novellhall Chapter 22: There's something wrong with your supernatural abilities!
Chapter 22: There's something wrong with your supernatural abilities!
While Evan was still lost in thought, the silver-haired woman had already moved closer.
She tilted her head, brought her fair and high nose close to Evan's shoulder, and sniffed.
Its movements were as natural as a curious cat identifying scents.
"You took a potion again?"
Ivan instinctively took a half step back and scratched his head.
"If you're referring to what Professor Price gave me, yes."
Hill's golden vertical pupils widened slightly, and he leaned forward, his posture full of undisguised curiosity.
"How come you weren't poisoned? How come you didn't experience any side effects?"
In recent days, Hill has been secretly observing Evan.
She watched as this thin, poor student swallowed two kinds of magic potions every day and grew stronger at an incredible speed.
Muscles are growing, physical fitness is soaring, and reaction speed is getting faster every day.
But what about the side effects?
Mutation, loss of control, poisoning, vomiting blood, skin ulceration, organ failure.
These symptoms, which almost always occur after taking the potion, never happened to him.
Even she herself, when she was undergoing the Witcher Trials, had blood seeping from the pores of her skin simply because she drank an extra potion.
He felt as if he was soaked in a thin red film and almost died on the spot.
It took the master three days and three nights to pull her back from the brink of death.
This guy was taking several medications at the same time, yet he was full of energy and even had the leisure to carry sacks at the dock.
After thinking for a moment, Evan gave a vague but not entirely false answer.
"Perhaps it's a talent."
Hill hummed in agreement, his golden vertical pupils narrowing slightly as if he were processing the information.
"It is indeed possible. Although naturally occurring drug resistance is rare, it is not unheard of."
Taking advantage of her moment of contemplation, Evan seized the opportunity to ask her a question.
"Are you an official superhuman? Are you here to protect me?"
Hill nodded, then shook his head.
"I guess so. But saving you had nothing to do with the authorities; it was more out of my personal curiosity about your talent."
Evan pointed in the direction where the vampire had disappeared.
"How did that vampire lose control? If he was sent by Professor Pulis to monitor me, there was no need for him to kill so many people."
Hill's expression subtly changed.
"I took control of his mind."
After she finished speaking, she reached up and scratched the back of her head, her long silver hair becoming somewhat messy from her fingers.
A hint of embarrassment appeared on her face.
"I'm afraid you'll be bewitched by vampires and won't listen to me."
"I was thinking of taking advantage of this guy's loss of control to play the hero and save the day at a crucial moment."
She paused for a moment, then tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"I didn't expect you to be so smart; you managed to stabilize the situation all by yourself."
As Evan looked at the witcher who so frankly and openly told the truth, the tension in his heart eased slightly.
It wasn't that I completely let my guard down, but rather that I made a preliminary judgment: this person isn't very cunning, or rather, she doesn't bother to hide anything.
Before Evan could press further, Hill looked him up and down, his tone becoming more serious.
"The fact that you reminded the homeless to seek refuge during the crisis shows that you still have a chivalrous heart."
"To deduce that Pris is a vampire through medication and analysis shows you're quite intelligent."
She crossed her arms over her chest, her golden vertical pupils burning with intense light, and asked the question directly before Ivan could even ask.
"Interested in becoming a Witcher?"
"what?"
Ivan was stunned.
He never expected this day to come so soon.
He didn't even need to beg or plead; the door to the extraordinary opened to him on its own initiative.
He suppressed the surging excitement in his heart, maintaining a perfect balance of confusion and probing on his face.
"So... what can a Witcher do?"
Hill's eyes lit up, as if he had finally been waiting for someone to ask this question.
"There are so many!"
She stretched out her fingers and broke them off one by one.
"Witchers don't need to cram as many extraordinary traits into their bodies as other extraordinary professions do."
"We mainly rely on the temporary enhancement of the body by potions."
"Because the extraordinary properties of the potion are temporary, they will not cause permanent changes to the body."
"Therefore, among all extraordinary professions, we Witchers have the lowest probability of going insane and losing control."
As Evan listened, he rapidly processed the information in his mind.
He knew about the extraordinary characteristics.
The progress of the "basic vampire seed" in his body has now reached eight percent.
Judging from the panel's attribute design, it seems that the extraordinary professions in this world acquire power by incorporating different extraordinary characteristics.
"If you rely entirely on potions, wouldn't your power be only temporary?" he countered.
Hill waved her hand smugly, her long silver hair swaying twice with the movement.
"Of course not. Potions come in two types: permanent and temporary."
"If you're not afraid of going crazy, just drink the permanent one, and you'll be done with it once and for all."
"If you're afraid of going crazy, just drink temporary drinks, use them and leave, be flexible and adaptable."
