Chapter 41: Witch Ranks

The demon carriage was still very fast; during their conversation, it had already entered Fuyue Island, and next they would use its long-distance teleportation hub to directly teleport to the Witch Academy’s territory.

As they entered the port area of Fuyue Island, they could already see the massive magical vortex floating above it.

Terrifying magical forces vibrated around, tearing open the space within the vortex to form a giant hole resembling a black hole, yet the torn space did not expand chaotically—it was firmly contained in size, collapsing inward in an orderly fashion, eventually stabilizing into a miraculous structure resembling a passage.

From the outside, however, nothing could be seen—only dazzling streams of light—but once one passed through this passage, distance was ignored, and one could instantly arrive at any other teleportation hub within the Witch World.

Merely gazing upon this vast and wondrous structure made one marvel at the power and dread of the witches who built it, casually manipulating space itself—one of the highest forces—yet this was merely the tip of the iceberg of Witch Civilization’s overwhelming might.

Yet such long-distance teleportation hubs were among the essential facilities any Witch Domain needed to develop, much like how a big city in Dorothy’s past life needed high-speed rail and airports to thrive.

To become wealthy, first build roads—this truth held everywhere.

Only after such a hub was established was a territory officially incorporated into the Witch World’s map, known to other witches; otherwise, it remained a remote backwater, unknown to anyone, let alone capable of development or prosperity.

But such vital facilities were expensive—a single ultra-long-distance core teleportation hub cost roughly half the value of a newly colonized Witch Domain, not to mention the massive magical energy and other resources consumed continuously during its operation.

Many newly appointed Witch Domain lords, after hard-won victories on the battlefield, thought they could finally retire into a life of freedom and ease, only to painfully realize the resources needed to build their domains were even greater, forcing them to grit their teeth and keep fighting on the front lines.

Thus, even though witches lived long lives, very few could single-handedly build a mature Witch Domain from nothing; usually, pioneers cleared the land, and successors built upon it—most Witch Domains were established and expanded over generations through the relentless efforts of Witch families.

Even Fuyue Domain, a backwater of the eighteenth tier, had taken shape only through generations of effort by the Fuyue Witch Family; yet its current lord, the Fuyue Witch, was exceptionally powerful, bringing the domain to its peak under her rule, while Isabella had long been striving to surpass her mother.

Dorothy and Alice often heard the blue-haired mermaid princess complain about how hard it was to manage a domain, always running into unexpected troubles, but back then, the poor sisters had both assumed she was just showing off.

Now, Dorothy sighed as she gazed out the window at the enormous teleportation hub nearby, pulsing with terrifying magical fluctuations.

“What a burden—I’ll never save enough money.”

But then she remembered that after passing through this teleportation array, she would begin her studies at the Witch Academy, and her spirits lifted slightly.

“Good thing I chose Infrastructure Engineering—when I develop my own domain later, I won’t need to outsource these facilities; I can build them all myself, and just need to figure out material costs, saving at least half the budget.”

Thinking this, Dorothy silently gave herself another thumbs-up.

No wonder I’m me—visionary and frugal.

But when her gaze swept over Euphelia, still stiff-faced and pretending to be cold, Dorothy almost cracked.

She’d agreed so boldly just now, but now she realized how impossible it would be to fulfill that boast.

First, to challenge a Peak Witch, she herself must become a Peak Witch—could she possibly become one within fifty years?

Hmmmm… actually, maybe.

The youngest Peak Witch in history was set by the current Witch King herself—the Witch King, a genius beyond measure, reached Peak at age twenty, joined the Sage Council at thirty, and became Witch King at fifty—a true protagonist with OP powers.

If her Majesty could become Witch King by fifty, then surely I, Dorothy, can become a Peak Witch before fifty… right?

Probably?

Witch ranks are generally divided into six stages: Weak Witch, Witch, Elite Witch, Grand Witch, Peak Witch, and Sage.

Of course, this isn’t like those upgrade novels from her past life, where one must break through each level one by one, requiring pills and rare treasures to overcome thresholds.

Witch ranks are more like Dorothy’s past-life professional certification—merely proof of status and strength, granting certain social privileges, but not mandating promotion.

Many reclusive ancient witches never bother taking rank exams, yet their power remains undiminished.

A Weak Witch is typically a normal underage witch—still in school, physically immature, in the weakest phase of her life, requiring supervision and guidance from adult witches.

The next rank, Witch, is the standard adult witch—body and magical energy fully developed, graduated from Witch Academy, possessing normal knowledge and spellcraft, an ordinary member of Witch society.

Beyond that, Elite Witches have moved beyond the ordinary—they’ve spent years in the field, weathered countless trials, honed their skills, and begun achieving prominence in their specialties, forming the backbone of major corporations or domains.

The next rank, Grand Witch, is simply an expert in their field—they’ve achieved recognized success and societal approval, often serving as top executives in corporations or outright ruling their own domains.

Beyond Grand Witches, Peak Witches live up to their name—they are the pinnacle of their fields, Grand Witches among Grand Witches, absolute authorities in their disciplines, figures every newcomer must know, since their names constantly appear in textbooks, and their faces are frequently seen on TV or newspapers.

Peak Witches also hold higher status—their influence extends beyond single corporations or domains; they often serve as senior administrators under the Sage Council’s departments, executing the Sages’ decisions and managing the entire Witch World’s operations.

As for the highest rank, Sage—nothing needs to be said. They’re just legends. The world turns as the Sages decree.

