novelraw Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Birth of the Slacker Witch
“The accident during this examination was caused by negligence in our work. As the chief examiner, I would like to express, on behalf of the Witch Association, our sincerest apologies to all of you.”
The brown-haired examiner bowed deeply to the apprentices below the stage, then continued, “There were some design flaws in the secret realm used for this examination, which allowed cultists to infiltrate it. Therefore, we have decided to temporarily close the secret realm. The next practical examination will be changed to a wilderness survival format, with the tentative location being Mount Shubi, north of the town of Osirlo. The examination is tentatively scheduled for three weeks from now, and we will publish the examination notice one week in advance.”
“All examination fees for this session will be fully refunded, and each of you will also receive five gold dragons as compensation for the delay. For non-local candidates, all lodging and meal expenses during the examination delay will be covered by the Association, and we will arrange unified accommodation at inns. Candidates who arrange their own lodging may also receive a daily meal and lodging subsidy of two gold dragons…”
As Lina listened, she calculated how much she could fleece out of this.
Adding it all up, she could receive forty to fifty gold dragons in compensation!
And with the gains from this secret realm, plus the reward for reporting the cultists…
Tsk tsk tsk, in the end she would earn at least seventy to eighty gold dragons!
At the very least, she would not have to keep gnawing on black bread for quite a while… If she planned well, she might even already be heading toward a moderately prosperous life!
“…Next, I will announce the additional reward for the apprentice who made outstanding contributions during this accident: Miss Lina!”
In an instant, Lina felt that she had once again become the focus of the crowd’s attention. She subconsciously tightened the tattered cloak around herself.
“In this incident, student Lina demonstrated excellent judgment and observational ability in the fight against the cultists, as well as outstanding magical skill. The Association believes that she already possesses the qualifications of a full-fledged witch.”
“Therefore, the Association has decided to immediately confer upon student Lina the qualification certification of a D-rank formal witch!”
The brown-haired examiner revealed a trace of approving smile to Lina and took out an exquisite silver-stamped gift box from his storage ring.
“Miss Lina, please come up to the stage.”
Amid the envious gazes of the crowd and the rising waves of cheers, Lina slowly walked onto the platform at the center of the square. Even now, she still felt somewhat dumbfounded.
What was going on?
As the founder of the Association, she knew better than anyone just how complicated and strict the Witch Association’s approval process was.
Under normal circumstances, after the examination ended, candidates had to go through a full two weeks of review and verification before receiving their final witch certificate. After that, they still had to complete formal registration with the Association and apply for a soul treasury… In any case, the whole process would not be considered finished in less than a month.
Even this kind of special temporary promotion would at most only be announced verbally… But judging from the spectacle… it seemed they were going to grant her the certification on the spot? And even skip a rank directly?
Lina’s gaze swept across the apprentices below the stage, and she suddenly spotted Annie in the corner, her eyes shining brightly.
Annie also noticed Lina’s gaze. She flashed Lina a brilliant smile and gave her a thumbs-up.
Lina withdrew her gaze and refocused her attention on the gift box in the chief examiner’s hands.
If nothing unexpected happened, inside the gift box should be her qualification certificate and the small bonus gift that came with it.
Lina took the gift box and carefully lifted the lid. A silver storage ring and an exquisite silver-stamped envelope lay quietly in the center.
“The promotion gift is all inside this storage ring,” the examiner’s gentle voice came from above Lina’s head. “The certification document is inside the envelope.”
She stepped back, signaling for Lina to walk up to the lectern, and placed a steel pen by her hand. “Please sign your 【Witch Name】 on the surface of the envelope. Please remember, once you sign it, that name will accompany your entire witch career. Only when you are promoted to a B-rank witch or above will you have a chance to rename yourself.”
Huh?
Lina froze again.
Under normal circumstances, a witch would have a full half month after the exam to think about her witch name, and many witches had even already decided on their future title before the exam.
But right now, she had no time to think at all!
Cold sweat instantly broke out all over Lina.
As someone utterly hopeless at naming things, Lina had even used the default starting name for her character back in the game.
How was she supposed to come up with a name on the spot!
She cautiously wrote down “Star Witch”.
However, the words vanished the instant they appeared.
“It seems that name has already been used by someone else,” the chief examiner kindly reminded her.
Huh? I died and my account still wasn’t deactivated? Or did someone speedrun registering this name again?
Lina’s eyebrow twitched unconsciously.
After that, she tried many other names, like “Witch of the Multitude of Stars”, “Witch of Eternal Night”…
Every name she could think of had already been taken.
Lina suddenly felt the same helplessness as the first time she had ever tried to make an online username and saw “This nickname has already been taken.”
Mm, forget it, I’m tired. In this life, all I wanted was to coast by, eat and wait for death anyway. I never had any grand ambitions… How about trying this?
Having completely given up, Lina signed a new name on the surface of the envelope.
Hm? This time it wasn’t taken!
Wait... holy shit? Why couldn’t she change it now!
The moment her pen left the final stroke, the envelope emitted a faint golden glow and slowly dissolved into the air, revealing the certificate inside:
“
To: Ms. 【Slacker Witch】
This is to certify that, following evaluation by the Witch Association, you have met the qualifications for certification as a 【D-rank Witch】.
You shall enjoy the corresponding treatment stipulated by the Association’s charter for a D-rank witch, and you are required to fulfill the corresponding obligations.
This certificate is hereby issued as proof.
”
Lina nodded in satisfaction, yet her gaze suddenly froze on the position beside the Witch Association’s official seal at the very bottom.
That line of graceful signature was faintly flickering with golden light.
