The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Chapter 11 Astrological Ritual
With the sumptuous feast over, the banquet naturally came to an end.

The first-year witches followed their older female classmates out of the auditorium.

After leaving the auditorium, walk down a corridor to a small hall.

One end of the small hall is a staircase, and the other end connects to the east gate of the castle.

Once you exit the east gate, there's a small square outside.

Standing in the square, looking back, the entire castle was brightly lit.

The academy castle is built on a ridge, and beyond the plaza are cliffs.

The plaza, with its shed-like structures on either side of the castle gate displaying rows of brooms, was likely used for takeoffs and landings.

To the left of the square, there is a path leading down the mountain. Magic lamps along the path emit a warm glow, like a long, warm yellow dragon winding its way down.

Once outside the castle, the third and fifth graders went straight to the broom shed, grabbed their brooms, and flew away from the castle.

The first-year students looked at the senior students soaring into the sky and felt envious.

Turning her head, she saw the second and fourth-year students also looking up at the sky, but remaining unmoved. A kind-hearted blonde witch said:

"Seniors, you guys go ahead! Don't worry about us, there's a map in the Freshman Guide, we can find our dorms!"

After an awkward silence, Senior Trish stepped forward and said righteously:
"It's a tradition at the Witch Academy that fourth-year students hold a multi-day astrological ceremony in the plaza, starting from the first night of school, to predict their future fortunes. We'll all be staying here tonight."

Upon hearing this, the other fourth-grade students were taken aback for a moment, then seemed to realize what was happening and began to echo his sentiments.

"Yes, yes, it's an astrological ceremony. The little witches from other grades can't participate. You guys go ahead!"

"Remember, you can't peek either! Being disturbed will cause the ritual to fail and bring bad luck!"

……

The second-grade witches also confirmed this:

"It is indeed a tradition. A fifth-grader held an astrology ceremony here last year, which seemed to last for a whole week!"

"I see. Then we won't disturb the senior students' astrology."

The little witches bid farewell to their senior and headed down the mountain together.

The fourth-year witches breathed a sigh of relief once the younger girls had gone far away.

"Now I finally understand why the older students hold astrology ceremonies here after the start of fourth grade!"

"Who would have thought that we'd be homeless on the first day of school?"

"We've only just figured out the inner area, and we haven't even decided where to build our residences yet. Hopefully, it won't rain these next few days!"

"Once the fifth-grade students move into the outer area, we can inherit some good locations. Unfortunately, the houses themselves will be cleared out and cannot be inherited."

"Don't try to take that tree hole on the east side of the Beast Jungle from me. I've already made a reservation with Senior Yuni."

"Damn it! I've got my eye on that tree hole too!"

……

Although there were magic lights every few meters along the way down the mountain, the path was rugged and not easy to walk.

Moran, Vasita, and Sylph followed Lilith at the back of the group.

"Senior Lilith, you can't stay in the dorms starting in fourth year, so where do you all live?" Moran asked curiously.

“Temporary residences are usually set up in the inner perimeter of the academy, outside the core area,” Lilith said.

"The senior students have all built their accommodations so quickly?" Sylph asked in surprise.

“Building a witch’s house must be really difficult. You senior students are amazing!” Vasita said.

"How can it be!"

Lilith glanced ahead and, seeing that no one was paying attention, gestured for the three of them to come closer, then whispered:

"Everyone builds simple dwellings; caves and tree hollows are the best choices. Only those skilled in architectural magic can build their own small houses, but they are just ordinary small houses, which cannot be compared with the witch's house with its complete defense system."

Furthermore, students in the third grade are allowed to explore the inner area, which contains some common wild animals that are more dangerous than those in the core area.

Within a year, they had to explore the inner perimeter, build a simple dwelling to withstand ordinary wild beasts, and complete their studies—there simply wasn't enough time.

