[With such an abnormal appetite, the servants of Farrell Palace can be satisfied with just one piece of meat at night...]
Hitzfeld was now very glad that he didn't have a body here.
Otherwise she might throw up too.
Chapter 55: Extraordinary Enemy
Before entering this circle, Claire had imagined what magical powers the extraordinary people possessed.
Is it the power of the universe? Or the ability to fly into the sea?
But only after she truly crossed that threshold and officially became a transcendent did she realize that power...means...these were nothing compared to the pursuit of mystery.
Yes, she understood now. The power of the extraordinary comes from mysterious feedback. For witches who take the "knowledge-research" route, simply resisting desire will not lead to anything. You must have a firm purpose - only when you insist on your will for the sake of knowledge and research, the mysterious feedback unique to this path will come.
And the power that a witch possesses... the slightly improved physical fitness, the forbidden knowledge she has learned in the process of research, the various creations and tricks condensed from that knowledge... these are just natural products of the pursuit of mystery and are not worth writing about at all.
Mostly, she seemed to think so.
However, Hitzfeld didn't think that she would study and advance in the same way as other apprentices, because she had long seen that Claire's desire to achieve extraordinary things was much stronger than others.
She had taken a risk once in Farrell Palace, and now she was madly trying to grab the mysterious benefits by fighting her appetite while studying hard - she must be eager to level up, because only by leveling up can she get rid of her apprentice status and become a real witch.
The library of the witch coven is only fully open to formal members, and the books that apprentices can borrow are limited: from the crazy way they need to use to collect materials for a potion, it can be seen that most apprentices are very poor in the field of mystery.
[Only after she advances to become a full member of the witch coven can she read those books and truly master the skills of the 'research' route, whether it is brewing potions or enchanting artifacts...]
Hitzfeld took in both of Claire's faces and concluded that the reason this girl had such a strong desire to achieve extraordinary things was because something had changed in her family.
[Isn't achieving extraordinary things a desire?]
She was a little curious.
[It seems like it has no effect... or is it that this does not belong to "human desire" and is judged to be a desire that is not originally possessed by humans?]
The Witches' Coven emphasizes moderation and discipline the most. Hitzfeld now roughly understands why this organization is called the Witches' Coven instead of the Wizards' Coven - because a certain kind of "human desire" is more difficult for men to resist than for women.
Maybe they are all similar when the desire really starts, but before entering that stage, or in terms of the probability of entering that stage, the gender that is more psychologically focused does have a rational advantage.
This was a secret revealed by the witch Bram in a history class: she taught her apprentices in all seriousness that the witch coven was not against men. They knew very well that even if mystery had feedback, the advantages of the two genders could complement each other.
Some people are just stronger than you, have more endurance than you, and have better physical fitness to continue research than you.
"I mean, if they can succeed, rise to power, and become powerful protectors, then of course there's nothing wrong with that... I'm not discriminating against them."
Claire sat at the desk, crossed her legs, and drank tea leisurely while staring at the faces of each young apprentice.
"But unfortunately, there are very few... very very few. Most people can't hold on. Even you are a special case among this gender."
"Teacher." Niss raised her hand. "Are there any wizards in our club?"
“Yes.” Bram nodded. “Not many, but there are still some. However, I am not optimistic about their future. After all, the environment they are in…”
After saying this, Claire couldn't help but glance behind her, and almost everyone she saw was a beauty.
Blondes, brunettes, redheads.
Petite, tall, and plump.
Although their sleepless and fasting pace of life makes them look unhealthy and almost everyone has dark circles under their eyes, their skin is very white, dazzlingly white, because they have been staying underground for years to study and research.
The mystery endows them with an inexplicable temperament. Some apprentices even wear glasses, which gives them a unique intellectual flavor.
[…Isn’t this also one of the criteria for selecting apprentices?]
Thinking of the good-looking witches like Siesta and Bram, Hitzfeld was speechless.
She knew that it was difficult for most men to resist the "reproductive desire"... This didn't mean that they really wanted to do anything bad. She remembered reading a research report before, which showed that even men who didn't want to and were determined to remain disciplined would sometimes inevitably have a physiological reaction.
It seems that a considerable part of the control valve in this regard is not controlled by their brains. So it is conceivable that if they are surrounded by charming witches in this predicament...
If you don’t give us feedback, life will definitely be more difficult.
Even if a wizard can't control himself, they are likely to do something that is not so nice for everyone.
"It's not like it hasn't happened before." Bram deliberately switched to a cold tone to scare the apprentices, "It happened before~ Out-of-control wizards were forced to become slaves of desire. They betrayed this path and switched to the 'human desire' camp."
"Ma'am." Claire raised her hand in the front row, "I want to know what happened to them."
The cold and beautiful witch with her legs crossed instantly cast a sharp glance over.
Claire shrank her neck but insisted on looking the witch in the eye.
To put it more far-fetchedly, she suspected that she was practicing on two different paths.
Then she must find out the consequences... She is not stupid enough to do anything for the sake of power.
"good question."
After a long pause, Bram spoke again.
"It's too early for you to ask this question, but it doesn't matter... It is very warning. I can tell you what will happen if you change your path or even practice together."
Many apprentices showed expectant expressions, including Niss and Farley, who stopped being ostentatious after becoming an apprentice.
They all stared at the witch at the front desk, expecting her to reveal more secrets.
This is also a kind of "research".
"'Degenerate'..." Bram uttered a word.
"You must have heard this word occasionally. What do you think it means? What kind of form and behavior is considered depravity?"