Notably, although the Thirteen Sages Council has only thirteen seats, that doesn’t mean only thirteen Sages exist—there are many Sages in the Witch World, for beings so close to omniscience and omnipotence have long achieved immortality.

Yet not all Sages wish to manage the world—it’s too troublesome, delaying their path to godhood.

Thus, among the usual thirteen Sages, aside from the Chief Witch King, the other twelve are typically the youngest Sages; whenever a new Sage emerges, the old ones cheerfully step down, happily retiring to pursue their own research.

Witch ranks are roughly like this—merely proof of identity, reflecting a witch’s overall strength.

Rank determination is handled by the All-Seeing Eye, a subordinate agency of the Sage Council, which also issues every witch’s identity card.

The All-Seeing Eye is the Sages’ eyes, watching the world on their behalf.

The identity card continuously updates and verifies a witch’s information, which is uploaded via the Magic Network to the All-Seeing Eye’s central database; all a witch’s data—strength, talent, achievements, wealth—is converted into corresponding points, and the sum of these points determines her rank score.

A witch’s rank is determined by this comprehensive score.

In a way, the All-Seeing Eye secretly monitors all witches—this violates privacy, but in a world where individual power trumps all, what more could you demand?

If you’re not satisfied, too bad.

Moreover, the All-Seeing Eye’s database isn’t accessible to just anyone—it’s one of the most heavily guarded places in the Witch World; staff who process data there forget everything upon leaving, and even then, they’re bound by silence spells—truly cruel.

Even department heads lack authority to access the database; theoretically, anyone wishing to investigate a witch’s private information must first obtain approval from six or more Sages.

Hmm, you’d need to convene a Sage Council meeting and convince half the Sages to agree.

Or simply, if you can convince the Chief Sage—after all, the Chief Sage, as Witch King, holds unlimited authority.

But all this has nothing to do with Dorothy, an ordinary little witch—she’s light-years away from reaching that world.

She merely pulled out her ID card, glanced at her rank, and sighed.

“Only Elite Witch.”

Advancing in Witch rank is still very difficult, since it reflects a witch’s overall strength.

The three universally recognized fastest ways to raise rank are these.

First, improve hard power—whether physical attributes or magical strength, these all add points to rank.

Second, evolution—talents and specialties also add significant points; the rarer the talent or specialty, the more points it grants.

As for the third—earn achievements.

Whether academic exams, competition rankings, or battlefield merits, all a witch’s achievements grant rank points according to their level.

Thus, as a witch with only 10,000 mana, Dorothy’s Elite Witch rank is somewhat undeserved.

Her hard power is abysmal—barely a Weak Witch—but her talents, specialties, and achievements have earned her points easily.

Dorothy casually opened her ID card’s rank section and saw her recent point gains.

【Current Points:】

【Point Record: XX year XX month XX day, at age sixteen, you won the Magic Network Youth Witch Duel Championship, achieving the “Unbeaten Duel King” title, +2000 points】

【XX year XX month XX day, at age sixteen, you defeated an opponent of higher rank in duel, +86 points】

Witch rank scoring works roughly like this: Weak Witch 0–1000 points, Witch 1000–10,000, each rank up requires tenfold the previous threshold.

Looking at her own case, Dorothy found her personal strength points negligible, and her talent/specialty points modest—SR: 500 points, SSR: 1000 points, hard to grind.

To truly rack up points, you need achievements—last year, Dorothy was just an 8,000-point ordinary Witch, but after winning the Magic Network Duel Championship this year, she broke the 10,000-point barrier and entered Elite Witch rank; she’d checked online—winning the real-world Youth Duel Championship grants a terrifying 10,000 points in one go.

But what’s the point of grinding points?

Well, none at all—except to boast to others, “I became an Elite Witch at sixteen.”

This rank certificate won’t help her fight off her mother in fifty years—Euphelia won’t spare her just because her rank is high.

Some witches may enjoy grinding points, but Dorothy has no interest—she’s a shut-in with no friends to impress; rank level matters only to her.

And the more she looked, the more the gap to Peak Witch seemed enormous—even if rank doesn’t directly equal combat power, overall strength is still strength; the Peak Witch threshold is one million points, yet after sixteen years, she’d only scraped together a few thousand…

Don’t ask—just feel exhausted. The gap is astronomical. The more she thought, the more hopeless it became. Sorry—I promised so easily because I got too full of myself.

Dorothy sighed inwardly.

But her sighing over the ID card caught Euphelia’s attention.

“What rank do you have?”

The Dragon Witch asked, slightly curious.

Honestly, there was no need to ask—her daughter had just entered Witch Academy; she couldn’t possibly have a high rank. Even with those two SSR talents, she’d barely reach 2,000 points—ordinary Witch at best.

Yet…

“Sigh… only Elite Witch. Pathetic.”

Dorothy sighed again.

Euphelia: “……”

“Hssss…”

The Angel Witch beside her inhaled sharply.

Teacher and student stared at each other again, then fell silent.

Only Dorothy, confused, blinked—seeing their strange expressions, she grew curious.

“What? Is it too low? Well, I could grind higher—I’ve got plenty of certifications I haven’t bothered taking, but grinding points seems pointless, so I didn’t, and I don’t plan to—just go with the flow…”

“Go. Immediately after arriving at school, take the exam. Sophilila, make sure she takes it.”

The Dragon Witch finally cracked—her cold mask shattered, and she gritted her teeth, giving orders to the Angel Witch.