The senior students haven't even finished building their accommodations yet!
Since we can't stay overnight inside the castle, the upperclassmen will probably be sleeping in the square tonight. The astrological ceremony is just an excuse… I only guessed the truth because I know about Trish's situation, so keep it a secret! For the sake of the upperclassmen!

Moran and the other two nodded obediently.

To protect the senior students' self-esteem, they pretended not to know.

"Senior, when can we start flight lessons?" Sylph asked. "Even though the dormitory area is right at the foot of the mountain, climbing up to the castle every day for lessons must be exhausting!"

"Who doesn't want to fly sooner?" Lilith said wistfully. "Flying lessons only begin after the second year when students have crafted their own brooms."

Is it because they care about their juniors and don't want to fly first?

Of course not!
The mountain road is indeed difficult to walk on, and every year there are little witches who break their legs on this road.

However, the entire academy is under Ms. Amisa's control, and even the most serious injuries can be treated promptly.

The witches like to help each other, but they would never consider taking care of others as their own responsibility.

They don't fly, simply because they don't know how to fly yet!
"Does that mean we'll have to climb this mountain for over a year?" Sylph thought about it and felt it was too much to handle.

She had never traveled such a long distance in her entire life.

I can't even imagine having to walk this far to class every day from now on.

Moran was slightly better off than Sylph. When she was young, she wanted to study but didn't have the opportunity. She could only do physical exercise to improve her health and fitness.

Climbing this mountain wasn't a big problem for her; it was just a little more than her usual exercise.

But the journey to and from the Academy Castle is so far, it would probably take several hours a day to walk there.

This is a considerable waste for her.

Since that's how the college arranged it, they didn't have any good options and could only try to adapt.

More than that, she was curious about why the mountain where the academy castle was located was called Sanqing Mountain on the map!
The name reminded her of the sacred Taoist culture of Earth; it was so strange to be here.

But the other little witches didn't seem to find it strange at all, and no one noticed it.

Moran couldn't help but ask her senior.

“Is it strange to call it ‘Sanqing Mountain’? I think it sounds quite nice! The big bell in the academy’s clock tower is also called ‘Sanqing Bell’! It was named by the three witches when they founded the school,” Lilith said.

"Do you know why you chose such a name, senior?" Moran asked.

"I saw it in the 'Witch Academy Founding Notes', which said that it was inspired by an alternate world called Cangyuan Realm."

In that world, Sanqing Mountain was the birthplace and place of inheritance of a superhuman school. Sanqing represents the three strongest people in that school. Coincidentally, the Witch Academy was also founded by three witches, who were also the strongest people in the witch clan. Sanqing Mountain and the Witch Academy have similar inheritance significance.

The witch got some inspiration for building the school from the otherworldly people of Sanqing Mountain, so she named the mountain at the very center of the academy Sanqing Mountain, and the Sanqing Bell in the clock tower is the same.

At the highest point of the academy castle, there is a platform where high-altitude flight training is practiced in the later stages of flight lessons. It is called the Jade Platform and is the highest point in the entire academy.

Beside the well in the dormitory area, there is a stone tablet that reads "Ancient Dan Well".

These inspirations all came from the Three Pure Mountains of the Cangyuan Realm.

Lilith said, "If you're interested, you can take a look at the 'Witch Academy Founding Notes' later, which explains it in more detail."

Moran remembered the name.

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, it was past midnight.

Even going down the mountain, many first-grade witches couldn't handle it.

Among the group of panting, sweating little witches, Vasita stood out the most.

She was almost the same as when she first set off, without even breaking a sweat, and didn't seem tired at all.

Faced with the astonished looks of the little witches, Vasita explained sheepishly:

"Perhaps because I eat a lot, my stamina is better than that of the average witch, but once I feel hungry, my stamina drops sharply... Luckily, I ate enough at night, so I don't feel anything right now."

Considering the scene of her eating before, everyone can understand.

The dormitory area is not far from the foot of the mountain.

It's just a short walk through a small oak grove.

However, this dormitory is a little different from what everyone imagined.