Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted-Chapter 22: Alchemy

"......"
Naclis didn't understand, but Loren knew exactly why her mother had suddenly turned to ashes. This was the God of Light and Fire's method of controlling followers - once they abandoned their faith, they would be instantly burned to nothing. Yet Naclis's mother had withstood the power of the Orthodox Gods to bring Naclis to the Gedlan Kingdom.
Her thinking was probably simple - the Gedlan Kingdom worshipped the God of Bountiful Harvest, so there would be no shortage of food. Even if she had to beg, Naclis could survive.
"It's alright. I swear I will kill the angel you mentioned, along with the God of Light and Fire."
The God of Light and Fire was indeed this world's most formidable deity. Loren had once specifically created a save file to test what would happen if players didn't interfere with the Divine War.
The result was that the God of Bountiful Harvest would kill the God of Plague, a follower of some love god named Noah would perish together with the God of Confusion, and then the God of Light and Fire would kill all the other gods, ultimately obtaining all authority and becoming a true god. The previous Orthodox Gods had merely been false gods.
What Loren didn't notice was that while they were talking, the Nightingale in the cage was experiencing eye tremors. For a bird, her expression was somewhat too complex.
"From the moment you met me, your fates will all be different, never leading to bad endings."
After a long while, Loren finally released Naclis's hand. She placed her hand on her own chest, feeling the warmth Loren had left behind.
Afterward, Loren picked up the recently brewed magic potion and explained to Anna and Naclis:
"After drinking the Witch's Curse, you will obtain the curse [Scorn of All Beings]. All living creatures will despise the cursed one, even subconsciously launching attacks. The cursed will also emit a special kind of foul odor that repels other creatures, including flies.
"You don't necessarily need to drink the potion to obtain this curse - just having enough witch's blood on your body will suffice."
After speaking, Loren drank the potion in one go. Although the color resembled blood, the taste was actually quite acceptable.
The Creator truly favored witches, giving them all the good things and granting them self-preservation Arcane Abilities and curses. Yet even so, they couldn't withstand the world's malice.
Name: Loren
Level: 14
Strength: 10
Stamina: 21
Agility: 14
Intelligence: 16
Mana: 5190/5190
Remaining Attribute Points: 0
Accessories: [Weeping Blood Wedding Ring]
Blessings: [Truth Discernment] [Pluto's Mouth]
Curses: [Shattered Love] [Scorn of All Beings]
Shattered Love was the curse from the Weeping Blood Wedding Ring, and the remaining attribute points had been allocated by Loren to Agility. For the coming period, Agility was the attribute he needed most.
The moment he obtained the curse, [Scorn of All Beings] was reversed by the Female Pope. Now Loren would receive the favor of all beings, and even many magical beasts wouldn't actively attack him. Even other people's initial favorability toward Loren would increase significantly.
To put it plainly, Loren had now directly transformed into a succubus. Anna immediately clung to Loren's body, continuously sniffing his scent:
"Master Mentor, you smell so wonderful..."
Even the foul odor had been reversed into fragrance. Anna's lecherous expression made Loren instinctively take a step back.
"Alright, I'll be taking action during this period. You two focus on studying magic and martial skills, so you have some self-defense capabilities."
"I want to help too."
Anna grabbed Loren's hand, and Loren couldn't break free immediately. Only then did he realize that witches actually had higher stats than him. If not for those special items, Loren might not necessarily be Anna's match.
"Fine, I'll bring you along when there's an opportunity."
Naclis's raised hand suddenly dropped - her momentary hesitation had allowed Anna to beat her to it.
After the minor incident concluded, Loren continued brewing potions. The impact of those coins bearing the God of Hatred's name that he had distributed would continue to ferment within this city.
Truthfully, many people in this city didn't dare to harbor hatred. It had to be said that although this world's leaders were mostly terrible, their methods of ruling subjects were quite sophisticated - they had cultivated servility in them, causing them to lose courage.
But it didn't matter - Ligoss also held some authority over courage. After all, one needed courage first to feel hatred - cowardly people couldn't hate.
It was somewhat laughable that courage was actually granted by the God of Hatred.
"Poison Thistle, Purple Mist Vine, Silverleaf Grass, Distilled Water... Fourth-tier potion, Antidote Amulet."
Although the Antidote Amulet was only a fourth-tier potion, it could block the vast majority of poisons in this world.
However, there were pros and cons - the Antidote Amulet could only prevent poisoning, not cure it. It had to be consumed in advance, with a perfect grade lasting about one hour. That was plenty of time for Loren to accomplish many things, such as eliminating that group of God of Plague followers.
Just as the potion was nearing completion, Loren's Magic Wand suddenly began trembling, and the previously calm potion became like boiling water.
"Tch..."
Loren reacted quickly, decisively stuffing both the potion and the Cauldron into the nearby waste bucket and covering it before anything went wrong.
This brewing attempt had failed. Loren's Intelligence wasn't high enough - there was still a chance of failure when crafting fourth-tier potions. Fortunately, he had successfully disposed of it before the failed potion released toxic gas.
"Continue."
Failure didn't matter anyway - the materials weren't his to begin with. If he ran out, he could just ask the King for more.
Loren changed to another Cauldron and continued brewing potions, making Naclis extremely anxious. She silently stood behind Loren, planning to grab him and run quickly if anything actually went wrong.
But this time went smoothly. Loren held a bottle of dark green liquid, and information about the potion appeared before his eyes: [Antidote Amulet (Perfect)].
This wasn't enough. After storing this potion, Loren continued brewing. His fear of insufficient firepower was still driving him.
He brewed until afternoon, producing not only over ten bottles of Antidote Amulet but also potions that could temporarily increase various attributes.
He brewed the most of [Brilliance Elixir], which could temporarily increase Intelligence by 20 points. With this potion, brewing higher-tier potions would become somewhat easier.
When Loren planned to go out for a bite to eat, Mirrorheart returned from buying a birdcage. As expected, even when just buying a birdcage, she couldn't stay quiet. The birdcage she bought back was enormous - large enough to fit a person inside.
The birdcage was about over two meters tall with a diameter of over one meter. There was a horizontal bar in the middle for perching, with a ring above it. Most homes couldn't accommodate something like this.
Before Loren could ask, Mirrorheart demonstrated the birdcage's function for him. She simply climbed inside, sat on the horizontal bar, and slipped her hands into the iron ring above that was supposed to be for birds to stand on, as if she were bound.
Simultaneously, Mirrorheart put on a sorrowful expression, even pulling her clothes open slightly, looking like an imprisoned canary.