Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

After finishing the morning classes, Hexia and Mel went to the treehouse in the forest for lunch.

In the spacious tree hollow restaurant, a row of birds perched on the high dome inside the tree, and below them were terraced stairs leading to rooms in the tree walls.

At the bottom, the spacious restaurant housed dozens of large tables, capable of seating five hundred people. Students gathered around the tables to enjoy their meals after getting their food.

"They have transparent osmanthus cakes today, and there are apples for free," Mel said softly and happily.

She wasn't short on money, but still felt delighted over the complimentary T5-grade Radiant Red Apples. Although the apples didn't have any transcendent effects, they were sweet, crisp, and not the least bit astringent, making them very delicious.

"Here, this is for you~" Not long after sitting down, she happily passed a piece of amber-transparent pastry to Hexia.

The T4-grade Golden Jade Osmanthus Cake, made with Golden Jade Honey, Autumn Triloba Osmanthus, and Dawn Flour among other transcendent ingredients, had a certain transcendent effect that could moisturize the body and restore a bit of energy.

How generous, Hexia thought. Although she had enjoyed plenty of T4-grade delicacies at Edith Academy, Yuanting Academy was more frugal in comparison.

For one thing, many of the offerings at Edith Academy were free, and secondly, with substantial debts not weighing on her mind, the benefits Edith Academy provided were readily consumed.

But it was different at Yuanting; she would need to pay for them herself, and with insufficient funds, such purchases were naturally painful, so she didn't usually seek them out.

"Thank you."

Knowing that if she refused, the girl with deep purple hair in front of her might burst into tears, Hexia nodded, and Mel, across from her, happily stroked the cat in front of her.

Afterward, the two of them chatted about recent classes while eating lunch.

"Overall, it doesn't feel difficult. I should be able to keep up and won't hold Hexia back," Mel said.

"It's okay, no need to push yourself too hard," Hexia comforted her. Truth be told, she wasn't the type to prioritize grades over friendships.

"No, I can't. Grandmother always said one should be self-aware and not do shameless things arbitrarily," Mel insisted, unusually adamant, apparently possessing 'backbone'.

"The teacher said that this afternoon, we should go over to his place to get duck eggs and incubators so we can hatch ducklings and then take care of them over the next few months," Mel spoke of the teacher's instruction in class.

This was probably the hatchling nurturing task mentioned in the academy missions. Initially, Hexia thought it might be a transcendent animal, but on reflection, since they had just enrolled, they probably wouldn't be given such a high difficulty task yet. The ducklings they were given to nurture were likely just ordinary animals.

An hour later, the pair arrived at the bird breeding house in the forest, bustling with many senior students and some academy staff.

Walking inside the towering building, they occasionally saw birds flying over their heads.

"Look, that's a Pure White Tri-feather bird~"

Mel pointed to a bird flying above, its entire body snow-white, trailing three long tail feathers. This Transcendent bird from the Radiant Feather Sequence 3 was also an expensive ornamental pet bird, which could fetch up to hundreds of thousands of Federation Coins if it had a good pedigree.

Yuanting Academy's income came only from a very small portion of student tuition fees; most of it came from other business operations of the academy, such as renting out transcendent animals, pet breeding, medical services, and the production of some rare transcendent resources, among others.

Many of these industry personnel used to be students of Yuanting Academy. By cultivating talents for itself, not only did the academy resolve students' employment issues, but it also greatly met its need for skilled workers. This kept Yuanting Academy's finances healthy, even though it wasn't quite on par with top-tier academies like Edith Academy.

"That one is a Shadow Claw Owl, which likes to be active at night. Many graveyards keep these birds to watch over the place and prevent ghosts from causing trouble."

"This is a Red Screamer Falcon, whose call is very sharp and aggressive, with sharp claws and hard feathers; it is also a Transcendent animal with combat abilities."

"The one with a big mouth is the Spotted Pond Goose, which is generally very lazy and extremely gluttonous. Without proper training, they might even eat themselves to death." Mel seemed quite familiar with these Transcendent animals, as she introduced each of them to Hexia.

Yuanting Academy nurtured a variety of Transcendent animals, but it was best known for its birds. It was said that hundreds of years ago, at the height of Yuanting's fame, there was a Rank 8 Heavenly Mandate Wind Falcon, which is why they were named after the wind falcon.

"The puppies are also very cute, but not when they grow up." Mel caressed a small yellow dog that rubbed against her leg begging for food, then picked it up and felt its round, bulging belly.

"This little guy ate his fill."

Hearing Mel's comment, Hexia couldn't help but want to laugh and went over to pet the little fellow too.

A little while later, they put the small dog down and continued forward, coming to a room with fewer people, where a few students were already selecting duck eggs.

"These are modified Kol Duck eggs. Each of you should pick three to incubate. By the end of the year, if you can raise a qualified pet Kol Duck, you'll score 80 points for this subject. You can earn extra points and rewards for better performance," the teacher informed them.

"This doesn't seem too difficult. Are Kol Ducks those white ones with flat, cute bills?"

"Yes, as a beginner pet, they're quite popular in the market. If you can raise them well, the academy will even grant you a portion of the prize money, which is a bit like experiencing a Breeder's income in advance," the teacher explained.

"This makes me eager to try it," a few students said happily.

With a gray moon cat in her arms, Mel looked expectantly at the eggs laid out and began to carefully touch them, selecting her choice.

Hexia thought for a moment and used her Ability to inspect the duck eggs, which were essentially fertilized eggs, but since they hadn't hatched yet, there wasn't much to compare.

In the end, she and Mel each chose three eggs and placed them in the nearby incubators, then carried them back to their dormitory.

The incubator simply needed to be plugged in to slowly heat the duck eggs to the appropriate temperature and eventually hatch them. Initially, they could just be raised on the dormitory balcony. Later on, the task was to train the hatchling ducks, and the teacher would teach them step by step in class the things to pay attention to at each stage, so they could learn and get hands-on experience simultaneously.

When Hexia returned to the dormitory, she set up the incubator, plugged it in, and then sat beside the living room table to read. Many theoretical courses could actually be self-studied without detriment compared to classroom instruction. The academy had arranged mostly practical training for her, and she needed to self-study the theoretical parts in advance, which would save quite a bit of time.

At night, after Hexia finished her shower and was preparing to go to bed, she noticed a light in the living room.
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She went over and found that the Indigo Snake had opened the incubator and was now surrounding the three duck eggs, emitting a faint warm glow from its body, warming the temperature around it.

"Are you also trying to incubate eggs? But these aren't snake eggs, they're duck eggs, you silly," Hexia said as she tapped the little snake's head and tried to take the duck eggs out to put them back in the incubator.

However, the Indigo Snake coiled around her hand, guarding the three eggs underneath it, seeming very reluctant to let them go.

After Hexia tried a few more times to no avail, the stubborn creature seemed determined to incubate the eggs itself.

"Alright then, you can incubate the eggs. But make sure the temperature is suitable. Don't let me wake up to find three roasted duck eggs tomorrow," she warned the little snake, tapping it again before reluctantly going off to sleep.

She decided to let it be for now, since for the time being, the Indigo Snake seemed to maintain an appropriate temperature, not too high. Otherwise, she would still use the incubator.

But since it was so insistent, she decided to indulge it this time; after all, she wasn't such a strict or harsh person.