Chapter 275 – Purple Night Grasslands

Chapter 275 – Purple Night Grasslands

“What?”

“The Purple Night Grasslands—have you two heard of them?”

Mo Lan said, “At the very northern edge of the northern grasslands, there’s a stretch of land that stays forever green. The soil is rich, the water and grass lush—no matter how many cattle and sheep graze there, no matter how much grass they eat, it only takes a single night for the pastures to restore themselves completely.

“Yet even the Orcs don’t dare set foot there lightly.

“Because every time night falls, the sky above fills with water elemental force and lightning elemental force. The rain never stops, thunder rolls across the fields, and the entire sky turns purple—that’s why it’s called the Purple Night Grasslands.”

As if to confirm her words, a bolt of lightning split the sky, followed immediately by ear-splitting thunder.

“Hurry! Get below the slope and dig with Earth-Turning Spell! We have to finish the shelter before dark!”

Mo Lan shouted as she sprinted down the slope, casting Earth-Turning Spell at the hillside, scooping out the earth from within and piling it to one side.

Vasida didn’t yet understand why they needed to do this, but she knew Mo Lan had read extensively and knew far more than she did. Following her instructions was never a mistake.

She joined in, using Earth-Turning Spell to dig into the hill alongside her.

For the second time since the wilderness survival class, Sylph regretted not having learned more magic.

She didn’t know Earth-Turning Spell and couldn’t help with the digging.

All she could do was use planting magic to direct hoes, shovels, and other farming tools, helping move the earth Mo Lan and Vasida dug out to somewhere a bit farther away.

As they dug, Mo Lan’s hand suddenly went numb. She looked down and saw a single raindrop the size of a peanut had landed on it.

Every hair on her body instantly stood on end. She grabbed Sylph with her left hand and shoved Vasida with her right.

“No time! Everyone in the cave—now!”

The hole they’d carved into the hillside barely measured three or four square meters inside, and the highest point was only a meter and a half. After all three squeezed in, they could hardly stand, and had to crouch instead.

Like three little mushrooms, crowded together in a tiny earthen burrow.

Mo Lan was the last one in. She immediately cast Earth Wall right behind her at the entrance.

A wall of packed earth plugged the opening perfectly, leaving only a small hole the size of a bowl.

Even that single small hole—she used Stone Shaping to mold a pebble into a piece of wire mesh, which she wedged into the opening.

When placing the wire mesh, she didn’t even dare hold it by hand. Instead, she used Levitation Spell to float it over and lodge it in place.

Only after all this was done did Mo Lan let out a small breath of relief. “There. We’re safe for now.”

Vasida and Sylph carefully shuffled their feet around, turning to face Mo Lan.

Three heads huddled together, whispering conspiratorially.

“Moira, why did we have to dig a hole and hide?”

“Is it really that dangerous out there right now?”

Both Vasida and Sylph’s voices carried a note of caution.

Mainly because Mo Lan had seemed so tense and urgent just now—even though they didn’t know where the danger lay, they could feel the unease.

“Extremely dangerous!” Mo Lan stared at the opening in the earth wall. “Look over there.”

Vasida and Sylph craned their necks to look.

Through the pitch-black wire mesh, the sky beyond the cave—which should have been merely darkening—was instead an ominous purple-black. Rain pattered steadily, punctuated by the occasional rumble of thunder.

“Rain?” Vasida said, puzzled. “Don’t tell me it’s poisonous rain? Or is there something else wrong with it?”

Otherwise, there’d be no reason to hide so frantically!

“It can’t be the lightning, can it? The thunder sounds pretty far off, though. It’s just that the sky looks a bit wrong—kind of like that Purple Night Grasslands you described. But even so, just to avoid rain and dodge lightning, we wouldn’t necessarily need to dig a hole to hide in, would we? The tent is pretty sturdy!” Sylph was equally baffled.

Mo Lan shook her head. “Listen carefully! Isn’t the sound of rain getting softer? And isn’t the thunder getting more frequent?”

Vasida and Sylph listened intently to the sounds outside. “It does seem that way!”

Mo Lan said with lingering fear in her voice:

“Now I’m certain—Greengrass Plains is a place similar to the Purple Night Grasslands.

“As evening deepens, both water elemental force and lightning elemental force increase.

“At first, water elemental force grows quickly while lightning elemental force builds more slowly—so there’s little thunder but large raindrops.

“Then water elemental force slows its growth while lightning elemental force accelerates.

“The rain becomes finer and denser, the sound of rain grows softer, but the lightning becomes more and more frequent.

“Until water elemental force and lightning elemental force reach equilibrium—that’s when you get fine, continuous rain-mist laced with constant thunder.

“And water conducts electricity.

“Water elemental force has an even stronger guiding effect on lightning.

“In that continuous fine mist, water elemental force is abundant, connecting the entire area together, turning it into one enormous Electric Net that channels lightning.

“Everything standing above ground level has an extremely high chance of being struck by lightning.

“The moment you touch the rain-mist, you’ll be electrocuted…”

Vasida and Sylph imagined that scene and shuddered in unison, a belated wave of survival’s relief washing over them.

They knew what being shocked felt like.

During the introductory All-Element Magic class in second year, when learning the representative lightning spell Electric Net, Lady Amisha had made them cast it on each other to experience the sensation of being electrocuted.

Even just a tiny bit of lightning was enough to make them tremble uncontrollably and instantly interrupt their spellcasting.

And Mo Lan had even tested it before—the strongest metal-element defensive magic couldn’t fully block lightning magic attacks.

Even Vasida, who could continuously regenerate as long as she wasn’t hungry, didn’t dare imagine what a whole night of being electrocuted outside would do to her.

She absolutely couldn’t endure it.

“But are we really safe hiding in here? Should we seal that hole completely? What if the rain-mist seeps in through the opening later and conducts the electricity inside?”

Now Vasida and Sylph were even more nervous than Mo Lan.

Though their lives weren’t technically in danger, the punishment for calling on the Headmistress for help wasn’t much better than a mortal threat! And this was only their first day in the Inner Region!

“Relax. We’re underground—the earth is so vast that the electrical current disperses, and you can barely feel it at all.

“And don’t worry about the rain-mist conducting electricity inside. Metal conducts electricity too—the wire mesh at the entrance can channel the electricity from the mist into the earth wall, acting as a filter.

“It really does seem to be working.”

Mo Lan gestured for them to look at the wire mesh again.

By now, faint electric arcs were already flickering across the wire mesh, yet the three of them inside the cave felt no discomfort whatsoever. Only then did Vasida and Sylph finally relax.

Once the tension eased, they couldn’t help but feel deep admiration for Mo Lan, who had made such sound decisions under such desperate circumstances.

Mo Lan suddenly felt warmth against her back and weight on her shoulders.

On her left shoulder appeared a round, dark-haired head.

Over her right shoulder draped a dark-green braid.

The dark-haired head trembled. “That was so scary… Thank goodness we have you!”

The owner of the dark-green braid clutched her plait in one hand, head tilted, a pair of emerald-green eyes gazing at her with admiration and curiosity.

“Moira, you really do know so much! You’re practically omniscient! Is all of this from books?”