With her encouragement, the little witches gave answers in a flurry.
"Become a monster!"
"kill!"
"Betray the commandments!"
"Psychologically insane!"
Bram smiled as he listened to the various answers.
Just when she was about to tell the chicks that none of them were right, a voice came from the side.
"Overly obsessed."
Bram's smile quickly disappeared.
She looked in that direction—it was Claire William. She kept her eyes open and looked at them. She continued, "No matter which path you take... overindulgence will lead to trouble, is that right, ma'am?"
The other discussions gradually died down.
They are all smart people, and they can guess that Claire is very likely to have guessed the answer correctly.
“The desire for mystery is itself a desire.”
Shaking his head, Bram indirectly agreed with this answer.
"We often ignore it... because it does not belong to 'human desires', and the precepts of the 'seeking knowledge' main vein do not include hostility towards it."
"But if you think you can pursue the mystery endlessly, even at any cost, and cross the boundaries to study other paths, you will degenerate spiritually and become something so ugly that you can't even recognize your face in the mirror..."
Everyone held their breath and dared not speak.
They were all frightened by the description.
“So you understand why there is such a reward mechanism?”
Seeing that the atmosphere in the classroom was not good, Bram clapped his hands and raised his voice.
"Those who are still recovering from their illness have already told you what will happen if you become overly obsessed. I hope you can remember this from today on - don't be too eager for 'research'. It's a delicate line. Try your best... don't cross it."
"What happens if you cross it?"
She was about to wrap up the topic, but another voice came from the back and expanded the topic.
Who is so blind?
Bram instinctively looked at Claire William first. When he realized it wasn't her, he looked back and saw a stubborn blonde girl in the third row from the back.
"Miss Prim..." She narrowed her eyes and stared at Fali dangerously.
"Your curiosity is a little too strong..."
"I'm sorry, ma'am." Farley's eyes were a little evasive. "If you don't want to say--"
"If I don't tell you now, it will only do you harm."
Bram's mouth twitched.
"Well, since you insist on asking questions..."
She turned to look at the blackboard behind her, at the darkness, and her fists in her sleeves clenched unconsciously.
"There is no turning back from that path of depravity..." she chanted in a dreamy voice.
"Mystery will embrace you, but that is not knowledge that mortal reason can bear..."
"You will be filled up, you will be polluted..."
"Your skin will crack and extra organs and eyeballs will grow. You will have to leave your family and companions and escape into the shadows alone, emitting the stench of corruption until you attract those people..."
Claire's eyes focused on her shoulder.
She saw it clearly, and Bram shuddered when he said this.
"Those people?" Farley asked again.
"The one who seals the mystery!"
Bram turned his head sharply, his gaze seemed to devour her.
"And the enemy of all transcendents!"
Chapter 56 Alienation
After class, Niss found Claire and discussed going out for dinner with her.
"What's wrong, Claire? You're not going to go without food today, are you?" Niss looked at her friend jokingly, "I don't believe you're going to live on biscuits and water for the rest of your life."
"I've been living like this for more than half a month, and there's nothing unusual." Claire said, "It's not impossible to continue living like this."
"Your mouth is not bland?" Niss pouted, moved closer to her with a mischievous look, and lowered her voice: "Do you know? Kelly and the others are wondering if the wizards in the guild have been exiled to other places..."
"What does this have to do with us?" Claire said helplessly, "We are still a long way from the first level, and they are only concerned about official wizards..."
"You can't say that." Niss frowned and looked very serious. "Your mentality is very dangerous, Claire. You have to know that they are men. If they fall..."
"Degeneration means being overly obsessed with one's own path." Claire refuted her, "Even ghouls and vampires must retain their humanity. Both the knowledge-seeking route and the human desire route must abide by the rules in this regard."
"Then why did she use this to answer the first question?" Niss retorted, "You asked her about those wizards... didn't you? But she answered with fallen... I guess that might be the end of changing cultivation or practicing together."
They were communicating and arguing, while Hitzfeld was thinking about the logic.
[Wizards abandon the rules because of their desire to reproduce, which is equivalent to betraying "seeking knowledge" and turning to explore the path of "human desire". This behavior may also be judged as "over-indulgence."]
She came to this conclusion.
Because it is an expansion of the road, and it is done in this way... He will get mysterious feedback, and once he can't control that feeling, he will basically fall into it.
That’s why the witch coven is now full of witches, and even when looking for apprentices, they only look for girls who are outstanding in themselves.
[……] In fact, Hitzfeld was a little suspicious that the reason why the existing male wizards in the witch coven were still allowed to stay was because they had been cut off.
It is indeed dangerous, isn't it? Either you will be exiled or killed. She doesn't quite believe that the witch coven will allow such a dangerous factor to exist around them.
"Hey~ Hey! Claire!" When they were almost at the dormitory, Niss suddenly grabbed her and dragged her behind a pillar.
The two hid there and waited for a while. A few minutes later, a sound of footsteps was heard. Some apprentices who did not plan to go to the cafeteria began to return to the dormitory, either to change books or to rest.
"You're staring at Farley?"
Claire frowned slightly when she saw that Niss's eyes followed Farley until she disappeared.
"Don't you think Farley's behavior has been strange recently?" said Niss.
It's very strange.
Hitzfeld agreed with her.
Fari-Prim, this girl was so imposing at the beginning, but after becoming an apprentice, she restrained her edge. Not to mention compared with Claire, even Niss performed better than her.
