Chapter 25: The Witch
"You better make sure of it," another deep yet soft feminine voice intervened.
Kaiju hastily turned around and stared in a direction where the voice originated. There, an old lady, with a malformed face, eating an apple while holding a staff with her other hand appeared, her appearance was basked by the moonlight. Kaiju's heart was shaken when he saw what it was.
'A witch…'
From what he knew, witch were known for their curse manipulation, ranging from fire, water, wind, and earth elements. They often appeared as old ladies with malformed faces, but they could never be treated lightly. Although they appeared physically fragile, before anyone could get near them, they would have been long cursed sneakily.
Furthermore, it was known that witches were accompanied by warlocks, who had unpredictable loyalties, depending on who it swore allegiance. The warlocks, though some became servants of other races, were known to serve the witches the moment they were born.
'There might be some underlying reason for this.' Kaiju shrugged, it was out of his concern, after all.
The moment he saw the witch, he hastily surveyed the latter's surroundings, thinking he could see a Warlock. After all, Warlock was known for being the toughest guardian of all races, even possessing the potential same with humans that made their body adapt to consume pure blood of other races.
Simply put, Warlock and Humans have similar circumstances in the Tower.
Unfortunately, he didn't see one, until he was forced to focus on the witch, treading towards him. Kaiju's heart palpitated, his expression changed horribly, he did not want to activate the Emotionless skill. Forcing himself to calm down, his eyes coincidentally landed on the apple the witch was eating and his eyes widened.
{Cursed Apple
An ordinary apple that has been exposed by the witch's different curses. The curse contained a powerful curse, enough to decompose the consumer in less than a minute. Harmful to the awakeners and below.
Effects once eaten by the host: the host can rely on lady luck to obtain a Curse Resistance skill.}
Kaiju was stunned when he heard the Gacha System's suggestion… indirectly. His eyes quickly lost focus, overthinking about how to obtain lady luck. Certainly, it wouldn't favor him, that is, if he would not do something to earn her favor. Hence, there must be a way to obtain lady luck.
He was desperate to obtain the Curse Resistance skill, as it would be a boon to him in case he would be targeted by the witch, especially in his current circumstances, where he was being approached by one.
Kaiju glanced at the witch sauntering towards him, biding her time, and so did Kaiju, thinking how to obtain the curse.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
"Gacha System, do you think it is possible to convert the effect of poison conversion of Ring of Venomous Resilience to durability instead of strength?"
Thankfully, the Gacha System instantly replied.
{To begin with, Ring of Venomous Resilience boosts not only physical power but physical resilience. Hence-}
"Just say yes or no!" Kaiju screams in his mind.
{Yes!}
"Snow!" Kaiju screamed through his telepathy to Snow.
The latter was instantly awakened, still confused, but Kaiju did not give her the time to process what was happening during and after her slumber.
"Snow, bite me quick! Use your Frosted Poison Glands skill!"
Kaiju failed to recognize not only Snow has the poison elements but ice as well. Since he did not have an Ice Resistance skill, he would certainly suffer from numbness and might even be paralyzed.
However, Snow, perceiving Kaiju's desperation, didn't hesitate but to bite Kaiju's open palm as the Frostbite skill passively activated. At the same time Kaiju was feeling numb, startling him. Snow activated the Frosted Poison Gland skill, amplifying the effects of the Frostbite skill.
Kaiju was dumbfounded when he felt even his brain froze, but what kept him awake was the reverberating announcement of the Gacha System.
{The host has been detected to have been assaulted by poison and ice! The Ring of Venomous Resilience passively activated.
According to the host's desire, the poison conversion will be towards the durability points.
There is an additional 55 points in the durability points.}
Compared to when Kaiju was suddenly overwhelmed by the immense strength overflowing towards him, this time, he felt his muscle fortified, even his skin was not an exception. Perhaps, he was just overthinking it because he really felt numb all over his body.
Kaiju tried his best to keep awake, even causing his eyelids to droop.
He fixed his eyes to the witch, who had just halted in front of him. Her malformed face was so near that Kaiju was frightened. However, due to the numbness, he felt even his Emotionless skill activated by its own accord, to which he was confident, of course, it did not.
"Kid!"
"Miss! You're too near him. Your curse can kill him."
The witch turned its head and stared at Qwanisha with a smile, seemingly intrigued by an unknown reason. Qwanisha appeared wary but mustered all her strength to save Kaiju. Even her lover, Max, was standing in front of her, already taking the shield out of his inventory, ready to attack the witch at all cost.
They knew what signifies their action but they knew what they were playing at. The witch was aware of it, but she didn't care.
She focused on Kaiju and then glanced at Snow, hissing at her menacingly when the witch could perceive the latter's terrified heartbeat.
She smiled at it and then sized Kaiju up with an intrigued countenance.
"I see. So, you also didn't notice." It was unknown to which the witch was talking, but it certainly was not for Kaiju.
The latter was not even staring at the witch, but rather fixated his gaze on the apple the witch had just taken a bite or two earlier.
The witch's lips curled up and then suddenly extended the apple towards Kaiju.
She said in a soft tone, "Kid, do you want to eat this apple? Who knows? You might obtain something you really want. Handsome face? Elemental affinity? What can't you not gain?"
"Kid, don't listen to her! There's no reward for the curse power of the witch!" Qwanisha intervened.
The witch shot a glare at her, feeling her stage was stolen by her in an instant. Qwanisha's next words stuck on her throat, discerning the immense danger conveyed by the witch's glare.
The witch continued to act, but just as she was about to stare at Kaiju's eyes, she was taken aback by the apple seed on Kaiju's lips.
She was in disbelief.
"Y-You…"
In the face of death, Kaiju smiled at the witch.