27. Genius and Ordinary

Euphilia seemed to always have this attendant with her, as Dorothy noticed yesterday that a figure with white hair had once sat beside her.

It was just that previously Dorothy's attention had been captivated by the overly imposing aura of the Dragon Witch, leading her to not pay too much attention to the others.

Now, this was the first time she took a careful look at this attendant of her mother.

But when she did take a look, she was startled to find that this was indeed the pure white girl she had encountered once before in the bookstore.

"What was her name again?"

Dorothy thought for a moment, trying to recall the name the girl had mentioned.

"Sophia."

Thinking of this name made the young witch feel a bit strange.

"Euphilia, Sophia, these two names really are similar, just one syllable different."

Looking again at the two of them with their similarly emotionless, expressionless faces, tsk, if it weren't for one being an Angel Witch and the other a Dragon Witch, they'd look more like mother and daughter.

That's what Dorothy thought to herself.

However, she didn't pay much attention to it, after all, even if the misunderstanding between mother and daughter had been resolved, affection wasn't something that just sprung into existence; it needed time to grow. At least for now, she didn't feel close to her own mother and naturally wouldn't feel jealous over competing for affection.

She just seriously observed the pure white girl who approached her, sizing up the girl's strength in her mind.

One thing was without doubt: this Angel Witch of the same age as herself was extremely strong, so much so that describing her as monstrously strong wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Previously in the bookstore, Dorothy's inspiration had unintentionally glimpsed a part of the girl's power. From that tip of the iceberg, she could tell that the girl's transformation into an Angel was already very advanced, possibly even more than halfway complete.

To be so young yet at such an advanced stage of evolution, there was only one possibility: she was a talent equal to Dorothy's mother, a monster who was born with a dozen talents.

And Dorothy herself?

Heh, the young witch thought about her own pitiful three innate talents and couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't want to say much, just that sometimes the gap between people is even wider than between people and dogs.

Mom, you must have been scammed by that Fortune Teller who did your reading, promising that your daughter would be born with a talent surpassing your own, right?

Anyway, Dorothy didn't feel any bit of genius in herself. Among her pitiful three talents, even one was a gift from her transmigration, a Golden Finger benefit that was innate to her Otherworldly Soul. So strictly speaking, she only had two innate talents, inheriting just the lowest from her parents, a true minimum guarantee of bad luck.

Fortunately, although she was lacking in quantity of talents, the quality was quite high: one SR and two SSR. All things considered, she was still doing alright—not comparable to those monstrous talents but still excellent among ordinary witches.

And now, Euphilia wanted her, an ordinary witch of average aptitude, to defeat a Genius Witch of monster level—mom, you sure do have high expectations of me.

Luckily, the Dragon Witch had some sense and didn't demand Dorothy to defeat Sophia right away but instead set the deadline before graduation, roughly a twenty-year promise.

Even so, it would be quite difficult, since not everyone has a protagonist's fate, capable of turning the tides and achieving a comeback in three years; for most, a lifetime of effort might not bridge the huge chasm of innate talent.

Even though Dorothy was a transmigrator, she dared not truly consider herself the protagonist, because this damn Witch World was just ridiculously strong, and her Golden Finger wasn't all that powerful, honestly too weak to be inflated.

[Otherworldly Soul: Your experience of traversing space-time has sublimated your soul. Your talents in the Spirit and Inspiration realms have been enhanced, and your unique experiences have made you sensitive to changes in time and space.]

Sigh, it had been sixteen years, and Dorothy had waited sixteen years without awakening a system within herself or finding the remnants of her grandparents' souls in the family ring. So the only thing she could call a transmigrator's "Golden Finger" benefit was really just this one Talent.

As for the knowledge and experience from her previous life? The scientific knowledge learned from nine years of compulsory education?

Heh, the knowledge of a civilization with only a few thousand years of history, which hadn't even left its home planet, really couldn't show off in front of the Calamity Race of witches, which had a history of several hundred thousand years and had long dominated the Multiverse. What you know, they mostly know; what you don't know, they also know.

In such a race of geniuses, akin to a nation of superhumans, Dorothy's special identity as a transmigrator didn't give her much of a sense of superiority. Instead, she had always been somewhat afraid of the witches discovering her origins, after all, her Identity Card clearly identified this special experience as a Talent.

Fortunately, after she was able to go and study at the Mage Academy, Dorothy flipped through the "Talent Directory" and found out that the Talent of an Otherworldly Soul, although also one of the rarest, was definitely not unique. There were quite a few witches in history who had possessed this Talent.

The book also specifically mentioned that the witches were always exceptionally tolerant towards their kin. No matter what you were before, what your origins were, as long as you were a witch in this life, that was enough. No one would trouble you over your past life experiences, allowing witches with this talent not to worry too much.

This allowed Dorothy to breathe a sigh of relief, at the same time, it made it even harder for her to feel self-important. Turns out, she wasn't the only transmigrator in this world. Although everyone may have come from different worlds and couldn't be considered fellow townsmen, they could still be considered predecessors and successors. She specifically looked up the information on those predecessors and, regrettably, found that none of them seemed to have the life of a protagonist.

Although several Peak Witches had emerged among the predecessors, there wasn't a single Sage, let alone ascending to the pinnacle of the witch world and becoming the Witch King.

If they couldn't stand at the pinnacle of the world, how could they call themselves the protagonist?

After that, Dorothy resigned herself to her fate, perhaps she was truly just an ordinary witch after all.

It's just that her peculiar origins suddenly made her not so ordinary anymore.

What kind of ordinary witch has a mother who asks her daughter to defeat a Monster Level genius within twenty years?

Dying sooner or later is the same, ugh, you might as well just tie me up and be done with it.

Dorothy really wanted to say that, she felt like giving up altogether.

But giving up her freedom so easily made her somewhat unwilling. So what if she was an ordinary witch? Does an ordinary witch deserve to be bullied? In her last life, she achieved nothing because she gave up, degenerating into a gamer and a shut-in. It would be such a waste to lie down again in this new life she had so hard won.

Besides, this might not be entirely impossible to overcome.

"Shall we have a go?"

In this life, Dorothy had never physically fought with anyone in reality. Not one for conflict, she looked at the Pure White Witch who was also looking at her and extended the invitation.

"Okay, Miss, I will go easy on you,"

Sophia nodded her head, kindly saying so.

Dorothy: "...."

Tsk, such a naive way of talking, you truly must be Euphilia's real daughter, perhaps Adam grabbed the wrong child back then.

Feeling underestimated, Dorothy huffed and made her way to the private Arena of the house.

Hmph, underestimate me now, but don't blame me if the table turns later.

The Young Witch who was the champion of the Magic Network youth witch league and holder of the title of Duel King puffed up her cheeks, thinking this to herself.