The Most Powerful Witch in History

“The level is out!”
“…”
The receptionist picked up the paper with some numbers written on it and smiled brightly. Then she carefully held the thick paper with both hands and checked the numbers written there.

“Hmm…”
But for some reason, her brow furrowed more and more. As if solving a difficult math problem, she looked over the paper several times and then muttered in a quiet voice.

“The level…”
“…”
“Cannot be measured…?”

The receptionist showed me the paper at the same time. As she said, only a single ‘?’ character was clearly written on that stiff paper.

“This has never happened before…”
She tilted her head, as if this was a first-time occurrence. Then she handed me the orb I had placed my hand on earlier once again.

“L-Let’s try one more time.”
The receptionist said we should try measuring the level again. I nodded at her words and placed my palm on the crystal orb once more.

“…”
The tingling sensation was felt.
When the sparks surrounding the orb disappeared, the receptionist lady brought a new paper to the orb.

“…”
This time too, letters were engraved on the paper. After a while, when the letters were fully engraved on the paper, the receptionist hastily snatched up the paper.

“This can’t be…”
Her hand holding the paper began to tremble. She showed the paper to me and the crowd with a look of complete incomprehension.

“Why is it unmeasurable? This has never happened before?”

“…”
The receptionist lady seemed quite flustered by this first-time situation. On the other hand, I, the protagonist of this ‘unmeasurable’ level, calmly asked her:

“…This orb, up to what level can it measure?”
The fact that my current level of 798 showed as ‘unmeasurable’ meant that this crystal orb could measure levels below that. To my question, the receptionist answered with a still trembling voice:

“This orb can easily measure up to level 300. Until now, a question mark has never appeared even once…”

“…”
Indeed, an orb that could only measure up to a mere 300 levels. I asked her with a deep sigh if there was no other orb.

“Is there no orb that can measure up to 800 levels?”

“What? 8-800 levels?”
…The receptionist lady jumped up from her seat in surprise.

“S-Such an item would only be found in the Empire’s magic tower! T-To begin with, adventurers over level 300 are extremely rare, so there’s no reason to bring in such a hard-to-get and expensive orb…”

“…”
She shook her head as if to say that 800 levels was nonsense.
Well, as she said, considering the average level of NPC adventurers, those over 300 levels were extremely rare.
Even if they exceeded 300 levels, they were NPCs with other high-ranking jobs like tower sages or imperial knights.

Not even players, but NPC adventurers who would barely exceed 200 levels if measured, in a way, having an orb that could measure up to 300 levels was already setting a high standard for the guild office.

I sighed once again and asked the receptionist:

“Then, what happens to me?”

…This was a world cultivated and created solely by NPCs, without players. Even if I understood their situation and tried to conform to their standards, not having my level recognized or being downgraded was quite unpleasant.

When I asked what would happen to me with an unmeasurable level, the receptionist furrowed her brow again and muttered:

“…The fact that the level can’t be measured with this orb means either below level 1, level 0,”
“…”
“Or, though it’s unbelievable, that you’re the first adventurer over level 300 in this ‘Village of Beginnings’ guild office.”

“…”
The receptionist looked at me with eyes full of subtle disbelief. Although she mentioned the possibility of being over 300 levels, she seemed to consider it more likely that I was level 0, like a newborn baby.

She put the crystal orb under the desk and continued speaking:

“…But in any case, even if you’re over 300 levels, without clear evidence to prove your level, I’m afraid we’ll have to issue your card treating you as the lowest level, level 1.”

“…Eck.”
My expression hardened at the receptionist’s words.
Level 1 meant being downgraded by 797 levels, and aside from feeling bad, I wouldn’t be able to receive anything but the lowest-grade quests like herb gathering, let alone dragon hunting. Even if experience points increased, it would only be by decimal points.

But not getting an adventurer card and giving up on the guild’s quest system would have far more disadvantages than advantages.

After pondering for a moment, I asked the receptionist one last thing:

“…Is there no other way to measure levels besides this orb?”
“A-Another way?”
“Yes.”

