Chapter 296 – Searching for a Habitable Location

Chapter 296 – Searching for a Habitable Location

By the time Mo Lan reached the mountain forests outside the border zone between Greengrass Plains and Lone Peak Forest, it was already evening. She used her usual method of growing a tree cocoon to spend the night.

The next morning, she began a systematic, carpet-search for habitable locations throughout the mountain forest.

The first habitable spot she encountered was an enormous oak tree, at least five hundred years old.

Even without a witch regularly casting Tree Friend on it, the long passage of years had imbued it with considerable spiritual awareness.

The oak’s canopy blotted out the sky, and its trunk was thick and sturdy—more than capable of supporting a treehouse.

Living in a spiritually aware tree would certainly provide excellent safety.

The soil beneath it was also very fertile, more than adequate for growing crops for personal consumption.

Moreover, this location was quite close to Greengrass Plains, making it convenient to reach the Academy Core Area.

Mo Lan didn’t rush to a decision. She simply marked the spot on her map.

While the other young witches were still struggling with Wilderness Survival Class, she had plenty of time. She planned to look around more before making her choice.

On the third day in the mountain forest, Mo Lan discovered another habitable location.

It was on a hillside beside a large river.

This same river also flowed through the lake where her senior Renée lived.

Though this spot was further downstream.

The hillside had a steep cliff face on the river-facing side, while the opposite side sloped more gently.

It was somewhat similar to the mountain where they had practiced building cave dwellings in Wilderness Survival Class, though this mountain was taller.

What made this place appealing was that the tree line only extended to the mountainside. From there upward, the slope steepened, and the ground was covered only in dense wildflowers and grasses.

If one was willing to put in the effort, building a wall at the mountainside would be straightforward. The large expanse of slope above it was perfectly suitable for farming and building a house.

The view here was also excellent—watching the sunrise in the morning and the sunset glow in the evening would certainly be delightful.

After spending a night at the mountaintop, Mo Lan marked this location on her map as well.

She felt this place was better and more livable than the old oak tree.

However, it was closer to the Hedge Wall of the outer region, making it more remote than the oak tree’s location.

After flying to the Hedge Wall of the outer region and exploring this stretch of mountain forest to its end, she ventured a bit further east before turning back to explore in the direction of Lone Peak Forest.

Along the way, she spotted several more reasonably habitable locations, but none compared to the old oak tree or the riverside hillside.

Mo Lan marked them all, but they didn’t rank very high in her mind.

It wasn’t until she flew into the forest bordering Lone Peak Forest that Mo Lan finally discovered another location she was truly satisfied with.

It was the very valley teeming with black-haired wild boars that she had encountered during her first Wilderness Survival Class.

She hadn’t noticed it during that class, but now, flying over on her broomstick, she could see that behind the mountain where the waterfall was located lay Lone Peak Forest itself!

Looking at the map, flying west from here to Greengrass Plains was only slightly farther than flying south from the old oak tree to Greengrass Plains.

At medium flight speed, both would take roughly two to three hours.

That distance was quite manageable.

Although Mo Lan hadn’t yet decided to settle here, that didn’t stop her from dealing with the black-haired wild boars in the valley first.

This time, she had come on her broomstick—why would she fear boars that could only charge around on the ground?

She hurled spells one after another at their vital spots, and before long, a great number of them lay dead.

After clearing the valley of boars, Mo Lan landed and conducted a thorough inspection.

The valley entrance was narrow. Blocking it off with a wall and leaving just an opening for the stream to flow through would be incredibly easy.

Inside the valley, the water and grass were lush, the soil fertile, and there was a large stretch of plantable land—more than enough to grow food for herself. She could even capture some Dodo Birds or other wild animals to raise in the valley, ensuring she’d never lack meat or eggs.

The valley’s cliff walls rose high, and the rock was solid—carving stone chambers into the walls for dwelling would be very convenient.

Hm? What was that?

As Mo Lan walked alongside the waterfall, she caught a glimpse through gaps in the cascading water of a narrow strip that seemed to be a different color from the surrounding cliff face.

Gripping her broomstick, she activated her rain-repelling shield and stepped into the waterfall.

“!!!” It was a natural cave!

Though the opening was too small for a person to enter, peering inside from the entrance revealed that beyond this narrow section, it extended quite deep.

Was this some kind of Water Curtain Cave brought to life?!

Mo Lan used the Rock-Crushing Spell to widen the narrow entrance, then squeezed inside.

The narrow section was only about two meters deep. Beyond that lay a cavern of at least fifteen square meters.

And that wasn’t all—deeper in the cave, there was another opening that gradually sloped downward.

Mo Lan continued exploring deeper, going further and further. The cave seemed bottomless.

Suddenly, the sound of flowing water reached her from ahead.

She hurried forward. “…!”

Below her was a spacious underground chamber, through which a wide river flowed. Along the stone walls on either side of the riverbed, several cave openings were visible.

The one she stood in was among the higher-positioned caves.

“Don’t tell me I’ve walked all the way into the underground river beneath Lone Peak Forest!”

She had watched the review videos recorded from the Wilderness Survival Class on finding ores.

All the young witches had initially been teleported to a spot above a sinkhole somewhere in Lone Peak Forest.

When they dropped to the bottom of those sinkholes, they found an interconnected network of underground caves, many of which led to underground rivers.

The underground river before her didn’t look much different from what she’d seen in the videos.

Though not identical, there was a very good chance it was the same river.

Mo Lan summoned her Grimoire and flipped to the Academy map page to check her position. “It really is!”

She had actually walked all the way underground beneath Lone Peak Forest!

“Then the stone walls around here must have…”

Recalling what she’d seen in the videos—young witches casually detecting ores everywhere, mining so much they could barely carry it all—Mo Lan immediately cast the Gold Detection spell!

“Heavens! So many!”

In all her time studying the Gold Detection spell, never once during a casting had her Mana detected so many mineral deposits in the surrounding area!

And this particular cluster was all gemstone ore!

Mo Lan immediately began collecting with Mining Magic.

One after another, yellow gemstones dropped into her hands, and her heart surged with excitement.

This many—just imagine how many spatial gems she could make from all of them!

She even unearthed a low-grade magic gemstone. Though it was only the size of a pinky fingernail, the earth elemental force flowing through it was unmistakable.

In that moment, she called out to Lady Amisha without a shred of hesitation. “Headmistress! I’m choosing this valley as my dwelling place! Please notify the other Guardian Headmistresses!”

Once a dwelling location was chosen and the Guardian Headmistresses notified, the place would be considered temporarily claimed by her.

Even if she hadn’t finished building her dwelling and left for a while, any other young witch who came by and took a liking to it would be reminded by their own Guardian Headmistress that this location already had an owner.

“Are you sure?” No. 69 Amisha asked.

“Absolutely!” Mo Lan answered without hesitation.