Chapter 3: Not Even Trying to Hide It
“Boss, we walked around the area but didn’t see anyone. Could it be that no one is left in this neighborhood?”
After wandering for a while, the dog-skin monster landed on a wooden pole, breathing heavily. Recently, the patrol teams had been searching this area very strictly, so most people had already left.
Those who stayed were mostly undercover officers in disguise.
These monsters weren’t stupid, they could tell the difference.
Just when they had no other choice and were about to leave empty-handed, they suddenly detected a strong energy fluctuation ahead.
“Look, there’s a house over there with the lights on. And she doesn’t have that annoying aura.”
“Really? I’ll go take a look.”
On the other side, Peiya found some expired food in the fridge and smeared rotten meat oil over her body. As the team’s support member, she knew very well how to help her teammates attract monsters.
She also knew how to hide her own magic aura, making herself look as much like a normal person as possible.
All of this knowledge came from what she had learned over time. She didn’t expect it to be useful today.
But when she was about to apply the oil, she hesitated. Her current appearance was unbelievably beautiful, like a piece of art.
It was really hard to bring herself to do it, not because she was vain.
Those soft, fair arms… were they really hers?
After a moment of hesitation, she still smeared the rotten oil on herself.
She was starving. This smell could be washed off later.
After that, Peiya skillfully set up traps. Back when she was in the team, these kinds of tasks were usually her responsibility.
Her teammates only needed to come at the end and finish things off. So for her, this kind of work was very easy.
In no time, the traps were ready. Now, she just had to wait for the enemy to walk into them.
Peiya stepped over the wooden stairs, turned her head slightly, and controlled her uneven breathing. She hid in a corner behind the house, this angle was perfect for watching the traps.
As expected, the first trap was triggered. A sharp click sound rang out as a high-concentration magic potion smashed onto the monster, bursting into a burning dark purple flame.
From the reaction of the flame, Peiya judged that there was more than one monster.
Magic potions were quite special. If they hit one target, the flame would be blue.
But if they hit multiple targets, the power would spread out, turning the flame green.
This detail wasn’t taught in books. Peiya had discovered it by accident during her own experiments.
It was tricks like this that helped her team avoid many hidden monster attacks.
Almost every time, she led her team without any injuries.
She had many similar methods. Watching the indicator above, she saw the liquid pass the midpoint and judged that another monster was trying to come in through the window.
These liquids were placed near the window. If someone opened it from outside, she could detect it from above and avoid being ambushed when returning inside.
At the door, the injured dog-skin monster felt anger rising in its heart. This kind of magical flame was extremely effective against it.
Even in past fights with patrol officers, it had never faced such trouble.
It was a third-tier monster and had ruled this area for a long time without suffering such serious injuries.
The wound was rotting, as if it was decaying. How could humans have such powerful potions?
But it had no time to think. Now it could only try to devour a living being to recover.
Between it and the person inside the house, only one could survive.
At the same time, Peiya had already prepared another potion. Because she had been sick for a long time, she didn’t have much magic power in her body.
So she was used to dealing with monsters in this way. Unlike normal alchemists who made potions for people, Peiya had learned on her own that she could add different herbs
to create new effects from the original potion.
Also, her own power was a type of enhancement ability, which could further increase the potion’s strength.
For example, when dealing with certain monsters, she could use a healing potion mixed with light-element materials, forcing a large amount of light magic into the monster in a short time.
Monsters couldn’t absorb so much light magic at once. But Peiya’s magic talent worked like a rule. It forcibly “gave” the power to the target.
The power wasn’t very high, but it always hit the target.
It was the kind of thing where even if you didn’t want to accept it, you still had to.
A large amount of light magic disturbed the monster’s internal magic flow and directly caused it to explode.
In simple terms, a “poisoned heal.”
For other people, this method might be hard to use. But after all her experience, Peiya had truly found a way to fight enemies that suited her talent.
As for her newly awakened witch power… it was better not to use it unless necessary.
Who knew if it was good or bad?
The other dog-skin monster at the door was also searching the house. As it looked around, it found the place very simple and run-down. Just as it moved deeper inside, it suddenly noticed something flying toward it.
In the next second, it felt its magic power recovering. Was there really such a good thing?
But soon, it realized something was wrong, the type of magic it was recovering was strange.
Why was it light magic?
What?! This thing is poisonous!
Before it could react, several more potion bottles flew toward it.
Worried the damage wasn’t enough, Peiya threw a few more.
The poisoned monster collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep sleep like a baby. Peiya carefully stepped forward and finished it cleanly with a small knife she carried.
Afraid it might come back to life, she stuffed several bottles of poison into its mouth.
Still not fully at ease, she set up a small magic circle to bind its soul.
Only after making sure everything was completely safe did she leave. It would take some time for the magic core to form, so she used this valuable time to move inside the house.
The other dog-skin monster sensed its companion had disappeared and immediately became alert. Even searching for its soul gave no result.
This meant it had been completely destroyed.
Sweat the size of beans rolled down its nose and quickly covered its body.
It suddenly regretted coming here. What kind of monster lived in this place?
Killing a third-tier monster in one move?
Not even trying to hide it.
But it was too late. Peiya seized the moment and launched several precise attacks, cleanly taking its life.
Seeing the girl who suddenly appeared, the monster closed its eyes unwillingly.
After doing the same steps again, Peiya placed what she collected into a bowl.
“How am I supposed to eat this?”
Books never taught people how to eat magic cores.
Magic cores could be used as energy for alchemy, for weapons and tools, and some high-quality ones could even be used for enchantment.
But clearly, they were not meant to be eaten.
She didn’t know how monsters could digest these things.
Peiya held her small stomach. If she didn’t eat, she would starve. But if she tried to eat it directly, she couldn’t swallow it.
Why did all the bad things happen to her? She felt very frustrated, so she just sat there and endured it.
Just as Peiya was about to faint from hunger, magic power inside her body slowly rose, and a warmth she had never felt before spread through her whole body.
The magic cores in the bowl floated into the air and began to break apart. Only then did Peiya notice a dark purple mark at the center of her pale collarbone.
It seemed that this mark was absorbing all the magic cores.
As the absorption finished, the mark slowly faded, and her skin returned to its smooth, flawless state.
Her heart beat rapidly. A small part of the absorbed magic flowed into her body, making her feel warm and soft. Even her appearance seemed to become a little more beautiful.
The growling in her stomach finally stopped.
But her thoughts suddenly became messy.
Umm…
She suddenly felt the urge to go to the bathroom.
Was this normal?
Oh no… the urge was very strong.
Wait… are witches’ bodies always this sensitive?
…………………………
Old city area.
Inside a temporary tent not far from the house, a blonde girl frowned as she looked at the suddenly disappearing magic signal.
How did a third-tier monster suddenly vanish…?