“…”
Surely there must be other ways to measure levels besides this stupid crystal orb. The receptionist furrowed her brow and seemed to think deeply about something.

“Well, there is one, but…”
“What is it?”
“It’s too dangerous, so I don’t recommend it…”
“…It’s fine, just tell me.”

“…”
The receptionist let out a deep sigh. Despite the warning that it could be dangerous, faced with my firm urging, she spoke in a resigned tone:

“There’s one combat instructor at the office who’s level 270.”

“…”

“…Apart from measurement by the orb, if you defeat that combat instructor, we define you as at least level 270. Of course, not a single person has succeeded so far!”

…The receptionist spoke glibly with her eyes closed.

“Moreover, the instructor is famous for being very violent and cruel, so your life could be in danger. Regrettably, it’s better to just start from level 1…”

“That sounds perfect.”
“…Pardon?”

…Interrupting the receptionist who was saying to abandon the thought of facing the instructor as it could be life-threatening, I answered vigorously.

“You said it sounds good?”
“Yes, it sounds good.”
“…?”

The receptionist made an astonished expression at my answer. I leaned on the information desk and asked her:

“At level 270, can you access the highest-grade quests?”
“W-Well, you can, but…”
“Good then.”

Although it was frustrating to be downgraded by nearly 500 levels, as long as I could receive the highest-grade quests necessary for quickly raising experience points, it didn’t seem like something to worry about too much.

“D-Do you really have to do this…”
…The receptionist asked me again while sweating nervously. I nodded vigorously as if there was no problem.

“Yes, call that instructor here right now.”
Not even 770 levels, but just a 270-level instructor. He might be revered as a legend by NPCs, but to me, they were all the same.

“…I-I won’t be responsible for what happens.”
The receptionist finally stood up with a sigh at my firm choice.

“Wait here for a moment…”
With a somewhat powerless appearance, she went up to the second floor of the office to call the combat instructor who would be my opponent. At the same time, I could hear whispers from other adventurers behind me.

-Is she crazy? She says she’ll face Alexander!
-She looks like a newbie, tsk tsk, she’s overreaching.
-Didn’t you fall into a coma last time when you tried to level up by challenging the instructor?
-It’s not bad to start as a beginner, why is she so greedy to throw away her innocent life?
-Looks like an ignorant level 0 noble girl who wasn’t educated properly.

“…”
Most of the comments were criticizing my decision to have a match with the instructor. It was natural for them to react like this not knowing my level, but the fact that not even one person considered the possibility of me winning made me quite angry.

“Adventurer, this is Instructor Alexander.”

“…”
…Not long after, the receptionist lady came down with a man of enormous stature, who seemed to be over 2m tall.

I let out an incredulous laugh at the instructor’s visual appearance, which looked more like a pirate than an instructor.

“Ha.”
It felt like facing an ancient Viking. Is that kind of build necessary to take on the role of an instructor educating adventurers?

“Hmm…”
“…”
The instructor approached me slowly, scratching his head that looked like it hadn’t been washed for days. He looked me over briefly, then looked at the receptionist with an incredulous face.

“Is this little one the one who said she’d challenge me?”
“Yes, instructor.”
“She looks so frail she couldn’t even beat a street mutt?”

“…”
The combat instructor started laughing heartily while pointing his finger at me. I wonder if this guy knows the saying that boasting leads to certain defeat.

“…I’ll have to educate this ignorant youngster about the ways of the world, come on, follow me.”

“…”
After laughing to his heart’s content, the instructor led me somewhere. Following him out the back door of the office, there was a huge outdoor combat training ground with dust swirling about.

“Go stand on the opposite side.”

“…”
…He pointed to the opposite side of the training ground where he stood. Although his arrogant attitude was quite displeasing, I was still the challenger, so I just sighed and moved to the position he designated.

-10 silver coins on the instructor.
-I’ll bet 20 gold coins.
-Oh ho, this friend has quite the guts!

“…”
Other adventurers who came to watch had already started betting on who would win. And still, voices betting on me were hardly to be heard.

“Youngster, are you ready?”

