Chapter 80: Witches are not a kind race

The Fragment Tower – Prelude to Exploration

“Since it’s your first expedition, I’ll brief you on the basics first.”

As soon as the mission officially began, Daisy’s expression turned serious.
Her voice grew lower — not in tone, but in resonance.

The shift wasn’t in her face or posture.
It came from deep within, from the subtle aura of magic that began to radiate outward.

It was unmistakable:

This world-ending powerhouse was now taking things seriously.

“Preparation,” Daisy said evenly, “is half the work in this line of business.”

Jiang Cha smiled lightly, still relaxed,
but her voice carried a faint, cool edge.

“Don’t worry, senpai. I’m not some little girl who needs looking after.”

“Oh?” Daisy’s brows arched slightly, amusement flickering in her eyes.

“Then perhaps I should remind you — mistakes on the job mean pay cuts.”

“That’s perfectly fine.”

Jiang Cha’s answer came with a soft smile as she stepped forward.

At once, the witch squad adjusted their formation —
a clean, instinctive movement born of training.

Daisy and Misa, both offensive types, took up flanking positions five steps apart,
while Kaili, at the rear, scattered clouds of silver particles with a wave of her hand —
the signature method of a mechanist witch beginning a scan.

In exploration work, the multi-discipline witch usually led the team.
She was the first to sense, the first to analyze,
and the first to make a call — or report directly to command.

Clearly, Jiang Cha’s 20% profit share wasn’t for nothing.
She was responsible for clearing the way.

In witch society, there was an unspoken rule about expedition profits:
40–50% went to the discoverer,
another 20% to the team leader,
and the rest was divided among the others.

Hiring an outsider meant the cost came directly out of the core team’s shares —
so Jiang Cha’s cut was actually quite high.

If you ignored the discoverer’s bonus,
she’d be the highest-paid member of the team.

As the saying went among witches:

“The more you earn, the heavier your load.”

And Jiang Cha knew she was carrying quite a bit.

“Alright — Fifth-Class Arcane Mage Tower,” Daisy began,
“that means we follow Exploration Rule Twenty-One.”

“Fifth-class I get,” Misa muttered, “but what the hell’s Rule Twenty-One?”

Witch explorers weren’t exactly known for having organized manuals —
every ruin was different, every situation unique.
“Rules” were usually just someone’s personal experience written down with flair.

Jiang Cha smiled.

“The fifth-class tag means it’s an arcane-elven type tower.
As for Rule Twenty-One… that’s one of my teacher’s old sayings.
To put it simply—
‘Sneak into the village quietly, and don’t fire unless you have to.’”

“Got it,” Misa said, nodding immediately.
Caution suited her just fine.

A Level-3 ruin couldn’t stop three great witches like them,
but this was a legacy site —
a tower meant for passing on inheritance,
not random intrusion.

No one knew what countermeasures might be inside.
A self-destruct sequence? A vengeful spirit?
Traps left by a fourth or fifth-tier arcanist? All possible.

For reference:
a fourth or fifth-tier witch — someone who had developed one or two unique traits —
was considered entry-level archwitch class.

“Confirmed: it’s arcane-type,” Jiang Cha murmured, studying the tower’s structure and mana signature.
“Anyone here trained in Creation School?”

The Creation School had evolved from the old Arcane discipline,
so while not all arcanists understood Creation magic,
every creator knew arcane fundamentals.

“Nope.”
Daisy’s answer was short.
“I’m Evocation. Kaili’s Mentalism. Misa’s Transmutation.”

“Wait, seriously? Your team’s this violent?”

Jiang Cha couldn’t help but laugh.
Besides Kaili, whose school was at least somewhat balanced,
the rest were pure combat types.

“You people just skip team composition entirely, huh?”

“Hey, I was planning to pick up Creation next semester!” Daisy protested.
“Just… didn’t get around to it.”

“Then I’ll handle this part,” Jiang Cha sighed.
“I know a bit about the Creation School.”

“Hold up— weren’t you Evocation and Mentalism?” Daisy blinked.
“I’ve seen your duels. You never showed any Creation magic two months ago.”

Jiang Cha tilted her head, smiling.

“I study everything.”

“All schools?” Daisy echoed blankly.

“All of them,” Jiang Cha replied cheerfully.
“I’m still a beginner in Creation, but I can at least cast low-tier spells.”

She raised her hand,
a swirl of luminous blue arcane energy forming gently in her palm.

“All disciplines… all subclasses… and above-average skill in each…”

Misa muttered under her breath, then looked up at Daisy.

“Captain, you’re kind of a waste of space, aren’t you?”

“You—!?” Daisy sputtered. “You’re a single-school combat witch too, you hypocrite!”

“And anyway, isn’t this Kaili’s job?”

The blonde glanced toward their mechanic,
but Kaili just turned away, puffing her cheeks and pretending she hadn’t heard.

“Comparing anyone to that little monster?” she thought.
“Yeah, right. For all we know she’s carrying half a dozen Sage-tier traits.”

As Jiang Cha’s azure aura seeped into the ancient sigils carved into the tower’s door,
the air itself seemed to stir.

Centuries of dust and silence shifted as the runes awoke.

“Magic Array Studies… that’s a third-year elective, right? You guys—”

“I got this one!” Daisy cut in quickly.

Finally — a chance to look competent again.

“It’s Elven script,” she said after a moment’s analysis.
“Not sure which branch though — could be Dark Elves.”

“Dark Elves? Oh, that’s great news!”
Misa’s pink eyes immediately gleamed — one iris turning into a heart, the other into a gold coin.

“Misa, please control yourself.” Jiang Cha took a careful half-step back.

“What? Dark Elves are all female, like us,” Misa grinned.
“They’ve got that perfect black skin and killer curves — way more interesting than the flat forest types.”

She winked.

“Lots of witches keep one as a pet. Even if not, they’re fun company when visiting the Red District.”

Indeed, Dark Elves were a hot commodity on the black market.

Officially, witch society banned slavery —
punishable by three days’ detention and a 500-gold fine under social conduct law.

But practically speaking…

As for whether other high-magic civilizations saw such trafficking as an act of provocation?

The Sage Council’s official stance was simple:

“Let them. If they take offense, we’ll fight them.”
“It’s been too long since we’ve had a good war.”