【Issuer: Moira Fantasia】
……
At the same time, in a dark alley in Osirlo Town that no one paid any attention to, a figure cloaked in black, with blurred features, slipped into an abandoned house beside it.
The moment his body passed through the doorway, it was as though he had gone through an invisible membrane. In the next instant, his figure appeared before a small house shrouded in mist.
Pushing aside layer after layer of dense white mist, he walked to the wooden cabin’s front door and twisted open the rust-covered lock.
Yet the moment he stepped into the cabin, he felt some sharp, cold object press against the middle of his back.
“Name?”
“Jason.”
“Where did you come from?”
“From the Lord’s dream.”
After the two questions and two answers were finished, the sharp object at his back quietly withdrew, and three black-clothed figures with equally blurred faces stepped out from the shadows.
“You’ve worked hard, Jason… This was a necessary procedure.”
“I understand.” Jason’s hoarse voice rang out. “All hardship is worth it… I brought new intelligence.”
“Where are Jack and Duran? And Kenneth, why hasn’t he returned either?”
“They have already returned to the Lord’s dream.” Jason’s voice was cold and calm. “They failed to bring back the bloodline of the Sibyl family. As for Kenneth… he exchanged his life for this crucial piece of intelligence for us. How is the progress of the ‘interrogation’ on your side?”
“That witch is still unwilling to speak,” one of the black-clothed men said in a deep voice. “Just like those fellows who died before, even though we used every nightmare we had, she still showed no intention of returning.”
“Is that so...” Jason frowned. “Take me to see her.”
One of the black-clothed men stepped forward and raised his hand, pressing his palm against Jason’s chest. In an instant, a mass of pitch-black flame abruptly spiraled up from Jason’s feet and immediately wrapped around his entire body. In the next second, the flames violently contracted, leaving behind only a few residual black embers slowly fading away in the air.
When Jason regained consciousness again, a thick stench of blood and rot instantly drilled into his nostrils.
He opened his eyes. Dim pale-blue flames swayed, casting the shadows of chains and iron bars across the damp ground, and the air seemed to still carry wave after wave of wailing and sobbing.
Jason had arrived in a sinister underground prison.
“Clang! Clang!” A burst of urgent banging suddenly came from the cell ahead, followed by a heart-rending plea: “Please... let me dream one more time!... My dead wife... she, she’s there!”
Soon afterward, that despairing plea gradually devolved into a beast-like roar, mixed with noises that did not sound human.
Jason did not stop walking. He had no interest whatsoever in the ‘experiments’ those people in the cult were conducting.
For some reason, they always wanted those ordinary people to also ‘understand’ the Lord’s greatness, and Jason was disdainful of their ‘mercy’.
They made ordinary people fall into beautiful dreams, then ended those dreams at the very moment they were about to obtain hope.
Only the chosen had the right to enter dreams. No matter what, the souls of ordinary people could never withstand the gaze of the ‘Lord’.
Ignoring those irritating wails and roars, Jason continued deeper into the prison. After an unknown amount of time, he finally arrived at a special cell.
Inside the cell, a slender woman with delicate features and long green hair was tightly bound to a huge cross by pitch-black thorns.
Her eyes were tightly shut, her expression twisted, beads of sweat continuously rolling down from her forehead. Her lips were pale, as though she were enduring some immense agony, and the dark-gold emblem on her chest, symbolizing an A-rank witch, swayed slightly with her movements.
In front of the cell stood a thin black-clothed man with his back to Jason. On closer inspection, it was not hard to notice many fine and faint black flames writhing and leaping behind him.
He did not turn around. A low and gloomy voice abruptly sounded in Jason’s mind: “You came back alone.”
“Yes, Mr. Serion,” Jason lowered his head slightly. “The three of them...”
“I know,” Serion cut him off. He gently raised a hand, and a wisp of black flame suddenly shot into the cell, striking the witch’s body. Her body convulsed, and her expression seemed to become even more painful.
“Her parents died in front of her once again,” the flames on Serion’s hand leaped as his tone remained flat. “Her younger brother had his heart dug out by bandits right before her eyes, and her younger sister was taken away... This is the one hundred and seventh time.”
“She still hasn’t broken down?” Jason frowned.
“I suspect the Association placed some kind of restriction on their souls,” Serion said unhurriedly. “But as long as enough stimulation is applied and her mind collapses, those restrictions will naturally disappear…”
“Too inefficient, Serion,” a cold, hoarse voice abruptly echoed through the cell, and another figure emerged from the pitch-black flames.
“Leave this place to me afterward,” that figure revealed his face, and the savage scar running across it was especially striking. “Serion, take several apostles and go to the Sibyl Textile Factory in the north. Our ally has already prepared the stage for us there. This time, you must bring back the ‘key’.”
“You have found a way to avoid the Witch of the Moon’s line of sight?” Serion asked cautiously.
“We have new allies,” Norsen did not answer the question directly. “They have already infiltrated the Sibyl family and can create an opportunity for us.”
“Yes, Lord Norsen.” The thin black-clothed man stepped back, his body vanishing into the shadows.
Norsen turned around and slowly said to Jason, “Speak. I hope our losses have been exchanged for information valuable enough.”
Jason looked into Norsen’s eyes and said in a low voice, “We should immediately terminate our operation inside the Witch Association.”
“And the reason?” Norsen asked coldly.
“This was the final message Kenneth left behind in the dream before his soul was torn apart.” Jason took out a torn piece of black cloth from his robes and handed it to Norsen.
Norsen accepted the torn cloth. In the center of it, crooked bright-red blood letters carried a message that was incomparably eye-catching:
“【Do not look directly at... Slacker Fish】”