“…”
Combat Instructor Alexander provoked me while swinging a huge axe that looked like it could split a planet. His face showed only a smile full of madness, with no trace of fear or dread of defeat.

“…Both sides, get ready,”

“…”
The voice of the receptionist lady, who became the judge, echoed across the training ground.

“Match, begin…!”

The receptionist signaled the start of the level measurement test between me and the instructor, raising a flag she had obtained from somewhere. True to his aggressive nature, the instructor began charging at me as soon as the match started.

“You’re prepared to die, of course?”

“…”
The instructor raised his giant axe high, leaping into the air as if to cleave me in two. Then came the heavy blow.

“…Barrier.”

Watching his actions, I pointed my staff into the air, creating a powerful barrier to protect me.

-Whirr.

A transparent green-tinged membrane formed from the tip of the staff and enveloped me and my surroundings, and the instructor struck this barrier instead of me.

“Ugh!”

The barrier easily deflected his attack. When his strike didn’t work, the instructor immediately put some distance between us.

“You little brat, resorting to tricks.”

“…”
Ignoring the instructor’s mutterings entirely, I examined the barrier that had directly clashed with his axe.

“Hmm…”

Despite blocking a full-power attack head-on, there wasn’t a single scratch on the barrier. I could roughly gauge the power of this instructor, facing someone in the 200 level range after a long time.

“This time I’m coming for real!”

“…”
…The instructor charged at me again, swinging his axe. But this time too, I just stood still with only the barrier up, not dodging even a single step.

-Thunk.

The barrier deflected his axe lightly. When his attack was easily blocked twice, the instructor gradually frowned and began unleashing a series of fierce continuous attacks.

“You little brat, are you scared? Stop just defending and attack!”

“…”
Despite not being able to make even a scratch on the barrier, the instructor continued to provoke me. I could win just by standing still until his stamina ran out, but how could I stay still when he was so earnestly begging me to attack?

I deactivated the barrier and this time blocked his blow by raising my staff.

-Clang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed across the training ground as the weapons collided.

“Oh, you’ve got quite some strength, youngster.”

“…”
In the midst of the power struggle with axe and staff pressed against each other, the instructor looked at me with a grin, as I wasn’t yielding to his large frame.

But without any particular reply, I immediately swung the end part of my staff up, breaking the power struggle and simultaneously striking his chin hard.

“Urgh!”

The instructor staggered back from the impact of the chin strike. And for a very brief moment while he was disarmed, I brought the head of my staff to his abdomen and muttered gruffly:

“…I’ll give you an attack.”

“…!!”

“…Back Blast.”

“W-Wait…!”

The instructor’s eyes widened, and my staff heated up intensely. Just before he could say anything, an enormous flame beam was fired from the tip of the staff towards his chest.

“Uwaaaaagh!”

“…”

With a tremendous boom, the instructor flew to the opposite end of the training ground from where he had been standing. Then he rolled on the ground several times amidst a cloud of dust.

“Ugh… urgh…”

His terrifying axe flew off somewhere, and after twitching a few times, the instructor himself went limp.

…I had greatly reduced the power of the beam, so he shouldn’t be dead. It would hurt a lot, but his life shouldn’t be in danger.

“…Phew.”

I blew air from my mouth to extinguish the smoke rising from the tip of my staff. I had expected some special skills since he was a combat instructor, but it was just as I thought.

“Uh, um, that…”

“…”

The receptionist lady couldn’t continue her words, looking at me standing perfectly fine and the combat instructor sprawled out. After a long while, she finally shouted to everyone in a flustered voice:

“T-The adventurer’s victory, Instructor Alexander’s defeat…”

She announced my victory, which was unbelievable to her. As the official result was announced, wild cheers erupted among the adventurers who had been watching the match.

-Woooaaah!
-She beat Alexander!
-Who is that woman?!
-Is she crazy?
-Hey, let’s form a party right away.
-Isn’t this a historic event?

“…”

Leaving behind their shouts that threatened to burst eardrums, I approached the still dumbfounded receptionist and said:

“Hurry up and issue the card.”