So I Became a Witch and Started Doing Daily Quests

Chapter 431 : Trial Quotas

A few days later, in the morning.With a heavy snowfall at the end of the year, Janna also welcomed her third New Year in the Wizarding World.

“Janna.”

Just as Janna was gazing absentmindedly at the icicles hanging from the eaves, Vivian’s voice came drifting from within the wind and snow.

“Vivian, congratulations on finally finishing your seclusion.”

Looking at the magical fluctuations on Vivian’s body, which were stronger than ever, Janna sincerely offered her blessings.

“Yes, I can finally come out and take a proper breath of rest. This period almost drove me mad.”

After walking up to Janna, Vivian patted the snowflakes from her shoulders, then habitually hooked her arm around Janna’s.

“So, how about it? Did you also receive the preliminary evaluation results from the White Tower?”

Looking at Vivian’s sparkling eyes, Janna smiled and nodded.

“I did. And you? You must have received yours as well?”

“Hahaha, of course! I got the notice of passing yesterday!”

As a medium-sized wizard gathering place, Turin normally only had four quotas. However, because of the 【Bloodred Archduke】’s assault on the city, Dordogne–White Tower granted Turin two extra quotas this year.

That meant six people in Turin would receive results showing they had passed the preliminary evaluation. Of course, even six quotas were still quite scarce for Turin.

And under such scarce conditions, White Coral Academy astonishingly occupied three of those spots.

Aside from Janna and Vivian, the other one who passed was Soro-Flare, who had already failed once last year.

Back then, White Coral Academy had also taken half the quotas. The reason was that Lucia-Heigel, Headmaster of Blackbone Grove, had deliberately given them up in exchange for a chance to research the soul of a Darksun Apostle from Anthony-Rook.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, as a stronger academy, Blackbone Grove would have taken the extra spot among the four.

This time, however, White Coral Academy again managed to secure half the slots simply because Mist Tower underperformed.

Normally, when trial quotas could be divided evenly among the three academies, there would be no conflict.

But among Mist Tower’s third-tier apprentices, only one person actually surpassed the minimum threshold of the preliminary evaluation.

As a result, the extra quotas had to be redistributed between White Coral and Blackbone Grove, based on ranking. In the end, that stroke of luck fell on Vivian, whose score was just behind Soro-Flare.

For those who had previously paid little attention to Vivian, this outcome came as quite a shock.

Especially for people like Bell Moonshadow, Maro-Heigel, and Hugh-Stone, who knew Vivian well. When they learned that the young lady of the Rose Family, known for spending lavishly, possessing unremarkable 【Wizard Talents】, and even switching paths later to the 【Warlock Sequence】, had beaten everyone except Janna and Soro-Flare to take the sixth White Tower trial quota, they could hardly believe it—

“How does it feel, being famous now?”

Compared to Janna and Soro-Flare, whose selection had been expected, Vivian’s passing was like a sudden blaze of presence among all third-tier apprentices.

So, in response to Janna’s slightly teasing words, Vivian’s eyes couldn’t help but reveal a trace of pride.

“It feels pretty good, but—”

Here, Vivian’s proud tone faltered.

“This score is only decent in Turin. If I were placed among all apprentices who passed, I probably wouldn’t even rank in the middle—”

As she said the latter part, Vivian’s mood dipped slightly. But compared to her usual tension and lack of confidence, she now seemed much more relaxed.

“So I’ve decided. This year, I’ll go to Dordogne to truly feel the gap between myself and the others. By next year, I believe I’ll definitely be stronger than I am now!”

Seeing Vivian so full of fighting spirit, Janna, who already regarded her as a friend, felt genuinely comforted.

Just as Vivian had said, ranking sixth in Turin meant nothing in the large wizard gatherings where geniuses clustered.

For example, during Janna’s participation in the 【Andrew-Gamp Transfiguration Trial】, several of the prodigies she faced had already mastered 【Law Fragments】 and achieved deep comprehension of them.

Even though they lost to Janna in the trial, in real combat, their strength might not be weaker than hers.

Not to mention that among them was someone like Louisto-Tulan, who not only possessed the 【Fragment of the Law of Burning】, but also carried the famed 【Phoenix】 bloodline, renowned for overwhelming combat strength and recovery.

“Come on, the ceremony will be starting soon.”

Because of the 【Bloodred Archduke】 incident, the graduation ceremony that should have taken place earlier had been postponed to the last day of the year. The entrance ceremony for first-year apprentices was delayed as well.

“Whew.”

As the cold wind howled and the thick snow fell, Janna raised a massive leaf above her head, shielding both herself and Vivian as they walked toward the Magic Tower.

“There are quite a lot of new apprentices this year.”

When they arrived at the Magic Tower’s entrance, Vivian immediately spotted the first-year apprentices in uniform, standing at the right side of the first-floor hall.

Janna also nodded, finding it curious that there were clearly more new apprentices than in previous years.

“Look, she really came!”

“Shh, keep your voice down!”

“Janna-sis looks even more beautiful in person than in the crystal image!”

“So she’s the so-called number one genius of Turin? Truly, the name fits—”

With Janna’s arrival, the already noisy Magic Tower became even more uproarious. The overlapping chatter swirled around her like the blizzard outside.

“See? Even if I’ve made a name for myself now, I still can’t compare to you.”

Because Vivian had only just emerged from seclusion, she had learned about Janna’s victory in the 【Andrew-Gamp Transfiguration Trial】 later, from the newspapers.

So, upon seeing all the eager gazes surrounding Janna, even Vivian, already accustomed to Janna’s immense popularity, couldn’t help feeling a little uncomfortable at that moment—