Possessing sufficient mental strength wasn't just one of the key requirements to a witch's successful breakthrough; it was also the most important.
However, simply possessing sufficient mental strength was far from enough; careful usage of it was also crucial.
Just like the best result in a marathon race couldn't be achieved by sprinting from the start, the same applied to witches advancing their ranks.
Use too much energy, and one won't be able to finish the race. On the other hand, use too little, and one would take too long.
Hester possessed sufficient mental strength to advance her rank, but she had used too much mental strength at the start, and no longer had enough to complete her third mana ring.
Although Vaan wasn't present at the start of Hester's breakthrough attempt, he could guess that much due to the person's anxious expression.
It was evident that Hester herself knew she had made a mistake in her hasty decision to advance her rank. And that single mistake was all it took to turn her breakthrough attempt into a failure.
She had sufficient mental strength but not the right mental state.
At that moment, Hester's third mana ring was about three-quarters completed. Even if she gave up now, her incomplete mana ring would quickly destabilize due to the central force of attraction.
If that happened, it would also affect her two saturated mana rings and produce an outburst of mana akin to a mana bomb exploding inside her body.
She would undoubtedly die—just like many others who failed to advance to the High Witch rank.
Nevertheless, Hester did not give up and fought to the bitter end; she did everything possible to compensate for her first mistake and lack of mental strength to complete the third mana ring.
To begin with, advancing to the High Witch rank was an extremely difficult process that left no room for mistakes.
Attempting to patch up one hole would only lead to creating more holes.
'Dammit! I was too hasty!' Hester silently bit her lip with regret.
She was swept up in her own emotions and made one of the most basic mistakes witches could have made.
It was too late to turn back, but at the same time, she didn't come so far just to give up.
Hester pinned the last of her hope on a miracle happening.
She might just overcome the crisis if she could forcefully draw out any latent power hidden within the depths of her being once her mental strength was exhausted.
'It's do or die,' Hester understood.
She was at a crucial juncture in forming her third mana ring; it wasn't a process that would just let her pause and seek help.
Hester could only rely on herself.
However, as she was running low on mental strength and control over the third mana ring's formation was slipping, a foreign force suddenly assisted her and took away the massive burden on her mind.
"Focus," Jergag's voice resounded in her mind.
It was no time to be distracted, and Hester herself knew that very well, especially when her life had just been hanging by a thread.
As such, she could only silently keep the gratitude to herself and thank the senior dragon later.
At the same time, thanks to Jergag's powerful mental strength and a general understanding of the witch cultivation method, Hester easily overcame her crisis and formed her third mana ring.
The moment the third mana ring was formed, it clicked into place, achieving its optimum position around the heart without disrupting the movements of the other two mana rings.
Rather, it synergized with the other two mana rings to generate more power and force of attraction in the center.
This granted Hester a faster natural mana recovery rate, access to triple-layered magic, and more powerful spells only privy to High Witches.
"So this is what it feels like to become a High Witch…" Hester muttered after sensing the benefits provided by the presence of the complete third mana ring.
With all the pressure off her mind and body, Hester suddenly found herself devoid of energy as she slumped to the side and passed out.
"Mind Zero," Vaan casually uttered after walking over.
It was the state after one's mental strength was exhausted.
Although Jergag carried Hester through the latter parts of her High Witch advancement, Hester didn't dare to relax and used her remaining mental strength to see it through to the end.
Nevertheless, he was impressed that Senior Jergag could assist Hester's breakthrough in such a simple manner.
It appeared that anyone could have done the same as long as they could manipulate mana and had strong mental strength.
That said, Jergag was a Peak Rank 4 True Dragon with mental strength comparable to Rank 5 beings. Not just any dragon could have done the same thing as easily as the senior dragon.
Even so, the risk of High Witch advancements could be eliminated if witches could employ the dragons' help. In other words, they could raise a large number of High Witches.
However, Vaan wasn't too interested in such an idea.
He might consider if the witches were his people, but other witches? What did they have to do with him?
Even if he did help unrelated witches, they would not feel grateful and may even stab him in the back.
"Thank you for lending a hand, Senior Jergag," Vaan politely said.
"Haha, don't mention it, young friend." Jergag casually chuckled as if he had done something minor before saying, "How can I refuse an opportunity to return the favor after what you've done for me? This old dragon isn't ungrateful."
"Anyway, you should take your friend back to the guest building. If I'm not wrong, this is hardly the place for a lady to lay," Jergag added before Vaan could speak.
"I'll do just that then, Senior Jergag," Vaan agreed with a wry smile.
The senior dragon wasn't interested in continuing a meaningless exchange of words regarding favors and gratitude, and Vaan bothered with etiquette if it wasn't required of him.
He appreciated the senior dragon's straightforwardness.
After taking Hester back to the guest building and settling her into bed, Vaan was greeted by Lord Narvim outside.
"Come with me, Vahn," Lord Narvim demanded with a firm tone.
Vaan immediately had a bad feeling.