Chapter 42: Origin and Destiny

"Huh, what's wrong?"

Dorothy was startled by the teacher's and student's extreme reactions; she shuddered, then asked cautiously, a hint of grievance in her voice.

"Isn't this rank useless? It's just a certificate—it doesn't actually boost my strength."

The teacher and student fell silent for a moment, as if recalling something; their expressions softened slightly, and then the Angel Witch spoke first.

"Miss, you've been studying at the Mage Academy all this time, so perhaps you truly don't know—mage ranks aren't just proof of identity; they're tied to something far more important: a witch's destiny."

Sophilia remembered that this young lady was a seasoned shut-in, and that she'd even graduated from basic mage courses via online classes, rarely attending the academy in person—leading to a certain kind of common-sense deficiency.

Moreover, the secret of rank and destiny isn't even common knowledge—it's common among Grand Witches, but below that level, only a select few know it.

Usually, only prodigy witches are told this secret by their elders; judging from the shock on Miss's family members' faces during the duel, Miss has hidden her strength remarkably well—her own family didn't even know how powerful she was, so no wonder no one told her this secret.

"Destiny? What's that?"

Dorothy frowned, surprised—she'd never heard this term before, but it sounded incredibly powerful.

"Destiny, simply put, is how much the world favors you."

Long Zhi Witch took over the topic, glancing at this daughter who kept surprising her; the urge to simply tie her up and drag her home surged again—this child, left to roam free, was pure waste; what if she turned out useless?

Yet in the end, Euphelia restrained herself and asked Dorothy directly.

"Do you know the relationship between witches and the witch world?"

"Of course—it's all written in the textbooks. We witches are both the world's rulers and its daughters. In the early days, when the witch race was still weak, it was the World Mother who sacrificed her own life force to grant us the potential for infinite evolution."

Dorothy answered without hesitation; after all, she was a scholar on the Path of Omniscience—she wouldn't miss such basic knowledge.

In this fantasy world, self-awareness isn't limited to major races—everything has a soul. Even her old, well-used magic wand had given birth to Bast, a spirit race—so it's not hard to understand that the world itself could develop consciousness.

In fact, witch historical records state that the earliest primitive witches evolved from ordinary humans thanks to the aid of the World Consciousness.

Originally, the witch world was just an ordinary, weak world; its consciousness was still dim, lacking self-awareness. But external invasions triggered its awakening, accelerating its self-realization.

The invaders who targeted this weak world were none other than the Angel Race, one of the old calamity races—a powerful angel calling itself the Lord of Radiance, who set his sights on this world, planning to conquer and plunder it completely.

He displayed divine power in that primordial world, deceiving the ignorant masses into worshipping him as a god, building churches, and willingly offering the world's resources and wealth as sacrifices.

This was the Angel Race's classic method of conquest through faith.

Of course, every world has a few smart people—some brave souls who saw through this mysterious god and rose in rebellion.

But how could mere mortals stand against the Angel Race, a calamity species?

The feeble resistance was easily crushed by the Angels and their followers; to eliminate any future rebellion, the Church launched a bloody reign, igniting a fierce witch-hunt.

No one knows which clever little Church genius randomly pointed at an innocent beautiful girl on the street, declaring: "She's so beautiful, so seductive—she must be impure! A demon dwells in her heart! She's a witch's lover—a witch! We must purify her!"

Then the ignorant masses truly dragged that innocent girl to the pyre; the desperate girl, as she neared death, cursed everything, even began praying to demons, begging them to grant her power, to turn her into a real witch.

But demons, also a calamity race, aren't easily encountered; for this remote, barren world to be noticed by one angel was already bad luck—it wasn't likely to be cursed with a demon's attention too.

Naturally, the innocent girl's prayer never reached the demons' ears—but the still-dim World Consciousness heard her cry of despair.

The World Consciousness had always been dim, and years of angelic plunder had drained its strength; it usually slept for long stretches, awakening only briefly. But fate intervened: at the very moment the girl was about to die, her prayer was heard by the World Consciousness, itself on the brink of extinction.

Thus, at that instant, the dying girl's soul resonated with the dying world's soul—and a miracle was born.

The dim World Consciousness, guided purely by instinct, poured all its remaining power and will to survive into this girl, whose plight mirrored its own.

The dying world and the dying girl forged their first pact.

The world would grant her power; in return, she would forever walk the path of resisting the outside gods and saving the world.

Thus, the girl gained the world's primordial force—the power of creation, of transformation, of miracles, of omnipotence—the force later known as magic.

The first witch was born.

She became the original Witch King—the Divine King.

What followed is well known: witches stormed Heaven's Mountain, plucked the feathers of the so-called Lord of Radiance, and used them as pillow stuffing.

That unfortunate angel, who became the stepping stone to the witches' rise, is still bound to a cross today, kept alive by cruel means, enduring the most brutal tortures eternally, never to be freed.

Now it's a famous attraction in the witch world—free admission. For a small fee, you can even administer the torture yourself, experiencing the vengeance of your ancestors.

Hmm, that's roughly the origin of witches.

"Hmm, your history lesson seems solid. So, what do you think was the key turning point in the Divine King's rise?"

After hearing her daughter's tale, Euphelia nodded and asked again.

"Of course, it was the world's gift."

Dorothy answered without hesitation.

Then she froze, lowered her head, thought for a moment—and understood. She now knew what destiny meant.

Seeing this, Long Zhi Witch nodded in approval.

"That's destiny bestowed upon you. Now you understand how precious and powerful destiny is."