At the same time, this skill also enhanced physical fitness.
Along with strengthening physical constitution, it increased recovery capabilities.
Ashu found this quite reasonable. After all, this skill automatically extracted the surrounding space's Magical Essence. Magical Essence flowed like water, gently moving through the environment. When it drained from an area, it would be difficult for a mage to use spells.
In such a situation, the mage would need to quickly move to an area rich in Magical Essence or engage in close combat.
This functioned as a compensation mechanism.
Enhancing physical constitution and recovery was a form of compensation for the mage himself. As for other mages, this skill was more of a limiting technique, a pseudo-boundary.
In this back-and-forth exchange, if Ashu were to face another mage in a duel, he would be able to win in an instant.
"Ashu, you were here last time, so she must have already seen you," Anna said slowly, once they were a distance away from the Forest Elf. "But since you don't speak Elvish, and she didn't want to reveal herself, you didn't notice her."
"Is that so... ever since I was left alone at home, I've often gone up the mountain to pass the time. Maybe she's seen me many times already."
Anna gave him a playful look and teased, "Should I help her shape up faster so you can take her home as your mistress?"
"Huh?" Ashu caught the hint of jealousy and decided to tease her back, "She hasn't shaped yet?"
"She's clearly a young elf," Anna responded. "The truly powerful elves can shape themselves to appear indistinguishable from humans. And since elves have extremely long lifespans, their youth lasts a very long time."
"So, how does one shape?"
"It's simple. You point out what's wrong with her body, and she'll change accordingly to what you consider right."
That easy?
Ashu couldn't help but think of a clever idea. If he drew a picture of a beautiful girl from his previous life, could the Forest Elf transform herself to resemble that? He was curious whether it would work.
"Are you actually thinking about it?" Anna noticed the strange look in Ashu's eyes and scolded him playfully.
"No, no," Ashu quickly shook his head. "I was just thinking, I've really been lucky over the years. As an ordinary person, I somehow managed to get through an encounter with a Forest Elf and still make it back to the village alive."
"Hmph..." Anna sighed with relief, hearing Ashu's attitude towards the Forest Elf. "Elves really do punish creatures that intrude into their forbidden places. The elves' moral views are quite different from humans. For example, humans might think it's perfectly natural to pick mushrooms in the mountains, but that could trigger a Forest Elf's taboo, and she would curse you. Of course, the most common punishment is that the elf will pierce a creature's flesh and blood with thorns—it's a terrifying sight."
Picking mushrooms, curses... that sounded more like someone who didn't know how to identify poisonous mushrooms, and when they got poisoned, they blamed the elf.
Just like some shameless mages blaming the black mountain goat for being a succubus.
"Looks like I'm really lucky."
"Yeah, if I didn't know Elvish, with your unequal exchange, I'd be wondering if you had already... spent time with the Forest Elf before me!"
"This is a joke, right? Her lower body is made of wood!" Ashu raised his right hand. "I swear to the gods, both of us are still virgins."
...
As Ashu and Anna joked, they gathered the remaining potion ingredients. By the time it was approaching lunch, they successfully made their way back to Gorn Village.
At this moment.
The giant serpent's corpse was still lying at the doorstep, untouched. Neither the Cultivator Guild nor any law enforcers had shown up.
Under the scorching sun, the corpse began to emit a strange odor.
"Damn it."
Anna wrinkled her nose, then said, "Let's start brewing the potion. If the Cultivator Guild still hasn't dealt with it after we finish, I'll use fire magic to burn it."
"I was thinking the same thing."
The two of them returned to the house, shut the windows tightly, and after a simple meal, went to the stove.
To brew potions, they naturally needed alchemy equipment.
Normally, an alchemist would use a cauldron, but due to Ashu's limited resources, they had to make do with a regular pot.
Then.
Anna used magic to ignite the firewood, heating the iron pot until it was glowing red. Only then did she pour in a light blue liquid.
"Ssssss..."
The light blue liquid quickly began to boil. At this point, she took the Ebony Claw Root and broke it into four pieces, adding them to the pot.
