Chapter 365 Someone Who Often Appears in Strange Places
“Hmm hmm～♪”
I hummed an unnamed melody as I cheerfully left the Witch Cat Café. After bidding farewell to Sister Bai and those cute fools, I could only leave here alone.
Sister Bai was now extraordinary; she didn’t even need to use a flying broomstick or any other tools to travel. I didn’t even have the chance to leave with her.
After all, if there’s a teleportation, there’s nothing that can’t be solved.
I instinctively touched the collar around my neck, and the corner of my mouth involuntarily curved into a slight arc. This was personally put on me by Sister Bai, and I didn’t plan to take it off in the coming days. After all, it’s an alchemical item with a self-cleaning function, and it’s meant to suppress curses long-term, so it naturally needs to be worn for a long time.
Otherwise, can I really sleep soundly if I take it off at night?
That’s uncertain.
I stretched out my hand toward the blue sky, my right hand adorned with a relatively old-fashioned ring.
It was worn on my middle finger.
It was given to me by Sister Bai, of course, I tricked Sister Bai into putting it on me. In this world, there isn’t any significance to wearing a ring on a specific finger, nor is there a diamond engagement ring scam, etc.
When the concept of a ring developed in this world, it was merely a luxury item representing wealth. After the extraordinary races came, with alchemical items, forged equipment, and so on, rings became one of the types of equipment.
After all, a person can wear a limited amount of equipment, and rings can be worn in considerable numbers. If each finger had its corresponding significance, it would become awkward to wear equipment to avoid implicating something.
Thus, Sister Bai didn’t see any issue in giving me a ring; she was merely a bit curious as to why I insisted she personally put it on my right middle finger.
And I didn’t explain; some things… well, it’s enough to know for myself.
This ring is also an alchemical item, with a down-to-earth name: Primary Body Refining Alchemical Ring.
As the name suggests, it is an equipment used for body refinement, belonging to a long-term effect alchemical item.
As long as the corresponding body refining ritual dance is completed, it can gradually improve physical quality. This kind of item is essential for those preparing to embark on body cultivation, as physical quality is the foundation for body refining and the basis for using body techniques.
Just like meditation is the foundation for enhancing mental power, mental power is likewise the basis for casting spells.
This ring was the first ring Sister Bai bought when she embarked on the path of body cultivation. I heard that she saved up for a long time to buy it, so it holds significant commemorative meaning for her.
But now that I also have the means for body cultivation, Sister Bai didn’t hesitate to gift it to me.
Although it looks old-fashioned, I really like it. I plan to find out if I can locate the corresponding ritual combat dance at the library. Sister Bai said there are corresponding courses at the academy, and they were relatively cheap when she attended.
However, I think with my understanding, I shouldn’t have difficulty learning even a ritual dance. After all, it’s important to save where I can.
Seeing that I had some leisure time, and my planning for the upcoming period hadn’t been finalized, I prepared to visit Sofiry for some fun.
Although it hasn’t been a month since I last saw her, I wanted to see if the seeds had sprouted, especially since I just promised the fools that once everything was ready, I would teach them the skills for making Fool Dream Drink. I can’t go back on my word, and if something unexpected happens, I can deal with it in due time.
I thought for a moment but decided not to call beforehand. I wanted to surprise her by showing up directly since it had been a long time without contact, and I didn’t know how she was doing.
However, thinking about it, I was a bit envious of Sofiry, who had her own plantation. She could casually grow flowers and plants, research potions when she had time, and go with friends into secret realms to look for extraordinary plant seeds. It seemed quite leisurely, although the downside was that her power growth was quite slow; everything else was pretty good.
But the Witch Academy is like this; it is a place for learning. Learning techniques is learning, and improving strength is also learning; it’s just different personal opinions.
Standing by the roadside, I took out my flying broomstick. This broomstick has accompanied me through quite a lot of experiences. If you don’t pay attention, you might not notice that it already had quite a few scratches and damages. I wonder if the Witch Academy has any alchemical items for maintenance.
It should… have something, after all, where there’s demand, there will be suppliers. Besides, there are various identities in the Witch Academy, not just students. Many graduated seniors live their lives there, like the senior sister, Isabeau, whom Sister Bai took me to eat with.
