Chapter 376 – The Hat-Bestowing Ceremony

Chapter 376 – The Hat-Bestowing Ceremony

“Alright! It’s getting late—let’s begin the hat-bestowing ceremony!” Amisha said.

The young witches looked bewildered. “What hat-bestowing ceremony?”

“A witch’s hat bestowed by an elder is the symbol of an adult witch.”

Amisha explained:

“Long ago, before the Witch Academy existed, young witches didn’t leave home until they came of age. At the coming-of-age ceremony, their witch mothers would prepare a witch’s hat for them.

After the Witch Academy was established, the young witches’ coming-of-age ceremonies were held together on the night of graduation.

From this, the hat-bestowing ceremony eventually evolved.

To keep it a surprise for the young witches, the hat-bestowing ceremony is never mentioned in any books, and adult witches never tell young witches about it.

Moira, didn’t you ask about the material of the robes you’re wearing? Now I can tell you.

They are woven from a type of magic that can only be used once in a lifetime.”

“Magic that can only be used once in a lifetime?” Mo Lan had thoroughly studied the witch clan’s magic texts, yet she had never heard of such magic. “Is it another magic from a foreign realm?”

Amisha nodded.

“Our witch clan actually possesses two demi-planes.

One demi-plane contains the Witch Academy, representing new life and hope.

The other demi-plane contains the Witch Cemetery, representing death and legacy.

If one day, when your life is nearing its end, you are willing to transform your lifetime of experience into ‘wings’ for the growth of future young witches—

You can go to the Witch Council and apply to be buried in the Witch Cemetery, and learn the Life Weaving Art.

At the very moment life ends, you use the Life Weaving Art to weave your lifetime of experience into Cloth of the Departed. Your mortal body is then laid to rest in the Witch Cemetery for eternal peace.

The reason the school robes are black is because the Cloth of the Departed is black.

The simple design is also because a simple style maximizes the use of the Cloth of the Departed.

Every April, the 《Witch Clan Book》 selects the most suitable bolt of Cloth of the Departed for each graduating young witch. The Headmistress then fashions it into a witch’s robe and witch’s hat, and on graduation day, presents them to the young witches on behalf of the departed witch.

You are already wearing the witch’s robes. The witch’s hat will be placed on your heads during the hat-bestowing ceremony that follows.

Only when the two are combined do they form the complete Departed Witch Ensemble.

Though the Departed Witch Ensemble may be plain in style, it contains the lifetime of experience and blessings of the departed witch.

After the hat is bestowed, the Departed Witch Ensemble will grant you one moment of guidance.

Remember the content of this guidance—it represents where the Departed Witch Ensemble resonates most deeply with you.

In the future, when you encounter doubts in this area, remember to put on the Departed Witch Ensemble. The experiential memories left by the departed may very well spark an epiphany and lead you in the right direction.

If you encounter puzzling matters or unsolvable predicaments in life and study, you may also put on the Departed Witch Ensemble.

The experience of your predecessors may offer you help.”

After hearing the origin of the witch’s robe, Mo Lan wished she could slap her former self.

This witch’s robe surpassed the gorgeous gown she had prepared by ten thousand times.

A robe made from fabric woven with the experience and blessings of a witch predecessor was the most precious, most beautiful witch’s robe in the world.

“Young witches, rise!” Amisha said solemnly.

The young witches stood up in unison. On the long table before them, twenty-seven black witch’s hats had appeared.

Amisha: “We ask the witch predecessors to bestow the hats!”

The young witches: “We ask the witch predecessors to bestow the hats!”

Amisha’s wand moved ever so slightly, and the witch’s hats floated up steadily, settling onto the young witches’ heads.

The instant the witch’s hat touched her head, a thought flashed unbidden through Mo Lan’s mind.

“World consciousness is born from the souls and consciousness of sentient beings. To save sentient beings is to save the world.”

It was somewhat similar to what was written in 《Unsolved Mysteries of Witches》, but that book had only speculated.

The thought that had just emerged in her mind, however, carried absolute certainty—as if she had personally witnessed the birth and destruction of world consciousness.

Mo Lan understood at once. This was the inspiration brought to her by the Departed Witch Ensemble—guidance from a witch predecessor.

The Cloth of the Departed that made up her ensemble might truly have come from a witch who possessed deep understanding of the birth and destruction of world consciousness.

The 《Witch Clan Book》 had chosen remarkably well-suited Cloth of the Departed for her! This was practically her greatest and most persistent question right now.

The other young witches—no, with the hat-bestowing ceremony complete, they were all witches now.

The other witches, like her, had received varying degrees of revelation after putting on the Departed Witch Hat.

Every witch’s face bore expressions of joy and gratitude.

“I learned about a world of gourmet food! There might be magic there that can actually make me feel full!” Vasida exclaimed in delight.

Sylph said, “I learned how to capture a demi-plane! I’ve always thought how wonderful it would be to have a demi-plane as a plantation.”

“Hehe! I learned how to get to the Dragon’s Delicacy Island!” Iris said.

“I learned how to enhance my aptitude for Dark-element Magic!” Alba’s face was full of hope.

Cheryl looked a bit embarrassed. “I learned how to improve my memory.”

She had always been deeply, deeply envious of Mo Lan’s ability to remember everything at a single glance.

…

“Moira, what inspiration did you receive?” a witch asked.

“Me? I learned how to save the planet from my previous life,” Mo Lan said with a smile.

Every witch had received the inspiration they wanted most.

Amisha watched them with a nostalgic expression. The inspiration she had received back then was how to become an Omnipotent Witch.

“Headmistress, can we visit the Witch Cemetery to pay our respects to the witch who gifted us the Cloth of the Departed?”

Mo Lan asked, reverently running her fingers over the witch’s robe she wore.

“No,” Amisha said. “The Witch Cemetery is a resting place for the departed, a homeland for souls. It is not suitable for the living to enter—only witches on the verge of death go there.”

“Then may I ask which witch predecessor my Cloth of the Departed came from?” Mo Lan very much wanted to know more about her.

Madam Amisha shook her head once more.

“The witch predecessors do not wish for their gifts to become shackles that restrict the growth of young witches.

They only want to be a force that aids your growth—they do not want you walking their old paths.

That is why all Cloth of the Departed bears no name.

When the 《Witch Clan Book》 selects the Cloth of the Departed for you, it actually provides your life essence and lets the Cloth of the Departed do the choosing.”

Mo Lan could not hide her disappointment.

But she understood that the witch predecessors had chosen not to leave their names precisely because they truly wished the best for them.

The predecessors had left behind their legacies, left behind the Cloth of the Departed—not in expectation of repayment or gratitude from young witches, but as a choice made at the end of their lives.

It was their purest protection and blessing for the young witches.

Mo Lan thought that if one day her own life reached its end, she too would be more than willing to follow in the footsteps of the witch predecessors—entrusting her legacy to the Witch Council, leaving her lifetime of experience to young witches, and then resting eternally in the cemetery alongside the other witches.