As soon as the two ingredients made contact, a rich fragrance filled the air, and Ashu, who had just eaten lunch, found himself getting a little hungry again.
"This is the first step in brewing the potion. You must resist the potion's temptations. Until it's successfully brewed, you have to stay calm. Otherwise, you'll either get poisoned or, at worst, end up like that wizard, walking down the path of corruption."
As she brewed, Anna taught him.
Since this technique was based on experience and didn't use any specific "skills," the system didn't trigger a return.
Ashu watched from the side. He wasn't sure if it was because this potion recipe was lower-level or if Anna was just too experienced, but to him.
It looked like it was all about following the steps and tossing the ingredients into the pot, like a chaotic stew.
Finally.
The heat was turned up to reduce the liquid.
Half a pot of mysterious liquid became a small portion of thick, deep-blue jelly.
Anna used her Magical Essence to carefully extract it, puffing her soft cheeks slightly as she gently blew on it.
[Anna·Kagreia: Block Potion +1]
[Critical hit return! Host gains: Forbidden Water!]
As expected, the potion Anna had brewed was within the system's return range.
Ashu calmly checked the information sent by the system.
This so-called Forbidden Water was clearly more powerful than her potion. When used, it could block targets selectively.
It could block marks, block sources of illness, and even block a person's perception of Magical Essence. If used by a poisoner, it would be deadly for cultivators.
This was a good item, one to keep as a trump card for later, to use when dealing with enemies.
At this point, Anna said, "It worked. As long as I take this potion, I can temporarily block the mark and then re-establish my holy position."
"Can't you instantly bounce back?"
"Of course not. That's the mark of an evil god. All my efforts over the past ten years have been absorbed by it. Now, I can only rebuild it from scratch."
"Then, we'll do it together."
"Yeah. For the second round of cultivation, I should be able to save half the time," Anna replied. "As an experienced quasi-witch, I'll guide both of us without holding anything back. No detours, just shortcuts."
Anna finished speaking with a smile, and without hesitation, she swallowed the floating potion.
Gulmp—
Immediately, the power of the potion was released within her body.
Ashu watched Anna closely. She didn't seem to change much. The pain or abnormal effects he had imagined—where the potion and the mark would clash—didn't occur.
"All done," Anna said simply.
"Did it work that quickly?" Ashu asked.
"Of course," Anna replied. "This is a potion developed by the senior witches. If it didn't have some real power, it wouldn't have been recorded by the witches."
She continued, "Now, I'm going to try to see if I can restore myself to a full cultivator. You should pay attention to the flow of Magical Essence. This is the key to advancement."
Both Anna and Ashu were currently cultivator apprentices.
Their next step was to become full cultivators. Since Anna had experience, Ashu watching her was the best way for him to learn.
Soon.
Ashu began to feel the surrounding Magical Essence swirling like a vortex, being absorbed into Anna's body. As a time traveler, Ashu had done the same before.
But unlike her, he wasn't a magical being. His physical body couldn't store Magical Essence.
He had often wondered—if one day they stepped into a space devoid of Magical Essence, wouldn't a mage be rendered useless?
At this moment.
The Magical Essence Anna absorbed began to accumulate into a human-like shape inside her. This Magical Essence remained fluid, not stored within her body yet.
But when Anna opened her eyes, she moved her body.
The humanoid shape of the Magical Essence also moved along with her.
"Mm, just like that," Anna said with satisfaction. "Looks like I'm getting the hang of it. Once we become full cultivators, we gain more, but the mental burden is also greater. Like now, I must always stay focused to retain the Magical Essence. Achieving a state of oneness with it—that's when you've reached full cultivator level. In this state, we can preemptively form simple spell models with the Magical Essence in our body. When needed, we can then connect with the external Magical Essence. This way, the spells we cast are not only faster but also have double the power. As for how much stronger they get, it depends on the amount of solidified Magical Essence in the body. The more solidified it is, the stronger the spell."
Upon hearing this.
Ashu began to form new ideas.
He had received the "Nature's Absorption Technique" from the Forest Elf, which automatically absorbs the surrounding Magical Essence and converts it into physical and spiritual strength.