After a while of enjoying the wind at high altitudes, I arrived at my destination. I tidied my wind-blown hair slightly before reaching Sofiry’s plantation.
I hope I didn’t come here for nothing; I’m starting to regret not giving her a heads up.
Upon arriving at the door, I didn’t find a doorbell, and just walking in would be impolite, so I took out my phone to contact Sofiry.
I opened my phone, and with a wave of my hand, a magic power-formed light screen appeared above the phone screen. This was the advanced usage of academy phones that Sister Bai demonstrated to me when I enrolled. Now that I can interfere with magic power, I can use it too.
However, when I was genuinely able to use it, I didn’t feel as excited as I did back then. After all, I found that, just as Sister Bai said, there’s hardly any technological content to it; it all depended on me rubbing the magic power by hand.
After feeling the novelty for a moment, I wasn’t too excited anymore. Immediately, I dialed Sofiry’s number.
A call prompt appeared on the floating image in front of me, displaying a large image of Sofiry’s avatar. Unless the other party agreed to video call, I could only hear her voice even if I had a visual here.
After a moment of the symbolic ringing sound from dialing, Sofiry finally answered.
“Hmm? Xiao Han? You contacted me? Is there something up?”
Soon, I could hear Sofiry’s slightly surprised tone.
“Of course, what else could I want? I just wanted to see how the seeds from that batch are doing. Is it convenient for you?”
“Of course, I’m right here in the plantation. You can come over anytime. I have to tell you; almost all the seeds you gave me have sprouted. They are among the easiest plants to grow that I’ve ever seen.”
“Really? That’s great news! By the way, since you’re in the plantation, could you please open the door? I’m already here～”
“Eh? What! Wait… how could you be here so quickly?” Sofiry seemed a bit tense when she heard my words, her speech becoming slightly disordered.
“Is there a problem? You aren’t doing anything strange in the plantation, right?”
“Of course not! I’m just… simply shocked that you arrived so quickly…” As Sofiry spoke, I could hear some noisy sounds from her side.
Before long, the door to the plantation was opened.
“Xiao Han, you… in this state, I thought you were joking…”
“Of course, I initially wanted to surprise you, but when I got here, I realized I forgot to check if you were here, so I had to call. I hope I didn’t disturb you!” I hung up the phone and looked at her.
“No, um, just come inside.” Sofiry stared at me in a daze, her gaze somewhat lost. If it weren’t for the fact that this phone call did happen, she might not have believed that this somewhat unfamiliar girl was Xiao Han. But remembering that the other person had disguise techniques, she had also played as a white-haired girl when we first met, so it didn’t seem too surprising.
“Hmm hmm～”
I walked happily into the plantation. Although it wasn’t my first visit, the stark contrast between the exterior architecture and the interior space still made me marvel.
“Where, where? Sofiry, where did you plant those seeds… eh?!”
I eagerly scanned the surroundings. While there hadn’t been much change since my last visit, it was clear that Sofiry had gradually made use of this place. Originally empty and neglected spots seemed to have been planted with other things.
However, I noticed someone who shouldn’t theoretically be here.
“Uh…”
“Hmm… Dongli Yiren?”
I looked at the young girl in front of me. My roommate always seemed to appear in shocking places, like… last time in the maid café?
How did she end up in Sofiry’s plantation this time?
At this moment, I could see Dongli Yiren’s embarrassed toes nearly trying to dig into the ground.
After all, she recognized me as soon as I called her name, since I often appeared in the dormitory in this guise. While there were slight changes in appearance, it was still guessable.
At this moment, I turned to Sofiry. I remembered that she seemed to have said before that she didn’t recruit part-time workers?
Dongli Yiren also mentioned that she… wait, I remember she might have a bit of a tsundere personality.
“You two… never mind, I won’t pry.”
In the end, I hesitated and didn’t continue to probe, while Dongli Yiren seemed to breathe a sigh of relief subconsciously.
“Well, actually, this is just a coincidence for us… haha…” Sofiry hastily explained, even if I didn’t press further, ending with some awkward laughter.
