Chapter 386 – The Independence Day Dance

“《Origins of the Corpse Clan》? My mom recommended that book to me too, told me to read it carefully!” Vasida said. “By the way, we’re still going to stay in Witch’s Town for a while, right?”

“Mm.” Mo Lan nodded. “We still need to discuss where to go next and make preparations before setting out.”

“Good.” Vasida said. “Sylph and I just bought a bunch of Parchment Cards. We’re going to Attune them and add them to our Grimoires, then go to the Witch Council Library to transcribe some books. I heard that the Witch Council Library has everything the Academy Library has, but also has books that the Academy Library doesn’t!”

Mo Lan and Lilith exchanged a glance, both thinking of that set of anatomical diagrams.

Vasida and Sylph were completely oblivious to this, still lamenting that the books in the Witch Council Library didn’t have solidified Transcription Spell runes, so they could only transcribe them manually—much more troublesome.

“Little witches, the dance is about to begin!”

A witch wearing a crown of oak leaves, with thick braids hanging from her chest down to her thighs and a skirt hem covered in fresh flowers, called out to them.

“That’s my mom, Aurora.” Sylph introduced her to Mo Lan.

Lilith and Vasida had already met Lady Aurora before.

“Mom! We’re adult witches now. You can’t call us little witches anymore!” Sylph protested to her mother.

“You won’t be true adult witches until after the Independence Day Dance!” Aurora said with a smile. “A little witch as enchanting as a violet—you must be Moira, yes?”

Mo Lan gave a slight nod. “Lady Aurora, you radiate vitality like a forest in spring!”

Aurora’s smile grew even brighter. “What a lovely child!”

Lilith and Vasida, who had greeted Lady Aurora earlier: “…”

When they had first met Lady Aurora, she had also called out their names at first sight. But how had they greeted her again?

Lilith had at least managed a “Lady Aurora,” while Vasida had only managed an awkward grin.

“Alright, children, the dance is about to start. This Independence Day Dance—you’re the stars of the show!” Aurora pushed them toward the bonfire.

At some point, all the witches from the market had gathered around the Fire Crystal Flower bonfire.

However, only the newly graduated witches like Mo Lan and her friends had been pushed to the very center.

Lilith and several other recently graduated seniors stood together, counting down with the other witches: “10, 9, 8, 7…”

The witches pushed to the center of the crowd felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Wait—the Academy never taught them how to dance!

“…3, 2, 1! Let the dance begin!”

The moment the words fell, every witch began to move.

Each witch had her own rhythm, dancing freely and spontaneously.

Some were elegant, some were goofy, some were wild.

To sum it up—everyone was just dancing however they pleased.

The newly graduated witches relaxed instantly and joined in.

Mo Lan had her memories from Earth and knew more styles of dance than she could count, yet in this moment, she too danced without any form or structure.

The glow of the Fire Crystal Flowers illuminated every dancing witch, and everyone was equally confident and at ease.

Suddenly, she understood the line from the final chapter of 《Young Witch’s Primer》: “Confidence is where independence begins.”

After dancing for who knows how long, Mo Lan, Sylph, and Lilith all collapsed on the grass in exhaustion, while Vasida was still dashing around the field in excitement. The most energetic witch of the night was undoubtedly her.

The dance had no fixed ending time.

When you were tired of dancing, you simply took a bundle of Fire Crystal Flowers from the bonfire and left.

It wasn’t until many witches had taken their flowers and departed, the crowd around the bonfire growing thinner and thinner, and that familiar hunger crept up again, that Vasida finally—still wanting more—searched for her companions and obediently came to sit down.

She bought a huge pile of Breadfruit Cards, stuffing them into her Devouring Stomach one after another while asking: “Where are we sleeping tonight? Lilith, are there any inns in town?”

“No,” Lilith said. “Although the shops in town are all witches’ homes, nobody would turn their own home into an inn!”

“Then where have you been living this past year?” Sylph asked.

Lilith patted the grass. “Right here! With a Spatial Tent Card of several hundred square feet, isn’t that better than an inn? And staying on Spring Sight Island, you don’t have to worry about safety at all, and it’s very convenient to get to the Witch Council.”

“That’s true. Moira’s Spatial Tent Card is like a mobile house,” Sylph said.

Vasida’s face suddenly crumbled. “It’s over! I forgot to buy a Spatial Tent Card!”

She opened the graduation limited-time sale to check—Independence Day had already passed, so naturally the event had ended too, and all the prices had returned to normal.

“What a loss! Think of how many Breadfruit Cards I could’ve bought with that!” Vasida wailed, clinging to Mo Lan’s arm. “Moira, can I participate in next year’s graduation sale again?”

“Only if you go back and repeat fifth year,” Mo Lan said with a smile.

Though it was quite pitiful that Vasida had forgotten to grab the deal, the wool she’d be fleecing was Mo Lan’s own!

“Waaah~”

Mo Lan remained unmoved. Vasida had no choice but to grit her teeth and buy a Spatial Tent Card at full price. She paired it with a furniture card to decorate it, and then—

“Once you set this tent up, it’s even more comfortable than my mom’s witch home!”

Mo Lan and the others all brought out their tents as well.

They were all top-tier Spatial Tent Cards, and the exteriors could be customized.

Lilith’s was a blood-red tent, Sylph’s tent was painted with blue skies, green fields, and Wind Chime Flowers, and Vasida’s was a black starry-sky tent.

But all three of them were staring at Mo Lan’s tent. Hers was a dense patchwork of green, brown, tan, and black splotches.

“Moira, I remember your tent not looking like this before?” Vasida asked.

“This is camouflage. It blends in with the environment as much as possible in a forest setting,” Mo Lan said, doing her best to keep a straight face.

“But our Spatial Tent Cards are all top-tier. Don’t they come with a built-in invisibility magic circle and defensive magic formation?” Lilith asked.

Mo Lan: “…”

She had made the cards herself, so of course she knew they had magic circles. But she had changed the appearance for fun during the survival trial when she was alone! Back then, she hadn’t worried about anyone seeing it.

She had not only used camouflage—she’d also tried leopard print, and a garish red-and-green floral padded jacket pattern!

But since they weren’t out in the wilderness now, she should pay some attention to aesthetics. Mo Lan changed her tent’s exterior to a safe, foolproof deep purple.

The four tents each claimed a cardinal direction, forming a circle.

They gathered all the Fire Crystal Flower bundles they had received and planted them together in the clearing at the center, creating a small Fire Crystal Flower bonfire.

The moment camp was set up, the aftereffects of being excited for most of the night caught up with them.

“Let’s sleep first. Whatever it is, we can talk about it after we wake up.”