Otaku Witch

At first, she focused solely on Audrey, and her niece\'s performance indeed did not disappoint her.

She actually managed to answer more than half of the questions correctly.

This was no easy feat considering the full score for this test paper was 100. Scoring 10 points was already normal for a student, 20 points meant being a top student, 30 points labeled one as a prodigy, and Audrey\'s performance looked to be around 60 points, barely reaching the passing mark.Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

For a 16-year-old little witch, this was already a terrifyingly high level. Audrey truly lived up to her family\'s reputation as the first genius in nearly a thousand years. Her knowledge reserve was already comparable to some of the outstanding graduates from past years.

However...

It wasn\'t until Audrey was almost done with her paper that Noelle Rose remembered that there was another student also taking the exam. Acting on her scant sense of teacherly duty, she glanced over, only to find that she couldn\'t take her eyes off him after that. She completely forgot about her niece afterward.

It couldn\'t be helped, how could she not be terrified by such a delinquent student?

When Noelle Rose looked over, she happened to see this delinquent student starting to make puppets. It wasn\'t alarming until she did; those components were too familiar to her—this was precisely the technique she used for creating the Giant God Puppet prototypes displayed on the first floor.

Although those Giant God Puppets were failures for her as a master puppeteer, even these failures were hot commodities outside, definitely high-end and rare.

Each year, just by handling these "failures" that she deemed unsatisfactory, the school generated a massive amount of revenue, which was why the school tolerated her as a tenured teacher who took funding but accepted no students; she earned much more than she took, otherwise, nobody would really keep a freeloader.

But now what did she see? A 16-year-old little witch who had just joined the school had merely passed by her storage, and she had mastered this puppet-making technique instantly?

My god, where did this wild monster come from, could she possibly have some unique Magic Eye?

Noelle Rose thought to herself.

In the Witch World, some witches with exceptional talents could awaken a powerful talent called Magic Eye. These magical eyes came with a variety of functions, some incredibly powerful, almost like cheats, like her niece Audrey who possessed a Magic Eye called "Domination."

Noelle Rose had heard rumors that some Magic Eyes could unreasonably steal others\' research findings. Like how the painstakingly researched spells of one could become another\'s just by being looked at, which was indeed very shameful.

Now she suspected that this little witch also possessed such a freeload Magic Eye that allowed her to effortlessly master her puppet-making skills just by looking.

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Fortunately, after watching more, she was relieved because although the similar techniques were initially the same in appearance and basic structure, the core of the puppet, the Heart of Puppetry, was created with a completely different technique by this little witch.

Well, so, the good news was that her core skill hadn\'t been filched; the bad news was that her much-prized technique was really seen through instantly.

Damn, this isn\'t even cheating with a Magic Eye, youngster, you\'re making your teacher look stupid.

Realizing that the other party\'s skills weren\'t literally stolen from her, Noelle Rose shifted her gaze away, ceasing to spy on this monstrous little witch\'s craftsmanship.

Witches have always valued the protection of intellectual property; stealing or copying another\'s research results in the Witch World is a grave sin, and even as an invigilating teacher, she couldn\'t just watch others\' techniques arbitrarily. This was a matter of principle.

Although she had never been much for teacher\'s ethics, that was because she never really saw herself as a teacher. She initially accepted the invitation from Brust Academy just because being affiliated with the school made it easier to communicate with other academic giants—it was her nature to still be a puppeteer engrossed in puppet-making, belonging to the realm of researchers and scholars.

Her pride as a scholar prevented her from sneaking peeks at a student\'s skills, even now when the student was showcasing a technique she had never seen before, making her very curious.

"Anyway, there\'s plenty of time in the future to exchange techniques with her,"

the Spider Witch thought to herself.

At this moment, she had recognized the capabilities of this seemingly wayward witch student, who by her puppetry skills alone was able to pass the exam.

This kind of talent made her consider taking on an apprentice, in some ways, she seemed even more suited to be her successor than her niece, especially since her niece was into the arts, which wasn\'t quite suitable for her specialized war puppetry technique.

