I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

Chapter 23: First Kiss, Demon Hunter's Extraordinary Trait

Hill stuffed the essential oil bottle back into his pouch and said nonchalantly, "Those who are extraordinary should be ruthless to themselves."

Ivan carefully put the money away from his face, looked down and counted the remaining money in his hand. After thinking for a couple of seconds, he took out two dollars and handed them to Hill.

"Thank you for your help, Master."

This is not because Ivan is particularly generous.

He noticed that Hill's golden vertical pupils were staring intently at the money in his hand, his gaze precisely following the movement of each banknote and coin.

He was all too familiar with that look in his eyes.

He had seen himself in the mirror countless times when he was doing sales on Earth.

Hill was quite unceremoniously snatched the two dollars and stuffed them into his pocket, the action swift and decisive.

"You're welcome!"

She patted her fanny pack to make sure the money was safely in her pocket, then her tone changed and became more serious.

"By the way, don't blame yourself too much for what happened with those gangs. The demons of hell should be very welcoming to these new guests."

She glanced south in the direction of the old factory; under the moonlight, the ruins were dark and gloomy, like a crouching giant beast.

"You don't need to worry about the police investigation afterward. With the influence of the Bartlus family, this matter can be handled cleanly."

Ivan nodded knowingly.

Bartluth, yet another new name. I'll make a note of it.

He tentatively asked further.

"Will I still be able to attend school normally? Will I still be able to get potions from Professor Pulis?"

Hill said, "Studying will continue as usual; he won't make a fuss."

"What happened tonight is also a problem for him; he'd love to pretend nothing ever happened."

"As for whether you can continue to get potions, that depends on your eloquence. It's clear he values ​​you quite a bit."

She paused for a moment, her tone becoming casual.

"I don't have any fundamental conflict with them. After all, we are all superhumans enslaved by capitalists."

Ivan blinked.

"Are vampires also enslaved by capitalism?"

Hill glanced at him, a meaningful glint in his golden vertical pupils.

"For the previous thousand years, they were known as the Bloodthirsty Race."

Her voice dropped half an octave, as if she were revealing a secret that shouldn't be shared in public.

"Who do you think the name 'vampire' is making a scapegoat for?"

"The amount of blood they drank was far less than what factories produce today."

After hearing Hill's words, Evan remained silent for several seconds.

He thought he had traveled to a Cthulhu-themed world.

Monsters lurk in the shadows, mortals tremble in ignorance, and the truth is hidden in ancient forbidden books and mad whispers.

But those words made him realize that the water was far muddier than he had imagined.

The extraordinary is not an undercurrent independent of civilization; it has long been intertwined with industry, finance, and power, becoming one with them.

Above the river are sweatshops and stock exchanges, below the river are potions and supernatural abilities, and the person who controls the sluice gates profits from both ends.

"How did you discover Pris's identity?" Hill's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Ivan snapped out of his daze.

"He walked silently. He was afraid of light, always wore a hooded trench coat, and the curtains were always tightly drawn. The medicine he gave me had a strong smell of blood."

"The most crucial thing is that I became stronger too quickly, unlike what ordinary drugs can do."

"I wasn't entirely sure until just now when I smelled Priscilla's perfume on that vampire."

Hill reached out and patted Evan on the shoulder with considerable force, causing him to stumble half a step.

"Impressive insight, young man! It seems you have the talent to become a witcher."

Ivan rubbed his shoulder, which had been slapped so hard, his eyes burning with fury.

"Master, is becoming a Witcher complicated?"

Hill nodded and counted them one by one on his fingers.

"It's complicated. You need to gradually adapt to various potions and increase your resistance."

"Hone your physical fitness, understand the basic framework of mystical rituals, and become familiar with the properties of various herbs and monsters."

"Once you are ready, you can take the Demon Hunter Potion to transform."

After listening, Ivan asked the question that was on his mind.

"I have a high drug tolerance, can I take the medication directly?"

The world is far more dangerous to the underprivileged than he expected.

Curses, vampires, out-of-control potion experiments—any one of them could kill him.

He wanted to become stronger quickly, at least to have basic self-defense capabilities.

Hill looked him up and down, his golden vertical pupils narrowing slightly as if he were making some kind of assessment.

"The Demon Hunter Potion contains the extraordinary characteristics of a deceased Demon Hunter."

Her tone became a bit serious.

Are you sure you can handle it in your current mental state?

Ivan didn't hesitate for long.

"As long as it's medicine, I can handle it."

Hill stared at him for three seconds.

A struggle flashed in his golden vertical pupils; his lips pursed and relaxed repeatedly.

Then she gritted her teeth.

"Okay then."

The next second, before Evan could react, a hand had already grabbed his collar.

Hill was incredibly strong; she grabbed Evan, turned around, and slammed him against the trunk of an old oak tree by the roadside.

