Chapter 13: The Student Card
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 13: The Student Card
Before long, Senior Sister draped the Witch Cape over my shoulders and pinned the badge to my chest.
"This badge has the best Solidification Spell enchantment; it's the most stable of the bunch. It shouldn't break even after multiple uses," Bai Yu explained as she helped me get settled.
"Wait, the badges can break?" I quickly caught the main point.
"Of course. The mana controlled by a witch is a high-level energy. Even the most basic spells, when driven by mana, leave behind irreparable wear and tear. These Solidification Spells are just meant to help new students through the early transition period. By the time you reach the later stages, it'll be nothing more than an ornament."
"I see..."
Holding the brim of my Witch Hat, I followed Sister Bai out of the room. As we passed a mirror, I pulled the wide-brimmed hat onto my head. My "witchy" aura seemed to instantly level up.
"Does it look good?"
I looked at Sister Bai and the question slipped out instinctively. The moment I said it, even I felt a bit surprised.
Why would I ask that? I shouldn't care about what I was wearing. Besides, this wasn't exactly "women's clothing"—it was just a cape.
Was this the so-called Witchification, or was it just my true nature?
The question was ultimately meaningless. After briefly processing the thought, I calmly accepted the fact that I was starting to care about my appearance.
After all, I was already planning on wearing skirts and the like. This was just the beginning.
"It looks good," Bai Yu said, a smile spreading across her face as she looked at me in the hat. "It would look even better if you had a matching outfit to go with it."
"Where to next?"
I trotted ahead of Sister Bai with a cheerful skip, then turned around to ask. With Senior Sister Bai Yu around, I hadn't even bothered to look at the enrollment procedures. I was relying entirely on her.
"There should be only one item left," Bai Yu said, thinking for a moment.
"The last one already? What is it?" I asked, feeling a bit like the experience was ending too soon.
"Collecting your student card. It’s a very important item."
"Then let's go! Time waits for no one." I checked my phone. I had two now—the academy-issued one and my original one. The time displayed on both was the same, but my old phone had no signal. It seemed Senior Sister wasn't lying about the academy being in a different space; my old phone was officially obsolete here.
I still felt a little sentimental about it.
Soon, Senior Sister led me to the office where student cards were processed. It was located inside what looked like a teaching building. Although there were temporary signs posted outside, it would have been difficult for someone to find this place alone; they would have had to wander in circles for a while.
"New student card? Come on over."
As soon as I walked in, the Senior Sister inside spoke up. She seemed very experienced in her duties. I hadn't even opened my mouth yet, though I still gave her a polite greeting.
"Alright, give me your name so I can look up your info." The Senior Sister spoke with a slightly lazy tone as she operated a rather complex-looking device in front of her.
"My name is Yang Yuehan," I said politely.
"Yang Yuehan... Hmm... Can't find it. There's only one male under that name, and he was part of the last batch of temporary admissions." The Senior Sister looked at the screen, then looked up at me.
"If I'm not mistaken, that male is me," I reminded her, maintaining a smile.
"Huh?"
The Senior Sister let out a sound of genuine confusion. She sat up straight to get a better look at me, and then the confusion on her face transformed into a very meaningful grin.
"Oh—ho! I see, I see. You've got a bright future, Junior... or should I say, Junior Brother? Welcome to the ranks of the Prospective Witches." The Senior Sister smiled at me. "You're the first boy I've met who's been this calm while registering his student card info. At least, the first one I've encountered."
What could I even say to that? I just kept smiling.
"Yang Yuehan, right? You can't give a false name here. So, do you plan on keeping it?"
"Yes, I'll keep it," I nodded. This was my name from my previous life. Of course, it wasn't a coincidence in this life either; I had changed it myself. I had a former name, but I’d almost forgotten what it was.
"What about the photo? Do you want to keep your original look as a boy for the sake of memory, or take a new one now?"
"Hmm... Let's take a new one. I want to say goodbye to the past," I said sincerely.
"Alright then, follow me~" The Senior Sister stood up. Behind her was a simple-looking photo studio.
After a bit of fussing around, I finally had my very own student card in hand.
I bid the Senior Sister a warm farewell.
"All done?"
Waiting outside, Bai Yu immediately caught up when she saw me emerge.
"Yep, all done." I waved the card in my hand.
The information on the student card was simple. On the left was the photo—the one we just took, featuring me in a formal Witch Outfit.
The brim of the hat was so large it didn't even fit entirely in the frame, but I was quite satisfied with it. That Senior Sister had taken several versions for me before I finally settled on this one.
On the right were my name, the academy, and my student ID number.
The academy was, naturally, the Witch Academy. The student ID was a string of numbers: "41145134015." A quick glance told me that "1145" represented the current year.
This calendar system set its Year One as the year the very first academy was founded—the Wizard Academy.
Although the history I had learned was vague about that period, it was clear that the emergence of the academies was a profound turning point for this world.
As for the "4" at the beginning... it likely referred to the fact that the Witch Academy was the fourth Transcendent Academy established in this world. This showed that despite their poor reputation, the Witch Academy's status was comparable to the Three Great Academies.
The student card had a wooden texture to the touch. Blue energy, almost visible to the naked eye, flowed across it like the grain of a split tree.
I tried using Spirit Vision to look at the card. There was indeed a surge of transcendent energy within it. It seemed as though an endless supply of energy was dissipating from the card, only to mysteriously vanish or decompose into ordinary energy. However, I didn't feel the card getting hot or glowing while I held it. Furthermore, a lot of energy was also flowing back into the card, as if the intake and dissipation were perfectly balanced.
As expected of the Witch Academy—even a student card was this miraculous!
"Sister Bai~ You said the student card is very important. What exactly does it do?" I asked, holding the card between two fingers as I leaned toward her.
Come to think of it, during this whole registration process, I had been like a curious toddler, pestering Sister Bai with endless questions. I was starting to feel a bit embarrassed, but Sister Bai never seemed to tire of answering them.