Previously there had been no choice, but now she wanted a better disciple.

The problem was that I didn\'t know which Puppet Master family this rebellious girl came from; after all, taking on a disciple usually required informing the parents.

As one of the premiere Puppet Masters of her time, Noelle Rose knew all about the other Puppet Master families. Yet, the skills demonstrated by this student just now were not in her memory. Could she be the disciple of some reclusive old timer? That would be troublesome.

But no matter, I\'ve decided on this student. If not given freely, then I\'ll take her by force. With my puppet army invincible below the Peak Witch, they can do as they please,

Noelle Rose thought to herself, the Demon Witch was just that capricious.

However, that wasn\'t all to Puppetry Technique. What truly amazed Noelle Rose was the student\'s architectural prowess shown afterward. Although the complex architectural methods seemed overly complicated in the eyes of an architectural master like herself, she had to admit she was quite satisfied with the final product.

Especially, the design had a certain flair to it, almost suggesting a master\'s touch. If she hadn\'t seen the little witch build it with her own eyes, she might have thought it the work of a renowned master.

Yet, this palace seemed to mirror the style of those Immortals from the Eastern Universe, which was certainly peculiar.

The Witch World was merely the hegemon of the Western Universe while across the vast Sea of Nothingness lay the Eastern Universe, dominated by Immortals. These Immortals had fostered a civilization even more ancient and flourishing than that of the Witch World. Legends say that when the witches were first rising, they received help from some Immortals who had wandered there.

But for many thousands of years, storms have raged across the Sea of Nothingness, making it exceedingly difficult for even powerful Immortals or Witches to cross; thus, there has been little interaction between the eastern and western worlds, and an inexperienced witch might not even know the Immortals existed.

Indeed, this little one has an impressive background.

(It\'s just background, meant to enrich the world-building; this book isn\'t supposed to delve into the Eastern Universe. I\'m just setting up a plot hole for future wuxia-themed stories.)

Overall, the more Noelle Rose saw, the more she liked this rebellious girl. Even the heavy makeup, which she once found distasteful, now seemed to her a charming part of the little witch\'s personality.

Well, young people, eh? What\'s wrong with a bit of personality? If such a talented youth only wears heavy makeup, even if she went out without clothes, that would just be setting the trend.

The Spider Witch thought to herself.

Alright, she admitted that was a bit of a double standard, but so what if the Demon Witch was hypocritical? She simply despised mediocrity and adored genius. If you can\'t accept that, fight me!

"Teacher, I\'m done, here\'s my exam,"

said the dear beloved disciple, interrupting the Spider Witch\'s thoughts. Noelle Rose approached with a genuinely gentle smile, taking the test paper and even momentarily forgetting that her cute little niece had already finished as well.

"Let\'s see,"

Since she hadn\'t paid attention to the written portion of her precious disciple\'s exam, Noelle Rose didn\'t know how well she had done with the theory questions.

But that doesn\'t matter.

With such craftsmanship, even if she handed in a blank theory paper, it wouldn\'t be a big deal, since practice is the only criterion to test truth.

However...

"Uh..."

Looking at the densely written exam in her hands, the Spider Witch\'s hands trembled. Her eight eyes widened again, not with murderous intent and coldness this time, but shock and confusion. And she probably looked less terrifying and more adorably surprised because her eyes were so round.

After checking the exam repeatedly for a long while, Noelle Rose forced herself to calm down.

Oh dear, a perfect score! Where did this monster come from? Could it be some old geezer playing tricks, pretending to be young just to tease me?

How could a little witch possibly score perfect on a Devil Difficulty? It\'s not like she has been studying non-stop from birth without eating, drinking, sleeping, or resting!

"Master, please take back your Divine Skills, stop joking with me. I really am not slacking off this year, I truly am recruiting seriously,"

the Spider Witch carefully said, looking at the cute, black-skinned girl in front of her.

.....Spider Witch in ambivalence.....