Chapter 8: Even in Death, She Must Gain Something First

Chapter 8: Even in Death, She Must Gain Something First

The girl agilely navigated the depths of the forest as if she instinctively knew which path to take, which tree to hide behind.

The abyssal creatures bred there turned their eyes, watching the uninvited guest intently.

Fei lingered in the depths of Twisted Forest for a long time.

Only as the darkness of the abyss was about to descend did she return to the gate, carrying a bulging bag.

Inside were all the preparations she had made for the imminent task.

In the game world, her imminent task would probably be titled—

Main Quest: Kill the Death Singer in the Deep Pit

Side Quest 1: Complete Potion-Making Assignment

Side Quest 2: Concoct an Intelligence Potion

As a person from the peaceful Blue Star, Fei had never been involved in a life-or-death conflict with anyone.

But now, her hands were covered with the ashen marks on her neck—

If she hesitated even slightly, all she had finally obtained in this second world could vanish, along with her life.

She didn’t want to die.

So, at this moment, Fei was incredibly calm, constantly strategizing in her mind how to kill the gravely injured Death Singer and inherit all his possessions!

Twisted Forest was now devoid of other students, leaving only a narrow carriage at the gate.

Fei agilely jumped onto it, tapping the carriage door.

“Back,” she said.

The automaton coachmen immediately began to run, the bone ring strung with vines jangling inside her black dress.

Although cold to the touch, it gave Fei a great sense of security.

She really got it! The Purple Violet Teleportation Ring, a Level 15 teleportation item!

She recognized it at first sight when she saw it on the Singer, but it was too dark in the pit to be certain until the end.

Although a low-level item, it was a miraculous artifact for Fei’s current situation!

With this ring, she could move undetected between the abyss and Ninihui Town, entering potion shops unharmed.

Once she could freely access potion shops, not only could she buy the secondary brain of the blue octopus to make an Intelligence Potion (saving her language abilities in this alternate world), but also purchase a plethora of high-level materials. To kill a successfully class-changed Death Singer, these high-level materials were indispensable.

Most importantly, money! Gold coins!

The academy’s potion-making facility was fully accessible, and the central hub for potion materials (Twisted Forest) was open for her use. She could continuously concoct a variety of potions to sell!

Thanks to the Death Singer! Indeed, defeating hidden bosses brings tremendous benefits, regardless of one’s role!

She was already eager to see what treasures the Singer would drop upon his death!

The undead spirit on her neck continued to emit a chilling aura, feeling like a block of ice wrapped around her.

But now, Fei couldn't care less. She coldly strategized her murderous plan in her mind, rushing back to the academy’s potion-making facility at top speed.

Surprisingly, at this time, the potion-making facility was still bustling with activity, crowded with girls tormented by their assignments.

"Why do I keep throwing the ingredients in as per the recipe, yet end up with such weird concoctions?!”

“Who knows how thick the bark of the basil tree should be scraped? I don’t want to fail my assignment on the very first day, waaaah!”

“What does it mean to refine it three times? When I take it out and put it back in, it just dissolves!”

Instructor Gaia had long left, leaving behind only her familiar in the potion-making facility—

A half-human-height piece of deadwood with a vertical eye in the middle.

The familiar wouldn’t guide the students in their assignments, only judging if they were up to standard.

For those who passed, it would sprout a bunch of green buds at the top, automatically attaching itself near their collar as a strikingly beautiful brooch.

Those who failed, however, would be sprayed with a tree spider that couldn’t be removed.

The girls were all driven to tears by the difficulty of potion-making, clueless about where they went wrong.

Thus, the frantic newcomers could only seek out those who had completed their assignments, pleading for their guidance.

Susie was one of them.

Ostracized due to her earlier deduction of points, no one spoke to her, forcing her to focus all her attention on the assignment.

Unexpectedly, she actually succeeded! Becoming the second person after Hill Wyatt to do so!

Although her potion was deemed of cheap quality, she had completed it!

Consequently, her status took a dramatic turn.

Most of the newcomers now gathered around Susie, seeking her guidance.

Suppressing her excitement, Susie offered a slight smile, “Don’t worry, everyone. I’m not as proud and aloof as Miss Hill. I’ll help you all complete your assignments.”

"The freshmen cheered, Susie receiving unprecedented attention and respect."

"Just then, the door to the potion workshop was pushed open again as Fei Yi ran in."

"She completely ignored the cluster of girls, picking a corner with a mixing furnace and began working with the materials."

"Susie’s face turned ugly in an instant."

"'Can she really complete the assignment?' someone muttered resentfully, 'Isn’t she supposed to be unable to even understand the 'Basic Potion Formulas'? Unlike us asking Susie for help, does she want to lose points?'"

"'She probably doesn’t even know she could lose points, didn’t you see she was the last to come back?' a girl closer to Susie quickly said, seemingly to get Susie’s guidance first."

"'I bet she’s just copying what we do. Such a dimwit won’t complete her assignment, Instructor Gaia will surely deduct her points!'"

"'Forget it,' Susie said, biting her lip, 'Instructor Gaia won’t punish her, she must really like her. Let’s not talk about her anymore to avoid annoying the instructor. Let's start guiding; as for her... let her fail on her own, she won’t learn anything anyway.'"

"Everyone started working on their assignments, Susie guiding them wrongly while glancing towards that corner."

"She saw Fei Yi take out small packets wrapped in leaves, skillfully extracting the ingredients one by one into the mixing furnace."

"Those movements, that demeanor, didn't seem like it was her first time making a potion, but rather like... a pharmacist who had worked in a potion shop for years."

"For some reason, Susie’s heart skipped a beat."

"Soon, her unease became more real."

"Because that 'fool' had already completed her assignment! At such a fast pace? How could it be?!"

