The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

In order to exhaust their energy as quickly as possible, the first-year witches ran with all their might.

Tessa's speed was astonishing, leaving many of her senior classmates behind.

Before long, she overtook everyone from the middle to the back of the group and rushed to the front.

Sylvia, Dorella, and Evelyn gritted their teeth and kept up. The four of them had already agreed to live together after starting school.

Under the moonlight, four small black figures stood out from the rest of the new students.

At the foot of the college mountain, the East Campus dormitory complex stands quietly in the night.

A small group of the little witches, exhausted, turned into the East District and began searching for an empty courtyard among the scattered dormitories.

The remaining little witches continued forward.

As we passed through the first breadfruit grove, the sweet scent of the fruit mingled with the night breeze on our cheeks, but no one had the heart to stop.

The lakeside greenway stretches out beneath your feet, and the magical streetlights recede one after another.

When the North Campus dormitory came into view, the group had already dwindled to less than half its size.

Most of the witches who had made it this far had reached their limit and turned into the dormitory area, searching for their own door among the rows of mud-brick houses.

After passing through the second grove of breadfruit trees, the West Campus dormitory finally came into view.

At this point, very few new students were still running around.

They too turned into the dormitory area, their steps faltering as they searched for empty rooms. Only Sylvia and her three companions remained, still searching.

Tessa remained energetic, her speed hardly diminished.

Although Sylvia, Dorella, and Evelyn slowed their pace, they still moved forward with determination.

The four of them ran all the way to the end of the lakeside greenway.

Finally, the senior student who had accompanied them also stopped here. She pointed to a small courtyard with ivy climbing the wall beside the greenway: "I live here."

Then he pointed to a side road next to the courtyard, his tone full of admiration: "Go in, run to the end, and you'll find the furthest dormitory in the West District. It's all empty, no one has ever lived there."

The four said goodbye to their senior and turned into the side road, but as they ran, they gradually realized that something was wrong.

As I walked along the greenway, the dormitories along the roadside, though uniform adobe houses, each had their own charm: some had flowers planted in front of their windows, some had vines climbing on their walls, and the courtyards were clean and tidy. Although they weren't as comfortable as home, they were reassuring.

However, the dormitories on both sides of this side road look like they have been abandoned for decades.

The weeds were knee-high, crowding together in front of the gate, making it impossible to see the path leading to the house. Moonlight shone on the wildly growing weeds, casting jagged shadows.

By the time they reached the end of the fork in the road, Sylvia, Dorella, and Evelyn were basically at their limit, and Tessa, although she still had some energy left, was also exhausted.

They chose to move into four adjacent empty dorm rooms.

Tessa is in Room 1000 in the West Wing, Sylvia is in Room 999 in the West Wing, Dorella is in Room 998 in the West Wing, and Evelyn is in Room 997 in the West Wing.

Pushing open the creaking courtyard gate and parting the knee-high weeds, the four of them trudged towards the house door, one step at a time.

After fumbling around for a while, I finally found the magic lamp switch by the door.

With a soft "snap," the dim yellow light came on.

Although I was mentally prepared the moment I saw the yard, I still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when I actually saw the scene inside the house.

The rough, uneven earthen walls and the solidly rammed earthen surface.

The interior is divided into a kitchen, study, bathroom, storage room, bedroom... It has all the necessary functions, but there is not a single extra space.

The furniture consisted of the most ordinary wooden tables and chairs, so simple it was almost shabby.

The only saving grace was that all the daily necessities were prepared, and there was a Level 1 Magic Card - Cleansing Spell on the corner of the table, neatly placed there.

This card is only enough to clean the sweat and grime off your body; it doesn't even cover your clothes. At least you don't have to fumble around in the dark to fetch water from the well at the crossroads to wash up after running all that way.

All the dorm rooms were decorated exactly the same, so they lost interest in visiting each other. They quickly took off their dirty clothes, took a shower using the {Level 1 Magic Card - Cleansing}, changed into robes from the closet, and went to bed.