After all… Sofiry also learned a lot of information from Dongli Yiren and knew the relationship between her and me.
“By the way… I heard Xiao Han previously fell under a sleep curse. You’re fine now, right?” Sofiry rushed to change the subject and asked with concern.
“Of course I’m fine. Who do you think I am? Would I encounter danger? You should be asking if my enemies are in danger.”
“Oh, is that so… I heard that many who woke up from the sleep curse were injured, and there were even cases of d*ath reported in other academies…”
“There were indeed deaths.” I nodded.
“Xiao Han, you seem to know quite a bit about this? I heard that those who fell under the sleep curse have their consciousness appear in some city, is that true?” Sofiry asked with interest.
Even Dongli Yiren beside her inquired with interest.
“Hmm, the name is Ninglan New City, and it is indeed a very nice city. Are you curious?”
“Uh-huh, there have been so many versions circulating online these days. Many are lamenting that they hadn’t been in class for long before nearly losing their lives.”
“Perhaps if it’s only this degree, they wouldn’t be able to handle it, so the Extraordinary Academy isn’t suitable for those people,” I recalled the students who seemed to lack combat power at the time, all following orders. The ones who likely complain are those people.
These individuals didn’t even have the qualifications to hear about fate and script truths in the Underground City, so it’s no surprise; after all, they hadn’t seen much of the world.
“Why don’t you show me the seeds first? Although I’m not as professional as you in planting, I just want to get a general idea. If you want to know about the sleep curse, I can tell you about it as well.”
“Come, follow me. I specifically divided a dedicated area for the batch of seeds I brought for you. Yiren, you come too; it’ll be good to gain some experience,” Sofiry said, her tone slightly excited, contrasting a bit with how introverted and quiet she was when we first met. Perhaps in this plantation, she felt the most relaxed.
Dongli Yiren, called over, also responded and followed along.
“Yiren? I didn’t expect Sofiry to call you that so affectionately,” I casually asked as I walked alongside Sofiry and Dongli Yiren.
“No… isn’t it the same as how others call you Xiao Han?”
“Okay, I didn’t expect you to have gotten close to her. If I may ask, how’s it here for you? Just a simple part-time job or…”
“Sofiry is very good to me, and she helps me learn some knowledge about plants, teaching me step by step how to cultivate…” Dongli Yiren began to explain.
“Alright, as long as you like it. By the way, don’t you have classes today?”
“No classes; even if there were, it would just be reviewing. The monthly exam is coming up in a few days,” Dongli Yiren replied.
“Monthly exam?”
Hearing her say that, I instinctively paused for a moment, failing to react. Thinking back, I indeed hadn’t participated in the last monthly exam. My last one had been postponed due to some issues.
“You didn’t forget, did you? You should review well these days. I heard you didn’t attend last time, and many people have been skeptical about you since then, especially given that you’re exempt from courses…”
“Yeah, sigh… why is it that course exemptions don’t include exam exemptions?” I complained softly, but I wasn’t too concerned since it was just a monthly exam. There wasn’t much to study.
Looking at those courses: Witch Meditation Method—no exam, Basic Energy Cultivation Course, Elemental Theory—these are foundational for me, okay?
The Theory of Spell Structure explanation is essentially detailing the structure of spells. It hasn’t even touched on internal runes, so that’s fine.
As for Extraordinary Knowledge Theory… I can just flip through the book later.
Perhaps that’s the luxury enjoyed from having a Memory Shelf Spellbook.
As for the practical skills course, I wonder if the monthly exam will include this, but if it does, then I would just have an overwhelming advantage.
“By the way, you’re not reviewing today; are you just helping out here?”
“I’ve… I’ve almost finished studying. My grades are consistently stable; this time should be fine as well,” Dongli Yiren averted her gaze, seeming reluctant to explain further on that topic.
“Hey, Xiao Han, these are the seeds I grew. Although I don’t know their scientific names, I marked them for distinction. I must say, these seeds grow really fast. Since this is my first attempt at cultivation, I’m hesitant to use any growth spells. But they seem to be growing well. I’ll observe for a few more days, and if nothing unexpected happens, I might try using a growth spell.”
