So I Became a Witch and Started Doing Daily Quests

Chapter 116: Forest Ambush

Bang—soul weightlessness, consciousness traversing.

As Janna's spirit returned to the Primary Material Plane, the Silver-Faced Round Mirror that had been floating in the air suddenly fell, and the Sea Beast Hide inscribed with the Contract Array was scrapped along with it.

"Return to its place—"

After clearing away all the scrapped ritual materials, a fatigue deep in her soul emerged. Janna couldn't help but rub her temples on both sides.

"Although the soul power consumption this time wasn't much, performing two summons in a short period really is a bit too much—."

Normally, due to the heavy soul power drain of [Contract Summoning], Janna would need to wait at least about seven days before she could perform [Spirit Summoning] again. However, in order to complete the academy's mandatory mission smoothly, Janna decided to proceed with [Spirit Summoning] ahead of time.

"As long as I don’t frequently cast soul-type witchcraft in the coming days—it shouldn’t be a problem."

After her soul talent officially rose to A-rank, Janna noticed that her soul power had indeed grown much stronger than before. Besides the increase in soul strength, her recovery speed had also significantly improved.

"It’s already eleven o’clock?"

Seeing the Mechanical Clock on the wall pointing to eleven, Janna resisted her mental fatigue, took out a few slices of toast from the refrigeration box, and spread them with butter and honey, eating a few bites as a simple lunch.

After quickly filling her stomach, seizing the gap of more than twelve hours before midnight, Janna sat cross-legged on the bed and entered Deep Meditation to accelerate the recovery of her soul power.

"Hopefully this mission's rewards will be worthy of my efforts—"

While silently hoping in her heart, Janna couldn’t help but think about the red-level mission on the Quest Panel related to the Darksun Church.

"Another mission..."

Thinking of that over-difficulty long-term mission, Janna’s mood inevitably became heavier.

"Just take it one step at a time."

Given the current situation, Janna didn’t believe she could complete that red-level mission.

Even if the mission reward was tempting, the White Coral Academy's prohibition on first-year apprentices entering the Misty Forest, coupled with Janna’s current capabilities, left her with little clue on how to proceed with the mission.

"If I discover the target before they notice me, I actually wouldn’t need to intervene—just a simple report would resolve it———"

She exhaled softly.

The fatigue deep in her soul left Janna no room for overthinking.

After quickly clearing her mind of stray thoughts, she relaxed, let her consciousness sink, and with steady breathing, gradually entered a state of Deep Meditation—

The bright moon hung high, the breeze was light and clouds thin.

As agreed, at midnight, Janna arrived punctually at the cafeteria entrance.

"Janna, you were almost late."

Seeing Vivian Rose and Bell Moonshadow already at the cafeteria entrance, and the awkwardly cold atmosphere between them, the now mentally refreshed Janna naturally stepped between the two.

"Wasn’t I just a little off—Vivian, you’re a bit too fully geared today, aren’t you?"

With an even more luxurious enchanted Wizard Robe than before, plus enchanted short boots, magical item necklace, alchemy ring, Interdimensional Storage Pouch bracelet, and a delicate staff in hand—even though Janna already had a rough idea of Vivian’s wealth, she realized she had still underestimated her.

"After all, I can’t afford to be a burden, or I’ll be deemed unqualified again."

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with satisfaction, Vivian shot a rather provocative glance at Bell Moonshadow.

But to Vivian’s sarcastic tone, Bell Moonshadow, for once, didn’t respond.

Half her face remained hidden under the shadow of her Wizard Hood, making her emotions unreadable.

"Let’s go."

In the quiet of night, there were quite a few other teams with the same objective as Janna’s small group.

Scattered in twos and threes, they actually made the entire campus seem lively.

"Caw—caw—"

Amidst the sporadic cries of Rooks, Janna and the others soon passed through the Tree Path and arrived at the outskirts of the Misty Forest.

"Quite a few people set out early."

Along the way, their group had already encountered several waves of others.

Most were led by Third Tier Wizard Apprentices and quickly overtook them.

Some didn’t even bother scouting the forest’s edge and walked straight into the Misty Forest’s depths.

"Looks like everyone’s aiming for the mission to eliminate the Darksun cultists. Completing the academy’s mandatory task might just be a side goal for them."

Just as Vivian said, the Third Tier Wizard Apprentices who had long been trained at the White Coral Academy had, once the academy officially lifted restrictions, headed straight for the Misty Forest based on mission clues from Blackbone Grove—eager to seize the merit before others from rival academies could claim the reward.

"Crack—crack—"

As the three wandered around the forest's edge, apart from the creaking of broken branches underfoot, only the low hum of insects remained.

"We’re being watched."

Their steps paused slightly, but only for a moment—then the three continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.

"There are more of them than us."

About ten seconds later, Bell Moonshadow’s voice transmitted again to Janna and Vivian. But to avoid alerting the enemy, none of the three showed any unusual behavior.

"What about their strength? Can you sense it?"

"There are First Tiers—and Second Tiers. Judging from their magical energy, there’s at least one, maybe more, Second Tier Apprentices."

Their footsteps didn’t falter.

Amid intermittent voice transmissions, using Bell Moonshadow’s unique information-gathering ability, the three gained a preliminary understanding of the strength of the apprentices lurking in the shadows.

"Should we just strike first? I brought a Teleportation Scroll. If it goes south, the three of us can just teleport straight back to the academy."

Vivian, ever the wealthy one, didn’t think their opponents could restrain them. Even if outnumbered, with her abundance of scrolls, winning wasn’t out of the question.

"Let’s not be hasty—after all, we don’t even know what their objective is. Better to respond accordingly than to act rashly."

Rejecting Vivian’s suggestion to "just fight them" via transmission, Janna gave each of the two a subtle signal.

As their pace gradually slowed, a veil-like mist silently spread outward from Bell Moonshadow as the center—