The next morning, the four of them were awakened by birdsong outside the window.

I opened my eyes to find rough earthen walls and an unfamiliar ceiling—I paused for a moment before realizing I was no longer at home.

Sylvia threw back the covers, got up, went into the bathroom, and habitually reached out to turn on the faucet.

There is no water.

She twisted it again, but there was still only a hissing sound of airflow.

"Do you have water over there?" Dorella's voice came from the neighboring yard. "No," Evelyn replied weakly, standing by the water tower. "The water tower is empty."

Tessa had already crawled out of the house, carrying an empty bucket, and was full of fighting spirit: "Let's go! Let's fetch some water!"

The four men carried buckets and walked toward the well at the intersection.

When I got to the well, I saw the senior from last night standing next to the water tower in her backyard.

A stream of clear water flowed from her fingertips, slowly being poured into the water tower.

Sunlight fell on the water column, refracting into tiny specks of light, making the figure appear composed and elegant.

In contrast, the four people here were frantically putting buckets into the well and clumsily cranking the well pulley, spilling a lot of the water they drew up.

Tessa stared wide-eyed at her senior's retreating figure, her eyes wide: "That... what kind of magic was that?"

"Clear Spring Technique." Sylvia swallowed, her voice filled with deep longing.

As soon as she finished speaking, Dorella was carrying a half-full bucket of water back home. She accidentally walked too fast and spilled a third of the water out of the bucket.

"..."

The four exchanged a silent glance.

The desire to learn this magic reached its peak at this moment.

My stomach started growling before the water tower was even full.

Evelyn clutched her rumbling stomach and looked at her companions.

The food collection point is near Dormitory No. 1 in the West District, and it only provides ingredients that need to be cooked and processed before consumption.

The four of them looked at the breadfruit grove next to the dormitory.

My senior said that breadfruit is very filling, highly nutritious, and can speed up the recovery of magic power. One a day is enough to fill you up. It cannot be heated or cooked and must be eaten raw.

Ripe fruit has a bread-like aroma that makes it easy to identify.

"Let's go pick some fruit!"

Tessa rushed into the woods first, followed closely by Sylvia and the other two.

Soon, they found several fruits that smelled temptingly of bread.

The four, who were starving, didn't care about anything else. They wiped themselves off quickly and took a big bite.

The next second—

"Bah bah bah!"

The four little faces all scrunched up in a frown.

The texture was soft and smooth, but the sourness... it was like biting into an unripe lemon, so sour it made your teeth ache and your mouth water.

"Why is it so sour?" Dorella's eyes were almost filled with tears.

"Did I pick the wrong one? It's not ripe yet?" Evelyn asked, holding the fruit with a look of utter disbelief.

“That’s right…” Tessa sniffed again; the aroma of the bread was indeed strong. “It smells cooked!”

Sylvia silently took out her student ID card, found the senior she had added as a friend last night, and sent her a message.

The senior student's reply came quickly and was concise and clear:
"Yes, ripe breadfruit is sour. Is there a problem?"

Sylvia stared at the line of text and fell silent.

She turned the light screen toward her companions.

After reading it, the three of them fell silent.

The morning light filtered through the leaves, illuminating four faces that looked utterly dejected.

"..."

The desire to learn the magic of cooking reached its peak at this moment.

Back in her dorm, the first thing Sylvia did was pull out her "Study Checklist." She diligently filled in the hollow star that originally read "Cooking Magic ★★★★☆," turning it into a solid five-star mark, and then neatly added a line at the end:
"Clear Spring Technique ★★★★★ (Water is needed for washing your face and brushing your teeth. Filling a bucket only results in half a bucket spilling, it's exhausting. Importance: 5 stars, a must-learn, learn it as soon as possible.)"

She closed the list and let out a long sigh.

Leaving my mother and without the readily available cards, I realized that even the most ordinary things like drinking water and eating were incredibly inconvenient. (End of Chapter)