Chapter 202 – Suffering Through Studies Together

Chapter 202 – Suffering Through Studies Together

The other young witches had made peace with the situation, but Sylph and Vasida—who had been “volunteered”—were having a complete meltdown.

After mounting their brooms, the two flanked Mo Lan from both sides, chasing after her and demanding: “Why do we have to take all the elective courses?!”

That was eight courses! Aside from Alchemy theory, every single one was a foreign racial language class.

It looked like they only met on Thursdays and Fridays, but each course was held only once every other week for just one hour per session. There was absolutely no way to learn an entire language with so little class time alone.

Elective courses had few class hours, but demanded far more effort outside of class.

With this many courses, how could they possibly learn them all? They still had their more important required courses, plus other areas of magic they wanted to study in depth!

“Alchemy goes without saying—you’re both going to take it, right? For more comfortable brooms, and for easier use of magical items. Other young witches don’t have the talent for it, but we’re different. So we need to take Alchemy theory. Wouldn’t you agree?” Mo Lan said.

Vasida and Sylph nodded. They had originally planned to take that course anyway.

“But what’s the point of taking the other courses? Every race has to learn the common tongue—knowing that one language is enough!”

“Have you two already forgotten Mo Lan said. “Lady Traci told us that learning foreign racial magic requires certain preparations, and one of those is knowing the racial languages.

“This year’s language electives happen to cover several of Valen’s relatively powerful and distinctive races, each with their own unique magical characteristics.

“While language magic can also be used to communicate, it exposes your identity as an outsider!

“Learning magic from the other races in our own world is much easier than going to some unfamiliar foreign world to learn it, wouldn’t you say?”

Vasida and Sylph finally remembered, and their despair only deepened.

Mo Lan was right—they really did have to learn all of this. After graduation, they would need to conceal their identities and venture into other racial territories as a team!

If they couldn’t even speak the racial languages, what identity were they going to conceal?

“One academic year, eight languages—no, nine, counting the required common tongue course. Is this really something a normal witch can accomplish?” Vasida felt like the sky was falling.

“I learned some Elvish from my father, and I can manage basic conversation. But that took thirteen years just to reach everyday conversational level. Learning eight languages simultaneously—can we really do this?” Sylph’s heart was pounding with doubt.

“Mastering this many languages in a single year is obviously unrealistic. Start with the elective classes, learn the pronunciation and basic grammar, and study the rest on your own from books at your own pace. You just need to learn them before going to the other races,” Mo Lan said.

Sylph and Vasida found some small measure of comfort in that.

“Oh right, did Lilith take all the language electives last year?” Vasida suddenly asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard her mention it,” Sylph said.

“Shall we go ask?” Vasida’s eyes darted around before she declared with perfect confidence: “Even though she graduates a year before us, we’ll be infiltrating other races together in the future! We absolutely must go check on her! And if she hasn’t taken all the courses, she can take them with us!”

Sylph’s expression turned resolute. “Let’s go!”

The two of them suddenly accelerated on their brooms.

Mo Lan: “???”

What was the rush? Their senior might not even be ahead of them—they had all left for class together that morning.

Room 59. Lilith had just returned to the dormitory and settled into her chair, contemplating what to eat for lunch, when three voices suddenly exploded in her ears: “Lilith!”

She was so startled her hand trembled, nearly dropping her wand.

What was going on? Mathematics class had just ended. They couldn’t have already finished their homework, could they? Surely they hadn’t already had a breakdown bad enough to come find her?

She opened her door and stepped out, only to hear Vasida ask: “Did you take all the racial language electives in your second year?”

Lilith looked baffled. “What kind of terrifying thing are you saying? Why would anyone take all of them?”

” She put on an expression suggesting her senior should have known better—as if it hadn’t been her who had also forgotten just moments ago.

Lilith: “…” It was over. She really had forgotten.

“Judging by that look on your face, you definitely forgot. But it’s fine—third-years don’t have the pressure of securing housing, so you can take the classes right alongside us!” Vasida said happily.

Lilith: “…”

What did she mean, “right alongside”?!

Honestly, she really wished she hadn’t been reminded.

“We have elective classes all Thursday and Friday mornings! Remember to come to class with us tomorrow!” Sylph said with a smile.

The ranks of those taking electives had grown, and she was genuinely delighted.

Lilith was just about to say that one of the classes had a slight scheduling conflict, and politely decline—after all, it wasn’t strictly necessary to learn every single racial magic; she could just pick a few that interested her—when Mo Lan spoke up:

“Don’t worry about scheduling conflicts. We can use Recording Cards to record the lectures for you. You’ll just need to practice pronunciation properly with the Headmistress. Everything else shouldn’t be too hard to self-study.”

“…” Lilith couldn’t find words for a long moment.

“Then it’s settled! Come to elective class with us tomorrow, okay?” Vasida said, then shot meaningful looks at Mo Lan and Sylph.

The three mounted their brooms in perfect unison and flew away.

Lilith: “…”

Who could understand her pain? She couldn’t even eat lunch now!

The worst part was that she couldn’t not go.

Her juniors had gone this far—could she, as their senior, really say she couldn’t handle that many racial languages and planned to give up on some of the racial magics?

Infiltrating other races wasn’t just about learning their magic—more importantly, it was about spreading their own Sorceress Magic to increase their Mana!

She hurried back inside to flip through those racial language textbooks.

After flying past the row of dormitories where Lilith lived, Mo Lan and the others arrived at the courtyard outside their own dormitory.

Vasida’s earlier gloom had vanished completely, replaced by a look of smug satisfaction. “With our senior joining us, I suddenly feel like eight racial languages aren’t so hard to learn after all!”

Sylph smiled without comment, clearly sharing the sentiment.

Mo Lan stood with her hands on her hips. “I don’t get it. I said we’d study together too, didn’t I? How come you two weren’t this happy about that?”

“Think about it yourself—with your memory, is our studying even in the same league as yours?” Vasida said.

Sylph nodded in agreement. “Besides, aren’t you happy too that our senior is joining us?”

Their coordination just now had been absolutely seamless!

“I’m happy because our senior gets to learn more. What about you two?” Mo Lan had a feeling they weren’t all happy for the same reasons.

“We’re also happy that our senior gets to suffer through studying with—I mean, learn more!” Vasida said.

Mo Lan smiled. “You let that slip, didn’t you!”

“Come on, come on, let’s go make lunch. We still have classes this afternoon!” Vasida turned and walked away.

Sylph gave a sheepish grin. “I’m hungry too. I’ll head in first.”

Mo Lan: “…”

Such wonderful camaraderie among classmates!

Still, suffering through studies together wasn’t so bad! No pain, no gain, after all!

At the thought, a smile bloomed in her heart.