and catch up.

Mo Lan helpfully reminded them: “Chapter 8, page 2 of 《Energy Traces》, the end of Chapter 3 in 《The Origins of Witches》, and the middle of Chapter 5 in 《A Young Witch Raised in Love》 all mention this blessing.”

The little witches flipping through their books quickly found the right passages and read the corresponding descriptions.

However: “I’ve copied down all the elective reading titles, and 《A Young Witch Raised in Love》 isn’t on the list?”

Alba asked, puzzled.