So I Became a Witch and Started Doing Daily Quests

Chapter 149: The Attention of a Formal Wizard

Mercury World.

"Splaaash—"

——

Amidst the flowing sound of water, Watson, who was beaten so thoroughly that there was hardly a single uninjured part on his body, slowly surfaced next to the vortex in a supine position.

Seeing this, aside from Lucia Heigel's relatively complex expression, the other wizards showed nothing but surprise on their faces.

"A Second Tier Wizard Apprentice can actually cast Transfiguration so proficiently—this talent is even stronger than Lilith's in her prime."

The speaker was the Bone Sage, Gushan-Rav, standing beside Lucia Heigel. Upon hearing this, Anthony-Rook merely nodded without changing his expression and calmly replied,

"Just a minor talent, that’s all."

"A minor talent? Her charm affinity seems to be showing signs of breaking through the extraordinary realm too—looks like White Coral Academy has invested considerable effort in training their apprentices these past years."

Anthony-Rook, who caught the implied meaning in Gushan-Rav’s words, still merely smiled faintly.

"Effort, we’ve all certainly spent our share. But whether this seedling is worth the effort remains to be seen in the White Tower Trial—"

Splash—just as the words fell, another bubble burst beside the mercury vortex, and another Blackbone Grove apprentice, equally battered and bruised, appeared before the group.

"Looks like Blackbone Grove isn’t off to a great start this time."

Seeing that the first two apprentices expelled from the secret realm were both from Blackbone Grove, and hearing Anthony-Rook’s words, Lucia Heigel’s expression was no longer "gentle and warm" as before, but rather stern and emotionless as she replied,

"It’s still early; it’s not yet a failed start—besides, the ones who leave quickly don’t necessarily last long. Only those who endure to the end can truly be considered competent..."

Unlike Watson, who was pummeled by Janna and knocked out, the second apprentice to exit the Marsh Secret Realm simply had terrible luck—teleported directly next to a Marsh Green with quasi-wizard-level physical strength that was in the middle of mating.

Thus, he was severely injured and eliminated, forced to withdraw from the secret realm.

"Splaaash—"

As more and more apprentices withdrew beside the mercury vortex, the gathered wizards gradually lost interest in chatting and turned their attention once again to the water-mirror witchcraft projection within the vortex, displaying the apprentices’ current status in the secret realm.

About thirty minutes later, Janna, who had taken on a "tree-body form" as a tall tree, stopped meditating and returned to her humanoid form.

"There’s not only a ‘Disease Curse’ here, but also a ‘Severe Injury Curse’—"

After reverting to human form, Janna looked at the slightly stinging wound on the back of her hand, pondered for a moment, then immediately cast a 【Quick Healing】 spell on herself.

"Laura, you may return. I’ll call for you when I need you."

"Hiss hiss—"

After dispelling the contract power, Janna, spreading her butterfly wings again, began slowly flying at low altitude with the Celestial Finch and the Hundred-Eyed Specter. Yet even after an hour passed, she still hadn’t found the waters where the Marsh Frogs resided.

"Although the shrubs here are dense, they severely affect underwater visibility—even with 【Plant Vision】, it’s not easy to locate targets quickly—"

Not only couldn’t she find any Marsh Frogs, but apart from the earlier encounter with the Blackbone Grove apprentice, Janna hadn’t run into any other apprentices for quite some time.

"This Marsh Secret Realm is far too expansive—if this keeps up, most of the time will be wasted just on traveling—"

"Master, there’s intense magical energy ahead."

As Janna grew irritated, the Hundred-Eyed Specter suddenly flew in front of her and showed a line of writhing blood-red text on its mirrored surface.

"Is it a person? Or a magical beast?"

"I don’t know."

Inherently sensitive to magical energy fluctuations, the Hundred-Eyed Specter returned to Janna’s side after giving the warning.

"Then why couldn’t you sense that black wizard apprentice earlier?"

"He had almost no magical energy. I only noticed him when he was very close."

Seeing the explanation on the Hundred-Eyed Specter’s mirror, Janna nodded.

It wasn’t just the Specter—Janna herself had confronted that black wizard apprentice for quite a while. Apart from the sharp murderous intent radiating from him, she too could not sense any magical fluctuations.

"Sometimes, abilities possessed by Bloodline-side apprentices are even stranger than those from the Mystic-side..."

Splat—

—

With a gentle flap of her butterfly wings and under the cover of the Hundred-Eyed Specter’s mirror illusion, Janna took to the skies again.

"Plant Vision—"

"Eagle Eye Spell—"

As Janna cast once more, the vision from the surrounding shrubs was continuously shared into her mind.

At the same time, by clasping her index finger and thumb before her eyes, a high-altitude view swiftly unfolded before her.

"That’s—Maro Heigel? He’s being hunted?"

From the image transmitted by 【Plant Vision】, Janna immediately descended from the sky.

"Judging from their attire, the ones hunting Maro Heigel should be Blackbone Grove apprentices—and there’s quite a few of them, actually three—"

Judging by the disheveled appearance of the four figures, the main cause of their sorry state wasn’t just the injuries from fighting one another, but more so the lingering effects of the “Disease Curse” and “Severe Injury Curse” within the Marsh Secret Realm.

However, Janna found it rather curious. Since Maro Heigel belonged to the same family as Blackbone Grove’s headmaster, Lucia Heigel, something Janna herself was aware of, it was impossible that the Blackbone Grove apprentices didn’t know as well.

Such a “Dragon King’s temple hit by floodwaters” situation made Janna suspect there was something more going on.

"Whatever. Three nameplates equal thirty points. Whatever tricks they’re playing, I’ll just take the nameplates first—"

?

Tap—her toes lightly touched the ground, wings fluttering.

Without hesitation, relying on the shared 【Plant Vision】 from the shrubs and still at full strength, Janna immediately sped toward Maro Heigel’s direction.

"Huff huff—"

While Maro Heigel used 【Featherlight Spell】 to flee rapidly, the intense burning sensation from his lung infection made his breath grow ever more labored and searing.

Besides the high fever, the knife-like sore throat and the festering wounds that refused to heal and were infected with inflammation, all contributed to Maro Heigel’s worsening physical condition.

"Must find the ‘Rotfruit’ quickly—otherwise, once the contamination erupts, it'll be over—"