Chapter 12 – The First Night at the Academy

“These are the dormitories? Are we sure we’re in the right place?”

Every first-year little witch had the same thought.

Row upon row of earthen houses—even though some walls were draped in green vines and some yards were planted with flowers, none of that could disguise the fact that, beyond whatever effort their occupants had put into decoration, the houses themselves looked incredibly crude.

Even Mo Lan, who had grown up living in dilapidated buildings, felt a twinge of disappointment.

These earthen houses really did look like they’d crumble to dust at the slightest touch!

“You’re not lost! Don’t let the mud-brick construction fool you—they’re incredibly sturdy. No matter what you do to them, there’ll never be any structural issues, and they’ll automatically revert to their original state after the occupant moves out.

“Supposedly, these hundred dormitories were built when the academy was first founded, and they’re still perfectly intact to this day.

“The spartan conditions are meant to encourage the little witches to study hard and improve their survival skills during their time at the academy, rather than indulging in comfort and wasting their years.

“The life you dream of can only be earned with your own two hands after graduation.”

Lilith repeated the words the senior students had used to comfort her class when they enrolled last year.

In truth, she had been quite disappointed with the living conditions herself.

The little witches’ expectations for their dormitories plummeted several notches.

The first few rows were occupied by third-year seniors, who had flown back on their broomsticks ahead of everyone else and were already fast asleep by now.

Past those rows came the second-year seniors’ quarters.

In terms of upkeep, their houses were noticeably worse than the third-years’.

Some houses looked, from the outside, practically uninhabited.

The second-year seniors were also trickling back to their dormitories one by one.

Only the first-years continued onward.

Poor dormitory conditions or not, after walking for so long, they were truly exhausted. All they wanted now was to wash up and crawl into bed.

Mo Lan, Vasida, and Sylph walked together. Their rooms were numbers 69, 70, and 68, respectively—neighbors.

The three rooms at the end of the sixth row were theirs.

Apart from the different numbers, they looked completely identical.

Each was an earthen house with a yard enclosed by a wooden picket fence.

The yards were far larger than the houses themselves.

But unlike the seniors’ yards, which were either planted with flowers and greenery or paved with stone bricks, their yards were nothing but wilderness—a tangle of weeds growing in every direction, making the dormitories look positively derelict.

“Lilith said the fourth-years only moved out this afternoon. How did this grass grow so tall in a single day?” Sylph wondered aloud. “Surely the seniors didn’t deliberately make the weeds sprout before they left!”

“Every new student’s dormitory is like this. Maybe when the house reverts to its original state, it includes the weeds in the yard too,” Mo Lan said, looking at the similar species of weeds in each dormitory’s yard, all nearly burying the little paths to the front doors. “Perhaps the headmistresses figure that clearing the yard counts as training for the little witches.”

“Now I get it. The academy’s generosity ended with the enrollment banquet.”

Sylph adjusted her expectations. “Oh well, it’s all for our growth. If you look carefully, earthen houses do have a certain rustic charm…”

Mid-sentence, she realized Vasida hadn’t spoken for a while. Worried that she might be feeling unwell again, Sylph turned to look and found her staring fixedly to the right. “Vasida? What are you looking at?”

Vasida pointed toward the forest beyond the dormitory area to the right. “Isn’t that the Breadfruit Grove the seniors mentioned?”

“According to the map, it should be.” Mo Lan finished speaking and eyed Vasida suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you’re hungry again!”

“No, no!” Vasida waved her hands hastily. “I’m guessing the reason I got hungry so fast earlier was because I manifested my stomach pouch. It’s getting late—let’s all head back to our rooms and rest—” *Grrrrumble~*

Mo Lan and Sylph stared at her belly. “And you say you’re not hungry!”

“*Grrrrumble~*”

Vasida clutched her treacherous stomach and retreated into mortified silence.

Mo Lan and Sylph exchanged a glance, then each grabbed one of Vasida’s arms and marched toward the Breadfruit Grove.

“I’m really only a tiny bit hungry—I can go by myself, it’s fine! The banquet was too short, and I didn’t eat enough to make up for all the energy I burned walking down the mountain…” Vasida said, trying to save face.

She had plenty of stamina and wasn’t tired—just a little hungry. She didn’t want to trouble Mo Lan and Sylph by dragging them out to find food this late.

They were already exhausted.

“I’m sure you don’t want future generations to say that our great Lady Vasida’s legacy is inseparable from the embarrassing tale of fainting from hunger in the Breadfruit Grove on her very first night at the academy, do you?” Mo Lan said.

“…” Vasida’s struggling instantly weakened.

Mo Lan’s words had struck right at the heart.

If she had a chance to become a maga—the pride of all witches—how could she possibly leave behind such a humiliating piece of history?

“If you ask me, you’d better start stockpiling food at home,” Sylph said. “And you should learn plant-growing magic as soon as possible so you can grow your own food in your yard. Starting next year, the academy will only provide unprocessed raw meat.”

Vasida’s face scrunched up miserably. “Why does my innate manifestation have to be such a glutton?!”

…

Right beside Dormitory No. 70, separated by a narrow path, lay the Breadfruit Grove.

Mo Lan and the others stood at the edge of the path. Before them stretched the pitch-black forest, where not even moonlight could penetrate the canopy.

Within the reach of the roadside lampposts, every tree had been picked clean—not a single breadfruit remained.

The breadfruit trees grew especially wide and sprawling, with particularly massive canopies.

In the darkness, each tree looked like a clawed, snarling beast. The sight was rather unnerving.

Vasida felt a wave of gratitude that the three of them had come together.

If she had come alone, just walking in would have had her trembling.

“Looks like we’ll have to go deeper into the forest to pick them,” Mo Lan said. “Once we’re inside, let’s wait for our eyes to adjust to the darkness before we start looking. The map says the entire Academy Core Area is free of danger, so we should be fine as long as we’re careful.”

“I’ll take the lead. I grew up in the Starlight Forest, so I’m familiar with woodlands,” Sylph said.

“Then I’ll bring up the rear,” Mo Lan said.

Vasida, not at her best, was unceremoniously assigned to the middle of the formation.

They were just about to plunge into the forest when a warm white glow appeared from behind them, illuminating the path ahead.

A voice from right behind them made Mo Lan and the others jump: “What are you three doing heading into the forest this late?”

They turned around, and the sight of that familiar red hair let them breathe a sigh of relief.

“Lilith! It’s you!”

“I was in my room and saw the three of you arrive at your dormitory doors but not go in, then head this way instead. So I came to check.

“There are no lights in the forest at night—it’s very easy to trip and fall!” Lilith said.

“*Grrrrumble~*” Vasida’s stomach was, as always, painfully honest.

“All right, I get it. I’ll take you in. The fruit trees near the edge are close to the dormitories, so their breadfruit gets picked the moment it grows. We’ll need to go a bit deeper.”

Lilith raised her wand and took the lead.

The large orb of light at the tip of her wand slowly expanded, its warm white glow growing brighter and brighter, until everything within ten meters around them was as bright as day. Only then did it stabilize.