Chapter 187 – Academic Year Plan

“Let me see, what classes and books are there this year?”

The moment Mo Lan returned to the Dormitory, she sat down, took out her Grimoire, and opened the 《Academic Year Plan》.

The first thing that popped up was a notice:

“To all second-year young witches: starting this academic year, the Ingredient Collection Station will no longer provide you with plant-based ingredients, nor will seasonal School Robes be distributed. For all such needs, please use what you have learned to provide for yourselves.”

This was hardly big news anymore. Mo Lan skimmed past it in a single glance.

Next came the course preview.

“This academic year’s theory courses include: 《Introduction to Valen Common Tongue》 (required), 《The Witch’s Wilds》 (required), 《Basic Mathematics I》 (required), 《Introduction to Angelic》 (elective), 《Introduction to Demonic》 (elective), 《Introduction to Draconic》 (elective)…”

“This academic year’s practical courses include: 《Flight》 (required), 《Introduction to All-Element Magic》 (required), 《Introduction to Alchemy》 (required), 《Combat Techniques》 (required), 《Hunting Techniques》 (required), 《Magic Q&A》 (elective).”

After reading through the long list, Mo Lan’s eyes were spinning: “You’ve got to be kidding. The second-year workload is this heavy? Can anyone actually finish all of this?”

The course load was several times that of first year, at least!

And there was even a distinction between required and elective courses.

“Required theory courses run concurrently, one session per week. Required practical courses run sequentially—one must be completed before the next begins.”

“Elective theory courses meet once every two weeks. Elective practical courses meet once per week. Choose based on your own interests and needs.”

Reading this, Mo Lan understood. Second year was where the gradual branching began—elective courses weren’t mandatory.

But for Mo Lan, she intended to take all the elective theory courses like Angelic and Demonic.

With her memory, learning languages was the easiest thing.

She only needed to pick up some pronunciation in class.

Once she’d learned the basics, disguising herself as a member of another race and going to study their language in depth would be much more convenient.

The sole elective practical course, Magic Q&A class, was even more impossible to give up. Any problems she encountered while self-studying Magic had to be brought to that class to seek the Headmistress’s help.

The Guardian Headmistress wasn’t omniscient. When it came to magical knowledge, she often wasn’t as skilled as the Headmistresses who specialized in teaching.

Unfortunately, today was only Wednesday. The schedule for the first week of the second academic year hadn’t been updated yet, so she had no idea how these courses would be arranged, or whether she’d be able to select all the electives.

Finally came the second-year reading list:

“Required reading: 《Introduction to Valen Common Tongue》, 《A Witch’s Guide to Living in the Wilds》, 《Basic Mathematics I》, 《Broom Flight》, 《The Apprentice Witch’s Practical Spellbook》, 《An Overview of Runes, Magic Circles, and Alchemy》, 《Witch Combat Arts》, 《How to Prepare a Wild Beast》.”

“Recommended reading: 《Valen Common Tongue Dictionary》 (Witch Edition), 《The Complete Encyclopedia of the Wilds》, 《Foundational Mathematical Olympiad 1》, 《The Study of Alchemy》, 《Complete Collection of Runes》, 《The Complete Book of Magic Circles》, 《Complete Guide to Magical Plant Cultivation》, 《Complete Collection of Witch Potion Recipes》, 《Magical Weaving》, 《The Witch’s Path》 (full series), 《Compatibility Between Casters and Other Professions》, 《Angelic Dictionary》, 《Demonic Dictionary》, 《Draconic Dictionary》…”

Compared to first year, the reading list had grown considerably longer.

Moreover, much more of it involved magic texts—clearly more specialized and in-depth at a glance.

After reading through it all, Mo Lan felt nothing but motivation, looking forward to the new academic year more than ever.

If she could put all these books to practical use, her abilities would surely see a tremendous leap.

Despite having read quite a few Mo-Pic books during the break and accumulating a wealth of magical knowledge, her hands-on experience was still essentially zero.

The Mo-Pic books memorized in her mind were still very different from her Earth memories.

Her Earth memories of being a farmer could instantly make her a skilled hand at farmwork.

But the knowledge from Mo-Pic books could only make her a walking encyclopedia of magic—helping her avoid many detours in future magical studies—without actually enabling her to cast spells proficiently.

Once she attended these introductory courses and studied these foundational books, she could begin slowly converting the magical knowledge in her mind into real magical ability.

“Oh my god, it’s almost two o’clock!” Mo Lan hurriedly cast a Cleaning spell to bathe, then changed into her pajamas and lay down in bed. She flipped to the last book collected in her Grimoire, 《A Collection of Bedtime Stories: The Witch’s Perspective》. There was one final story she hadn’t finished—she absolutely had to finish it tonight!

“I am a curse witch. I built my witch’s home in a forest near a remote little kingdom.”

“This kingdom had but a single city, surrounded on all sides by dangerous terrain. Its population was small, and neither angels nor demons thought it worth the trip.”

“In the entire kingdom, there wasn’t a single capable fighter.”

“I originally thought such a kingdom would be perfect for someone like me—someone who couldn’t do without the bustle of human markets, yet didn’t like being disturbed at random. Safe and unthreatening.”

“But I never imagined that one day, I would become an evil, terrifying existence. They called me the Dark Lord of the Forest.”

“At first, I was actually rather pleased.”

“What a domineering title! And my favorite color just happens to be black. Though it would be even better if they called me the Dark Witch Queen instead.”

“‘Dark Lord’ always made it sound like they were talking about a demon.”

“After this title appeared, fewer and fewer humans came to the forest where I lived. I never had to deal with those endlessly curious types who barged into other people’s homes, demanded this and that, and never paid a single gold coin.”

“But later, when I went into the city to shop, I actually heard people saying I ate children?”

“Now that was going too far. If rumors kept spreading like this, it would attract those reckless heroes.”

“So I cursed everyone who was spreading rumors about me, rendering them unable to speak for three days…”

Mo Lan finished the story and sighed.

This story was just like every other one in the book—yet another tale of a witch minding her own business, only to be vilified into a villain.

On the human side, of course, it was an entirely different version of events.

After finishing this book, Mo Lan had only one thought: in the future, she absolutely must never settle near remote human towns or kingdoms.

Either return to the Wilds, or choose a large city where magic flourished and all races gathered.

Remote places had fewer powerful individuals. Safe as they might be, there were also more people who could be fooled.

They didn’t understand magic, and they didn’t understand witches.

The unknown bred fear, and fear bred rejection.

Once prejudice took root, if one family lost a chicken in the forest today, they’d blame the witch. If a child was eaten by a wild beast tomorrow, they’d blame the witch for that too.

Then there were those who’d run into difficulties, or were simply too curious, and would come snooping around the witch’s dwelling.

Unable to produce Magic Gold Coins, yet still wanting to buy magical items.

And if anything went wrong, the witch did it.

Take the witch in this last story—her reputation as the Dark Lord began when she gave in to someone’s pleas and cursed a human woman’s husband.

The woman, seeking revenge on her husband, had secretly gone to the forest, leaving her child in the neighbor’s care.

When she returned, the child was gone. The neighbor, not wanting to take responsibility, claimed the witch in the forest had snatched the child away.

Then this woman, letting her imagination run wild, convinced herself that because she hadn’t paid the witch the desired price, the witch had taken her son as payment.

All one could say was that the curse witch was truly wronged—yet another reminder of the importance of demanding payment upfront.