"Susie’s mouth hung open, the remaining words of guidance swallowed back down."

"The girls, hearing no sound, all curiously followed Susie’s gaze."

"They then saw the so-called 'dim-witted' Fei Yi Luo placing a potion bottle in front of a familiar. The withered wood at the top of the familiar instantly burst into numerous vibrant little flowers like fireworks after tasting the potion!"

"The flowers rapidly grew, forming several words—"

"[Itch Potion rated as: Common Grade]"

"'What?! Com-Common Grade?!' someone couldn’t help but scream."

"More freshmen stared in disbelief, eyes wide!"

"You see, Potion Class may seem easy, but it’s actually very challenging! Even a minor detail can affect the final outcome."

"Should the larva of a Spiky Midge be washed? Should you use a fatter or thinner one? Old or new bark from the Basil Tree? Should the Nettle root be used whole or torn into strips?"

"Everyone had labored all day, and only two people had completed the assignment, with both graded as Cheap."

"But Fei Yi Luo?! The fool who couldn’t even read? She had successfully concocted a Common Grade potion?!"

"How could that be?!"

"'Clang!' Completely losing control of her emotions, Susie shattered the potion bottle in her hand!"

"It must be a fluke! Yes, a coincidence! It must be a coincidence! That fool must have just—"

"But before Susie could finish her thought, she saw Fei Yi return to the mixing furnace, adding a bunch of incomprehensible ingredients, and concocting a second potion."

"Then came the third bottle, the fourth bottle…"

"Susie's and all the freshmen's expressions gradually shifted from jealousy and resentment to confusion and disbelief."

"What’s going on? Is this fool concocting potions or just playing around?? Why are her movements even more skilled than the potion shop owners I’ve seen?!"

"Are those bottles really filled with usable potions?!"

"No, no, no, they absolutely couldn’t believe it!"

"Fei Yi turned her head to glance at the girls."

"Ah… what are these kids fussing about now…"

"With limited time and heavy tasks, she paid no heed to trivial matters. Grabbing seven or eight potion bottles, she ran out of the potion workshop without looking back."

"Leaving behind a crowd of freshmen with expressions that could only be described as a spectacle."

——

"'That child again?'"

"In the hall with its huge furnace fire, the Great Sin Witch Sallyra lounged lazily on a dark green sofa, intently gazing at a piece of floating fabric that resembled water—"

"It was Gaia’s way of communicating with her familiar, where the familiar's sight was fully projected in front of Gaia."

"Just now, the witches had watched the entire dispute over the freshmen’s assignments."

"'Yes.' Gaia's eyes, under her hood, didn’t blink as she watched Fei Yi retrieve the potion bottles."

"'I’ve never seen a child like her,' she said calmly, her tone tinged with a hint of puzzlement, 'She’s supposed to be completely unable to understand those texts, otherwise she wouldn’t be flipping through a basic dictionary in my class.'"

"'Neither have I,' Sallyra propped her head with one hand, 'Do you know? I’ve never been able to peer into her soul.'"

"The black hood turned sharply, indicating the Guardian Witch’s confusion."

"Each witch possesses certain special abilities, inherent from birth, a gift bestowed by darkness."

"Sallyra’s ability was to peer into the [sin] within all souls."

"For instance, she could clearly see the small whirlpool of dark emotions like jealousy, selfishness, vanity, and anger swirling in the chest of that new student named Susie."

"She could also see laziness and indifference floating above the souls of other girls…"

"But she could not see anything for Fei Yi Luo."

"In Sallyra’s eyes, that child’s soul was like a void, formless, as if shrouded in a dusty cloth by some force."

"'Quite peculiar…' Gaia turned back to the water screen, 'Either her soul is so strong that even you can’t glimpse it, or…'"

"'Her soul is inherently incomplete, which is why she appears so foolish and dazed,' Sallyra suggested."

"'An incomplete soul…' Gaia repeated softly, saying emotionlessly, 'If that’s true, then today’s events might just be a coincidence. After all, besides experience, luck also plays a part in a novice concocting potions. They cannot control the quality of potions like master alchemists.'"

"Thus, Gaia concluded that Fei Yi Luo was a novice with extremely good luck."

"'Then she's in trouble,' Sallyra said with a smile, 'It will be difficult for her to learn our courses. Poor child, she might die by the end of the term.'"

"'No, she probably won’t even last until the end of the term. Tomorrow's class is taught by that professor, and she detests people who are dull and stupid.'"

————

First, she ruled out all the doors within the academy, as it was the domain of the instructors. With the low rank of her Crape Myrtle ring, it would be troublesome if an instructor discovered her one day.

Outside the academy, in the abyssal realms, there was no protection at all. As a frail witch-in-training, she was like a walking drumstick, irresistible and tempting.

After much thought, Fei Yi decided to set the teleportation point directly on her dormitory door.

The head instructor wouldn't casually visit the dorms, and even if someone saw her, they'd just assume she had returned to her dormitory.

If she set it on the bathroom door inside the dormitory, it could be dangerous if a roommate discovered it.

Standing in front of her dormitory door, Fei Yi took a couple of breaths, put on her ring, and pressed it against the door.

"Ninihui Town, end of Little Gold Road, Ninihui Town, end of Little Gold Road."

This location, visible to her every day since her arrival, was recited with great familiarity.

As she silently chanted, she felt the ring heating up, growing hot. Moments later, a dark purple light flashed on the dormitory door.

This signified the teleportation point was set. Next time she needed to teleport, she just had to press the ring against the door and push it open.

At the moment, all the freshmen were in the potion-making room, leaving the corridor deserted.

Fei Yi, suppressing her wildly beating heart, pushed open the dormitory door—

Suddenly, a splash of moonlight poured onto her feet.