Chapter 365 – The Survival Trial Ends

Chapter 365 – The Survival Trial Ends

“The survival trial has ended. All fifth-year young witches, please return to the Inner Region through the teleportation gates as soon as possible.”

Madam Amisha’s voice suddenly rang in her ears. Mo Lan was startled. “The survival trial is already over?”

“It’s already May 24th.”

Mo Lan had been so absorbed in modifying her broomstick and Wand that she hadn’t noticed the passage of time for quite a while.

She hadn’t expected that there was only one week left until Independence Day.

Graduation was right around the corner.

The joy of successfully upgrading her Wand vanished in an instant. Mo Lan felt a wave of wistfulness wash over her. “That was way too fast!”

Throughout the outer region, every young witch who received the announcement at the same time felt exactly the same way.

“On the morning of the 27th, the graduation exam will officially begin. You have only three days to rest and prepare. Well… two days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-eight minutes, to be precise.”

Just like that, there was no time left for melancholy.

Even Mo Lan had barely had any time this year to read theoretical books. She had either been exploring the outer region or practicing various forms of Magic.

Her Magic level had improved remarkably, but the graduation exam… right, what was on the reference book list for the graduation exam again?

Mo Lan hurriedly opened her Grimoire and dug through the 《Academic Year Plan》 to find the notice from the beginning of the school year.

“《The Continent of Valen》 (complete collection), 《The Complete Encyclopedia of the Wilds》, 《The Valen Complete Travel Guide》, 《Valen Common Language》, 《Valen Magical Plants Illustrated Encyclopedia》, 《Valen Magical Beasts Illustrated Encyclopedia》…”

After comparing the list book by book, Mo Lan let out a long sigh of relief.

Good — they were all familiar titles.

She had read every single one of them before her fifth year and had committed them firmly to memory.

This year, although she hadn’t revisited any theoretical books, the outer region — with its diverse terrains, abundant magical plants, and wide variety of magical beasts — had given her the chance to put all that knowledge into practice.

In a sense, she had an even better grasp of some subjects than she’d had a year ago.

Besides, the graduation exam was an open-book test with a massive number of questions, so she could always look up answers on the spot.

“Looks like the graduation exam is in the bag!” Mo Lan’s mind settled, and she was in no hurry to step through the teleportation gate beside her and return to the Academy Core Area.

After all, there were still three days before the exam began!

She first tidied up the miscellaneous broomstick and Wand Alchemy materials scattered across the Alchemy workbench in her study.

Then, using the Book of Cards, she produced a number of cards — magical beast hide, magical fabric, magical plant dye, magical gemstone, and magical crystal cards.

With Sewing Magic, she carefully made herself several lovely sets of casual witch attire and witch robes, plus a deep purple formal gown and a matching set of accessories featuring magical amethysts.

During her entire year in the outer region, she had still been wearing the ordinary clothes she’d prepared back in fourth year, never having had the chance to update her wardrobe.

It hadn’t mattered much when she rarely ran into anyone, but now that she was returning to the Academy castle — and especially after graduation — she would need to pay attention to her image.

As a Sorceress, she could hardly go around dressed in tatters and embarrass all the witches!

While making clothes for herself, she drew inspiration from the Earth fashions and accessories in her memory, as well as the beautiful garments and accessories she had seen in 《Valen Fashion Culture》 and 《The Complete Guide to Fashion》, and produced a great many ready-made clothing cards and accessory cards.

Now that she had no shortage of tailoring materials, she could make most types of clothing. Not only ordinary clothes, but also magical garments made from magical materials.

However, she still hadn’t made many magical garments using Alchemy Magic combined with Sewing Magic, so she didn’t have many magical ready-made clothing cards either.

Regardless, it counted as yet another expansion of her card variety.

Every outfit she made for herself was a design unavailable in the Card Shop.

After taking a nice long bath and freshening up, she changed into her newly made witch robe, tied her hair back in a half-up style with her Magical Hair Ribbon, and put on her witch hat. Only then did Mo Lan use the Familiar Summoning spell to call Zhizhi back from playing in the surrounding area.

Before long, Mo Lan felt a faint tremor in the ground, coming from the south.

She looked in that direction and, sure enough, saw the silver-furred giant monkey with its colorful gemstone belt strapped around its waist, bounding toward her at a brisk pace.

In less than a year, with wine to drink to its heart’s content at every meal, Zhizhi in its giant form was already nearly as tall as the trees.

Despite its massive size, when it spotted her, it still called out in its babyish little “zhizhi zhizhi” squeaks.

By the time it reached her side, it had already shrunk down to a size that didn’t even reach her shins.

Mo Lan had grown quite a bit taller again this year — she was at least one meter seventy-five now.

Zhizhi, on the other hand, only grew in its giant form and not in its miniature form, so crouching by her feet, it looked even tinier than before.

She pulled a black butterfly bow clip with silver trim from her spatial ring and, while Zhizhi wasn’t paying attention, fastened it on top of its head.

“There we go!” Mo Lan nodded with satisfaction and conjured a water mirror for Zhizhi to see itself. “Now you match perfectly with today’s black witch robe with silver thread vine patterns — anyone can tell we’re a pair!”

Zhizhi touched the butterfly bow on its head and looked at its reflection in the mirror. The corners of its mouth immediately drooped. “(`)。”

Its expression was just as miserable as when it ate any food that wasn’t wine.

“Oh right, I also made you a little dress in matching colors. I just didn’t have time to inscribe a fitting rune combination, so this dress only fits you in your miniature form.” Mo Lan produced a tiny dress.

Zhizhi was a girl too — how could she not have a pretty little dress to wear?

“Zhizhi zhizhi!” No, no!

Zhizhi shook its head vigorously, then tugged at its own silver fur and said, “Zhizhi…” I have fur, but Mistress doesn’t have fur. Mistress wears dresses, not me! And I don’t want the butterfly bow either!

The argument was sound and well-reasoned. Mo Lan found herself unable to refute it, so she put on a pitifully aggrieved expression and looked at Zhizhi. “You really don’t want it? I made it especially for you!”

Zhizhi was smart, certainly, but it didn’t yet know that some witches were also skilled actresses.

It reluctantly made a concession. “Zhizhi zhizhi!” The butterfly bow is fine, but absolutely not the dress!

“Alright then~” Mo Lan wasn’t about to force Zhizhi to obey over a single dress, so she put it away.

Having the butterfly bow was nice enough. With that bow on, anyone could tell at a glance that this was her monkey!

“Zhizhi, we’re going back to the Academy castle now. You’ll see a lot of witches soon. When they see you, they might be a teensy bit enthusiastic, but don’t be scared — they’re all my friends.” Mo Lan gave Zhizhi a heads-up in advance.

She had long since sent word about acquiring a familiar through the golden bird postal service, informing her mother, Senior Sister Lilith, and her other witch friends in the same year.

In fact, quite a few of her letters had mentioned Zhizhi’s impressive feats in battle.

If it weren’t for the Academy’s rule against sharing internal images with the outside, Mo Lan would have even sent photos of Zhizhi to show off.

In short, the witches in her year had been raising Zhizhi vicariously through letters for quite some time now.