The rough bark rubbed against his back, and a burning pain shot through the bruises.

She placed one hand on his shoulder and lifted his chin with the other.

Moonlight shone on her face, her golden vertical pupils were so close, and his reflection was reflected in them.

Then she kissed him.

Ivan's mind went blank for 0.3 seconds.

The moment their lips touched, the first thing he felt was the fresh scent of herbs, like a mixture of mint and sage.

Immediately afterwards, a stream of hot liquid flowed from her mouth into his.

The temperature of that thing was abnormally high, like melted wax or highly concentrated chili oil, burning from the back of the tongue all the way to the throat, and then from the throat to the stomach.

Before he could even swallow, the liquid seemed to have its own will, actively entering his esophagus and sinking deep into his body.

Hill let go of him.

Ivan leaned against the tree trunk, his lips slightly parted, a trace of bewilderment still lingering in his eyes.

"This was my first kiss." Evan's tone carried the resentment of a young girl who had been forcibly kissed.

"Me too, I didn't take advantage of you," Hill said in a much more unrestrained tone.

Ivan didn't dwell on it any longer, licked his lips, and asked, "What's this?"

Hill took a step back and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

There was a hint of pain in her voice.

"My master's extraordinary ability. He ascended to the Potions Planet because he took the wrong potion."

She lowered her head, her long silver hair falling down and obscuring half of her face.

"After I extracted his extraordinary characteristics, I couldn't afford a permanent storage container, so I could only make a temporary potion and store it in my own body."

Her hand unconsciously pressed against her abdomen.

"I can feel this power draining away every day, and it's also polluting my own body."

"The longer it goes on, the more it is lost, and the more severe the pollution becomes."

She looked up, and something complex was churning in her golden vertical pupils.

"That's why I was so eager to find you."

Before Evan could process this information, a sudden, sharp pain shot through his stomach.

It felt like someone had stuffed a red-hot wire into his stomach and then twisted it around forcefully.

[You have ingested an incomplete Demon Hunter Transformation Potion. Effects: Permanent.]

[Effect: After digestion, you will gain the full Demon Hunter traits.]

Digestion progress: 168 hours.

[Did you reverse the side effects?]

"Twist!"

[Reversal progress: 88 hours.]

After confirming the information on the panel, Evan bent over, clutching his stomach with both hands, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Wow, that hurts!"

Hill was still immersed in the sadness of inheriting his master's legacy, but seeing Ivan's reaction, his sadness was instantly replaced by shock.

She crouched down and leaned closer to examine Evan's face and arms more closely.

"No ulceration, no vomiting blood, no black blood vessels all over the face, no mutations."

Her voice grew louder and louder, and her golden vertical pupils widened in shock.

"Just... a stomachache?"

Ivan leaned against the tree trunk, his face flushed, sweat pouring down his face, and his voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"Master, do you have any painkillers? I can't stand the pain."

Hill snapped out of her daze, straightened up, put her hands on her hips, and switched back to her mentor mode.

"This is part of the transformation trial, and painkillers cannot interfere with it."

"The Demon Hunter trait will modify your gastrointestinal system, giving you a stronger digestive ability to cope with the corrosive effects of more potions in the future."

"It's a painful but rejuvenating process that usually lasts seven days."

"Over these seven days, you will gradually digest its extraordinary properties, and your body will gradually evolve."

She thought for a moment, then added another sentence.

"By the way, adequate nutrition and high-intensity exercise can help you absorb nutrients faster."

Upon hearing this, Ivan, covered in sweat, struggled to his feet from the tree trunk.

"Then I understand. I can persevere."

Human beings' tolerance for pain increases significantly once they know that the pain they are experiencing is not harmful to their bodies and can even bring benefits.

This is a worthwhile deal, so be it if it hurts.

Seeing that Ivan had not mutated and that he had finally successfully inherited his master's extraordinary characteristics, Hill visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Her shoulders slumped, and her entire demeanor shifted from "serious witcher mentor" back to "carefree young girl".

"You can digest this slowly from now on. My current status makes it inconvenient for me to have direct contact with you."

She patted Evan on the shoulder, this time with much less force.

"But I'll be watching you from the shadows, don't worry."

"Just continue with your current life and don't let anyone else notice anything unusual."

Ivan was sweating profusely from the pain, but he still nodded seriously.

The two walked one after the other along the muddy path under the moonlight towards the city.

Hill walked ahead, her long silver hair swaying gently in the night breeze. The hilts of two swords protruded from behind her shoulders, drawing two parallel dark lines in the moonlight.

Ivan followed behind, clutching his stomach. With each step, it felt like his stomach was being twisted, but he didn't stop.

At an intersection on the edge of the city, the two parted ways.

Hill waved to him, his figure quickly disappearing into the shadows beyond the reach of the streetlights.

Evan walked alone into the lights of Guding Street.

……