She stood with her hands on her hips, her chin slightly raised, the moonlight illuminating her profile and outlining a proud silhouette.
"That's how we witchers are: well-rounded, flexible, and able to advance and retreat at will."
"And what's the price?"
Hill's momentum instantly diminished by three points.
She coughed and looked away.
"It's expensive. And it's very easy to get poisoned by potions."
She sighed, her tone revealing a genuine sense of helplessness.
"The making, experimentation, research and development, and testing of potions all require money, a lot of manpower and materials."
"The most essential ingredients for extraordinary properties require purchasing them at high prices or hunting monsters yourself."
She spread her hands, making a helpless expression.
"If I had money, I wouldn't have to work for those capitalists."
Ivan blinked.
"You're already an extraordinary being, why would you submit to capitalists?"
Hill's golden vertical pupils widened suddenly, as if he had been stepped on.
"Times have changed, young people!"
Her voice suddenly rose, her arms waving, her silver hair flying in the night wind.
"The most powerful superhumans these days are those despicable capitalists!"
"Industry is developing, and population is gathering! Efficiency, wealth, finance, and factories have become the mainstream of the world today!"
"The monsters, witches, demons, and prophets of the past must all adapt to the times."
"You think those ancient supernatural powers can still hide in castles and act as local tyrants like they did in the Middle Ages? Impossible!"
She paused for a moment, her tone shifting from impassioned to serious.
"The foundation of the extraordinary is people. Whoever can control more people will gain more power."
"This is the ironclad rule of our time."
Ivan remained silent for a few seconds.
The extraordinary system of this world deviated greatly from his expectations.
It wasn't a path of cultivation, meditation, or comprehending the Dao; rather, it was closely intertwined with the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of capital.
But based on his own experiences over the past few days, he could understand to some extent.
Pris was able to conduct potion experiments openly at the University of the Sages not because of his personal strength, but because of the protective network woven from money, power, and institutions behind him.
Hill continued, speaking in a tone as if he were giving a new recruit basic pre-enlistment training.
"The symbol of the extraordinary: gold. The fifth extraordinary path, artificially opened up only in the last hundred years."
"This path has become even more prosperous, especially after countries around the world shifted to the gold standard."
"It encompasses three extraordinary professions: tax collectors, lawyers, and factory owners. They are collectively known as capitalists."
Her golden vertical pupils turned to Ivan, her gaze sharpening.
"The curse of bad luck on you comes from the tax collector."
"By confiscating your money, they took away your luck. That's why you're so unlucky today."
Ivan's face showed a look of understanding, while at the same time a strange feeling arose in his heart.
The extraordinary in this world is becoming increasingly outrageous.
Taxes can take away your luck? What kind of weird setting is that?
But he didn't dwell on it for long.
There are more practical problems to solve right now.
"Master, how can I break free from this bad luck?"
When addressed as "Master," Hill noticeably straightened his back.
Her lips curled up uncontrollably, and she became beaming with joy, her golden vertical pupils sparkling with the satisfaction of being respected.
"Simple." She cleared her throat, trying to make her tone sound experienced and composed.
"If you were defrauded of a certain amount, you can neutralize it through a ritual by paying double the amount."
Evan blurted out, "Two dollars and twenty-two cents."
He paused for a moment, then added, "I also got eleven dollars back from Mary."
Hill nodded: "Give me five dollars."
Ivan counted out five dollars from his pocket and handed them over.
Hill held the money in his hand, and with his other hand, he took out a glass bottle about the size of a thumb from the leather bag at his waist, uncorked it, and dripped two drops of essential oil onto the money.
A rich herbal scent wafted in the night breeze, spicy with a hint of sweetness, like rosemary mixed with something he couldn't name.
Hill held the oil-stained money in his palm, closed his eyes, and murmured something as his lips moved slightly.
The words were not English, nor any language he had ever heard before; the syllables were ancient and obscure, like incantations unearthed from some dusty tome.
A few seconds later, she suddenly opened her eyes.
Snapped!
She slapped a five-dollar bill and coins across Ivan's face.
"Ten out of twenty, back to life! Bad luck gone!"
A clear shout rang out in the night.
Ivan's body jolted violently.
He clearly felt something being peeled away from his body.
It's hard to describe the feeling. It's like having a wet coat that you've worn all day suddenly ripped off, or like having a stone that's been pressing on your chest removed.
My body felt lighter, my breathing became smoother, and even the pain from the two bruises on my back seemed to lessen.
The bad luck is gone.
Ivan peeled the money off his face, stretched his shoulders, and sighed lightly.
"In the underworld, nine out of ten go out and thirteen return."
"You've gone too far with ten dishes and twenty returns."